The meeting was called to order at 8:17 pm on November 7, by President Elizabeth Lachowicz. This meeting was held via Zoom.
ROLL CALL
Present: Trustees: Todd Dennison, Loretta Brooks, Allan Kugel, Bob McNally, Pamela Zave; Officers: Elizabeth Lachowicz*, Paul Fisher*, Peggy Karr, Jeff Canter*; Committees: George Otto, Gary Pratt, Sandie Reilly, Jean Scully, Mike Agranoff, John Mahon, Mark Schaffer, Robin Schaffer
Absent: Sam Edelston, Tina Ross
Guests: Doug Heacock, John Lamb, Andrew Warner
*Also Trustee
MOTIONS MADE
Motion made to accept the September minutes. Motion passed 14-0-1.
Motion made to accept the October minutes. Motion passed 14-0-1.
Motion made to appoint Doug Heacock as a Director replacing Leigh Walker for the remainder of his term. Motion passed unanimously.
Motion made to appoint Doug Heacock as Chair of the Swingin' Tern committee. Motion passed unanimously.
Motion made to amend the Bylaws Article 6 Subsection 1 from "Officers may serve no more than three consecutive terms in a single office with the exception of the Treasurer, who has no term limit." to "Officers will have no term limits." Motion passed 15-1-1.
Motion made to incorporate the proposed changes to the Troubadour [Booking] Committee (see New Business). Motion passed 16-0-1.
TREASURER'S REPORT Chair Peggy Karr stated that she did not submit a report for this meeting because the bookkeeper has not completed transferring all transactions into the database and also due to an ongoing issue with ASCAP payments. She said that soon as she gets the go ahead from her that she's got everything in the in the quickbooks she will send out a new report.
OLD BUSINESS
Last month’s Motion: Amend Bylaws to eliminate term limits for Officers. This motion having been discussed at the October meeting, was passed by the Board.
Nominations Slate: Chair Gary Pratt presented the nominations slate. Due to the incorporation by the Board of the elimination of Term Limits for officers he was able to renominate the President, Vice President and Treasurer (for whom term limits had previously been removed) to new terms. The slate is as follows:
All directors and trustees for 2024 remain the same as 2023 except for the following changes:
Secretary: Chris Riemer
Directors and Committee chairs:
Swingin' Tern: Doug Heacock
Troubadour (formerly Troubadour Booking): Gary Pratt and Todd Dennison, co-chairs
Trustees through 2024: Mike Agranoff replaces Elizabeth Lachowicz
Trustees through 2023 become Trustees through 2026
NEW BUSINESS
Nomination of Doug Heacock to Chair the Swingin' Tern Committee: President Elizabeth Lachowicz nominated Doug Heacock, a 40 year Folk Project member and past trustee to replace Leigh Walker as the Chair for the Swingin' Tern Committee. She requested that he be voted in as a director and a Chair. Vote was held by the Trustees and officers for the Director position which passed. Vote was held by the entire Board for the Chair position which also passed.
Troubadour Committee changes: The board discussed changes to the Troubadour [Booking] Committee. The changes recommended that the Board adopt are:
The Troubadour will be run by a committee of at least three voting members.
The committee is charged with simplifying booking procedures, which will be published.
The committee will consult with the Treasurer and adjust financial procedures, if necessary, to conform to legal standards and tax rules.
The Board discussed these changes with the present Chair, Mike Agranoff, who was receptive to the changes. Mike also described some of the changes that would need to be made, which the Committee agreed to incorporate. John Lamb said he would make the necessary changes to the website. Elizabeth also appointed Gary Pratt and Todd Dennison to Co-chair the committee through the end of the year. Elizabeth asked Todd about the Membership committee, which he also chairs. Todd replied that his goal is to automate that so it's not anybody's job. The committee members agreed that the committee will continue in its present form until after NERFA, with Mike agreeing to copy Gary and Todd, and Mike agreeing to pass on to them any performers that approach him. Mike also shared an apology letter which can be found in the Troubadour Reports.
