August 27, 2011 – Eddy
Building

Present:
Bob Hollis, Jayne Lear, Laura Giorgianni, Chris Brostrup-Jensen, Kaila Rubin,  Artie Robillard, Liz & Eric Dubois, Zach Farnum, Laurie Murphy, Dennis & Mary Jo Chretien, Carol Mauro, Janice Dionne, Carol Goulet, Andy Affleck, Audrey, Emily & Evelyn Dubois, Jake Farnum, Ruth, Sarah, Alice & Hazel Lear, Emily & Michelle Chretien.

Minutes of the June 2011 meeting are on-line at www.swampmeadow.org & were sent via email.

SMCT, Inc has a new Box Office phone number.   1-888-493-7110.      Dennis C. gave an over view of how the system works, as there will be some lines designated to specific people/functions & some that will change with each show.  Directors should get in touch with  Dennis for help to set up the  message for their show.    For example, during Mr. Toad, Michelle read a message as his Housekeeper.  Messages are forwarded via email to the assigned individual associated with the specific line.  May be able to use it to leave internal messages, such as ‘Rehearsals are cancelled’.
The system was explored & somewhat demonstrated during the meeting.    Chris will script a message for a cast member of Romeo & Juliet to read for the phone line.

The SMCT  Internet  calendar is available on-line & can be linked to your own browser.  May be possible to also use this to notify of rehearsal cancelations, etc.  About half the board currently has the
ability to edit the calendar.  Zach & Jayne will be the primary data contact points to get info. entered.  Eric will send an email explaining how to sign up & update it, etc.   May need someone designated from each production to take this on.

Emails are currently going to Chris when anyone sends to info@swampmeadow.org.  We should ask for permission before adding  anyone to our database/email lists.

Financial – Laura G.

Ann V. sent Carol info about T-bonds, but they require a 5 year lock-in & only start getting interest after one year.   We are not currently at a point where we feel this would be good for us.  The bank  also offered a very low rate with a lock-in which we are not currently ready to do.

United Way -Chris

Not really interested in adding us to their list.  Anyone can fill out their pay roll deduction card & list us, because we are a 501c3, but they would also take a cut.

SMCT Store – Carol M.

Linda Resnick is interested.  Still not linked to any inventory.  Payments through PayPal to SMCT.  Can’t hook directly to another proprietor (such as Mary Jo).    Separate Meeting needed to look into options, figure out a budget for inventory & move this along.   Should include;  Mary Jo, Linda R., Laura G., Bob H., Liz D.

Seasonal Playbill – Did get 8 annual adv’s, but we are pushing the date  up to try & get it going again for Jan.  2012.  Need to target people who usually adv anyway.  Janice D. will help get a letter written to be mailed out.  Stacey Swift, Marilyn Wilbur, Gary Picard are all interested & this group should have a meeting soon to start the process.

Discussed making a donation from SMCT to the Coventry Senior Center.   Reviewed roughly where we stood after Mr. Toad, but not all bills are paid yet, so it isn’t exact.  Motion made & seconded to donate $250 to the Senior Center.

Youth Group made approx. $107 in concessions from their Rapunzel -like production.  Goes back into their savings.

Membership – Zach

Rec’d 1 response for the Box Office Coordinator, but it didn’t pan out.  Need someone to help on an on-going basis, although, they could have different individuals designated for different shows.  Leslie Carter may have some input after they settle into their new home.

Zach sent some leads for Grants to Bob, but the timing was wrong.  They looked great & if we can catch them before the deadline, maybe we can get access at some point in the future.   The one from The National Endowment for the Arts may not be available next year.  We need to spend more time searching for these to make requests in a timely fashion.  We can resubmit to CAST for a grant in Sept or Oct 2011.  There is a Legislative website that lists a good number of possible grants.  fosteringArts.org rec’d one for approx. $1000.  Zach will check out the website.  We would use the money to reimburse local facilities for letting us use their  space at this point.

Producers Needed:  We lost Laura G. as a producer when she became our Financial Director.   We are starting to separate out the Stage Manager from the Producer & this is making it easier on the producer, but we may need to train some folks to be a ‘Project Manager’ for  future  productions.  Need to be sure the role is defined & perhaps form a team of 6-10 people to learn the requirements & work together & to be available when needed (sometimes as individuals or sometimes as teams).  Probably  easier to have an Assistant Producer or Internship.  Andy will work on coming up with an Education plan ( list of ideas for teaching this topic).

Volunteers are still being sought for many different activities.  Possible sources to contact include; RYDD (RI Youth against Dangerous Driving), High Schools (we have to register with the Guidance Dept’s).

Creative Meeting – Liz D.

Romeo & Juliet rehearsals are  in full swing, but the venue is still unknown.   This is causing headaches for the Director & production in general,  as sets are hard to plan when  the possible space could change.  Hoping to hear in 2 weeks if the school is available.  School Committee usually meets on the 4th Tuesday of the month & they haven’t handed out request forms yet.

Get Merry  location is also yet to be determined, but rehearsals should be starting soon.

Dinner Theater possibly the 1st weekend of March 2012.   Hopefully at the Fire Station, “Twain’s Tales” planned.  South Foster Fire Station is not available in Feb.  If we try for the Senior Center is  BYOB allowed?  Would we need to do performance in both spaces?   Bob H. & Dennis C. are planning a cast of 5-6, Sat/Sun.  Could be Feb. 11, 12th 2012,  if at the Senior Center.  Maybe Sat., March 3rd at the Fire Station, also.

Karaoke, mid-March?

Follies – end of March.

Canterbury Tales – end of April, early May?   Auditions are expected to be at North Foster Baptist Church on a Friday night & Sat/Sun afternoon.
Harrisville Theater uses weekend auditions.  Trying to avoid conflicts such as Alice & Fantastic’s as the money raised by one can be severely affected.

Be sure to contact Artie about any events/activities so he knows who is coordinating the Building catchment & rehearsal schedules.

Knock’em Dead – Dinner Theater for the spring/June 2012.  Bob & Dennis.

Willie Wonka – Summer 2012.  Zach F. & a Big Team.

10 Year Anniversary  should be approx. 2013.

FACILITIES – most places that charge us would mean an increase of $5/ticket to cover the costs.

Fall 2012

Oct/Nov -

Dec. – Christmas Story or It’s a Wonderful Life (25 people)

Holiday 2012 (not Get Merry…  Dinner Theater, instead)

The plan is to do one big show & one small show, or 2 smaller shows.  Trying not to create too much overlap of people.  Maybe use one set of dates for auditions.  Run 2 rooms with auditions
going on for 2 different shows at the same time.

