The meeting was called to order at 8:20 PM on April 2, by President Elizabeth Lachowicz. This meeting was held via Zoom.

ROLL CALL

Present: Mike Agranoff, Loretta Brooks, Jeff Canter, Sam Edelston, Paul Fisher, Doug Heacock, Peggy Karr, Allan Kugel, Elizabeth Lachowicz, John Mahon, Bob McNally, George Otto, Gary Pratt, Sandie Reilly, Chris Riemer, Tina Ross, Mark Schaffer, Robin Schaffer, Jean Scully and Pamela Zave. 

Absent: Todd Dennison

MOTIONS MADE

• The minutes of the March meeting were accepted as written.

• The board moved to implement a new courtesy policy in an unusually close vote. Seven in favor, six opposed and six abstentions.

ADMINISTRATIVE OVERVIEW 

Secretary

Chris reports that everything is under control.

Treasurer

Peggy said things are “chugging along” on the financial front. She is continuing to help Karen the bookkeeper with data entry. She has some concern about the increased cost of bookkeeping, but attributes it to the increased complexity of our operations.

NEW BUSINESS

Revisiting the Folk Project Logo

Robin recalled that several months ago, the Future Planning Committee began a project to update the Folk Project’s old “lightbulb” logo. She walked us through a few PowerPoint slides that explained the subcommittee’s decision-making, as well as a final logo design for our review. She also asked that if people had feedback, they should send it to her via email or telephone. Otherwise, we might be talking about it all night. She also pointed out that to be constructive, the feedback has to be more than “I don’t like it.” Examples of what people would like would be helpful, too.

Liz Pagan and Yolanda Fundora were the lead artists and did most of the work, with the help of Peggy Karr. Also on the subcommittee were Mark, Bob, George and Todd, as well as Robin herself. It was a team effort. 

They started by talking about the brand attributes they thought would take the organization into the future. They wanted the logo to be fresh, contemporary, friendly and inspirational. It should send a message of high quality, passion and true spirit. The first step was an icon – something that could work at a small scale as a standalone image. From there, the subcommittee played with how the logo would work with text, and selected a font that would support the brand. The last step was color, with a palette featuring blues and greens.

Gary asked if the recommended heading font was readily available, and Robin said it was. It was understood that the font here is a heading font, and wouldn’t be appropriate for body text. Mike said he’d expected to prefer the light bulb, but he liked the new design.  As the work proceeds, the artists will also produce variations for different backgrounds. Ultimately, there will be a “brand book.” 

On behalf of the board, Elizabeth thanked the logo subcommittee for their work.

The Morristown Chamber of Commerce

Elizabeth has gotten an email inviting The Folk Project to join the Morristown Chamber of Commerce with a two-year membership that’s essentially half-off. It will cost us $220 (which is normally the price for one year). Elizabeth has a short list of things the membership could bring us (according to the chamber itself) but no one present had any experience with this kind of relationship. We won’t get any value if we don’t engage, and that means some of the folks on the board would need to do more work. Mike felt we shouldn’t put our money down until we have those workers lined up. Several people were also troubled by the vagueness of the value claims. (Like “discounts at Staples” – How much?)

Pamela felt that chambers of cCommerce are more oriented to small businesses. It doesn’t seem like a great idea to her, unless we can identify people who are excited by the prospects. Sam thinks it’s always good to have contacts, although he doesn’t see himself driving down from Connecticut for a Morristown networking event. But considering the cost, he doesn’t think there’s a big downside risk. Chris pointed out that $110 per year is only about $9.00 a month. Tina agreed; the more exposure we have the better. Bob also agreed, suggesting that this could be a good way to expand our demographic. If it generated three new members a year, it would pay for itself.

Elizabeth will do a little more homework, and may contact other board members for help in making the decision. She’s inclined to give it a try. 

