July 2021

The July 6, 2021 meeting was called to order at 8:15 pm, via Zoom, by President Elizabeth Lachowicz.

Present: Trustees: Lois DeRitter, Todd Dennison, Joe Guzzo, Pamela Zave, Evelyn McNally, Diane Polledri, Allan Kugel; Officers: Elizabeth Lachowicz, Paul Fisher, Peggy Karr, Jeff Canter; Committees: Mark Schaffer, Sandie Reilly, Gary Pratt, Mike Agranoff, George Otto, John Mahon, Lindsey Meyer, Leigh Walker, Evelyn Maurer, Nancy Beyer; Absent: Jean Scully

MOTIONS MADE

• • Motion made to accept June Minutes. Motion passed unanimously.

  • Motion made to replace retiring Evelyn McNally with Jeff Canter as a Trustee. Motion passed unanimously.

  • Motion made to authorize venue chairs to provide electronic payments through PayPal. Motion passed unanimously.

  • Motion made to form a task force to formalize MUF as the FP physical address. Motion passed unanimously.

  • Motion made to authorize the Special Events committee to pay Elizabeth Lachowicz, Mark Schaffer and John Mahon for production and sound services for the Tom Paxton concert. Motion passed 10-5.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS

None

OLD BUSINESS

None

NEW BUSINESS

Trustee Election to replace Evelyn McNally President Elizabeth Lachowicz nominated Jeff Canter as Evelyn's replacement. There was no issue with the nomination itself, however, there was some discussion about the process.

Proposal for Task Force to operationalize using MUF address for the FP Vice President Paul Fisher requested that Mike Agranoff, Steve Humphreys (and whoever else is willing to volunteer) help him formalize the Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship location as the physical FP address, and make the necessary changes to all legal documentation to reflect the new address. Trustee Pamela Zave asked the reason for using MUF, and Paul replied that its location would allow several members to access the mail. President Elizabeth Lachowicz added that some correspondence requires a physical address (not a P.O. Box).

Proposal to authorize Performer PayPal Pymts for Troubadour@Home, house concerts, etc. Special Events Chair Mark Schaffer requested board approval for the ability of the venue chairs who pay performers to pay those performers through PayPal rather then going through the treasurer. He felt that that would allow chairs to pay performers immediately after their performance. Paul stated that there would need to be a mechanism in place to inform the Treasurer that a payment was made.

Selecting Performer for Troubaour Re-Opening Mike Agranoff requested to book himself as the Troubadour main act for the opening night. The board was very receptive to his request, and there were no objections. Mike stated that he was going to book Todd Dennison and Annie Donahue as opening act.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Shuttered Venues Operators' Grant (SVOG) Ad Hoc Committee:

Membership: Chair Gary Pratt reported that Karen Grunwald is continuing to work on the Join It platform during the trial period replicating reports that were previously done in FileMaker, and would issue a report for the next meeting. Trustee Diane Polledri asked about automatic renewal, which Gary said the platform allowed and he may eventually implement as a voluntary option.

Streaming: Chair Gary Pratt stated that the streaming committee will have its inaugural organizational meeting in July and will produce its first report for August's Board meeting.

Horses Sing None Of It: Chair Sandie Reilly stated that HSNOI is reopening in September and asked for volunteers.

Special Events:. (written report) Chair Mark Schaffer said that "South for Winter" is the final Troubadour at Home event and he urged everyone to attend.

Troubadour Staffing:

Publicity/Web: (written report)

Sound Reinforcement: (written report)

Archives: (written report) Chair Lindsey Meyer reported that Rutgers University Library Special Collections room is still closed, but she continues to work on archiving at home. She reminded everyone that she is still accepting donations. She reminded everyone that digital items need to be archived and saved by the FP, as Rutgers only accepts physical items.

Open Stage: (written report) Chair Todd Dennison reminded everyone that the hybrid open stage at Mark Schaffer's house would benefit from the Board support. He said the open stage would include live and live-streamed performers. He added that the open stage live-stream usually attracts between 75 and 100 performers and viewers.

Troubadour Booking: (written report) Chair Mike Agranoff noted that the last time he was at MUF he heard rumors of a possible rent increase. He stressed that the September 24th performer, Matt Nakoa, who he described as a Susan Werner level performer and he gave him the rare "Agranoff Imperative". He has resumed booking performers and noted that the for contracts he has negotiated so far, the performers have requested to be paid by check.

Community Services:

Swingin’ Tern: (written report)

Newsletter: (written report) Chair George Otto noted that other organizations have been getting ideas and material from our newsletter which included how to handle the shutdown and reopening.

Meeting was adjourned at 10:23 p.m. Next month’s meeting is Tuesday, August 3, at 8:15 p.m. in cyberspace via Zoom.