FSGW 2001 Minutes
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June 2001 FSGW Board Meeting
Minutes (DRAFT)
Current Board Members
attending: Carl Mintz, Stephanie
Smith, Nancy-Jean Seigel, Jim Cole, Kathy Westra, Sousan Frankeburger, Jay
Ladin, Scott McKnight, Liz Milner, Kathie Mack, Charlie Baum, Anne Sergeant
Book keeper: Pat McGee
Incoming Board Members: April
Grastorf, Sean Doherty, Chuck Moran, Lisa Harmon
The annual joint Boards meeting
took place at Nancy-Jean's place. President Carl Mintz called the meeting to
order and the first matter of business was to approve the previous month's
minutes. Liz made a motion to
accept the minutes as drafted; Scott seconded the motion. The Board minutes for May 2001 were
approved.
Committee Reports
Jim Cole,Treasurer
Chesapeake Dance Weekend.
Alice Taylor had called Jim to request $250 to make a (non-refundable) deposit
to reserve Camp Letts for next year's event. Jim posed the question about whether or not the FSGW Board
wants to continue participation.
Issues of concern included whether it was profitable, whether the
organizers made adequate efforts for publicity and budgeted for a higher % of
attendance than was realistic. After much discussion, the sense of the Board
was to continue support and to provide funds for the Camp Letts deposit.
Budget Report Pat noted that the budget is always a
month and a week out of date. He handed out copies of the budget and clarified
a number of points.
Pat brought up a concern about
whether we were strictly adhering to IRS rules for non profits in the way we
are spending money, in cases when expenditures were not set out in the budget.
We have a surplus from our
operations, but our FSGW investments are down.
The revenue from sale of the
double CDs of Shape Note Singing must be discussed to determine how to spend or
allocate this revenue.
Jim said he is working on a
budget. He pointed out that the
membership fees do cover the costs of the newsletter and our concerts. However there are additional expenses
for FSGW which are not direct benefits to the members--yet the membership
benefits from having them. These
expenses include: insurance, overhead fees, equipment, development, maintenance
of the van, outreach, etc. He
suggested we think about how we should pay for these expenses. One possibility would be raising
membership fees. Jim said he would
send out information to the Board prior to further discussions on budget.
Scott McKnight, Membership
Membership is down.
How can we attract more
members? It was suggested we find
a canopy to use as a booth, or at least find something portable to set up at
festivals and events to publicize FSGW..
It was suggested there be an
inventory of the contents of the FSGW van--and elsewhere--to see what we
own. There might be materials
there usable for festival publicity.
New Directory:
Jim made a motion that we
transfer $250 from Membership to the Directory budget to pay for publishing a
new FSGW Directory (based on the Membership database). Anne Sergeant seconded the motion.
Sousan Frankeberger, Special
Events
Tom Paxton's concert is this
coming Saturday.
Alice Gerrard, Brad Leftwich and
Tom Sauber will give a concert on June 29
No concert in August; on
September 8th Brian Peters will perform and;
on November 2nd,
Gordon Bok and Bob Zenz are scheduled;
Jack Langstaff will give a
concert sometime in mid-November.
Kathy Westra, Program
No June program; no program in
October to avoid conflict with the Getaway.
Next year, Kathy requests a
larger budget so that she can offer larger guarantees
Kathy was informed that Dennis
would be using the FSGW sound equipment in September at Buffalo Gap and that
this equipment would not be available for FSGW events at that time.
Jay Ladin, Dance
"The dance goes on"
and FSGW actually made a profit on the last dance.
There was a long discussion on
the issue of the By Laws policy that no member shall be authorized to receive
payment for services to FSGW. In
particular, there was concern about members who work at dances. No motions were taken at this
time. The topic will be brought up
under New Business at the July Board Meeting.
Anne, incoming Dance Chair,
reported an annoying man who put her personal address on his New York Dance
website. The President took measures to intimidate the annoying man.
Further, she reported finding
$58 in her pocket that should have been turned into FSGW. The Board forgave her on the spot
When Anne mentioned a dance when
the sound person didn't show up and she did sound, the topic of FSGW members
receiving payment for services to the organization began a lively
discussion. This issue and any
conflicts with the By Laws will be taken up with the new Board next month.
Kathie Mack, Newsletter
The June-July issue was 28
pages; 1825 copies were mailed out.
The Board had continued concerns
about the coordination between people involved with producing a newsletter that
is sent out on time, includes all usual announcements sent in and is free of
typos etc. This will be discussed
further with the new Board.
Old Business
Insurance. In an effort to publicize our need for
a new insurance agent, something was written up for the Newsletter to ask FSGW
Members for suggestions.
Unfortunately, this was not published.
Strategic Planing Committee. Scott mentioned the committee has not
yet completed its work.
New Business
Next month's meeting will be
held on July 2 at 8pm at Glen Echo.
The FSGW secretary will be out
of town for the August meeting and needs someone to prepare and distribute
draft minutes.
A new email and address list
will be prepared.
Chuck Moran was welcomed to the
Board as the new Membership Chair.
Charlie made a motion that
Scott be paid for his services of maintaining a membership database. Stephanie seconded the motion and it
passed.
Carl reminded us that he, as
ex-president, will remain on the Board for one year.