OLD BUSINESS

A Folk Project Courtesy Policy

Bob kicked off the discussion by reading through the draft "Code of Conduct" policy he presented last month. Gary was surprised at that, since we spent almost an hour talking about it in March. He thought with that much feedback, Bob would have taken steps to refine and enhance the copy. He also thought we should have gotten a revised draft via email, so we could review it before this meeting. Bob didn’t  agree, noting that he hadn’t gotten any significant feedback via email, as requested.

However, Bob has continued to work the issue and thinks we basically have three choices. We could opt not to have any formal policy; he would withdraw the motion and we could do nothing. We could also draft a “positive affirmation policy,” that expresses the expectations we already have. That would make those expectations readable, formal and “findable.”  The third option would be negatively couched, with a catalog of unacceptable behaviors, along with potential consequences for transgressors. Bob thinks the middle option is the best one. 

The draft policy from last month makes it clear that the Folk Project has expectations of courtesy, patience, politeness, respect and tolerance, both in our interactions with each other and with the public. The gist of the current draft policy doesn’t preclude us from expanding its specificity if we want to go that way. He mentioned the code of conduct of the Folk Alliance International as an example we might follow.

Elizabeth thanked Bob for his work on this, and repeated something she said last month. That is, having a positive, aspirational policy creates a space for better communication and better management. She thinks we’ve tended to avoid that in the past. 

Chris thinks that at a high level, we could all agree on what good conduct looks like. The words might  be tweaked, but we’re essentially saying, “Don’t be evil,” which was once Google’s unofficial motto. But Chris is skeptical that having such a policy would provide any practical benefits. Once we agree on the words, how do we operationalize them? Elizabeth thinks the policy itself  answers that question since it assigns that responsibility to the president.

Mark is also skeptical. As a committee chair, a board member and a public-facing volunteer, he’s been in many situations over the last 50 years where he’s had to confront people who were behaving badly. He’s thinks that putting these ideas into writing could actually backfire. That is, if in his judgement an intervention was necessary, the other party might accuse HIM of being discourteous. He’s opposed to the motion because he thinks we’ve managed fine with normal discourse. And he has a sneaking suspicion that when we develop general rules to address specific past problems, they are only going to be misused. A policy would have been of no use to him in any of the real-world situations where he’s had to deal with difficult people. “Trust me on this,” he said. It’s better if we deal with things as individuals.

Tina would like to see some “active language” that emphasizes the importance of geniality when dealing with the public. We want our volunteers to include people and make them feel welcomed. Chris thinks there’s some middle ground between Mark’s position and Tina’s, imagining that we add a page to the website called “About Volunteering.” A lot of Bob’s copy could be published right there. Chris doesn’t think it can do any harm, but doesn’t think it would be much use for dealing with the next transgressor. 

George repeats his comments from last month, and still thinks a policy like this could be useful. Passing this motion would mean the board sees it as an organizationally significant area. That would be new. It puts everyone on notice that the board has an interest in proper behavior. He also thinks Bob’s motion is at an appropriate level of specificity. 

Gary doesn't think that listing specific behaviors and possible consequences is “negative.” From his long years in the corporate world, he doesn’t think such statements are seen as negative by either employees or managers. And he doesn’t believe making a policy that says don't be rude will have any effect on individual behavior. “If they haven’t learned that by middle school, they’re not going to learn it.”  He agrees with Mark that this policy won’t give us anything we don’t already have.

Bob pushed back on that a little. He noted that because the Folk Project is a very tolerant and respectful organization, many of the folks who are drawn to it are shy. They may not have a similar framework for governing themselves, and might be surprised to learn they need to be more courteous.

Pamela thinks the discussion this month is a little more “colorful and concrete,” but is basically the same discussion we had in March. There are well-founded opinions on all sides of the issue, and she doubts that we will ever reach complete agreement. She still thinks Bob’s draft policy is solidly on the middle ground. If we’re going to address the issue at all as an organization, Bob’s draft language is the best we’re going to get.