NEXT Creative Meeting is scheduled for Oct. 1st.   New plays form created for suggestions.

Feedback for Mr. Toad was received at the Cast Party.   Worked well.

Creating a book of expectations for people’s behavior.   Hope to have it ready for Canterbury Tales.  Should be available as a PDF & on the Web.

Andy A. attended a ‘One-Forty Conference’  & suggests we look into live streaming  shows.  Social Media promotion has some financial possibilities.  Rachel  Theater near Woodstock, NY is a Regional Theater that has had 50,000 viewers  using a high speed connection via Facebook/You Tube.  Additional info needed.  1) Need rights to the show.  2) Need Cox or other Cable access with high-speed
capacity to come video-tape & donate broadband access.  3) “If you like this show send us money” vs. use PayPal to sign in & watch the show options need to be discussed.  Andy will try & test this out for Romeo & Juliet.   No worries about copyright issues.

Romeo & Juliet needs:

1) Sound person.   2) Prop (Foley) person.  3) Costume consultant; need to be sure the look is consistent & low cost.    4) BACK STAGE MANAGER needed SOON!   Lauren Capron has volunteered for lights or sound & Michelle C. has volunteered for lights.

Youth Rep’s (opening). -  Expected to gather & present youth perspective to the Board.  Keep the youth involved in SMCT.  If Youth wanted to elect a specific leader they would be able to choose one of the Youth Reps, as needed.

Emily Chretien & Audrey Dubois presented their  views on how to handle this position.  Both did an excellent job & SMCT now has 2 new Youth Rep’s.  Congratulations!

Victorian Carolers -  Time to get them started again for the season.  Kim Brayton has stated she would be willing to be Musical Director again.  Kaila R. & Laurie M. will start the process.

Publicity -

Problems with the new phone number appear to have been fixed.  Motif Magazine ad for Romeo & Juliet must be sent soon.  2 editions/month.  To get into the Nov. 3rd edition, need the ad in by Oct. 27th, or Nov. 10th for the 2nd edition of the month (too late for the show?).  Should try to get them to come to a dress rehearsal before then, & need to plan the timing on this.   Opinions on when?

Kiddoinfo is a free site for advertising for children.   Artie has tried Parent magazines in the past.

During Toad we tried using a Feedback form to see how people had heard about us.  Maybe we should add a request for their zip code to get an idea of where they came from?
#1 answer is word of mouth (friends/family).  20 answered advertisements (fairly evenly distributed between different papers).   Perhaps push more towards free ad’s (craigslist, Facebook, etc.).
Need to let people know when shows are not just for kids or if they are not appropriate, what are the limitations!!!

Quorum vs. Working caucus;  With 11 Board members we must have 7.66 board members at a meeting to make a Quorum.  With fewer we have only a working caucus & can’t vote.  4 members were not present & a separate voting meeting was suggested for 7/21 @ Woody Lowden @ 7:30 PM.   Issues needing a vote include, 1) Appoint Jayne Lear as Asst. Executive Director.  2) Change names on all bank accounts to Laura G. {Finance Director}.  3) Close current credit card & reopen as SwampMeadow Community Theatre, Inc.

Chris B-J will remain the co-signor.  He, Laura G. & Lori Vincent will need to go to the bank together to sign paperwork for changes.  Will need to check & see if this can be done at any branch or only the one the acct was opened in.  Bob states he will act as courier to get receipts, cash, bills, checks, whatever to Laura as needed.  Laura will try to be available to collect when possible.   Laura will look into alternative Investment or Savings ideas for SMCT funds.  SMCT letter head approved.  Chris will look into getting SMCT on the United Way listing for employee contributions.  Grants Coordinator still needed.

SMCT season starts June 1st of each year (not July 1st).

Will start Jan 1st (2012) to have annual playbill ready to go & discount ad’s until the next full year starts for seasonal purchases.  Too late this year.  Will see what kinds of ad’s we get for the summer vs. seasonal decision.  Artie will make the decision about the Playbill covers if Directors don’t get him what they want in time for him to place an order.  Linda Resnick has volunteered to work on getting our SMCT store up & running.

New Box Office Phone Number:  Line 2 option allows call in, leave message in appropriate box (Line 1 for Toad, Line 2 for Golf Tournament, for instance).  A person could be assigned to check for phone or website messages for example.  Not easy to get a human.  Approx. $16.95/mo, includes the phone number.  Need to update messages.  Will need to vote.

Facilities:   Corner of Rte 6/94 is having trouble getting funding.  Are we still interested?  Things Made Wonderful has closed.  Bob H. has the name & address of the owners (ACD Business) & is trying to make contact.  Different people live behind it.

Sept. & beyond..  Where will we be for Romeo & Juliet?  Still don’t know.  School Board has not responded.  We seem to be viewed as a good organization that takes up too much of their time.  Could we use as rehearsal space, except on Mondays?  Former Coventry Middle School on Flat River Rd wants $25/hour to use their space (per Town Manager).  May need to appeal to their elected counsel.  A non-profit brings something to the community.  If the Senior Center moves there & brings us with, we may end up using the space for free.

Technology:  Steve Carter needs a distribution list for the Technology Group (current members will be Dennis C., Artie R., Eric D., Chris B-J., Kaila R., Andy A.).  Kaila will send him these email addresses & send out a general email to see if anyone else is interested in this group.  Annual budget of $8000.  Need a new Sound/Audio Board & a laptop.  Steve wants to run decisions by the committee about when to buy for long-term vs. less expensive short-term items.   Database: need to map out levels of access for different positions {individuals}.  Can do text emails/color fonts, but not HTML.  Costs around $50 for one person to have an HTML attachment & probably more to add others.  Many people can be signed up to use the Database, but only licensed to have 10 people actively using it at any one time.  Current list includes Bob H., Carol M., Dennis C., Zach F., Kaila R., Liz & Eric D., & Jayne Lear needs to be added.  Bob, Dennis & Zach will meet to discuss levels of access.   Website: Eric is working to get a calendar set up for viewing or to be linked with your own Outlook or other web calendar.

Zach F. will try to find a Box Office Coordinator, Sales/Corp Sponsor, Fund-raising, Grants, Newsletter/Brochure Coordinators by Jan. 1, 2012.  Also, need Producers.  Leslie Carter has volunteered to run Box Office for Mr. Toad.  Someone may have indicated an interest in Grant-writing on a Mr. Toad volunteer sign-up sheet.