COMMITTEE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS
Archives (advisory))
Community Services (advisory)
Horses Sing None of It
Open Stage Chair Todd Dennison stated that. they had a really great open stage, which featured Toby Walker which was really nice. they also had a new musician show up who he felt was amazing who will be back next month. He also stated that they are trying out a lot of ideas at the open stage like some lighting ideas. One of the other things is running a slide show when people walk in. It's a self-running program that shows, among other things what's the next thing at the troubadour, what's going to be happening. He also described the decorations they did for the Halloween show. Gary Pratt stated that he has the ability to have, to run a video before the streaming show, and if Todd can provide video to him, he could incorporate some streaming shows in there as well. There were many members who commented on how exceptional the lighting and decoration was for the show.
Membership (advisory)
Newsletter (written report below) Chair George Otto stated that normally, when people submit their articles to the newsletter, they put their title at the end, which is great, but to just keep that in mind that you're all in agreement about what your titles are.
Nominations
Publicity (written report below) Webmaster John Lamb discussed changes he made to the website including a new header. He also added buttons in the corners, which the user can click on to volunteer join, donate or subscribe. His changes were greeted enthusiastically by the Board.
Sound Reinforcement (written report below) Chair John Mahon reported that for the first time,they were able to broadcast the Friday night concert and that turned out well. He was pleased with that the the sound the sound crew provided and all the technical support and Todd, for running the camera.
Special Events (written report below) Chair Mark Schaffer reported that the Fall Getaway really went well. and he thought that they broke even or profited a little and the people were very, very happy. The major change in this Getaway was going from 55 min workshops to an hour and 15 with 15 minute breaks between workshops. It produced a much nicer pace. People got all the enjoyment without the rushing and that'll be an easier schedule for me to make, but it was very successful. He felt the challenge of putting on a successful Getaway is real but it was a great time and the vocalatto was necessary for the Sunday concert because they only had 70 people supporting the weekend financially. He felt it was us at our best because if everybody's music has value, and they had a full range of experience and talents doing a great job on every song.
Streaming Concerts (written report below)
Swingin' Tern (written report below)
Troubadour (Booking) (written report below)
Troubadour (Staffing) Chair Jean Scully reported that they've gotten a couple of new volunteers in the last few weeks and that they are continuing their outreach and trying to be more proactive about encouraging people to volunteer. Mike added that he found a volunteer who was perfect for the role of Exchequer.
ADJOURNMENT
This meeting was adjourned at 10:40 PM. Next month’s meeting is October 3 at 8:15 PM via Zoom.
Submitted by Jeff Canter
WRITTEN COMMITTEE REPORTS
FP Future Planning Committee
November Board Report
Nov 7, 2023
October Accomplishments
NERFA Private Showcase, Nov 9-11, Asbury Park
All systems are go for our showcase this weekend. Tina Ross did a marvelous job organizing all the performers and we have a full house! Bob McNally, Robin and Mark Schaffer, and Andy Hirsh will be hosting the room. Signage, food, chairs, handouts, and other details are all in order.
After deliberation, we decided NOT to stream the showcases, due to technical challenges.
Presentation sub-committee
The presentation gang, led by Todd Dennison and Bob McNally, are making tremendous progress:
○ Todd and Bob blew the roof off the house with the presentation of the Halloween show. They transformed MUUF into a true haunted house with outstanding lighting and decor.
○ Lighting that creates a better concert experience were previewed at Open Stage and the Halloween Show to rave reviews. Normally our audience was lit during concerts. The new lighting plan darkens the audience and keeps the stage well lit, which enhances the focus on the stage and had a noticeable and well appreciated positive effect on the audience.
○ We started taking credit cards. This long-awaited capability brings us The Folk Project squarely into the 1960s. Quite a few guests took advantage and many guests noticed and approved of this improvements.Training takes two minutes. One example of the benefits: A person who wanted to join The Project and didn’t have the cash was relieved and happy to pay by credit card at the Halloween show.
○ To improve repeat attendance and educate attendees about future events, Robin and Mark Schaffer created a series of slides for upcoming Folk Project events. Todd Dennison did the tech work necessary to project the slides in the auditorium at MUUF using the built-in projector and built-in screen at the rear wall of the stage. The slide show was presented before the concerts at the October Open Stage and Halloween Show.
