The meeting was called to order at 8:17 PM on January 7, by President Elizabeth Lachowicz, welcoming the attendees and wishing everyone a happy New Year.  This meeting was held via Zoom.

ROLL CALL

Present: Loretta Brooks, Jeff Canter, Christine DeLeon, Todd Dennison, Sam Edelston, Paul Fisher, Doug Heacock, Jeff Jonas, Allan Kugel, Elizabeth Lachowicz, John Mahon, Bob McNally, George Otto, Sandie Reilly, Tina Ross, Mark Schaffer and Robin Schaffer

Absent: Mike Agranoff, Jean Scully, Pamela Zave

Guests: Eric Balkey, Peggy Karr

MOTIONS MADE

• The minutes of the December 2024 monthly  meeting were approved by unanimous vote.

• The minutes of the 2024 annual membership  meeting were approved by unanimous vote.

• A motion to join the Morris County Chamber of Commerce for $550 for one year was made and approved unanimously.

• A motion to advertise in Morristown Green at a cost of $1050 for 7 months was approved unanimously.

• A motion to adjourn was made at 9:48 PM and approved unanimously.

TREASURER'S OVERVIEW 

New Treasurer Jeff Jonas stands on the written report submitted by his predecessor, Peggy Karr.

President Elizabeth Lachowicz reported outside discussions with several Board members about finances and budgets.  She emphasized that she is listening to all concerns and we will be keeping a closer eye on our finances as part of our fiduciary responsibilities as the Board.

OLD BUSINESS

Annual New Year Actions

President Elizabeth spoke of taking care of annual New Year actions:

• Website updates

• Incoming Secretary Paul Fisher training by outgoing secretary Chris Riemer.

• Venue chairs being on top of contracts with our landlords.

NEW BUSINESS

Elizabeth spoke of two motions to be considered at this meeting and turned over the floor to Robin Schaffer to speak on the first one.

Motion to Join the Morris County Chamber of Commerce

Robin requested to share a presentation.  It covers both motions and is added to the written reports.

She shared that the Future Planning Committee often spoke of being more connected to the community.  For example, “when seeking grants, they want to see you having community ties. There are some promotional partnerships we can provide with community people. We need to get more known in the community. There's many different values to the folk project being more present.”  Robin also added that others such as Tom Werder from Morris Arts (which gave the Folk Project a grant of $4500 in December) have encouraged us to look into the Morris County Chamber of Commerce for networking and forwarding the goals being discussed.

Mark Schaffer attended a Chamber meeting and was impressed by the quality of their events and how the Chamber of Commerce can be helpful in making new connections in the community.  One year’s memberships costs $550, offers a lot of opportunities with no limit on the number of Folk Project representatives that can be involved.

Robin made a motion that the Folk Project join the Morris County Chamber of Commerce for one year.

Discussion followed on how this would help grow our audience.  Mark gave the example of meeting someone from News12 who he was going to meet on Wednesday and possibly put us on News12.  He also mentioned connection with “movers and shakers” and other arts organizations.  It was also said that around 60 organizations were present at the meeting and, of those, about 10 offered possible opportunities for the Folk Project.  This will get us better known to the local community.

Treasurer Jeff Jonas pointed out that, from his experience with MeetUp, that $550 was a reasonable amount for this opportunity.  It may possibly get us on more calendars and social media and get the word out locally.

Sam Edelston pointed out that his would improve our ability to get grants.  One extra grant would more than cover the cost of membership for a year.  Robin pointed out that we lost a grant this year because of a lack of connections to the community.

Allan Kugel pointed out that this would require commitment from qualified members to attend the meetings.  Robin and Mark committed to taking that role until another qualified volunteer becomes available.  Also, any other Board members may attend at any time.

Supportive discussion continued and the motion to join the Morris County Chamber of Commerce for one year for $550 was approved unanimously.