Elizabeth felt the discussion had gone on long enough and wanted to move to a vote. The motion that was tabled in March was to accept and implement such a policy. The vote tonight was surprisingly close with seven in favor (Loretta Brooks, Doug Heacock, Bob McNally, George Otto, Tina Ross, Robin Schaffer and Pamela Zave), six opposed (Sam Edelston, John Mahon, Gary Pratt, Chris Riemer, Mark Schaffer and Jean Scully) and six abstentions (Mike Agranoff, Jeff Canter, Paul Fisher, Peggy Karr, Allan Kugel and Sandie Reilly).

Bob thinks the closeness of the vote is a good sign that the draft copy is pretty solidly in the main stream of our collective thinking. He recommends that we revisit the issue in a year. 

COMMITTEE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS 

Publicity

Sam stands on his written report.

Special Events

Mark has two things that he thinks are worthy of board discussion.

The first is his vision of an expanded special concert series, featuring bigger names and higher performer fees. He believes we will recoup the cost of the series by growing our core membership, while leveraging the new 300-seat auditorium that’s being built by MUUF. He has his eyes on performers like Jorma Kaukonen, Jeff Daniels and perhaps even Judy Collins. He would like to do six to nine concerts a year, and they will likely require deposits in the 25% range. So that could have an impact on our cash flow. 

The second has to do with “radically” changing the Getaway, based on the dismal level of interest for this Spring. We only have 42 people signed up after two months of aggressive marketing. We need to reinvent the Getaway in some fashion, because the model we’ve used since the pre-Covid days isn’t working any more. With that in mind, he wants to advertise the Spring Getaway as “the last of its kind.” That’s potentially a controversial kind of label and he didn’t want to do it without board consensus. 

Taking these two things together, Mark points out that the money he won’t be spending on the Getaway can be diverted to help cover the cost of Special Concert deposits.

Given the lateness of the hour, and Mark’s desire for some kind of board feedback, Elizabeth called for a straw poll. Does the board support or oppose Mark’s vision for the Concert series and the Getaway. Though unofficial, the poll does support Mark’s program.

However, Gary sounded a cautionary note. He felt Mark’s information should have been presented as new  business, not delivered inside of a committee report at the end of the night. He would like to request that we not do business that way in the future. There was no urgency in either of Mark’s two proposals. They could just as well have waited until next month. He has no objection to the proposals themselves, just at the way they’ve been brought to the board. 

Allan had the last word, suggesting that there may be many factors in play for the low attendance at the Spring Getaway. He’s a little worried that we may be reacting to it without really understanding what’s going on.

Swingin’ Tern

Doug stands on his report. Later, he would note that long-time volunteer Tom Banwell is suffering from a neurological, neuromuscular disease. He’s being cared for at home and would like to hear from folks. Doug thinks a gift of flowers from the Folk Project would be appropriate. That would be something for Pat Brangs to arrange. 

Streaming

Gary stands on his report.

Troubadour

Gary stands on the report, for Todd as well. Sam asked if they were making any progress on filling the two open shows at the end of May. Gary said they are making progress, but he’s not ready to go into the specifics at this time. He wants to be sure the committee can control the messaging around some of its planned changes, and that’s why his recent reports have been “deliberately vague.” But he will get the information to Sam as soon as possible.

There was also some discussion about secretarial discretion, as far as what goes into the minutes. Chris feels that in the past, we’ve sometimes invoked the Committee of the Whole principle without really needing to. He’d prefer that if sensitive information is being discussed, it should be done via email, not in the public forum of the board meeting.

Troubadour Staffing

Jean reports that we did have an issue with some disruptive behavior involving one of the volunteers at Troubadour, but it’s been handled. Unfortunate, but it won’t happen again. Mike asked Jean to send him an email with the details, so he’s fully briefed on the background.

Horses Sing None of It

Sandie has nothing to report.

Sound Reinforcement

John stands on his report.

Future Planning

Robin stands on her report.

Newsletter

George recently ran an article soliciting volunteers for specific committee needs. He’d be happy to run similar blurbs for others.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting  proper was adjourned at  10:28  PM. Next month’s meeting is May 7, at 8:15 PM, via Zoom. 