Social Media Brainstorming
We held a very productive meeting with an experienced social media influencer about our social media efforts and came up with ideas for organic and paid social media, as well as other marketing initiatives. Organic social media is content the FP, audience or performers post at no cost, as opposed to paid advertising. This ranges from likes to pictures or videos, or written comments. Even a relatively small number of posts before, during, or after events can snowball into a lot of attention. We will be working on organizing this. We’ve added this and all ideas from the brainstorming session to our master project list.
Marketing Agencies
We reached out to several marketing agencies to help us with our marketing strategy, including social media. One agency, BEM, specializes in marketing for artists and venues and seemed to be the most capable. We are going to look at this more seriously in early 2024, when we think we will have bandwidth to look at broader issues.
Grant and Sponsorship Status
○ We did not apply for any new grants this month
○ We secured $1500 from Morris Arts. Less than expected, but all helps
○ Have an offer from an anonymous donor for $5000
○ Pursuing a sponsorship from Sanofi.
November Initiatives
Presentation Sub Committee
○ Todd and Bob are raising production values for the Maui show.
○ We are going to create staff shirts to use for the December Open Stage
○ We will then start to incorporate lighting, credit cards, the slideshow, shirts, and other features at the Troubadour.
More welcoming culture. Bob will write an article for the Music Alert and newsletter about how to be effectively welcoming to newcomers.
Volunteer needs. We have defined several areas where we need volunteers and leaders. Mark will start covering volunteer opportunities more extensively in the Music Alert. If you’re interested in any of the following, or can suggest someone, let Robin or Bob know:
○ Fundraising lead: Explore outside opportunities for sponsorships, grants, and donations. Eitan Grunwald, who has a background in this area, will help with direction. Needs to be comfortable engaging with potential donors and representing the FP.
○ Networking liaison: Develop relationships with other venues (such as Godfrey Daniels, Caffe Lena) and music organizations (such as NERFA/FAI, NIVAssoc.org, Save our Stages). These relationships are a support for best practices, cohorts for tours, and more. Needs strong relationships skills.
○ Producer(s) for a workshop series, modeled after Songwriter Day last April. Topics: guitar, voice, uke, songwriting and/or others. Each event includes workshops during the day, onsite dinner, and a concert in the evening. Needs organizational and promotional skills.
○ Additional social media support. Post engaging content, encourage user content, encourage FP members to share, like, follow, comment. Educate the Board and other members on how to impactfully support the FP on social media (through a persuasive document or video). Needs to be familiar with social media promotion and a good communicator.
As always, the Future Planning Committee is open to all suggestions and feedback. If you want to learn more about longer term ideas, please reach out to Robin.
Thanks!
Robin Schaffer
Bob McNally
Newsletter Committee Report 2023-11
Things are proceeding as usual with the invaluable help of Kathi Caccavale, Pat Brangs, Bill Henderson, Gary Pratt, Susan Lembo, and Todd Dennison.
George Otto
Folk Project Newsletter Editor
newsletter@folkproject.org
Folk Project members,
2023 Nominations Slate for 2024
Summary of Changes:
Recommendation to board that Bylaws be amended to state that "Officers will have no term limits." Motion passed by board
All directors and trustees for 2024 remain the same as 2023 except for the following changes:
Secretary: Chris Riemer
Directors and Committee chairs:
Swingin' Tern: Doug Heacock
Troubadour (formerly Troubadour Booking):
Gary Pratt and Todd Dennison, co-chairs
Trustees through 2024: Mike Agranoff replaces Elizabeth Lachowicz
Trustees through 2023 become Trustees through 2026
NOMINEES FOR 2024
President: Elizabeth Lachowicz
Vice President: Paul Fisher
Secretary: Chris Riemer
Treasurer: Peggy Karr
Trustees
through 2024:
Bob McNally
Todd Dennison
Mike Agranoff
through 2025:
Allan Kugel
Jeff Canter
Paul Fisher
through 2026:
Loretta Brooks
Tina Ross
Pamela Zave
Committee Chairs
Special Events & Getaway: Mark Schaffer
Horses Sing None of It: Sandie Reilly
Newsletter: George Otto
Open Stage: Todd Dennison
Publicity: Sam Edelston
Sound Reinforcement: John Mahon
Swingin' Tern: Doug Heacock
Troubadour: Gary Pratt and Todd Dennison, co-chairs
Troubadour Staffing: Jean Scully
Streaming: Gary Pratt
Future Planning: Bob McNally and Robin Schaffer, co-chairs
Please let me know if there are any errors or omissions.