Hope to have SMCT Board members at Old Home Days as good neighbors.

Bob H. asks for 2 changes to current SMCT by-laws.

1) Current by-laws state a minimum of 5 Board members & maximum of 9 members.  Bob would like the max. raised to 15.  We currently have 13.

2) President & Vice-President are three year terms & Bob asks to have the Creative Director also made a 3 year term to run at the same time.  Would like to see them form a unified Team.

Point of order raised as the current by-laws say a max. of 9 members therefore, we have a quorum here today & can vote rather than meeting on July 21st.  Discussion & this seemed correct.  Vote taken & Jayne L. appointed Vice President.  Vote taken & changes are to be made on the names on bank accounts.  Vote taken to have Dennis C. set-up Line 2 option, if under $20/month (estimated at $149.50/year).  Vote taken to allow Laura to open an SMCT, Inc. credit card.  Vote taken to allow by-law change to minimum of 5 & maximum of 15 to take effect on 7/17/2011.   More discussion needed on the change of term lengths.

Toad progressing well.  Aug. 6th is moving day.  Need set-painting & organizer.   Old Home Days needs volunteers for Booth.  Raffle tickets need to be sold.  Zach will send an email.  Bob will send an email for help to set-up on 7/25 from 4 PM until ?  Need a tarp to cover our booth.  Do we need a permit to hand a banner?

Fund-raising meeting on 7/21 at Laurie Murphy’s house, 4 PM.

Youth Report:  Julia Arnold will be a Junior in H.S. this year & needs to resign as Youth Rep.  Jake Farnum continuing.  Ages for Reps vs. Leaders?  Min. = 12.  The committee could choose the leaders.  Need one male & one female mentor to be at each meeting.  Currently Laurie Murphy & Andy Affleck  are mentors.  A meeting is needed to set criteria for spending  Youth money.  $740 is budgeted & they should be able to earn $480 selling candy at rehearsals, etc.  Must budget the money spent.  Ideas sought for education/training with youth.  Contact Andy with your ideas.  Suggestions include Hogwarts School for Theater, Improv group, Scenes group.  Need anyone interested in being a Youth Rep. to come to the next meeting & present their reasons for wanting to fill this opening.

10 Year celebration;  SMCT started in Sept. 2002, but first production was in Jan. 2003.  Five Year celebration was held in Jan. 2008 & 10 year may be in Jan. 2013.

Can’t meet on the third Sat. in Aug. as Mr. Toad will be in production & 2 shows scheduled.  Meeting will be on Aug. 27th, instead.

Woody Lowden Center

Present:  Bob Hollis, Carol Mauro, Laurie Murphy, Zach & Jake Farnum, Eric, Liz, Audrey, Evelyn & Emily Dubois, Chris,  Pam & Zach Morelli, Ann Valentine, Leslie & Emily Carter, AnaCapri Mauro, Chase Lurgio, Preston, Ladelle, Mary & Tristan Arnold, Dennis, Mary Jo, Emily & Michelle Chretien, Jonathan & Mark Safford, Sandy, Heather & Julia Arnold, Laura & Isabella Giorgianni, Marilyn & Ken Wilbur, Janice Dionne, Artie Robillard, Jayne, Chris, Ruth, Sarah, Alice & Hazel Lear, Melodie & Elijah Fontenault, Mary Jehu.  If I missed anyone, I apologize.

Opened with everyone sharing something they enjoyed this year.

Congratulations to Meryn Flynn for being our first Motif Magazine Theater Award winner for her role in Footloose this Spring.  Discussed having  SMCT awards, but haven’t figured out how to offer them without hurting the feelings of anyone who doesn’t get one.  Bob H. stated that if there was a Founders Award it would go to someone who helped SMCT move forward the most in a year & he would give it to Carol Mauro this year for everything she’s done as she steps done  as our Financial Director.

Financial Report for Fiscal Year  6/1/2010 – May 31, 2011 submitted.  Highlights included $1690 from Workshop income, Karaoke brought in $595, but it is felt that more advertising might help it raise more money & proposed that it might earn $900 for next fiscal year.  Line of Credit (LOC) established with a secured loan of $6500 & we still owe $1000.  Technology/Capital Improvements totaled $13,952 spread out over production & administration budgets.  Included 4 Two-way Headsets with base station, 4 floor mic’s, new lights & speakers, speaker stands, heavy load extension cords, auction items, & 5 new wireless mic’s with 4 receivers.  For the future these costs will go under the Admin budget.  Production budgets will have a small tech operating budget for ancillary needs.

We may want to look into alternative investment for the Savings acct.  Currently get  .05% interest rate on savings.  CIPS was paid $1304 for their cut of our admissions (except for Footloose which wasn’t held at the Paine School).  The donation bridge brought in $732 for 3 shows.  Need to discuss using donations vs. raising ticket prices to cover this cost, although, increasing ticket cost will also increase amount paid to the school.  Complete Financial Reports can be requested from Board members.  mms to accept budget report.

Reorganization & Nominations:

Cassi Ducharme headed the effort to help clarify who to go to & what steps to take if you need to contact someone in the SMCT family.  Should be three clear contacts to start;  1) External concerns should go through the President (Executive Director).  2) Internal concerns should go through the Vice President (Asst Executive Director).  3) Concerns about SMCT activities should go through the Creative Director.    SMCT’s Board consists of 13 members grouped into 4 Officers (President, Vice President, Financial Director & Secretary) & 9 Directors (Creative Director, Director of Public Relations, Dir. of Facilities, Dir. of Membership,  3 Asst. Creative Directors  (Events, Productions, & Education) & 2 At-Large Directors.  Each meeting will need 2/3′s of the Board present to have a Quorum in the event of a vote.   mms to accept reorg structure.

Several resignations of Board members were announced & new members voted on:

New Board:

Executive Director – Bob Hollis

Asst Executive Director – Open

Creative Director – Liz Dubois

Director of Finance – Laura Giorgianni

Director of Public Relations – Eric Dubois

Director of Facilities – Steve Carter

Director of Membership – Zach Farnum

Director of Communication – Kaila Rubin

Assistant Creative Director of Productions- Chris Brostrup-Jensen

Asst Creative Director of Events – Laurie Murphy

Asst Creative Director of Education – Andy Affleck

Director at Large – Art Robillard

Director at Large – Melodie Fontenault

Congratulations to the new Board members.  Janice Dionne has volunteered to be the Corresponding Secretary.

Facility Report -

Paine School – don’t know if we’ll go back or not

Coventry Senior Center – they mostly want us which is nice

Route 6 – stalled.  Bob needs more $

Chopmist Hill – looking into it.

