The meeting was called to order at 8:16PM on June 3rd, 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, Jeff Jonas, Allan Kugel, Elizabeth Lachowicz, John Mahon, Bob McNally, George Otto, Sandie Reilly, Tina Ross, Mark Schaffer, Robin Schaffer and Pamela Zave.

Absent: Christine DeLeon, Todd Dennison, Jean Scully 

Guests: None

MOTIONS MADE

• The minutes of the May 2025 monthly meeting were approved unanimously.

• A motion to authorize up to $1800 for a Folk Project Private Showcase at NERFA 2025 was approved unanimously.

• A motion to adjourn was made at 9:34 PM and approved unanimously.

ADMINISTRATIVE OVERVIEW 

• Secretary

  • A motion was entered by Mark, seconded by Loretta, to accept the minutes of the May 2025 meeting.  

  • It was approved unanimously.

• Treasurer

  • Jeff reported that our bookkeeper was on vacation for two weeks, so there is still entry work to be done.  Otherwise, there was nothing to add to his report.

OLD BUSINESS

• None

NEW BUSINESS

• NERFA Showcase

  • A request was made by Tina and Bob to spend just over $1500 on a Folk Project NERFA Private Showcase.

  • Andy, Bob and Tina booked and staffed our showcase for the previous two years and it was a complete success but a lot of the expenses were absorbed by them.

  • For this year, the proposal would be to do it properly, including

    • Paying for the conference for Bob and Andy

    • Paying for the room

    • Paying for snacks and other incidental expenses.

  • Discussion followed on the impact of booking at our venues and showcasing Folk Project members.

  • A total of about 50 people showcased in our room last year.

  • Mark said that having the showcase raises the visibility of the Folk Project in the region and that he found Getaway performers at NERFA.

  • In the end, the motion was modified to authorize up to $1800 for the Folk Project Private Showcase at NERFA 2025.

  • It was approved unanimously.

COMMITTEE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS 

Swingin’ Tern

• Doug stood on his report.

Newsletter

• Goerge stood on his report.

• Pamela suggested that if In Memoriam had no news, then it shouldn’t be in the Table of Contents.

Open Stage

• Todd was not present.

Membership

• Todd was not present.

Special Events and Troubadour

• Mark explained that he was now running both Troubadour and Special Concerts as Troubadour, with the shows that make more money or come in at a higher price making it possible to balance out for lightly attended shows without having to pay performers less than the agreed to rate.  Going forward, reporting will be just for the combined Troubadour venue.

• Mike explained that a change in an app used to generate some of the data in the financial reports that he does for Troubadour is forcing John Lamb and he to come up with a workaround until the new ticketing system has been completed.  Mark thanked him for his work on this.

• Paul asked for status on the Kingston Trio show.  Mark said the group feels honored to be playing for our 50th anniversary and that sales so far have been pretty good but an additional push from Publicity needs to be discussed with Sam.

• In response to a question, Mark stated that he was evaluating lessons learned from the Brooklyn Invasion concert.

Horses Sing None of It

• Sandie reported that there was nothing to report.

Sound Reinforcement

• John stood on his report.

Publicity/Web

• Sam reported that the amount of money needed for the first printing of the Folk Project history book needs to be adjusted slightly upward and he will know the final figure soon. 

• There was also discussion about promoting both the book and the Kingston Trio concert on July 18th.

Future Planning

• Robin stood on her report.

LAST MINUTE DISCUSSIONS

• None

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting  proper was adjourned at  09:34  PM. Next month’s meeting is July 1st, at 8:15 PM, via Zoom. 

Submitted by Paul Fisher

TREASURER

OPEN STAGE

PUBLICITY

SOUND REINFORCEMENT

STREAMING CONCERTS

FUTURE PLANNING