Motion to Advertise on Morristown Green 

Robin also shared a slide presenting the arguments for a seven-month trial of advertising on the Morristown Green website for a total of $1050.  Copy would change weekly to keep up with our shows, we would be provided with measurements (views, hovers, clicks) and we would be supporting an outlet that frequently gives extensive coverage to Folk Project events.  Morristown Green is run by Kevin Coughlin, who has covered us and participated in many Folk Project events.  The rate is discounted ($150/month  for non-profits instead of $200/month).  Our ad would be on the home page of the website, so everyone would see it.

Mark, who has been talking to Kevin, pointed out that advertising on Morristown Green would also probably result in more frequent articles and interviews with performers.  Having the measurements would also show us if the investment is paying off and if it should be continued beyond the seven months.  

He also pointed out that, prior to the pandemic, our publicity efforts were sufficient to maintain adequate attendance and pay performers fairly.  Now, we have to “develop new publicity muscles” to find ways to build back a regular audience that will sustain our concerts.    In order to do this, a lot of experimentation is needed.

In response to a question, Mark said that he would be the one to update the content and Sam volunteered that it be handled by Publicity, which Mark accepted.

Elizabeth suggested that it not be only Troubadour but also possibly include Swingin’ Tern and Open Stage.

Sam pointed out the value of possibly finding some local regulars, which is worth more over time than the $150/month cost of the advertising.  He also liked the mock-up presence on the home page that is on the proposal slide.

Tina enquired about readership and Mark recalled that Kevin mentioned over one million clicks per year for the site.  Kevin also told Mark that we can focus on just Morristown or the whole Morris County area.  She also asked about using Troubadour vs Folk Project so that we focus on getting name recognition since Troubadour does not necessarily imply a folk concert.  Mark responded that the ad copy includes the phrase “Morristown’s Listening Room”, which gives a clear indication of what The Troubadour is about.  The term Folk Project would not in itself be a draw to a lot of people.

Discussion continued until Elizabeth called for a vote, which unanimously approved the motion to allocate $1050 for a seven-month trial of advertising on Morristown Green.

COMMITTEE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS 

Publicity

Sam Edelston requested that more of the Board participate in the Click Clique because the number of clicks has dropped to about half of what they were when it started eight or nine months ago.  Volunteers on the Click Clique email list are supposed to act when they receive Sam’s weekly email with the links for Folk Project Facebook events to be promoted.  Once received, it only takes a minute for the recipients to share the Folk Project events with their own Facebook friends.  Sam pointed out that this was essentially word of mouth promotion since it comes from the people on the mailing list who are doing the clicks.  Robin had pointed out earlier that Troubadour surveys show that word of mouth is our biggest source of newcomers.

Doug asked if Swingin’ Tern dances could be included and Sam said he would love to add them.  Timing and mechanics for doing this were discussed.

Sam also thanked Elizabeth for a Folk Project history chapter that she sent to him.

Elizabeth thanked Sam and asked that he extend our appreciation to the whole Publicity team.

Special Events

Mark sent his written report just before the meeting but had some things to add.

Because of the uncertain availability of the new, larger hall at MUUF, Special Concerts will be run on Fridays in the Sanctuary with the exception Holly Near, who had already signed a contract for a Sunday.  An old agreement between Troubadour (actually Minstrel) and Special Concerts specified four Fridays per year for special concerts.  Since Mark is also the Troubadour chair, he is planning to have up to eight Special Concerts on Fridays.  Friday Special Concerts that look like they will be sold out early can be moved to the new hall but only with MUUF’s permission.

His goal is to work towards an average attendance of one hundred, which will allow Troubadour to pay a fair wage to performers.  Bringing in bigger names for Special Concerts will build attendance for Troubadour as people get to know our work.

Swingin’ Tern

Doug stands on his written report but added that New Year’s Eve was a highlight.  It was the second since CoViD and very successful, with similar attendance to last year but about double the number coming to the potluck dinner, which he sees as furthering Tern as a social group.  They also hosted a holiday party.  They are going to start adding a small table for people who want to bring in their dinner an hour or so before the dance starts.