May 2001 FSGW Board Meeting
Board Members present: Carl Mintz, Stephanie Smith, Nancy-Jean Seigel, Jim Cole,
Liz Milner, Kathy Westra, Charlie Baum, Jay Ladin
Other FSGW members present: Pat McGee, Sean Doherty, Chuck Moran,
Tessa Lachman, Marty Summerour and Esther Bushman
President Carl Mintz called the meeting to
order. He announced that given the
lack of a quorum at the April meeting, we ought not have held the meeting. However it was the sense of the Board
that the April minutes should be approved.
Liz Milner made a motion that we approve
everything that happened at the April meeting. Scott seconded the motion and it
passed.
Then Charlie made a motion that we approve the
April Board Minutes. Scott
seconded this motion and the minutes were approved.
Pat McGee noted an error in the March 2001 Board
Minutes. Needed to amend section 8
under, to read 15%. The secretary will inform Dennis to
make this change.
FSGW Board Chair Reports
Jim Cole, Treasurer
Pat McGee reported that the Board needs to vote
Sousan more money in the Special Concerts budget prior to Tom Paxton's concert
on June 9th.
Jim made a motion that we amend the budget for
Special Events: adding $6000 to income which would make a projected increase
from $17,400 to $23,400; adding $5000 to projected expenses for a total of
$20,000. Liz seconded this motion
it. The motion was passed.
Chesapeake weekend. Pat reported that several expenses are not yet in. Jim noted
that expenses may be very close, possibly over-budget.
Jim moved that the Board add $1,000 to the
budgeted amount for the dance weekend, bringing the total from $25,400 to
$26,400. Scott seconded the motion
and it was passed.
Pat reported a $3.43 surplus for the Ski Dance
weekend. This would be distributed
by three for the three organizations co-sponsoring the event
Pat pointed out that when we sell our directories
here in the park that there is a 20% surcharge we must pay to the park. Carl suggested that when we put out a
new directory that we might sell it at a 20% higher rate for park sales to
handle that charge.
Kathy Westra,
There will be no June program.
The budget will therefore be reduced by $1000, and
the number of concerts from 9 to 8.
There have been good crowds for these
concerts. Many non-members are
attending and joining.
Jay Ladin, Dance
The dances are making a profit, thought attendance
never rises much over 100
He plans to talk to the new Dance Chair to see how
expenses can be reduced even more.
Prices for dances have not been raised for five
years and, in the interest of being able to pay the musicians more, he
suggested FSGW (with a new Board) consider raising the price $1. Before doing this, he would want to
check prices elsewhere. The Board
agreed, in principle.
The Spanish Ballroom won't be under construction
until March 2002, so we can continue to use it.
Stephanie reported that the English Country Dance
has 20-40 attending now. If there
was a price raise, she felt admission should not go above $6. (it is currently
$5.)
Liz Milner, Publicity
Nothing to report
Scott McKnight, Membership
For the second month in a row, membership has
increased.
Charlie Baum, Getaway
Carl asked Charlie to put something on the Web,
giving the date of the 2001 FSGW Getaway with the message "watch this
space".
Kathie Mack, Newsletter (report emailed to Board
Members)
Scott made a motion that the report be included
in these minutes; Jay seconded the motion and the motion was passed.
NEWSLETTER REPORT FOR MAY 8, 2001
Newsletter copy. Copy for the
May Newsletter fit fairly easily into the 24 pages that have been customary for
FSGW Newsletters under my editorship. I am pleased that the cost for producing
and mailing these newsletters has remained consistently under budget, while
providing a full and informative newsletter that has not only served members
but has also been an outreach tool for the Society. The next
newsletter editor will want to put her own stamp on the newsletter, as is appropriate,
and I am confident the next Board will give her their full support.
Newsletter mailing. I
hope people were happy with the arrival date of their newsletters this month.
Mine arrived in the mail on April 27, a Thursday. 2300 newsletters were printed;
1792 were mailed out.
Newsletter distribution. Scott
McKnight kindly continues to bring extra folded newsletters to board meetings,
and you should feel free to take as many of these as you want. I have already
distributed newsletters to the Library of Congress (courtesy of Joe Hickerson),
the House of Musical Traditions, the Institute of Musical Traditions
concert series (courtesy of David Eisner), the FSGW English country dances
(courtesy of Norm Bernhardt), and the Spanish Ballroom (courtesy of Stan
Fowler). I will continue to take newsletters (and directories and CDs) to any
FSGW events I happen to attend. I look forward to hearing from any/all board
members concerning newsletter distribution.
Reminder of next newsletter
deadline. Please, all board members, be sure to email your copy for
the combined June/July newsletter to newsletter@fsgw.org as soon as possible. I
hope most of you will have already done this, as the official deadline is very
soon, May10th. I will try to verify receipt of all emailed
submissions by board members, but, to be sure your special submission has not
somehow got lost, you may want to follow up with a telephone call
(301.270.5367) if you do not receive a reply from me within 24 hours.
June Board meeting.
Please look for me to show up in person at the June 5th joint
Board meeting!
-------------------------------------
Sousan Frankeburger, (by phone to Carl)
Asked for an increase to the budget so that she
can publicize the June concert.
The Board felt that since we had just voted an increase in the Special
Concerts budget, she should use that money and if more adjustment were needed,
we would take that up at the June meeting.