Respectfully submitted,
Nominations Committee
Gary Pratt (chair), Todd Dennison, Peggy Karr, and Mark Schaffer
FP Future Planning Committee
November Board Report
Nov 7, 2023
October Accomplishments
NERFA Private Showcase, Nov 9-11, Asbury Park
All systems are go for our showcase this weekend. Tina Ross did a marvelous job organizing all the performers and we have a full house! Bob McNally, Robin and Mark Schaffer, and Andy Hirsh will be hosting the room. Signage, food, chairs, handouts, and other details are all in order.
After deliberation, we decided NOT to stream the showcases, due to technical challenges.
2. Presentation sub-committee
The presentation gang, led by Todd Dennison and Bob McNally, are making tremendous progress:
Todd and Bob blew the roof off the house with the presentation of the Halloween show. They transformed MUUF into a true haunted house with outstanding lighting and decor.
Lighting that creates a better concert experience were previewed at Open Stage and the Halloween Show to rave reviews. Normally our audience was lit during concerts. The new lighting plan darkens the audience and keeps the stage well lit, which enhances the focus on the stage and had a noticeable and well appreciated positive effect on the audience.
We started taking credit cards. This long-awaited capability brings us The Folk Project squarely into the 1960s. Quite a few guests took advantage and many guests noticed and approved of this improvements.Training takes two minutes. One example of the benefits: A person who wanted to join The Project and didn’t have the cash was relieved and happy to pay by credit card at the Halloween show.
To improve repeat attendance and educate attendees about future events, Robin and Mark Schaffer created a series of slides for upcoming Folk Project events. Todd Dennison did the tech work necessary to project the slides in the auditorium at MUUF using the built-in projector and built-in screen at the rear wall of the stage. The slide show was presented before the concerts at the October Open Stage and Halloween Show.
3. Social Media Brainstorming
We held a very productive meeting with an experienced social media influencer about our social media efforts and came up with ideas for organic and paid social media, as well as other marketing initiatives. Organic social media is content the FP, audience or performers post at no cost, as opposed to paid advertising. This ranges from likes to pictures or videos, or written comments. Even a relatively small number of posts before, during, or after events can snowball into a lot of attention. We will be working on organizing this. We’ve added this and all ideas from the brainstorming session to our master project list.
4. Marketing Agencies
We reached out to several marketing agencies to help us with our marketing strategy, including social media. One agency, BEM, specializes in marketing for artists and venues and seemed to be the most capable. We are going to look at this more seriously in early 2024, when we think we will have bandwidth to look at broader issues.
5. Grant and Sponsorship Status
We did not apply for any new grants this month
We secured $1500 from Morris Arts. Less than expected, but all helps
Have an offer from an anonymous donor for $5000
Pursuing a sponsorship from Sanofi.
November Initiatives
Presentation Sub Committee
Todd and Bob are raising production values for the Maui show.
We are going to create staff shirts to use for the December Open Stage
We will then start to incorporate lighting, credit cards, the slideshow, shirts, and other features at the Troubadour.
More welcoming culture. Bob will write an article for the Music Alert and newsletter about how to be effectively welcoming to newcomers.
Volunteer needs. We have defined several areas where we need volunteers and leaders. Mark will start covering volunteer opportunities more extensively in the Music Alert. If you’re interested in any of the following, or can suggest someone, let Robin or Bob know:
Fundraising lead: Explore outside opportunities for sponsorships, grants, and donations. Eitan Grunwald, who has a background in this area, will help with direction. Needs to be comfortable engaging with potential donors and representing the FP.
o Networking liaison: Develop relationships with other venues (such as Godfrey Daniels, Caffe Lena) and music organizations (such as NERFA/FAI, NIVAssoc.org, Save our Stages). These relationships are a support for best practices, cohorts for tours, and more. Needs strong relationships skills.
o Producer(s) for a workshop series, modeled after Songwriter Day last April. Topics: guitar, voice, uke, songwriting and/or others. Each event includes workshops during the day, onsite dinner, and a concert in the evening. Needs organizational and promotional skills.
o Additional social media support. Post engaging content, encourage user content, encourage FP members to share, like, follow, comment. Educate the Board and other members on how to impactfully support the FP on social media (through a persuasive document or video). Needs to be familiar with social media promotion and a good communicator.