The other request was for possible help from Sound Reinforcement on February 15th, as their usual sound people are not available.  John said he was looking into it.

Horses Sing None of It

Sandie reports that nothing has come to fruition yet on bringing back Horses.  Still looking for a venue or a home base.  Elizabeth asked to hear what the needs are and Sandie replied that we need a studio where we can also house our equipment when it is not in use.  Once a space is found, we can get people together to start to run the shows.

Some discussion of the history with the previous studios occurred.

Bob McNally asked if an interim show similar to Streaming Tuesdays (artists performing from their homes or studios) would make sense.  Sandie thought it might be possible.  She also thought maybe having a Horses show of the week be highlighted on YouTube, where almost all episodes are available.  She asked if someone could show her how to do that as a place to start.  Bob suggested that Sandie talk with Gary Pratt for options.

Jeff Jonas shared his experiences with a Manhattan cable access network.  For that show, live shows were favored over repeating existing content.  Sandie replied that that was how we got Horses on other cable networks, by having someone who was a resident of the area request the channel.  Jeff also asked how Horses ties in with our other streaming content.  Sandie pointed out that Horses has been in production for 38 years and that it has a different flavor from our other productions.  It has both music and interviews.  Jeff pointed out that Ralph was central as the host but Sandie replied that there have been other hosts in the past.

Elizabeth summarized that she wanted to find out what the opportunities were for the New Year.  Horses was special in that the performers went all the way to Randolph for the exposure.  Technologies have changed but we do have a lot of equipment that was purchased for Horses and we want to support Sandie in bringing it back into use.  She finished asking if what we need are some champions for this and Sandie confirmed that that is exactly where things sit.  Horses needs more people committed to working and fewer lists of things that can be done without volunteers to do them.

George added that the Newsletter has a block ad for announcing the shows and lists of outlets and wanted to know if anything had changed so the ad can be updated.  Sandie replied that she would have to check on the content but that broadcasts are still being made on all of the stations listed.

Future Planning

Robin said that there was nothing to add to the things already covered and the written report.  There were no additional questions.

Elizabeth thanked all the volunteers that make all of our events happen.

Open Stage / Membership

Todd plans to stand on his report as soon as he writes it.

He also reported that he has finally found the bug that is messing up his Membership information tool and he will be reaching out to John Lamb after the meeting to figure out what to do about it.

Sound Reinforcement

John stands on his written report.

Elizabeth asked to extend the Board’s appreciation to the volunteers that make things look and sound good every week.

Newsletter

George stands on his written report but added that he had a problem downloading the report and could not figure it out until he contacted John Lamb, who had changed something without notifying George.  He had even tried going to a local bar to use their wi-fi without any luck.  All is now resolved.

Elizabeth sent her thanks to all those that make the Newsletter happen.

Troubadour

Mark said he had nothing to add but asked Tiina if she was ready to announce something about Songwriters Day.  Tina said that some exciting things are in the works but not finalized yet.

Mark continued that Loretta had joined the team to post photos on the web.  Also, that Todd’s tools have allowed Mark to get ahead on bookings and that he is very grateful for them.  We are now able to get ahead and collect and distribute information to all of the people that need it in a timely manner. 

Mark continued talking about successful experiments like the sold-out Joe Cirotti Trio show on January 3.  He thinks he paid too much but that he is still learning.  The full house meant he has been moving towards getting more “asses in seats”.  He thinks the atmosphere was helped by Bob McNally’s new lighting, which is great but still has things to be worked out.  He compared the standard 

Sanctuary lighting to holding Troubadour in a basement and then moving it upstairs with real, focused lighting on a properly lit stage with a darkened audience.  Bob pointed out that he has been working with Paul and Bill Henderson on making sure the lighting also works for the streaming audience.  They are now using the exposure controls for the cameras that weren’t used in the past and this is making things better even with the new lighting.