Board Discussion of Webpage: Members of the Board
are concerned that the FSGW website is not being adequately maintained, is not
updated in a timely manner and thus does not represent FSGW in a professional
manner. The following points were made
We need to present a coherent package of what we
want to have happen on the FSGW webpage.
Keeping in mind past history when one person
controlled the website and there were many difficulties, the present website
administration needs to be reviewed and made more practical.
There needs to be a back-up person to update the
site when the webmaster is over-burdened with other duties or out of town. Stephanie
has volunteered to be a back-up. (Volunteers should be given the
appropriate software and instruction to get them "up to speed".)
If the workload of being president, sound person
and webmaster is too much, perhaps FSGW needs to find a new webmaster
There is concern about FSGW's unprofessional image
to members and outsiders when typos, broken links etc. remain uncorrected for
long periods of time. It was suggested that we have designated proofreaders
so that errors are caught and corrected quickly.
The FSGW website needs "refreshing", to
have a better design, more graphics, perhaps more pictures.
It was agreed that Charlie would talk with Dennis
about the Board's concerns.
Charlie will report that
people are volunteering to help with the webpage
and that the Board wants other people to have access if he is out of town.
It is essential to have someone with editorial and
proofreading capabilities who can check over Dennis' material once it is on the
page.
Charlie Baum, in his role of Special Events
"heir apparent" reported
Jack Langstaff may be available to perform in
November, as part of a tour Jerry Epstein is arranging.
Charlie has checked with people at the
Revels. There are no date
conflicts. They are enthusiastic
It was suggested that, given the unfortunate
history with the Ski Week-end, it would be important to set forth in a memo how
expenses and income would be divided if this event is to be cosponsored. Esther agreed to look at such a memo.
Old Business
FSGW Insurance
Carl reported that our current insurance company
is not helpful in providing answers to questions and he feel has not been
providing good service to FSGW. An
example given: the company tried to charge us $800 for not filling
out an audit form --which was sent to a wrong address,
Collision coverage for the van is not cost
effective since it is so old. Carl has dropped this so to reduce our insurance
premium.
It is difficult to get insurance because of the nature
of what FSGW does, but we need to find a new agent. We can put an ad in the newsletter inquiring whether anyone
can give us a recommendation.
June Joint old and new Board Meeting
It will be held at Nancy-Jean's house on June 5th. She will email directions.
There will be refreshments.
New Business
The Election Committee representatives spoke: below is a copy of their report.
May 8, 2001 Statement from the Nominating Committee:
Our recent nominating committee effort has brought to light some issues that
FSGW Boards have discussed for years.
We have really faced
difficulties filling the Board positions and want to share some of our
observations and conclusions. We
are recommending that FSGW pay for some of the more technically challenging and
repetitious areas – such as bookkeeping and membership
database management – for continuity and accountability. Immediately, we are recommending that
the membership chair responsibilities should be altered. We envision that Board position as more
of a strategic planner whose focus is on providing a “face” or direct presence
at our events, who thinks about the potential FSGW members are and implements
opportunities to make membership happen, and who keeps the work flow of
membership going smoothly. Then, a
second person who is not on the Board, who can remain the same over
several Board members’ terms, and who is technically adept, could keep the
membership records, send renewal notices, send membership income to the
treasurer, and send the monthly list to the mailing house to send out our
Newsletter (and other mailings) to our membership.
Background
Issues
The Board terms are possibly too
short. No sooner does a Board
member get settled into a job than he/she has to worry about re-election. Then there is the consideration of
whether they really have time to continue with the extra work that Board
involvement takes. (Yes, we do
realize what a lot of work is involved in changing the by-laws. It’s just that the short terms are a
problem.)
Our Board positions tend to be work
intensive. Some of the positions involve so much time and technical expertise
that many people just turn us down. This is a highly educated community where
people take their careers and other life obligations very seriously. This has to be one of the busiest
communities in this country.
Because of this, it has become very difficult to find potential
candidates.
Also because our Board positions are
so labor intensive, our board members do not really have time or energy to
devote to long term strategic planning.
It seems we do well just to handle the day to day mechanics of keeping
the Society going. We have tried
to address these issues, but the Board seems to lack the time/energy to follow
through.
Some issues we have considered include:
how to attract younger members, how to have a more visible membership presence
at our events, and how to build a core of volunteers who can help us put the
events together and also run the various committees that the Board members
represent. And the Board
definitely needs to be run by committees.
That is becoming very apparent in the nominating process. Everyone is aware that we are a labor
intensive Board, and they are afraid to say they will serve.
We don’t think asking more people
will solve the problem. Everyone
tells us the same thing.
A key item here is to cultivate
volunteers. If we knew our
membership better, we could divide tasks.
It is difficult to run an organization this large with this many events
on a strictly volunteer basis.
Yes, we realize that if you pay some people, you also have
to pay others. Other positions
that may warrant pay included Treasurer (which we already do.), Sound (which we
already do) and Newsletter. We are
talking about stipends of about $200 per month – a small
amount considering the effort involved.
Even counting several of these, we are talking about a part time payroll
at best.