Things Made Wonderful – ?

2011-12 Season

Summer 2011

Mr. Toad will take place at Coventry Senior Center with 2 casts.  Performances on Aug. 17, 18, 19, 20 & 21st.

Fall 2011

Dinner Theater;  Frankenstein Slept Here Sept. 24 & 25

Romeo & Juliet Nov. 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, & 20

Get Merry!  The Royal Wedding. Dec. 8, 9, 10, & 11

Winter 2011

Dinner Theater; Mark Twain Feb. 11, 12

Spring 2012

The Canterbury Tales Late April, early May?

Dinner Theater; Knock ‘em Dead June?

Zach Farnum would like to do a Patsy Cline Dinner Theater before he goes to college & would prefer a June slot.  Because this is a musical, it could be costly for the rights.

Season Sponsorships & Sales

Need to ID Corporations, Businesses, Individuals.  Need to Solicit donations/support.  Team includes Marilyn Wilbur, Gary Pickard,  Judy & Stacey Swift, but more people are needed.

Box Office System

Need a phone system that isn’t Bob & Carol’s home.  SMCT needs a volunteer to Coordinate this, & a system that can be individualized for different events needs to be chosen & set-up.  SOON.  Can be a different individual who takes on the Box Office duties for each activity, but an overall Coordinator needs to track things.

Recruitment & Participation

Need Asst Exec Director

Need Box Office Coordinator & Reps for each Production

Need Sales & Cooperate Sponsorship Coordinator & Team members

Need Fund-raising Coordinator & Team (6 or more people)

Need PRODUCERS

Need Events/Entertainment Team

Need Store & Merchandising Manager

Need Newsletter/Brochure Editor

Eddy Building

Present:  Cassi & Russ Ducharme, Artie Robillard, Bob Hollis, Carol Mauro, Chris Brostrup-Jensen, Kaila Rubin

Laurie Murphy has resigned as the Creative Director but will still be the Youth  Representative Mentor.  The Board is able to appoint someone to fill the position through the annual Membership meeting or end of term.  Cassi D. has expressed interest & is ready to move into this position.  Board voted to appoint Cassi until annual
meeting when a general vote can be taken.
Liz DuBois has been acting as the assistant Creative Director & will continue in this role.   Cassi will coordinate efforts with Liz & work to create an organized structure for mentoring the position.  Cassi already has ideas for the position.

Rehearsal space -

All use of the Paine school is closed for 6 months (through Sept.).

Ponaganset
- We asked for a waiver from payments to use their space, but haven’t heard back.  A room for rehearsal is $40/night,
Stage to rehearse is $100/night, & stage for performances is $200/night.

Coventry,
RI – Former Middle school located on Flat River Rd in Western Coventry is available almost anytime.  No charge or limited charge is expected, but not yet confirmed (Bob H. to meet with Town Official).  Has stadium seating & might even be available for a long-term lease.   Have to have a 10 year lease on a space to get specific grant money for site work.  Show is scheduled for the end of April & rehearsals could start there in April.  Currently using Woody Lowden on Tues from 7:30 – 10 PM for choreography rehearsals as Audra Hebert comes down from Putnam.  Use North Foster Baptist Church on Thursday & collect money for use of space each rehearsal.  We should offer free tickets to Social Services in Coventry, perhaps in lieu of payments for the space.  There may be some people who will not be able to make the move to this new location.
Voted to use Coventry space for Footloose & see how things go.  Will need to revisit for other performances.  Could Mr. Toad be done totally on the Foster Fairgrounds?
Perhaps rent a tent?  Would need to rent portable toilets & may need to have someone sleep there each night that the set is on site.  Potential for fire hazard?  Chris will talk to Brian.

*Info above has changed since the actual meeting & costs for the old Middle school prevented the move.
Now plan to use the Coventry Senior Center,            50 Woods St., Coventry, RI  for Footloose!

Organizational
Structure Meeting- Cassi D. chaired the meeting on 2/19.  *Minutes of this meeting are attached separately.  Some important considerations include getting the contact info. on the Website so people know who to get in touch with when they have an interest or concern to express.  Should assign email addresses that will follow the individual assigned to the position, such as
President@swampmeadow.org .  Should clarify who does what as part of each position (president runs the meetings, for instance) & what should be covered in each meeting.  Example given of Footloose production meetings to discuss details of the individual show vs. Board level discussion when there is an issue with a show or shows that is more general.   A specific discussion of Organizational Structure will be scheduled for another time.
Email Cassi with any ideas or interest you have.  cducharme82@gmail.com

Full Season Playbill – Carol M, Mary Jo & Dennis Chretien are currently involved with this.  They are experimenting with what would work & a proto-type setting for Footloose is expected.  Official start would not be until the Summer play.  There is a meeting planned in mid-May (after Footloose is over) to get all the details worked out & Artie R. is asked to be involved.   Chris B-J
hopes to be out of the country through most of May.  Bob will work on getting this together & setting a date for the meeting.

Grant Writing -  Several under way.  Should hear in May from the Scituate Arts Festival, expect to receive $1000 from CAST, RISCA has a 4/1 & a 10/1 deadline,  others are on-going.

Personnel Issues – There needs to be a Policy on complaints against individuals & how we will handle these situations.  People don’t always get along or respect boundaries.
Do we handle it at a member-level or Board-level?  Bob is working on a current issue & will report the results at the next meeting.
Box Office -  Looking at shared lines & different services (Line2 vs. Google Voice) & costs from free to $15/month).  For Footloose, no change will be made.  Trying  to work on something that is available wherever we’re located & doesn’t rely on one person to monitor it.  May be good to have someone on-call on Production nights.  L2 is an iPhone application & Google Voice is on Internet.
If we buy one cell phone it may not solve the general issue.  The Box Office should travel with the event.  Can we use the Website until we have a specific phone number?  What is the Universality of either service?  Landline available at many sites, but what is our access?

SMCT Fiscal year starts June 1st each year & the Summer Children’s production is generally the start of the season.  Would like to offer Publicity  packages such as an annual fee to advertise in our Playbill & maybe sell Season tickets.      *We want as many people as possible to attend the annual meeting in June.  What day of the week is better?  An evening after work or a weekend during the
day?

Should we place a monthly ad in the Foster Home Journal with a blurb about visiting the www.swampmeadow.org website for up to date info, or promoting upcoming events?
Articles are free, but not everyone reads them.  Ads cost about $50/month, but this would come out of the Admin budget, not the specific event budget.   Ads must be into FHJ by the 19th of the
month.