LAST MINUTE DISCUSSIONS

Request From Peggy Karr

Peggy has requested that we set up something so that she has some kind of official standing on the Board so that our banks will recognize her authority.  Discussion ensued on how this could be handled, with Peggy mentioning talking to Paul and Jeff about this.  A number of ideas were discussed with Jeff Cantor referring to an email he sent about how we could add Peggy to the Board as a director for the purpose of chairing a Finance Committee.

Elizabeth asked that, as Peggy initially suggested, that this be handled further at the February meeting.

Comments from Guest Erik Balkey

Folk Project member Erik Balkey, who was watching a Board meeting for the first time, commented that he found it really interesting and would like to “tune in” in the future.  As a songwriter, he is particular interested in Songwriters Day and really enjoyed it a lot.  He also found that it was attended by songwriters from many parts but maybe too few from right around Morris County.  Figuring out how to get the word out to local songwriters is a challenge.  But if you get local artists to play at Folk Project venues, they will bring their family and friends to local concerts.  If they are booked by us and they are hungry for an audience, they will bring locals who maybe never heard of the Folk Project.  He goes to a lot of open mics and there are always people from teenagers to older musicians there and he mentions the Folk Project and the next time he comes to Open Stage, some of them have made it even though they had never heard of us before.  

Bob McNally responded that there are probably a hundred budding songwriters in our local high schools and we should reach out to some of them to build connections.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting  proper was adjourned at  9:48  PM. Next month’s meeting is February 4, at 8:15 PM, via Zoom. 

Submitted by Paul Fisher

NEWSLETTER

'George Otto' via BoardPlus - Current board, select alumni, key volunteers

Jan 5, 2025, 3:53 PM (10 days ago)

to boardplus@folkproject.org, George

Newsletter Committee Report 2025-01

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

I'd like to remind everyone of the release schedule for the newsletter. Generally, the online version is released by the 20th of the month, with an email notice being sent to those members who requested the electronic version. Next, a copy of the file is sent to the company that prints and addresses the paper newsletters and sends them to Kathi Caccavale, who stamps them and drops them off at the Post Office. This usually results in the paper copies being delivered to our members during the last five days of the month.

If you are not receiving your newsletter according to the above schedule, please let me know and I'll try to track down what happened.

Occasionally, some people miss the email announcement and don't open their eNewsletter right away. Todd Dennison showed me a feature in the Constant Contact system that we use that might help address this situation. A follow-up email can be automatically sent if the original email has not been opened for a couple of days. I'm going to turn this feature on for the next couple of months and would appreciate hearing if this helps anyone get to their newsletter in a timely manner.

George Otto

Folk Project Newsletter Editor

newsletter@folkproject.org

PUBLICITY

sam.edelston@folkproject.org

Attachments

Tue, Jan 7, 6:00 AM (8 days ago)

to boardplus, publicitycomm

Hi, all –

Here’s the January Publicity Report, along with the Web stats. (Kathi is on vacation, so I didn’t include her Facebook charts.)

See you this evening.

Sam

 2 Attachments

  •  Scanned by Gmail

SOUND REINFORCEMENT

SPECIAL EVENTS AND TROUBADOUR

STREAMING CONCERTS

TREASURER

Jeff Jonas <jeffj@panix.com>

Attachments

Tue, Jan 14, 4:55 PM (2 days ago)

to Current

Here's the 2024 P&L with "column by class"

and the balance sheet for 2024, all accrual (not cash).

Subject to change as more is reported.

and a quick intro:

Greetings! I am Jeffrey Jonas, the new treasurer.

Peggy Karr has stepped down and is graciously teaching me the ropes.

I have been a Folk Project minstrel / troubadour irregular since the 80s

at the Lord Stirling Environmental Center.

Mike Agranoff encouraged me to step up to help as Troubadour exchequer and now as treasurer.

I'm up to the challenge.

As Frodo said "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like;

and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve".

-- Jeffrey Jonas, treasurer

SWINGIN’ TERN