We think some of this expense could
be fairly easily offset by some careful strategic planning on fund raising
through use of special fund raising activities, grant writing, and other fund
raising activities. We have not
really put a lot of effort into this area except to hold the MiniFest as a fund
raiser. We also think that FSGW
would be a good candidate for federal and state grant money if we spent energy
developing bids. But to get that
into place, someone has to take/have time to think about who to contact and
what to write in a grant request.
This could be a project for an At-Large member or a Board member without
a specific portfolio or project, or we could develop a separate position to
handle this function.
Submitted by Marty Summerour and Esther Bushman
Note on #7 (an email from Jim Cole): It is important to
clarify that the FSGW Treasurer is not paid. The bookkeeper is paid. The statement in the above report is misleading.
New Business continued
The Nominating Committee proposed that FSGW pay
for certain technical jobs to be done.
It was therefore proposed that Scott be paid $200 per month to do database
work for Membership to provide continuity. The motion which follows set that in motion
Jim moved that the Board authorize payment for
a database manager beginning July 1, 2001 at the rate of $200 per month. Liz seconded the motion and it passed.
(Scott noted for the record that he had abstained from the vote.)
Jim then made a new motion that $400 be paid to
the database manager for the combined months of July and August. Charlie seconded the motion and it was
passed.
Pat expressed concern that the default formula to
pay sound people is not being followed.
There was discussion about an irate letter from an
FSGW member which certain Board members had received. One of the Board will send a response.
The Celtic Festival insert.
A motion was made to allow the Celtic Festival
insert to be in our June newsletter, as long as the Celtic Festival people pay
all costs for the insert; Jan seconded the motion and it passed.
Jay then moved that Carl see if we can get a
quid pro quo for the Celtic Festival Program--mention of FSGW's Tom Paxton
concert with date, location and time mentioned--but that this not be a
condition for putting in their insert.
Kathy W. seconded the motion and it passed.
Carl moved that the meeting close. Liz seconded the motion.
April 2001 FSGW Board Meeting Minutes
Board Members
present: Carl Mintz, Nancy-Jean
Seigel, Jim Cole, Sousan Frankeburger, Jay Ladin, Scott McKnight, Charlie Baum
FSGW Member present: Pat McGee
(Prior to the meeting,
Carl distributed a written statement by the Nominating Committee detailing
progress on a slate of candidates for the next FSGW Board election.)
The meeting was called to
order by President Carl Mintz. Those present were in unanimous agreement to
proceed although only seven members were in attendance.
The first order of
business was to approve the Board meeting minutes for March. Scott moved that the minutes be
approved as amended and Jim seconded the motion. The Minutes were approved.
Committee Chair Reports
Jim Cole, Treasurer
* Jay distributed two
sheets of transaction details related to the 2001 Ski Weekend. There is no resolution as to who has
the final responsibility for splitting the profits for this co-sponsored event
(with the Sierra Club and Potomac Appalachian). This issue--who will do the
work, how the profit is split and under what FSGW accounting line the event
will be listed--will be resolved and discussed in a future meeting.
* It was agreed that
Stephanie would talk with Bob Mathis
* FSGW needs to have a
written "memo of understanding" for all events we run and co-sponsor
with another group. Carl will
check with a lawyer about proper wording.
Once written, this memo ought to be published in the Newsletter
* Pat reported on the Mini
Fest figures: the net profit to
date was $1937.85 though a few
bills are not yet in. We spent
$500 less than we budgeted.
* It was noted that for
the New Year English dance there was no hall rental included in the budget
Scott McKnight, Membership
Last month FSGW added 37
members
* There was discussion
about membership incentives: the
possibility of a free concert admission for someone who brings in a new member
and how to tract this on the membership form. Carl said he would email proposed language for such a
membership "perk"
Sousan Frankeberger,
Special Events
* The Ed Miller concert
went well. 37 people
attended. FSGW made a profit
of $38.
* The upcoming Cephas and
Wiggins Concert co-sponsored by FSGW:
no specific arrangement had been made between the Blues Society and us
regarding who gets door profits (after subtraction of hall rental, sound
technician costs etc.) Sousan
agreed to firm up details giving the Blues Society one-half the profits over
$200.
Kathie Mack, Newsletter
(received by email and copied verbatim here) Note Kathie was not present
NEWSLETTER REPORT
* Newsletter copy. The
April newsletter contains 9 pages of FSGW news, so to keep within 24 pages I
decided to leave out the "local folkie focus" listings. The two
"advance warning" sections (FSGW and non-FSGW) are intact, including
mention of the Victoria's Revenge weekend. I understand that the amount of
space devoted to the Shenandoah Coffeehouse needs some justification.
Coffeehouses and other venues for singer/songwriters seem to be enjoying a
renaissance in the Washington area and typify what many people think of as
"folk music"; for these reasons I have tried to include a lot of
column inches to such venues. Because the newsletter format I inherited has
been organized geographically ("local" vs "out-of-town" by
state), the Shenandoah Coffeehouse listings have been split up. The next
newsletter editor will surely make many changes in the format and content of
the newsletter!
* Newsletter mailing.
After our experiences last month, I tried to take special care to see that the
April newsletter came out earlier. The mailing house received the printed
newsletters and the label file by Wednesday, March 21, but not apparently early
enough in the day to count as 48 hours before mail-out on Friday. I had hoped
that the newsletters would be in the mail on Friday, March 23, but they were
not in fact mailed until Monday, March 26. It is unfortunate that a few hours'
delay of receipt of materials can balloon into two days' delay in mailing.