Reminder to get any info for Publicity written up as completely as possible & sent to Artie for publication, Eric or Andy for the Website, Cassi for Facebook
& Kaila for email.

School is expected to go until June 24th due to many snow days.  Artie needs Brian to get him the dates for the Mr. Toad auditions.

Events meeting scheduled for March 13 @ 3 PM at Mary Jo’s house.  Topics will include the Golf Tournament, Calendar Raffle, Karaoke, Follies, Dinner Theater & any other suggestions.
Creative Director meeting is scheduled on March 14 @ 7PM @ Trinity Church in Scituate.  Cassi will review current productions & check  their status towards completion: Footloose & Mr. Toad are good.  Dinner Theater (Dr. Horrible) for Sept. 24/25?  Romeo & Juliet for the fall 2011 production.  Still want to try & get rights & a time for Christmas Story & Jesus Christ Superstar
(asap).

Need someone to run the Box Office & Website Store.

Next Meeting is for Officers on April 11th @ 7 PM at Bob & Carol’s house.

Paine School Update: More will be known by next week, but there is some small hope that we may be able to use it by May, even if students haven’t returned, yet. Discovered that many people wanted to know what was going on, even if not involved in current play/rehearsals or activities that were scheduled there. Discussed notification. Also, discussed options if school is not available. Currently Footloose rehearsals are happening at Woody Lowden on Tues. (free) & at the North Foster Baptist Church on Thurs. There is a fee charged at the church & cast members have been asked to contribute $1 each night to defray the cost. Other suggestions: Ponaganset Middle School charges $25-40/night for rehearsals & $200/performance for shows. They don’t have lights set-up & we would need to supply our own. Old Middle School in Coventry (across from Coventry Library) is not currently used as a school & could be used for rehearsals & shows. has apprx. 200 seats & a sound set-up, but not lights. $4-5000 for total retooling & maybe a school theater group or Academy Players also using it. Scituate Common House also charges $200/use. The 3rd floor of a business in Danielson was offered as rehearsal space.

Treasurers Report: Carol transferred money into the Internet checking account & between that account, our primary checking, savings & line of credit (LOC) minus the debt we carry to create a good credit rating, we have apprx. $30K available. $1000 from CAST is part of a Partnership (not donation). We have our Retail Sales permit, so we are now ready to sell items & would like to get the on-line store up & running. Would be interested in having someone take on the inventory as well as run the sales. Paid our Website Domain fee of $95 for 9 years. Paid Database/FileMaker 2 year renewal at $800+. Discount for 2 year renewal and nonprofit status. Production results: Dracula was about a $928 loss, Get Merry made about $392, the Murder Mystery was about $1875 profit with about 160 attendees in 2 days, Jeeves & Wooster made about $1640 profit. Last year’s Murder Mystery made about $1698 in one night.

Grant Writing: What do you do to benefit the Community? We are strong with Youth Involvement & because of its rural nature, Foster is considered an underserved population. We would like to get rent money to keep SMCT in town, or at least close by (anywhere from $12K to $100K could be used). Cassi will talk to someone (Chris) from Scituate & get back to Chris BJ who is writing a current proposal. Could possibly get another grant from RISCA & Bob will get a copy of the proposal written previously by Lisa Carpenter to Chris BJ. National Endowment for the Arts suggested & Dept. of Agriculture (they may be interested in providing a grant for the Building fund as they handle rural areas). RI’s Representatives rank amongst the best in supporting the Arts. Current battle as the Republicans are trying to zero fund programs. Need to get a team working on Grants to make our goals happen. Should try placing an article in local papers (Foster Home Journal/Valley Breeze) to ask for volunteers. MMS – Will accept offers & review them if this generates interest form persons or groups that take a percent of the money received from the grant as a payment for successfully generating grant money Ad will be placed on the Website as well. Question asked if this needs any special consideration as a non-profit, but consensus was that non-profits do this all the time.

Recently it was brought to the Board that a standard needs to be set & expressed at the start of each production, on maintaining appropriate boundaries as we have mixed casts of adults & children working together. This is now being done & was carried out at the first rehearsal of Footloose. The catch phrase, “I’m having trouble with this” has been suggested. Teens had expressed that they are mostly comfortable speaking up with peers, but thought having a phrase to use when it’s an adult would be helpful. Need to have a male & female representative for anyone to go to if they feel they need someone to speak to about feeling uncomfortable. Laurie Murphy is available as a youth representative & a male is needed. The Youth Group is scheduled to go see “The Lion King” on 2/13.

FOOTLOOSE:
Strong singing/music & movement make this look like a stellar production in the works! Bob found it incredibly hard to say no to 15 people who have been SMCT regulars, when the goal of SMCT is to build a sense of community & be as inclusive as possible. Reminder to everyone that all productions take many hands to come to fruition & there are always behind the scenes people needed to make what happens on stage run smoothly. Please consider other ways you would be willing to help & understand that it is not a reflection on how important you are to us as individuals who have helped created our theatre, even if you aren’t chosen for any specific stage role.

Publicity: Artie expects it will be another 2-3 weeks before the situation at Paine School is known & can’t do any advertising until we know where we will be performing. This may be true for all upcoming events/productions while Paine School is unavailable. Artie needs to be informed of any building use needs & should be the person making arrangements, so there is no duplication of efforts. The Eddy Building is a ‘hot’ property & gets a lot of use by a wide variety of groups. The Town Meeting House has to have prior approval by the Town Council for use & this can take time.
New dates for the Foster Follies Auditions are now Friday, March 4th from 5-8 PM & Sat., March 5th from 1-4 PM at the Eddy Building.

Website- Chris sent around a link for a banner to a group that offers services that may be helpful. Seemed to have a strong connection to the UK, so more research needed to see if it can be targeted to local community or not. Eric will add it to the Website if it seems worthwhile. Generally, Eric is looking for more content to add to the Website. Can usually get things posted within 24 hours, between Eric & Andy, & it would be a good idea to get people to use it for current info. Articles or info. should be written up as completely as possible & sent to all people involved with communication. 1) Artie for publication. 2) Eric or Andy for the Website. 3) Cassi for Facebook. 4) Kaila for email.
Russell got the posts set for the banner on the corner of Rte 6 & 94. The banner looked great for about 3 hours, until the wind ripped the banner off. MMS- To get a new banner. Voted & approved. Dennis & Russ will work on getting it back up & reinforced. Along with this, SMCT needs a new phone number to use for Box Office calls as there are more than Carol can comfortably handle along with her home calls. Need to find a way to allow more than one person to receive & respond to calls. May need a cell phone that can be physically handed off. Dennis will look into Apps that would allow separate voicemail & automated messages, plus retrieval from remote locations. Most will probably include some minimum per month charge.