As always, the Future Planning Committee is open to all suggestions and feedback. If you want to learn more about longer term ideas, please reach out to Robin.
Thanks!
Robin Schaffer
Bob McNally
Publicity Report for the November 7, 2023 Board Meeting
Sam Edelston, November 6, 2023
Publicity Committee Members
Alicia Weimer, George Otto, Howard Goldman, Jean Scully, Jim Gartner, Joanne Cronin, Kathi Caccavale, Liz Pagan, Loretta Brooks, Mark Schaffer, Michael Mitsch, Mike Rauchwerk, Olga Alvarez, Pat Brangs, Paul Fisher, Ralph Pedicini, Rebecca Rydell, MaryLynn Schiavi
Web Team Members
John Lamb, Allan Kugel, Charles Lamb, Lori Falco
Reports
Chairperson’s Report – Sam Edelston
Facebook users: Put the Folk Project’s Events page on your Bookmark Bar, where it will be visible. www.facebook.com/FolkProject/events Once a week, share any Events that appeal to you, and tag the Folk Project., This will get our Events seen more.
And Instagram users, please tag @thefolkprojectnj to raise our visibility there.
This coming Thursday-Sunday, I’ll be attending NERFA. Though I primarily attend in my capacity as a performer, I’ll be on the lookout for ideas and insights that could benefit the Folk Project, as well.
Publicity has a couple of things in the works that aren’t quite far enough along to mention in this report. You’ll hear about them next month.
I have to miss this month’s meeting, because I’ll be volunteering as an election worker.
E-communications – Mark Schaffer
Mark says:
Music Alert October Data for November Board Meeting:
Sent: 38,768
Opens: 15,117
Percentage Opened: 45.1%
Clicks: 556
Facebook – Kathi Caccavale
Folk Project Page: 6,082 Followers (up from 6,064 last month). 4,900+ people Like this.
Folk Project group: 2,135 members, up from 2,029 last month – If 2.4% growth last month was good, then this month’s 5.2% is impressive.
Swingin’ Tern group: 649 members; up slightly from 643 last month.
NJ Uke Fest group: 299 members; up from 281 last month – The increase of +18 is more than 1/3 of our total gain of +49 so far this year.
Slow and steady growth in Followers and group members, even though Page & Profile Visits are down.
October Facebook Page visits were up 182% over September – but there’s no clear reason why: Wednesday, October 18 had 981 of the month’s 3,229 Facebook Visits, along with an additional 963 Visits between the two adjacent days. The puzzle is, we didn’t post anything to our Page during that period, and the Music Alert that came out on Tuesday afternoon likely would have produced most of its hits on Tuesday. If you back out the atypical Visits from those two days, the month is comparable to September.
Instagram – Ralph Pedicini
Content Overview (from Facebook/Instagram reports):
· Instagram followers: 446, up from 437 last month. That gain of 9 is more than we’ve been getting.
· Reach: 161 … Down from 252 last month
Ralph has been posting story content (multiple Stories per event) for performers upcoming that have an active Instagram account. Also posting story content for Open Stage and the Halloween event.
Ralph urges: When you attend one of our events, please post about it and tag the Folk Project.
At the dulcimer festival I run, I urged our audience to take photos and post them on Facebook. (“The best revenge against people who didn’t come is to post about it and show them what they missed.”) Several people in the audience did. This will work even better for the Folk Project, with its several events each week.
Twitter – Jean Scully
No report from Jean.
Web – John Lamb
Here’s John’s writeup.