Fortunately, most members received their newsletters on Wednesday, March 28 -
at least in Maryland (I am beginning to suspect it takes newsletters longer to
get across the river to Virginia). Audrey Georges confirmed to me on the
telephone that she received her newsletter in time to use it to update the FSGW
hotline before leaving town.
* Newsletter distribution.
Scott McKnight kindly continues to bring extra folded newsletters to board
meetings, and you should feel free to take as many of these as you want. I have
already distributed newsletters to the Library of Congress (courtesy of Joe
Hickerson), the House of Musical Traditions, the Institute of Musical
Traditions concert series (courtesy of David Eisner), the FSGW English country
dances (courtesy of Norm Bernhardt), and the Spanish Ballroom (courtesy of Stan
Fowler). I will continue to take newsletters (and directories and CDs) to any
FSGW events I happen to attend. I look forward to hearing from any/all board
members concerning newsletter distribution.
* Reminder of next
newsletter deadline. Please, all board members, be sure to email me your copy
for the May newsletter as soon as possible. Although the official deadline is
April 10th, I would appreciate it if you could set as your personal deadline
April 7th. I will try to verify receipt of all emailed submissions by board
members, but to be sure your special submission has not somehow got lost, you
may want to follow up with a telephone call if you do not receive a reply from
me within 24 hours.
Board Discussion of
Newsletter
* There was considerable
discussion about how the length of Newsletter could be shortened by judicious
cutting of verbiage and bare-bones listings of non-FSGW events.
* It was proposed that the
next Board give views to the incoming Newsletter editor regarding suggested
guidelines and budget constraints
Jay Ladin, Dance
* Attendance is increasing
as the weather gets warmer.
Old Business
* Advance sale tickets: If
a person shows up at the concert and informs us that any of the group that has purchased
advanced tickets could not come, we agreed on a good will policy for that
unused ticket. There are no cash refunds in this case, however FSGW will issue
a voucher for a future FSGW event.
Tickets otherwise are non-refundable.
* When a performer is
staying at someone's house, that host is not to be charged to attend that
concert or dance.
New Business
* The June Board Meeting
will be held at Nancy-Jean's home (4936 Sentinel Drive) on June 5th. This meeting will include members of
the present and the incoming FSGW Boards.
Directions to Nancy-Jean's house will be passed out at the May meeting.
* Charlie will put an
announcement of the 2001 FSGW Getaway Weekend on the Webpage.
March 2001 FSGW
Board Minutes
Board Members present: Carl Mintz, Stephanie Smith, Nancy-Jean Seigel, Jim Cole, Kathy Westra, Sousan Frankeburger, Jay Ladin, Scott McKnight, Charlie Baum,
FSGW Member present: Eva Murray
President Carl Mintz called the meeting to order. The first item of business was the vote to pass the FSGW
Board Meeting Minutes for February 2001. Jay made a motion that the Board approve the Minutes subject
to minor changes to be made by the Treasurer; Stephanie seconded the
motion. The motion was passed.
Committee Chair Reports
Jim Cole, Treasurer
The Les Barker Concert was successful--there were78 attendees;we netted $115.71
Insurance (liability umbrella)--the cost has gone up to $6925. Whereas we budgeted for $6600. Kathy Westra made a motion that the budget be increased by $325, for a total of $6925. This was seconded and passed.
Carl has inquired why with no Folk Festival this year our insurance has gone up instead of down. The insurance company is looking into this issue. Meanwhile Carl has contacted three other insurance companies to give us competing quotes.
Budget report (through January 31, 2001)
Note that the far right column is an indication of how well we are doing (actual net amount).
Pat had emailed Jim that we need to increase Sousan's Special Events budget or she will run out of money. More money is being taken in, but more has been spent on the performers. Carl suggested increasing the budget from $12,000 to $15,000 and increasing the revenue figure from $14,400 to $17,400. Charlie Baum made a motion that we increase the budget figure for expenditures by$3000 (totaling $15,000) and increase the budget figure for revenue by the same amount (totaling $17,400). Jim seconded the motion and it was passed.
Carl noted that we made significant profit on three concerts.
Kathy asked Carl about House Concerts and got confirmation that we are not to expect profits.
Jim pointed out that we are behind in our projected investment by $9,712. This is a bad year for the market. He reminded that our profit (surplus from operations) from concerts have offset this by $1000.
Newsletter, still within budget. However Pat noticed that the Newsletter budget increased by 11.6% even though membership is down--i.e. we are not printing and sending as many, yet spending more! The Newsletter is now 24 pages (vs 20 pages in the past) and postage has gone up. . Printing cost has gone up by $200 for each 24 page newsletter. Kathy W. proposed raising the membership fee by $1. Carl suggested we give the membership a few months before raising the fee. Perhaps August. Board Members had differing views on the timing, though there was consensus that the next Board should be responsible for this decision.
Investments-- there was discussion about reconciling long-term and short-term profits for the purpose of balancing the budget. Carl suggested we think about this for later.
Carl recapped that events should make 15% profit. The way we are budgeted now, we would need the $10,000 to do it
Scott McKnight, Membership
This month FSGW is down by 17 members
There was an increase in family memberships
At the Mini Festival--we sold memberships (25, of which some were renewals)
Down a total of about 150 members now. Kathy W. suggested we really push membership at concerts, remind people of the 9 free programs per year, how they will save money immediately any concert..