Submitted by Chris Riemer

TROUBADOUR

From: Gary Pratt <prattdiv@comcast.net>
Sent: Sunday, March 31, 2024 3:47 PM
To: board@folkproject.org
Cc: Kathi Caccavale <kathi@sumcom.org>
Subject: Troubadour Committee Report - April 2024

Folk Project Board Members,

Exciting changes are on the horizon at the Troubadour, aimed at enriching our venue for performers and audiences alike. Details are being finalized and will be shared soon, highlighting our commitment to enhancing the Troubadour experience and ensuring our place as a premier destination for the folk community.

A big thank you to our dedicated committee members for their hard work behind the scenes. Your efforts are paving the way for a vibrant future at the Troubadour.

Stay tuned for more information on these positive developments. Thank you for your continued support.

Respectfully submitted,

Gary and Todd, Troubadour Committee co-chairs 

Troubadour Show Report for March 2024
Prepared by Mike Agranoff 

As expected, March was a very good month for the Troubadour, given that the lineup included two blockbuster acts, Tom Chapin and Beppe Gambetta.  The average paid attendance for the month was 98.0 (109.5 total attendance), and we took in $774 profit for the month.  It’s also worth noting that Andrew Dunn drew 69 paid attendees, better than average for a Member feature act.  And Carole Wise’s show, even though she drew only 26 paid (Good Friday?) just about broke even. (Took a loss of 51 cents.)

 Looking at the longer-term figures: Year-to-date, we are $1,838 in the black, and over the past 12 months, we are $2,514 in the black.  ($3,514 if you count donations.)  That’s pretty good, considering that a year ago, we were still in the process of rebuilding our audience after COVID.  Our performers are doing quite well too, with Feature Act’s total earnings averaging $1,711 for March, $1,271 year-to-date, and $1,010 over the past 12 months.  The streaming ticket sales have done a lot for our bottom line, and the streaming tips have done a lot for the performer’s bottom line.

 The Tom Chapin Show was “sold out” in advance.  I put “sold out” in quotes, because we had shut off advance sales at 165 instead of our usual 180, because we had to allow seats for the holders of about 20 “pink tickets” for the show that were given away at the Morristown Green day in October.  As it turned out, only 4 of those tickets were redeemed.  Added to that was the surprising failure of 32 people who had bought advance tickets to show up.  (I suspect that a significant number of those “no-shows” were actually in attendance, but the Door staff missed recording their arrival.  It was a bit of a Chinese fire drill at the admissions desk.)  Whatever the cause, there were something like 20 unused chairs in the room.  We had publicized the sell-out several days in advance, so we had only 6 people show up to purchase tickets at the door, and they all got in.  We probably could have filled the room had we not advertised the “sell-out”.  I would request that we be less generous with unaccounted ticket giveaways in future.

 More notes on the Chapin show.

1. It was a good learning experience on what to do when we’re sold out.  There should be less fumbling and head-scratching next time.

2. The number of streaming viewers was unexpectedly small at 52, especially considering Tom Chapin’s name recognition, and that people shut out when we announced the sell-out might have wanted to view the show by streaming.

3. The number of streaming viewers who tipped was also unexpectedly small . Only 15 of those 52 viewers tipped, although those who did tip were mostly generous.

4. My emcee pitch for volunteers proved fruitful, with four people who signed up for onsite help, one of whom also offered skills in the general management of the Folk Project as well.

5. The volunteer staff were great!  All very helpful and with great attitude.  They adjusted to the difficulties and non-standard procedures.  

New bookings last month:

• May 3:  Carla Ulbrich:  Folk Project member and “professional smart-aleck” (in her words) to open for the Loose Canons.

• Dec. 6:  Newberry & Verch  That’s April Verch, well known Canadian fiddler and step-dancer now working with banjo and guitar player Joe Newberry.

Highlight in April

• April 26:  The Tannahill Weavers  For almost half a century, Scottland’s premier super-group.  Think The Chieftains, except Scottish rather than Irish.  It will be a real coup for the Troubadour, and we only got them at a price we can (barely) afford because we were so convenient to their touring.