Steve & Bob attended an auction at the Black Rep Theater & spent about $300 on tech stuff. Couldn’t afford most of the big ticket items that would have been nice to get. Ended up with cables (estimated value $1400) & various lighting parts (gel holder, gobo frames, etc) worth maybe $600.
Tech needs include 2 new wireless belt packs as they have broken ($200 each). Costs $500 for the set. The connectors pull out when they are used to pull the packs out of pockets or get tangled in clothes, etc. They are not cost effective to try & repair. Need Lighting Trees, depending on where we go & should buy 2 lights. Steve has been looking at ETC Source 4 which has a larger diameter than the Jr’s we currently use. Need a new audio board, better mic’s for singing. Rent vs. swap out if we buy our own. Would need to rent the whole system as it isn’t compatible with what we have. Mic’s should be dedicated to one person for this show, not swapped from person to person. Steve needs info about Footloose orchestra & singers.
Need a dedicated PC or Mac for sound effects, etc. Ebay may have some good prices. MAC program that has been used has been fairly easy to work with according to those who have used it.
Need to Inventory & Store equipment. Possible insurance rider needed at this point.

Upcoming Productions:
Footloose (Spring 2011)
Mr. Toad (Summer 2011)
Dr. Horrible (Dinner Theater, Fall 2011)
Christmas Story {or Romeo & Juliet?} – Artie should know by March 21st about rights to Christmas Story – (Fall 2011)
Get Merry (Winter 2011)
Hello Dolly (Spring 2012) – Cassi is working on getting the script.
Murder Mystery (Spring 2012)

Community Productions:
Middle School Program on Bullying (Laurie Murphy is heading this). Checking into what is already out there, such as the ‘BULLY’ program through Kaleidoscope Theater.
Clayville after school program for 3rd, 4th & 5th graders. Starts in March. Bob is heading this.
Water Shed Council – Forestry Project in May during the day. Darlene C. can help with this.

Special Meetings:
1) Organizational Structure – scheduled for 2/19 @ 10:30 AM at the Trinity Church in Scituate. All are welcome & encouraged to attend.
2) Tour of the nursing home as possible building site. Will include Russ D., Bob H., Steve C., & Chris BJ. Russ will send around email.
3) Seasonal / Yearly Playbill Committee – Would like to get this started for upcoming year. One Playbill with regular advertisements & inserts for each production. Need a team to get ads. Carol & Dennis will work on formatting. Others interested?
4) Database Training – Anyone interested, but would like to have all Board members there at the Chretien’s home on 2/28 (Monday) starting at 7 PM. Plan to show how to use info to send out emails.

Workshops: Frank Perrin has offered to teach Fight Training & lack of a location is currently an issue. Steve Carter has been asked to do a Tech Training on an evening or Saturday. Auditions workshop may also be offered, eventually.
Need people currently to get Playbill ads for Footloose.
Any donations for the Calendar Raffle, contact Mary Jo or Carol.
Need sponsors for Golf Tournament/Raffle: At least 18 tee sponsors. Groups of 4 at $110/person to participate. $30 for just the Steak Fry at the end of the day.
Zach is working on another Karaoke night for March 18th at Foster Country Club.
Old Home Days – raffle this year may be an iPad (have done iPods previously). A new one is due out this year & the first year we did an iPod we made $400. Last year was rainy & attendance was down. Need a meeting to discuss ideas for the booth & idol competition.

Next Meeting is a Board Meeting on March 5th from 10 AM to noon. May be at the Eddy building or at the Chretien’s.

WELCOME (Thank you to Steve and Carol for their hospitality)

Attendees: Eric, Liz, Audrey, Evelyn & Emily Dubois, Russ & Cassi DuCharme, Andy Affleck, Artie Robillard, Steve & Emily Carter, Carol & AnaCapri Mauro, Bob & Amy Hollis, Kaila Rubin, Laurie Murphy, Sandy & Julia Arnold, Jake & Zach Farnum, Tyler Vigent, Steve & Carol Goulet, Chris Brostrup-Jensen, Jake & Brian Wolf-Jensen & Merilyn Wilbur.  Introductions were shared. 

FOCUS – to communicate among Task Forces and Committees and to make appropriate decisions. Incubate new ideas.

MINUTES from AUGUST OFFICERS MEETING were reviewed.  Available on line.

SMCT – STRUCTURE   –   See Handout   –   looking for Directors of Education, Sales and Sponsorship,

Membership/Volunteers, and Grant Writing (See Bob if interested – until we get a Director of

Membership

TREASURER’S REPORT - available on request

WEB SITE PROTOCOL – For Input send to Andy, Artie, Kaila, Zach, or Bob

                                                ONLY ANDY WILL DELETE INFO

Need Website Box Office/ Paypal Manager – Eric D. & Andy A. have volunteered to research options & pricing between Paypal & Google.  $1 should cover our current costs & we would like to keep to a minimum charge as much as possible. 

- After 2 years of use the Website needs review.  Need to develop a Protocol for each event & come up with a standard definition for timing & other issues.  It is getting difficult to find info on the site & Andy has been helping people to connect.  Titles such as “SwampMeadow Presents” suggested.  Contact Ernie Young for graphics?  Search bar changes?  Eric & Andy will set a date/time for a meeting & invite others.

YOUTH REPS – SMCT was founded by a 15 year old & our aim is to continue to mentor theater opportunities for the younger crowd.  We did run up against requirements in RI that Board members be adults.  We are looking for Two Youth to serve as Youth Reps who will call meetings of a Youth Council and/or represent in meetings the needs, interests, opinions of SMCT Youth.  Anyone interested in serving should come with a statement of why their appointment would be good for the organization at this time.  Youth Rep’s should come to Officers & Board Meetings, and any others.

ELECTED WERE:  Julia Arnold & Jake Farnum

 Laurie is interested in mentoring.  Needs an assistant.  Volunteers included;  Andy A, Sandy A, & Merilyn W.

Healthy Protocol is to have no child alone with an adult & prefer to have one male & one female adult at each event/meeting.  They must be non-related.  Background Criminal Investigations (BCI’s) may be needed.  They are available for $5/person thru the RI Attorney General’s Office with proof of ID & are good for one year.    