Jennifer will work on a brochure.
Kathie Mack, Newsletter
Kathie was absent. Her emailed report--which everyone had received-- was presented at the meeting and printed here below
"Newsletter copy. The newsletter continues to be a crammed24 pages. I am thrilled that there is so much to tell about, and unhappy when it is necessary to cut copy because of space constraints and the need to have pages totaling a multiple of 4. That is why there is no "advance warning" section this month for non-FSGW events. To save space while making the newsletter more user-friendly, this month I am experimenting with a new arrangement for dance events (idea courtesy of Mary Lamarca). please let me know what you think of it.
Newsletter mailing. 2300 newsletters were printed and mailed to 1898 subscribers. Although all copy was to the printer well before Valentine's day, and although the mailing house was alerted to be ready to mail out the newsletter on Wednesday February 21st, alas, it didn't happen. Because of problems with the label file, the mailing did not take place until Thursday, March 1st. I believe most members received theirs in the mail on Saturday, March 3rd. I am very sorry the March newsletter is not out earlier and am just glad that our first FSGW special event in March is not until the 9th.
Newsletter distribution. Scott McKnight has kindly offered to continue to bring extra folded newsletters to board meetings, and you should feel free to take as many of these as you want. I am distributing newsletters to the Library of Congress (courtesy of Joe Hickerson), the House of Musical Traditions, the Institute of Musical Traditions concert series (courtesy of David Eisner), the FSGW English country dances (courtesy of Norm Bernhardt), the Spanish Ballroom (courtesy of Stan Fowler), and at any FSGW or other events I happen to attend. I look forward to hearing from any/all board members concerning newsletter distribution.
reminder of next newsletter deadline. please, all board members, be sure to email me your copy for the April newsletter as soon as possible. although the official deadline is march 10th, I would appreciate it if you could set as your personal deadline MARCH 7th. "
Unfortunately, Kathie was not present. to hear discussion or comments about the Newsletter. Carl reported from other members
complaints about lateness of the Newsletter delivery. (Scott said it was his fault)
dance camp ads which were completely eliminated
the entry for Shenandoah Coffee House was duplicated and took up extra space
Kathy Westra, Program
The Double Decker Band played to a packed house
Jeff and Garett Warner and Tim Erickson coming up March 17
Margaret MacArthur is scheduled for May 19
For June, Kathy is working on arrangements to have a concert by the elderly shantey singers from northern neck of Virginia.
There was a suggestion: to have at the concerts a sheet with a blurb about out upcoming concerts with pictures of artists.
Sousan Frankeberger, Special Events
Les Barker's concert was very successful.
March 9, Ceoltoiri Coleman scheduled. No investment on our part.
March 22, Ed Miller plays at Glen Echo
April 7, Nat Reese, Chephas & Wiggins, a concert which is co-sponsored with the Washington DC Blues Society
Note on the Ethical Society: we have to rent à la carte. $70 rental for downstairs room just for artists changing; $150 if we plan to serve food. Carl will check on our contract, rules and the role of the sexton. Sousan reported she has keys now to WES
FSGW event signs--Sousan has found a place to order them and will do so.
Jay Ladin, Dance
Free dance on March 18; there will be nominations for next year's FSGW Board of Directors at that dance.--unfortunately this was not announced in Newsletter! (There have been other dance related notices taken off the web as well.)
Dance attendence --ranges from 140 to 80--weather and holidays seem to interfere.
Jay is trying to get 2-3 person bands during the wintertime. On occasion an extra player shows up. Arrangements are made by email. Contracts might not be appropriate, players sign sheet and FSGW tallies up the social security payments at the end of the year. The question of how to limit number of players was brought up
Stephanie reported on the dance floor at Glen Echo Town Hall etc.
The wood floor is too slippery, people risk injury. The Glen Echo Town hall is, however, going to be refurbished.
FSGW needs to be involved to suggest product for floor surface.
The Ski Week-end --even without snow!--was a great success.
Charlie Baum, Getaway Week-end
Reported having finally received material from Jennifer re: last year's Getaway bills.
There is no final report yet.
New Business
Eva Murray, a dance caller, attended the meeting. She distributed a hand-out describing the "Callers' Collective" whose purpose is to meet the needs of the callers-- promoting development of this American folk art, providing venues for practice sessions for callers, providing callers opportunities to try out new dances and get feedback on skills and arranging for workshops. A survey taken amongst callers confirmed that they need more practice. The program is already underway i.e.the first calling session had already taken place.
Eva Murray asked the Board for funding to support this effort. Board Members were willing to offer $500. Prior to the vote, however, there was discussion.
In answer to a question of where the money would come from, Carl said it would come from the Outreach budget.
Jay cautioned that it would be expensive to fly callers in just for workshops. He recommended having callers do workshops when they are in the area doing something else. He also suggested that the next Dance Chair consider having opportunities for an open mike for calls --arranged by drawing lots.
Eva mentioned that there is no formal policy as yet for callers--though there is a policy for the musicians at dances. They could have 3-4 multiple caller nights per year.
