FAI Report

From Pam Robinson:

On behalf of Bob and myself I would like to thank the Board for sponsoring us to be at Folk Alliance International. The Conference was February 16-18, 2018.

2018 was our second consecutive year attending and volunteering at the FAI Conference. We have purchased our tickets for the 2019 Conference as we are debating not volunteering at the Conference next year.

By attending two years in a row, the contacts we made in 2017 have been strengthened and the amount of networking that we did this year was doubled.

Things we have learned about and/or more about.

Traveling Musicians Union https://www.local1000.org

Fair Trade Music 1000 https://fairtrademusic1000.wordpress.com/

I recommend that the Folk Project seriously consider participating the the Local 1000s Fair Trade Music 1000 campaign. “Fair Trade Music 1000 venues agree to pay performing musicians at least the minimum wage set forth in (their) agreement.”

FAI is currently exploring a potential second phase of the PRO House Concert Agreement with the PROs (ASCAP & BMI) to address the needs of small venues and non-profit presenters working in community buildings, schools, and churches. The definition of “small venue” is still in discussion.

Tech Soup https://www.techsoup.org/ place to purchase discounted tech for non-profits. offers tech support, consultations and forums to help us do what we do better.

Social Media including meetups, Instagram, hashtags, FaceBook are how most small venues are publicizing their upcoming events and also sharing info as events unfold. Email and word of mouth are still the main publicity for venues.

Have a large variety in the programming also seems to help get more bodies in seats.

Milliennials seem to be drawn to events that are an “experience” rather than events where they are passive observers.

Also see the attached spreadsheet of performers discovered at FAI that are worth keeping tabs on.