PUBLICITY

ARTICLE WRITERS – need people that want to originate, coordinate, write and submit articles

to Artie for local papers.   Need to develop a formula to get them published in the newspapers.  Need a Timeline to get things in to each possible resource.  Publicity photo’s should be done as early as possible.

Back Stage Scoop goes to Foster Home Journal every month.  Valley Breeze only seems interested when it is a youth production.  What is the ‘in’ to get published.  We know the article has to be copy ready or they won’t edit/print it.  Blackstone River Theater gets published every month & we don’t.  Observer has 4 possible options; call & suggest they do an article themselves, write our own article, pay for an advertisement, or put it in their calendar.  Bob & Andy will try & set up a meeting with the Observer.

A-FRAME SIGN PAINTERS – Only 2 Sandwich Boards left as one got run over on Rte 94.  Need to get them out at least 2 weeks before each show.  Carol Goulet offered to do this for all events.

BANNER RAISERS – Need to meet & find a new location as we are no longer able to hang them in the same spot due to the new Stoplight at the Jct of Rte 6 & 94.  Need to meet with the State or other appropriate agency.  Cassi & Russ will talk to the right people.

SMCT PAMPHLETS – Does anyone want to take on this project to have them available at every event?  The current one needs to be updated as it has become obsolete.  Done on Apple.  Set up so it can be printed or emailed fairly easily.  Add directions to our possible theater sites for events (school, fire station, country club)?  Or just to Website & list the website on the pamphlet?  Will be easier when we have our own theatre.

Andy A. volunteers.

YOUTUBE POSSIBILITIES – Can’t do snippets if we have to pay for the rights, but something like Dracula should be OK because Chris wrote our version.  Possible youth committee project.  Zach & Jake F. volunteer, but may need another to help.

Chris B-J asked for & was approved to contact other theaters & try & set up a local theater network of shared info./resources.

Steve C. asked for & was approved to contact Trinity Rep. about mentoring Youth-related projects.  RIC has a music theater program & might send a rep.

NEEDS FOR:

            Dracula (October/November), Tech Meeting – Sep 28,  Production Meeting – Oct 25

Need volunteers for concessions & tickets & just helping in general. 

Promote at schools as a safe place to come on Halloween.  Need parking attendants/Police.  Cost is $200 {minimum of 4 hours @ $50/hour}.  Would get them for 7 – 11 PM.  mms     Carol will do this.

Performances start Oct. 30th

Carolers (November/December),  - October 2 was the first rehearsal.  Meet on Sat.’s from 9:15 to 11 AM.  Kim Brayton is volunteering as our vocal coach.  Would like a pianist to accompany us.

Get Merry (December 10-12) – Orientation Meeting – Sep 28 @ the Dubois home.  Rehearsals planned for Tues/Thurs.

Murder Mystery (Jan or Feb),  Date suggested was the last weekend in Jan 2011.  Same show with a diff ending.  Events committee will pick an actual date for this & for Follies, too.

Footloose (April/May 2011) – Instead of West Side Story or Superstar, both of which are unavailable – Producer, Audition Panel needed.  Kim B. for vocal director.  Need to see if Annette is available as choreographer.

Water Commission Watershed Day – Volunteers needed.  The commission wants something about Forests this year.

INCREASED ADMISSION FOR MUSICALS,

Due to high cost of production rights.  Adults $12 & Children $6

 FOR PAYPAL PROCESSING, add $1

FOR BUILDING USE???

Try asking for donations during Dracula.  We were going to try during Olivia, but then we were told we didn’t have to pay the Building fee, so we didn’t, only then we were told we did have to pay $270 over 3 days of shows.  Ron Cervasio donated $150.

EDUCATION LEADERSHIP – We have some current needs (Clayville) and many potential needs at this time.  Lots of interest in classes, but no one currently able to coordinate this.  Could be a good fund-raising activity for SMCT.  We have a good curriculum.  Interested;  Laurie, Chris, possibly Pat Inman, AnaCapri, Amy 

DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, STAGE MANAGER HANDBOOK

SOUND NEEDS – We have the opportunity to upgrade our sound situation.  There are proposals upon which

we need to vote for a list of priorities.

Steve C. – The way our speakers are set up causes feedback & hanging mic’s get hit.  Immediate need for Traditional speakers on stands (apprx. $1800).  Potential use as a portable PA system.  May work with 2 mics.  Look into PCC or PZM “zone mics” @ $200 each (need 3-4).  Steve will get pricing on stand, speakers, bags, etc. to help this happen.  mms.   Headphones were expensive, but they have been very helpful.  Is it worth it to rent (ATR Treehouse) or just purchase.  Must know that anything ‘technical’ we buy now, will be useful in a new building.

LIGHT NEEDS – Lighting Tree

We keep borrowing & eventually need to buy our own.  Will need them for mobility.

SITE SEARCH – Looking at 6 and 94, Nursing Home on Chopmist Hill, Water Conservation Collaberation

Russ needs to check his schedule to set a date for a site committee meeting.  Usually finds out on Thurs or Friday what the next week will look like.

COSTUME ORGANIZING

CAMPAIGN, GRANTS, AND SPONSORSHIPS

SCHEDULED PRODUCTIONS

FALL 2010                                           DRACULA

HOLIDAY 2010                                  MEDIEVAL SOLSTICE REVEL

WINTER DINNER 2011                   WEDDING MURDER MYSTERY ??????

SPRING 2011                                      FOOTLOOSE

SUMMER DINNER 2011                 ?????? (OR MURDER MYSTERY)

SUM CHILDREN’S 2011                 ADVENTURES OF MR TOAD

FALL DINNER 2011                          ??????

FALL 2011                                           A CHRISTMAS STORY

HOLIDAY DINNER 2011 MEDIEVAL SOLSTICE REVEL

WINTER DINNER 2012                   ??????

SPRING 2012                                      ANNIE

SUMMER DINNER 2012                 WEDDING MURDER MYSTERY ??????

SUM CHILDREN’S 2012                 CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

FALL DINNER 2012                          ??????

FALL 2012                                           CASABLANCA

HOLIDAY 2012                                  MEDIEVAL SOLSTICE REVEL

                WINTER DINNER 2013                   ??????? 

SPRING 2013                                      ???????

SUMMER DINNER 2013                 WEDDING MURDER MYSTERY???????

SUM CHILDREN’S 2013                 ??????

FALL DINNER 2013                          ??????

FALL 2013                                           ??????