 Respectfully submitted:

Mike Agranoff
www.MikeAgranoff.com 

FUTURE PLANNING

From: Robin Schaffer <robinjs19@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, April 1, 2024 9:00 AM
To: BoardPlus - Current board, select alumni, key volunteers <boardplus@folkproject.org>
Subject: Future Planning Committee Board Report

Hi All,

Below and attached are the report.

Thanks, Robin and Bob

FP Future Planning Committee
April Board Report
April 2, 2024

March Accomplishments

• Grant and Sponsorship Status 

The Mid-Atlantic Arts grant, which is for a concert in 2025 with Jorma Kaukonon has been submitted.  Mid-Atlantic Arts will play 50% of the artist fee and expenses. We will find out if we received the grant money by July. 

• Presentation Sub Committee  

Mark, Bob and Todd are working through the lighting proposal with MUUF.

Coming Attractions slide show is not yet running weekly.  Mark is working with Thomas to make sure the slides are updated regularly and the Troubadour crew has them each week. 

• Social Media 

Social Media advertising experiments continued. 

• We engaged a new volunteer, Barry Richman, to help produce videos. 

• We’ve done very heavy promotion on Songwriter Day and Concert.  Sales are a bit sluggish. 

• The tracking of results is not working.  FB/Instagram are way overreporting ticket sales.  We are investigating. 

• Our experiments continue through July 

• Branding

Logo is ready for presentation at the April Board Meeting, to be voted on in May

April Goals

• We will be setting a day in June/July for the committee to do an in person meeting to look ahead at our next goals. 

• Social Media

We are running a special promotion on April 19 in conjunction with Restaurant Week.  Free Dessert Night for Arielle Silver.  We are planning to run a campaign targeting players about the FP as a great home.  We’ll primarily promote Open Stage and Getaway.

• Branding

Finalize  logo for May vote

• Presentation

Continue on lighting plan

 • Volunteerism 

We still need help with social media - copywriters, and graphics.  Right now Mark and I are hobbling along with it.  We brought up the idea of getting students from College of St. Elizabeth, Drew, Fairleigh Dickinson, or CCM to provide volunteer resources.  Todd volunteered to investigate this.

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.Schaffer@folkproject.org.

SPECIAL EVENTS

From: Mark Schaffer <mark.schaffer@folkproject.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 2, 2024 4:42 PM
To: Board <Board@folkproject.org>
Subject: NJ Guitar Summit Added to Special Events Committee Report for April 2024

Note: The NJ Guitar Summit was added to this report.

SPECIAL EVENTS COMMITTEE REPORT TO BOARD

Acoustic Getaway

The news is heartbreaking: Admissions are dismal - slower and lower than October’s half Getaway. Only 48 people have signed up.

As a result, I’ve renegotiated for a second time with Stony Point. We’ve gone from renting the entire facility down to 130 and now down to 60 or 75. The new agreement is verbal, pending our April Board meeting. I’ll suggest 60 to the Board and notify Stony Wednesday. We must pay for 80% of the total beds we reserve. This alters which lodges they will put us in. We are grateful to Stoney Point for accommodating the dramatic reduction from our original intentions.

The lineup is still fantastic. Lili Añel’ cannot perform for a very acceptable reason.

The low attendance dramatically alters the prospects of future Getaways. Low attendance doesn’t support the artist budget and the programming of the past, and doesn’t justify continuing the large financial support the Board invested in this Getaway. Suggestions for future weekends include no outside artists and just us, or a very limited roster of one or two outside artists, or no Getaway at all.

To drum up attendance, we are considering advertising the current Getaway as the last of its kind. We request a Board discussion on this topic at April Board meeting.

NJ Guitar Summit 

NJ Guitar Summit is an updated version of the Getaway Guitar Days we ran long ago. It will be October 19, 2024 at MUUF. The purpose is to expand the educational element of our programs beyond Getaway weekends. The purpose and programming is similar to our Songwriter’s Day. 