It was another reasonably busy month for the web team. We did the following in October:
- updated the Troubadour Booking page
- entered event data for the Halloween show, the Maui benefit show and the MUUF benefit show
- provided ticketing support for Acoustic Getaway
- assisted the Newsletter Editor with getting this month's edition online
- updated the Administration page to reflect the new Swingin' Tern chair
- updated the Swingin' Tern page
- added event for Inside the Song
- removed the COVID notice from the site header in preparation for a major reworking of the header (which has been completed in early November)
Analytics shows web statistics back down to the low side of normal. If any spurious peaks such as the ones we experienced in August and September occurred, they were automatically filtered out of the numbers reported in the spreadsheet.
As always, many thanks to Lori, Charles, Liz and Allan. Please send questions comments and suggestions to webmaster@folkroject.org
Also, send anyone our way who you know of who may be interested in joining the web team.
John Lamb, webmaster
Merch – Paul Fisher (acting)
Nothing new to report.
Sound Reinforcement Committee Report November 2023
We provided sound for the Weekend Getaway and three Friday night shows scheduled in October. All proceeded normally, without technical incidents. The new streaming service continues to provide incident free service.
For the Getaway, we used a multi-speaker arrangement in the room which will give a more even high quality sound that reduces room echo. This included the two EV speakers owned by the FP and four Yamaha speakers from my inventory. We also used my speaker management system which provides time delay and volume control for each speaker. All this equipment was functioning properly after a three year hiatus and proved that it will work properly at the next Getaway where we anticipate holding the evening concerts in the large conference room which requires this six speaker treatment to properly fill the room.
The stage equipment restoration is completed.
I finished the list consisting of
4 tall mic stands
3 low mic stands
8 mic clips
4 instrument cables
4 replacement windscreens for the SM58 mics
2 mic stand carry bags
I placed orders for these with Sweetwater and Amazon. The total cost was $509
All of this equipment was rotated into active service by October 13.
John Mahon
November 2024 Special Events Report to Board
Acoustic Getaway
The Spring Getaway is half booked. We’ll announce in January and open registration early February. The featured performer is Peter Yarrow of Peter Paul & Mary, and the lineup is shaping up to be particularly fabulous.
Special Concerts
John Gorka will perform a Special Concert at The Troubadour on Friday, July 26, 2024.
Thanks to the work of Robin and The Future Planning Committee, we have secured funding to relaunch the Special Concert at The Troubadour series under the new post-COVID conditions. These concerts featuring higher-profile artists are intended to attract first-time attendees.
Tina Ross is planning a Spring Songwriters Day for April 13th. I’m considering a similar Saturday program next fall for guitar, The New Jersey Guitar Summit. These workshop-concert events are are like mini-Getaways, with the additional purpose of bringing new people into the Folk Project orbit. Board members who may be interested in running such an event, please contact me.
Evenings of Music
All good.
Board members,
Troubadour and Streaming Tuesdays concerts via Afton are running smoothly.
The highlight for October was the first-ever livestream of the Friday night concert from The Folk Project Acoustic Getaway. It was a great way for people to get a taste of what it’s like to be at a Getaway!
We have determined via beta testing that using Zoom with Afton is not a viable option at this time. We will continue using OBS Studio as our streaming encoder for all Folk Project Afton shows.
The “Last Waltz” Benefit Concert originally scheduled for November 19 has been canceled due to health issues affecting one of the co-producers. We hope to present this event in November 2024.
You can find all Folk Project Afton Streaming shows (Troubadour, Streaming Tuesdays, Member Shows, etc.) at https://aftontickets.com/thefolkproject
Respectfully submitted,
Gary Pratt
Folk Project Streaming Chair
Dear Boardies,
Pending my hopeful confirmation as the new chair for Swingin' Tern Dances, here is my report for October:
We held two dances in October.
10/7 Sue Gola and Karen Justin & Jaybird 39 attendees/26 paid Net loss -$180. Attendance was hampered by the rain
10/21 Bob Isaacs & Brooklyn Swing Ensemble 52 attendees/40 paid Net loss -$ 39.
Net loss for Oct -$219.