HOLIDAY DINNER 2013 MEDIEVAL SOLSTICE REVEL

DIRECTOR’S CALL (People interested in Directing should be ready to share their Vision of the play they want

to direct which should include size of cast; general set, costumes, tech; anything special)

Accepting proposals for:

 The Wild Adventures of Mr, Toad (Summer 2011)

Brian Wolf-Jensen’s proposal was accepted & he must now find an adult Mentor & work on finding a Producer/production team.

            Annie (Spring 2012)

                        Cassi Ducharme’s proposal was accepted.  Jake Farnum will work with her.

            Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Summer 2012)

                        Zach Farnum will direct with assistance from Tyler Vigent & Bob Hollis.

            Casablanca (Fall 2012)

                        Chris Brostrup-Jensen will direct

PRODUCTION PROPOSALS –  People interested in proposing a play should be able to share a brief

description and any reasons why it would be good to do this play at this time.

                                    SPRING, SUMMER, FALL 2013

Italian Wedding Murder Mystery – Bob Hollis,        Winter Solstice – Liz Dubois????

Forever Plaid – Paul Bouffard                                    Golden Idol – Merilyn Wilbur

Doctor Horrible’s Sing-along Blog                             Jesus Christ Superstar

            Romeo and Juliet                                                        Repeat – Folktown (recurring production?)

            Suesical the Musical                                                    Cheaper By The Dozen

Black and White                                                         The King and I

            The Man Who Came to Dinner                                   Repeat – Best Christmas Pageant Ever

            The Wonder of Charley Anne                                               Lost In Yonkers

            Little Shop of Horrors                                                            The Crucible

            Fame                                                                           Rumours

            Topper                                                                         War of the Worlds

            Robber Bridegroom                                                    Mark Twain

            Bob’s 3 Dog Night Musical                                        Kim Fusco’s book

            Music Man

Laurie Murphy will schedule a Creative meeting to discuss plays & time frames.

NEXT MEETINGS:

            Officers Meeting –OCTOBER 16, DECEMBER 4, APRIL, AUGUST

Board Meeting –  NOVEMBER 13, FEBRUARY, MAY, JULY

SMCT Committee Meeting –  JANUARY 22, MARCH, SEPTEMBER

Annual Meeting – JUNE 13

Board Meeting – 7/10/2010 

The meeting took place at Bob H. & Carol M’s house. 

Welcome-

Officers:

President/ Executive Director, Bob Hollis

Vice-President/ Asst. Director: Chris Brostrup-Jensen

Secretary/ Communications: Kaila Rubin

Treasurer: Carol Mauro

Creative Director: Laurie Murphy (her current committee includes: Zach & Mary Jo for programs & Chris & Liz for Creative Support)

Board Members:

Public Relations: Artie Robillard

Building & Tech: Steve Carter

Capital Campaign: Laurie Giorgianni

Events / Fund Raisers: Zach Farnum & Mary Jo Chretien

At-Large: Ann Valentine

Youth Representatives:  currently vacant

Zach Farnum will put a request on Facebook looking for Youth Rep’s.

Mary Jehu has resigned as Youth Rep. Mentor

Post meeting update:  {Ellen Robillard has signed on as Mentor for the Youth Rep’s}

 Exec. Director’s statement:

Let’s do what we do really well & let go of the things that no one steps up to work on.  It’s important to avoid burn-out by the dedicated core.

Focus of Meetings:

Annual (June) – To celebrate, recruit, appoint

Task Force (as needed) – To plan (such as a play production) & to do

Committee (Sept., Jan., March) – to communicate, make decisions, & coordinate

Board Meetings (Nov., Feb., May, July) – to communicate, analyze, support, re-focus

Officers (Aug., Oct., Dec., April) – to evaluate, respond, plan, coordinate

 Programs:

Meet Your Neighbor Day (7/10)

Karaoke (7/15) – adults should collect money

Old Home Days: Booth, Raffle & Foster Idol (7/23- 7/25)

Olivia (8/18 – 8/22) – Rosemary doing well

Dinner with Jeeves & Wooster (Sept.) possibly the 10th?

Script is done & Jake is casting

Dracula (weekends 10/29- 11/7)  Production staff needed

Get Merry: An Engaging Medieval Revel (Dec.) – date not set, maybe the 3rd weekend, play for this year, possible dinner theater in the future

Need to set calendar for 2011-12:

Dance Party/Murder Mystery (re-do, but change the ending)/Vendor Fair/Follies

(Zach F. & Jake W-J. may work on 2011Folles)

Jesus Christ Super Star (Spring 2011)

Need Musicians now

Calendar Raffle (June) – sold fewer tickets in 2010.  Start earlier in 2011?

The Adventures of Mr. Toad (Summer 2011)

Christmas Story or Romeo & Juliet (Fall 2011) – takes 18-24 months to get the rights to a production

Annie/Charlie & the Chocolate Factory/Casablanca/? maybe

Romeo & Juliet

Still have many opportunities that remain unfilled.  Would like to recruit Coordinators, Directors, Producers, make plans, etc. at Annual Meeting for following year. 

Membership & Administration:

Need to put meetings & minutes on the website.  Financial Records do not need to be publicized.   Need to recruit/install a Volunteer Coordinator to keep track of folks who indicate an interest in helping in specific capacities & track on the database.  Ideally a personable geek.  Currently, Ann Valentine keeps tabs on out Incorporation Requirements & ASCAP needs.  There was discussion about ASCAP subscription.  Need to clarify with Ann at next meeting.  We do not fall in the ASCAP rules & aren’t using it correctly.  Not for theater, but for Follies, etc.  Supposed to submit a list of every song sung for Follies.  Diff. from Karaoke DJ’s who have their own license, or possibly the host site.  More discussion needed.  Communication.  Carol Goulet is our Outreach Coordinator (InterAgency).  Discussion of this role needed.   Eddy Building is usually available for any SMCT Coordinator needing a place to hold a meeting.   

Database meeting held on 7/21/10.   Ready for data entry of contacts.

Leadership of Carolers needed.  Already being asked if we are available for Xmas in the Valley in Nov.

Finances:

Doing all right.  See Carol M. for up-to-date info.

Need to recruit a campaign team.  Chris has been in touch with Michele Swallow & Jessica Barry.  They are available for Grant-Writing, but a Coordinator is needed.  Andy Affleck’s brother works for a fund-raising company.  Usually 60-70% have $ from local donors (with deep pockets).

Next Meeting is scheduled for Officers on 8/14 @ 9:30 AM at the Hollis-Mauro Homestead.  Advanced items for discussion include:  Use of ASCAP, Where does Outreach Coordinator fit, Leadership of Carolers.