Kathy Westra made a motion that we spend $500 from the Outreach Budget to
support the Callers Collective and that this group give FSGW a report of their
activities to the Dance Chair; Scott seconded the motion and it was passed.
Old Business
Carl mentioned that we need to have an ad for FSGW printed in program for the Celtic Festival (June 9-10 in Leesburg). He will take care of this, and make sure that the ad can list some of out future events. The cost for the one-fourth page ad will be $95 and be taken from the Events budget
Jay added to his Dance Report the note that according to out cooperative agreement with the Park Service we are not to use the Park Labor Day. He has written a letter asking if we could use the Bumper Car Pavillion on September 2nd.
Nominating Committee. Carl has been informed that the Committee has found people willing to run for most of the Board positions. Candidates for positions that still need to be found are President and Membership. He mentioned the Anne Sargeant will be running for Dance Chair.
The next Board Meetings will take place April 3rd and May 8th.
FSGW Board Meeting
Minutes-- February 2001
Board Members present: Carl Mintz, Stephanie Smith, Nancy-Jean Seigel, Jim Cole Scott McKnight, Liz Milner, Sousan Frankeburger, Jay Ladin, Charlie Baum.
FSGW Member present: Pat McGee
President Carl Mintz called the meeting to order. The first order of business was approval of both the December and January Board minutes. Motions were made and seconded and the minutes were approved with all changes previously requested by email.
Carl then addressed issues he was to check on since the last meeting.
The increase in fee for use of the Washington Ethical Society from $150-$190. Our agreement is that we pay the same rate as WES members. WES members now must pay $190, therefore that is our fee too.
Policy regarding distributing fliers (for example, the Mini Fest) in the public schools. In response to Kathie Mack's suggestion, Carl reported that this can only be done with prior written authorization and approval by the School Board. If we want to consider this another year, the wheels must be set in motion 6-8 weeks in advance of the event.
Changes were approved for line items in the budget, as discussed in last month
Committee chair reports
Jim Cole, Treasurer
Minifest 2001--FSGW took in more revenue than expected but expenses were higher than in previous years.
Attendance fees: $4,591 from admissions, plus an additional $658 for membership fees. (25 new members)
we received a $100 donation,$60 from sale of T shirts and sale ($30) of 12 directories
On the expense side, the school cost us $2150, we paid $500 to performers and $140 for printing. Other expenses are not yet reported, so this is incomplete.
This event was budgeted for $3250 and went above budget. We made more money than expected, however.
There is a question of whether we overpaid the school. We did not use one of the rooms. Carl said he would look into this.
Lisa Harmon, Carl and two other people will have a wrap up meeting about the Minifest.
Carl prefers to schedule the next Minifest on the first week-end in February rather than the last week-end in January because that time coincides better with the arrival of the newsletter.
A suggestion was made to put a schedule inside the newsletter.
Bumper Car Pavillion
An email was received from Ranger Stan stating that we owed $1900.
The Board had voted to give $1200 for this job and it was agreed the Jim would write a check for that amount and will indicate that that is what the Board voted.
Report on the Gannet Rogers concert which was held at a new venue --the Northern Virginia Community College.
110 people attended, there was $1729 in receipts. Rent was $561 with sound technician included. We made $280.
There was difficulty getting to the location so Carl and Sousan will look into having signs made up with FSGW and an arrow pointing to the direction. These signs which need to be custom made, should cost between $150-$175 each. Carl recommended plastic. Possibly buying three.
It was also suggested that for further events of this kind that we take out an ad in the student newspaper.
Scott McKnight, Membership distributed a handout which showed the breakdown of the membership.
Geographical area, singles, family
We should be able to get a few new members at each event.
The year-old membership directory can be sold at dances, but a letter must be written to the Dance Ranger and the park wishes to collect $2 for each we sell. We would profit $8. Carl will write letter.
Liz Milner, Publicity
Wants to put in an ad for Les Barker event because he is not well known.
Carl reminded that we need to get an ad in the WES newslatter, especially since WES members are allowed to pay member rates.
The question of putting publicity in comedy clubs, etc was discussed
Carl brought up the topic of the Webpage to see that it was up-to-date with information sent to Dennis.
-Concern was expressed about the fact that Dennis is now the only person who can make changes on the FSGW page and that when he is gone, nothing can be edited or added. Carl said Dennis is working on a solution to this.
- Carl expressed concern that the page for the Minifest is now removed from the Webpage--he had wanted to have a special thank you to the performers appear there and it cannot be done. Dennis explained that the program is set so that an event past disappears from the page.
-Jim suggested that we discuss with Dennis openly the fact that we must be able to update the page when he is not available. Carl suggested that Dennis come to the next meeting so we can talk about it.
-Stephanie said we need to address the fact that we have everything so specialized that only one person can do something; this is really a problem as we need to have the ability to update our Webpage.
-Carl said that Dean has the password. We can theoretically get in now through Dean. Carl will call Dean to verify this and check out the possibility of being able to make edits in Dennis' upcoming (8 week) absence.
-Carl said we would need to get the software program Access and he would investigate the cost. Due to our non-profit status, and classification as "educational", we should be able to get a reduced price.
-Stephanie suggested also that it was time to re-look at the design of the Webpage.
Sousan, Speicial Events, reminded us of:
The Les Barker Concert, February 24.