Swingin' Tern Dances has moved exclusively to calling the non-gendered terms Larks & Robins rather than the traditional Gents & Ladies. "Larks and Robins" gives everyone the freedom to dance any role with any partner. Dancers can choose the role that is more comfortable for them, (due to personal preference, physical limitations, etc.), or can dance both roles freely, without the worry that someone will tell them they're in the wrong place. Some dancers in our community are not comfortable being called by a gendered term that doesn't match their gender identity. The terms Larks and Robins rose to the top over a 10-year period after trying numerous other non-gendered terms. Remember Larks on the Left; Robins on the Right. More information may be found at https://files.constantcontact.com/ad3e9aad001/e2f4a69d-befc-41f8-b429-dd3d3edf041b.pdf
There was only one Troubadour show in October, and it went pretty much along the lines of recent months. Abbie Gardner drew 73 paid, and the show made $151 in profit. Year-to-date our average paid attendance was 60.7 (Don’t forget that the first few months of the year we were still coming out of the COVID slump.), and our profit has been $881.
The list of new bookings made during October is below, but there is one non-booking I would like to report. I have been trying to get John Gorka back to the Troubadour since he last played in 2016. His agent emailed me with a possible availability for July 26. Previously that would have been unavailable as the date of the Birthday Show. But I had decided after the low level of participation by member performers this past July to move the show to the 1st Friday in August, so as not to conflict with the Falcon Ridge Festival, which had drawn away many of those member performers. So I was delighted to agree to the date. But from initial conversation with the agent, I learned that John was looking for a higher fee than we could generate under the usual Troubadour fee arrangement with a $10 ticket plus Creel. I might have bargained him down to something we could have managed. But rather than trying that, I said to myself, “This is exactly the sort of situation we have Special Concerts to handle. So I emailed Mark to ask if he wanted to take on John Gorka as a Special Concert for that date. He said yes. I just got word that Mark has confirmed that date for Gorka, so we’ll finally get to see John back at the Folk Project again this summer.
The big news with Troubadour is, of course, the impending change of my status as Troubadour Booking Chairman. It’s all but certain that as of the November meeting I will no longer hold that title, and instead be one of a triumvirate Troubadour Committee with Todd Dennison and Gary Pratt. That change saddens me greatly, but I recognize why it had to happen. How this Committee will work is yet to be determined, and we hope to meet to start working out the nuts and bolts of the operation shortly after NERFA next weekend. I vow to reverse the behavior that has led the Board to relieve me of sole leadership of the Troubadour, and request that every one of you take me to task for any possible slipups on my part in that path to redemption in future, that I might better learn to recognize that sort of behavior before it happens.
New Bookings since last month.
Jan. 19: Songwriter Zoe Mulford, American born but now living in England, back on her first tour of the US since COVID
Feb. 26: Phil Ochs Song Night, featuring Greg Greenway, Reggie Haris, Louise Mosrie, and Pat Wictor performing the songs of Phil Ochs.
Highlight in November
Nov. 17: Exquisite harmony trio, Mad Agnes
Respectfully submitted
Mike Agranoff
Program Chair
The Troubadour Acoustic Concert Series
Morristown, NJ. USA
www.Troubadour.FolkProject.org
An Open Letter of Apology
To: Board of Directors of the Folk Project, and all other interested parties:
I write this open letter as an apology, and acceptance of my responsibility for actions on my part that have made necessary my removal from my long-held position as Program Chairman of the Troubadour Acoustic Concert Series. And also, as an apology to those I have offended by my actions.
I am aware that my people-skills are less than ideal for a person in that position. Consequently, through inattention, and thoughtlessness, I have from time to time treated occasional performers, agents, and others with whom I have had contact callously rudely, or otherwise offensively in the years of my chairmanship. This was not done out of malice or anger, but rather because I was unaware of the offensiveness of my words and actions. It was only when a number of Board members confronted me with my offensive actions about a month ago that I became aware of my errors. And I cringed when one or two specific examples of my actions were brought to my attention.
While it saddens me greatly to no longer be the Program chair, I fully understand why this action on the Board was made necessary. Also, my eyes were opened by the reports of my unwitting misdeeds. I will do my utmost in my revised position as a member of a newly formed Troubadour Committee of three to reform my ways, and to make this Committee continue the necessary work of the Troubadour as smoothly as possible. And I ask that if anyone experiences any backsliding on my part, to take me to task for it, that I might learn from my missteps. I only wish that had been done sooner so that I might not have hurt as many people as I have, and that I might have retained my position of Program Chairman.
Mike Agranoff
November 7, 2023