Beppe Gambetta is organizing the workshop programming, the concert, and choosing performers. The Special Concerts Committee is operating the finances, the volunteers, food, and the contracts. The outside artists will be Beppe, Chris Newman, and Jon Shain. Folk Project artists will be Steve Gibb and Todd Dennison.

Event Hosting

Everything is going well and as planned.

Songwriter’s Day with Susan Werner & Natalia Zukerman

64 people bought concert tickets and 26 for workshops and concert. We are ramping up social media advertising with the help of Robin and Future Planning Committee. We expect to hit our targets and break even financially, a big improvement over our first Songwriters Day. Laura McCluskey is managing meals and snacks. Meetings are friendly, fruitful, and fun.

Special Concerts

This was discussed in a previous report mid-month email.

Special Concerts is planning a higher-profile concert series to attract first-timers and concert them into members and regulars to our regular, smaller venues, such as Troubadour, Open Stage, Member Shows, Evenings of Music, Swingin’ Terns, and maybe Getaway.

The first concert bid is for Jorma Koukonen in conjunction Caffé Lena and Godfrey Daniels as part of a substantial grant from MidAtlantic Arts. It is timed for early 2025. Representatives from MidAtlantic Arts lead us to believe the application will be successful.  Recently, MidAtlantic Arts clarified by email that this grant allows recipients to raise money after costs. Because the grant is substantial, money raised at this concert will be uncharacteristically large, and help the committee invest in future special concerts.

It is standard practice for Special Concerts to put up deposits for high-profile artists. Typically, this is one deposit at a time. The series will require three or four deposits to start. The Board should take note of this investment and discuss it at the meeting.

Because Special Concerts will be using the new wing at MUUF, President Betsy and I will be discussing the new program with Fellowship representatives.

Mark Schaffer, Folk Project Special Events Chair
201-207-8696
Mark.Schaffer@folkproject.org

STREAMING

From: Gary Pratt <prattdiv@comcast.net>
Sent: Monday, April 1, 2024 3:48 PM
To: board@folkproject.org
Cc: Kathi Caccavale <kathi@sumcom.org>
Subject: Streaming Committee Report - April 2024

Folk Project Board Members,

Two milestones for Folk Project Streaming:

• March 20th marked the 4th anniversary of the Folk Project Streaming Tuesdays concert series (originally started as the Folk Project Acoustic Stayaway). The first performer was Toby Walker. 

• April 7th marks the 1st anniversary of the streaming of Troubadour concerts via Afton. The first performers were Christine Lavin with Billy Hall. 

Respectfully submitted,

Gary
Folk Project Streaming Chair

NEWSLETTER

From: George Otto <g_otto@comcast.net>
Sent: Monday, April 1, 2024 4:19 PM
To: boardplus@folkproject.org
Cc: George Otto <GeorgeOtto@mac.com>
Subject: Newsletter Committee Report 2024-04

Newsletter Committee Report 2024-04 

Things are proceeding as usual with the invaluable help of Kathi Caccavale, Pat Brangs, Bill Henderson, Gary Pratt, Paul Fisher, and Todd Dennison. 

The April issue of the newsletter included an article listing the various opportunities whereby members could volunteer to help with our monthly activities. Descriptions were included for the Publicity Committee, the FP Website, Social Media Advertising, and Swingin' Tern Dances. Hopefully, this will bring more help to these activities. 

George Otto
Folk Project Newsletter Editor
newsletter@folkproject.org

SWINGIN’ TERN

From: 'Doug Heacock' via BoardPlus - Current board, select alumni, key volunteers boardplus@folkproject.org>
Sent: Monday, April 1, 2024 4:23 PM
To: BoardPlus - Current Board Select Alumni Key Volunteers <boardplus@folkproject.org>
Subject: Swingin' Tern March 2024 Report for FP Board Meeting on 4/2/24

Swingin' Tern Dances March 2024 Report for the Folk Project Board Meeting on 4/2/24

In March Swingin’ Tern held two regular evening dances:

3/2      Donna Hunt & Riverside                43 attendees [31 paid/10 staff/2 free]      Loss    -$50 

3/16    Karen Justin & Ten Gallon Hat      47 attendees [36 paid/8 staff/3 free]         Loss    -$50           

March total -$100 loss

Attendance dropped off in March from our February totals of 61 and 51 dancers.  The first dance was on a very rainy day and had the first Brooklyn double dance to be held opposite us.  Brooklyn Contra used to dance on Sundays.  Going forward, about half their dances are on first and third Saturdays opposite our dance.  This hinders our ability to work with them in organizing Saturday at Tern/Sunday at Brooklyn tours for talent.  CD*NY used to dance every Saturday night.  They now dance on second and fourth Saturdays.  We don’t have a lot of NYC dancers—two regularly come to our dances.  We hope to increase those numbers with more attractive talent and our site being two blocks from the train station.

Our new booker, Jon Justin, has been a great job booking well into the future.  Doug has been helping by booking the talent for three double dances for the first dance in June, September, and October.  Double dances feature advanced contras in the afternoon and our regular all-level dance in the evening.  At the dinner break we take advantage of the 16 restaurants within two blocks of the dancehall.  More distant talent has been booked for these dances.  Jon and Doug have expanded the talent database by sharing contact lists with local dances.  We hope to facilitate more tours for talent to attract bigger names.  This has been done for the October double dance with Sycamore, featuring Cedar Stanistreet.  Sycamore is booked at Princeton/Wed, Philly/Thur, Glen Echo, MD/Fri, and Tern/Sat.  When available, we can add Brooklyn when they have Sunday dances. 

Elizabeth has asked me to provide the contact details for Tom Banwell that I mentioned in last month’s report.  Tom, who did sound reinforcement for Swingin’ Tern for thirty years, had to stop dancing five years ago due to a neurodegenerative disease.  He is now in hospice at home.  He is lucid but cannot speak or read well. Text his wife Lisa first at 732 267-1692.  The best time to call is 3-5pm or 6-8pm.  Lisa will help "translate" so you can understand Tom. Their address is: 316 Ford Street, Howell, NJ 07731.

Yours in dance,

Doug Heacock                          

PUBLICITY

From: sam.edelston@folkproject.org <sam.edelston@folkproject.org>
Sent: Monday, April 1, 2024 8:16 PM
To: boardplus@folkproject.org
Cc: publicitycomm@folkproject.org
Subject: Publicity Report for 2024-04-02 Board meeting

Hi, all –

Here’s the April Publicity Report along with John Lamb’s Web Stats. 

Let me know if there are any questions.

Sam

SOUND REINFORCEMENT

From: 'John Mahon' via BoardPlus - Current board, select alumni, key volunteers <boardplus@folkproject.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 2, 2024 6:05 PM
To: BoardPlus - Current board, select alumni, key volunteers <boardplus@folkproject.org>; Elizabeth Lachowicz <elizabeth.lachowicz@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Sound Reinforcement Committee Report April 2024

Sound Reinforcement Committee Report April 2024

In March we provided live and broadcast sound for 5 Friday night shows. This included 4 regular shows for Tom Chapin and Steve Gibb on Mar. 1, Andrew Dunn with Hannah Dunn on Mar. 15, Beppe Gambetta with Carol Walker on Mar. 22, and Carol Wise with Pete McDonough on Mar. 29. And the Open Stage on Mar. 8.

The March 22 show featuring Beppe Gambetta with Carol Waker experienced a fault in the video broadcast. The sound in the video broadcast initially had an unacceptable echo. This was caused by initial incorrect settings in the OBS video software which fed three separate sound sources into the software all with different time delay attributes. These setting were entered into the software sometime in the previous week while testing the system. Normally we do not make any changes in these settings, and we cannot sample the audio quality at this point in the system, so we do not have advanced warning of this problem. Fortunately, we were able to correct the broadcast after 15 minutes of phone calls to the system expert. The broadcast was normal for the rest of the evening.

John Mahon
Committee Chairman