March 9th, the Ceoltoiri Coleman Group, traditional Irish songs and dance
April 7th,Blues Society concert
Jay Ladin, Dance, reported that "the dance goes on" and
That there is a surplus of men at the dances
The etiquette coaching is on-going
Charlie, the Getaway
The contract has been sent in to Ramblewood for the 2001 Getaway.
Charlie will discuss meal planning with Ramblewood. Carl mentioned that for a few dollars more, there would be options for better quality food. We should look into this.
Charlie said there are still 2000 Getaway figures which have not been delivered to him by Jennifer.
Pat, Bookeeper, distributed copies of the budget
There was a slight change of format: "year-to-date" now used instead of month by month.
Sacred Harp CDs--Pat clarified that these were given to us, we did not buy them. He reminded that we need to have a representative from the Sacred Harp make a decision about what to do with the proceeds and present this to the Board. The funds to produce the CDs were received from the Wantland Fund. There are 694 CDs remaining. They might sell at the up-coming Potomac Sacred Harp Convention.
The Outreach Program line was budgeted at $1000 and we--as printed in that category-- have spent $1300 so far ($800 on sound equipment for Washington Ethical and $500 on the IMT outreach event.)
The question was raised as to why the sound system expense was listed under Outreach. Pat responded that we gave the equipment to WES, so in his mind that was Outreach. Carl felt that it should be put in another category; it was agreed to move it to "contributions".
The $1200 for the bumper car pavillion is listed under "funds"
Old Business
$1200 check will be written to Stan, as discussed earlier in the Treasurer's
report (#2).
Oversight Retreat two years ago (to decide the future of FSGW): Jamie has not given Carl the report he promised. Scott volunteered to follow up with Jamie. Many divergent thoughts need to be summarized. Scott suggested that we have issues still needing resolution.
Children attending FSGW events. It was felt that kids under 12 should get in free, unless the event is a family/children's event (earmarked for children) in which case kids under 6 would be free. Sousan will make a decision based on our discussion and what she feels is appropriate to the event. Jay noted that kids are routinely attending dances.
New Business
Signs: Sousan suggested ordering real estate type signs. A sign might say "Folklore Society Concert tonight" Carl told her to put it in the budget for events and make up a couple of signs with velcro arrow signs. She can spend up to $200.
Election committee report: a couple of people are interested in the "at large" slots and there is a possible candidate for vice president. Carl suggested the Board members could look for people who might be interested in running for office.
March 18 is the free dance and also the nomination meeting; Carl will make up fliers to try and encourage people to run for office.
Dates for next meetings: March 6 and April 3rd.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:45pm
FSGW Board Meeting Tuesday, January 9, 2001
Glen Echo Park Ranger Station
Members present: Carl Mintz, Stephanie Smith, Jim Cole, Sousan
Frankeberger, Scott McKnight, Kathie Mack, Charlie Baum, Liz Milner
Meeting called to order at 8;30 pm
Because no final minutes of the previous meeting had been distributed, the
Board put off accepting last month's minutes.
Treasurer report
At a previous meeting the Board voted to make the Community Dance a
cosponsored event. As such it should not have a line in the
budget. However, there were some monies that came in and were spent. Thus
the Board voted to remove all budget amounts from the Community Dance line
and make their budget the amount that had already been spent and the income
that had come in.
The fee to use the Washington Ethical Society has been increased from $150
to $190. Carl is to check that this is correct. (Note that our agreement
with WES is that FSGW will pay the same rate for use of the hall has do WES
Members).
Membership report
Scott handed out a spreadsheet which showed MEMBERSHIP has declined over the
last year by over 170. We talked about ideas to reverse this and indicated that we
need to get memberships at the Mini since there will be no WFF for us to
get a large block at. Scott will prepare a geographic distribution for the
next meeting (VA/MD/DC). Kathie M indicated that she has cut down on the
number of Newsletters ordered.
Newsletter report
It is doing WELL. Board decided that people who want multiple copies of
our Newsletter must make arrangements to get it -- we will not mail them
multiple copies.
Special Events report
Next SE is in Virginia and we hope that VA members will come. Sousan gave
a list of upcoming concerts.
Publicity report
We need to get flyers out for the Mini. KM suggested we try to MAKE FLYERS
AVAILABLE IN THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL.
Dance report (given by Carl)
Attendance at the Sunday night dances has been in decline since the weather
turned very cold in November. Each of the 3 dances in December lost money,
with attendance dropping to the 60-70 range for the last 2 dances. The
first dance this year was free and attendance was 115. The New year's
dance was a success - it sold out, although later this year than in the
past.
Joe Burns, HEAD GLEN ECHO Park ranger, told us that if we write him a letter
we can sell our membership directories at our dances -- of course with the 20% park
fee. He also indicated that if we wanted we could sell t-shirts off site
and distribute them at our events w/o having to pay the park fee.
The following resolution was proposed by the Treasurer and approved unanimously by the Board:
Resolved that the following changes be made in the signature cards for the Folklore Society English Dance Account at the Bank of America, account # 004113010912: Delete the name of Pat McGee from the signature card and add Mary K. Friday, Roger W. Broseus, and James P. Cole to the signature card which also has Norm Bernhardt and Carl Mintz listed.
Next meeting on February 6th
March meeting WILL be on March 6th.
Meeting adjourned at 10 pm
