April 2020

The meeting was called to order at 8:00 PM on April 7, via a Zoom teleconference, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for social distancing.

ROLL CALL

Present: Trustees: Elizabeth Lachowicz, Todd Dennison, Lois DeRitter, Dave Heistand, Christine DeLeon, Paul Fisher, Allan Kugel, Evelyn McNally; Jeff Canter Officers: Paul Fisher, Jay Wilensky, Peggy Karr; Committees: Elizabeth Lachowicz, Lindsey Meyer, Evelyn Maurer, Mark Schaffer, Jay Wilensky, Gary Pratt, Mike Agranoff, George Otto, Todd Dennison Absent: Jean Scully, John Mahon, Sandie Reilly

MOTIONS MADE

• The board agreed unanimously to cancel all public Folk Project events through the end of May.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS

Treasurer Report (email report)

Peggy sent out the Treasury report, including a detailed version which anyone is welcome to examine (as always!) Refund checks for the cancelled Spring Getaway will be going out 4/8. Peggy was unable to access the Vanguard account, but Chris R. was, and reported to Peggy that we are down about $20,000 due to the market decline.

PayPal has waived all fees, enabling the refunds for the cancelled David Bromberg concert to proceed smoothly. Gary was asked by PayPal to wait about 48 hours for a fee waiver to go into effect for the Getaway PayPal refunds, so he anticipates those going out in the next few days. After making all refunds, we’ll have about $7 or $8 K cash on hand.

NEW BUSINESS

Lobbying Committee

Paul sent a letter to NJ State Senator Sweeney’s office via snail and e-mail, but others who have written him, including Jay, have received a form letter response that basically discounts our concerns. He refers to a court ruling called Hargrove V. Sleepy’s that he says would apply. Our counsel does continue to believe that this would involve a change in the law and the way we have to handle itinerant musicians; we are still awaiting his official response to Paul.

Board members or FP members at large can feel free to write to their representatives, but board members should NOT include anything in their letter regarding their position on the board, so as not to make their letter part of FP’s official lobbying position. There has been some activity on Bill S863, although the legislature is affected by the virus.

Cancellation of May Events

Mike had been waiting until April 15 to make an official decision, but changed his position and made a motion to extend the shutdown into June. Motion was carried unanimously.

Questionable GoFundMe Emails

Mike has received several apparently fraudulent emails that appeared to have been generated by an internal FP address for Minstrel, and forwarded the info to GoFundMe. He also sent a warning email to the entire FP mailing list, warning them of these fraud attempts. Mike further contacted his local police, who took a report and said they would forward it to the cyber crimes division at the State level. Elizabeth noted that vigilance in terms of URLs, email addresses, etc is vital.

Helping Performers Financially

Covering guarantees, etc. for cancelled performers would quickly dig into our already-diminished funds. We are exploring other ways to help performers, including the new Stayaway concerts. Mark noted that the Stayaway concerts have raised over $5,000 which has gone directly to the performers. Mike noted there’s a program called MusicCares that will send musicians money directly if they request help. Paul has also heard that Musicians Local 1000 has a fund for their members. Jay gave that local a donation, which is a way for folks to help if they’d like. But as Jay noted, Mark’s Stayaway concerts help more directly; Mark has suggested to some higher-level musicians that they can forego receiving donations directly, and instead redirect them to charity.

Changing Web Landing Page from Current FP Home Page to the Stayaway Page

Proposed page will have info on our cancellations, upcoming Stayaway Events, and Swingin’ Tern's fundraising efforts for callers and bands. Allan suggested we have a link back to our normal events, showing newcomers what we do in normal times. Several other members concurred.

Technology Issues

No one has been able to achieve simultaneous transmission of music streaming; i.e., being able to play along with others from different locations. Although it’s supposed to be technically possible, no one on the board has been able to achieve it. Mike noted that many of the “simultaneous” play-along videos posted on line have actually been achieved in post processing.

Jeff reminded everyone that he had a long career at Bell Labs, and although telephony is simultaneous, it has a bandwidth that’s much too narrow for our needs; although the internet has loads of bandwidth, it’s not synchronous. Members were reminded that we can all see you during a Zoom meeting, including your choice of adult beverage (and how many are being consumed).

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Newsletter (email report)

The newsletter is taking a hit due to the mass cancellations, but George encourages venue chairs to still submit articles: future plans, ideas for fundraisers or ways to help people cope with isolation; anything regarding live-streaming, virtual concerts, etc.

Membership (email report)

Gary noted that since so much of our new memberships and renewals come from our events, we’re going to have to do more to keep the concept in front of current and prospective members. In addition, because the newsletter costs are fixed, we are going to be taking a hit there if membership dollars go down significantly. Gary expressed his gratitude to FP and the board, and how meaningful it has been to him personally in this very trying time.

Getaway (Stayaway) Concerts and Virtual Getaway (email report)

Mark’s been putting in 10-hour days to get these up and running; he’s very excited about the upcoming workshops. He thanked John for working on this moving target and helping him tremendously. Every performer will now have a “tech copilot” who can help with technical problems that arise during their concerts. Mark is planning on a mix of outsider and FP songwriters as well for a workshop. Lots of exciting things to come!

George noted that major news outlets are always looking for “good news” stories, and urged Mark to reach out and get some publicity. Mark noted that he’s planning to do that, but he wants to have the Stayaway page in place before that. The $12 a month we’re paying for the professional version of Zoom is money well spent. Allan noted that some prior notice of what platform artists will be using would be helpful. FP is not providing the platform, we are merely bringing the audience, but Mark could provide some notice of the platform they’ve chosen. Please go to the FP home page for more information.

Community Services (email report)

FP lost two long-time members, Robin Roffman, who passed away after a battle with Huntington’s Disease on March 27, and on March 28, Linda Colodner passed away from cancer. She was a frequent volunteer at the coffeehouse before moving to Arizona some years ago.

In addition, guitar maestro Bucky Pizzarelli, who performed at FP several times, died of COVID. Beloved performer Pat Wictor and Evelyn Maurer’s sister Christine are both suffering from the virus but are on the mend. Board members learned that John Prine died just before the end of the meeting. There were several other notable deaths in the music community, including Bill Withers and Kenny Rogers. Updating and reworking the performer directory is currently on hold due to the virus. Christine thanked John Lamb for spending several hours helping her activate her FP gmail account.

Swingin’ Tern (email report)

Leigh reported a $250 donation, for which he is very grateful. Due to the intimate nature of contra dancing, Leigh realizes that the dances are not going to be restarting any time soon, and fully supports the idea of FP being careful stewards of its money until things turn around.

Event Hosting (email report)

All EOMs are cancelled until further notice, but Jay has hosted several virtual song circles, one with up to 17 people, and folks really seemed to enjoy it. He thanked Todd very sincerely for all his help in getting it up and running.

Publicity (email report)

Paul will be sending out an updated reported when he gets more info. The Morris County Tourism Board and Morristown Patch have both been publishing some news about our on-line events, but Paul is hoping for more going forward.

Archives

Lindsey noted that we are all creating archives right now! We are in a unique time, and what we’re doing now is going to be of great interest to people in the future. Although Lindsey is only focusing on paper documents now, digital content will be added in the future, so she urged everyone to keep good records. She also thanked everyone for all the work they’re doing to create content and keep us all connected.

Troubadour Booking (email report)

Bill Staines and Trout Fishing in America have been rebooked for the fall. Mike is hoping to book himself as the first performer to do a show at the reopened concert series, with the Annie Donahue Trio opening.

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Next month’s meeting is Tuesday, May 5, 2020 at 8 p.m in cyberspace via Zoom.