BOARD OF DIRECTORS – July 17th, 2007.
The meeting was called to order by Vice President Claudia McEwen at 6:03 pm. Present were Paul Buckley, Sylvia Rickett, Loretta Geotis, Suzanne Terpos, Alicia Merel, Arnie Steinmetz, Gail Burnett, Pat Robenolt, Kim Capps, Rita Irwin Sandra Holland, Natalia Gimer, C.J. Geotis, Nancee Rainaud and Ginger Michael. Absent were Tom O’Neil, Lauren Spinelli and Fred Hundhammer (it was Fred’s 50th wedding anniversary).
Approval of the Agenda: Motion to approve, seconded and passed, with an addition from Ginger under VP of Production.
Minutes: Motion to approve, seconded and passed.
a) Body count for July is 186.
b) Vanities had a total of 132 in attendance. The show was very well received.
c) I came up with a monitor for the second computer in the box office only to find out that the third tower that we were donated from the school does not work. More on computers from the finance department.
2 CINEMA
a) Slide system confirmed and on the agenda for approval. The finance committee opines that we should approve the purchase of the slide projector, at the cost of about $1000. This should allow for the expansion of the advertising base, up to 15 or even possibly 20, with improved quality. The motion was made, seconded and passed with all voting in favor of the purchase.
Other stuff
a) Our work day with Rotary turned out to be without Rotary. However, Bob and Alicia, CJ, Paul and I accomplished several of the tasks that were on our list including painting the gallery, painting the stairs in the green room and the rehearsal room, painting the bottom of all the tables in the gallery and other odds and ends. The Rotary Club forgot to come on the scheduled date, but many improvements were done anyway. The new seat numbers are now on the seats.
b) The season brochure is printed and mailed. If you have an office or hotel or restaurant that might display a few brochures, please let me know. I will be distributing to various outlets, the Chamber and Marine Bank statement stuffers hopefully in the September statements. Season brochures are printed, f you have anywhere to put one up, please get some from Loretta.
b) Advertising for the playbill is coming in. Please let me know if you have someone you would like to contact. I have a list of those who have already been contacted or have committed. As of today, I have a total of $5,600+ committed. My goal is $10,000. I need some help to reach this goal. However, on a positive note, I have secured five sponsors this year at $500 as opposed to two sponsors last year. Help is still needed for follow up calls for the playbill advertising. CJ brought in a new sponsor (Kelly Electric) for the playbill at $500. Kelly Electric is also going to be a new cinema advertiser with $500 billed to them and a credit for $500 in service work as needed.
c) Please remember to coordinate with me before scheduling ANY and ALL rehearsals, dance classes, meetings, etc. Our schedule is getting very busy and this will avoid confusion and double booking.
d) At the last board meeting, I had just received a notification from the DEP that a tree had overgrown our sewage treatment plant and that we had a leak. The tree has been removed and treated to prevent re-growth and Synagro is handling the leak.
e) I will have a final reimbursement to submit to the TDC prior to September 30 for the remainder of the grant money. That will be completed shortly.
f) Auditions for OWO were held this past Saturday and Sunday. They went well, but we had a lot of people who had signed up for particular songs that did not come to the audition. If you know anyone who would like to participate, please tell them to get in touch with Laura Hutt or Loretta. Monday 27th at 7pm, meeting for OWO. If you didn’t audition and would like to be involved make sure to attend! Auditions went well, though some people who had said they were going to sing a specific song did not come.
g) I have created posters for the September auditions if you have a location you can place one, let me know. I will be placing ads and will schedule a spot on the Morning Mix at an appropriate time prior to the auditions. Audition packets are ready and available.
h) On a sad note, we have had three deaths of members of our theatre within the last few weeks. Please keep Claudia, Christine and JD in your thoughts and prayers. If you know of anyone else from our theatre family that has died in the past year, please let me know so I can include them on our “In Memory” page in the season playbill.
i) Request from Guidance clinic (they have advertised with us for 2 years). They created a fundraising committee and are going to do a raffle. They are looking for something to raffle. CJ moves that we give the Clinic 4 movie tickets, the motion is seconded and passed.
j) Loretta is going to obtain pricing for a water filter and bottle supply for the Green Room.
k) Both Ralph and Bob have reported about doors left unlocked, lights and AC on after all have left the playhouse. It must be underlined that the person who is responsible for the group that is meeting is responsible for making sure everything is off. There also must be communication between groups if two or more are working at the same time, so as to ensure that the last one to leave realize they have to close down and lock up.
As a reminder, Ralph has an obligation to open the bathrooms when we are in performances. This is in exchange of a room that MCT allows him to use.
Committee Reports:
Finance: Alicia passed out a finance report. Body count in Cinema for July is 2909 and Playhouse 186. YTD numbers are the same since July is the beginning of the fiscal year. There have been no closures for hurricanes so far. Cash balance as of August 14 was: Playhouse $147, Cinema $10894, Capital improvements $15065, Operating reserves $30 316, for a total of $56421. “Capital reserves” is lower this year, but the monies all went into the roof. Pre-paid rights for Me and My Girl were taken care of. Budget amounts are a yearly amount divided by 12, so do not be surprised – they even out over the year. An extra $500 was approved for the mortgage payment this month. CJ asks about “accounts receivable”. Accounts receivable amount is primarily TDC money due from our grant. Cheryl will be able to provide additional clarification. Alicia mentions that new computers were on the budget and approved, but that the purchase hasn’t been made. After some discussion and the agreement that they are needed, Claudia said that since they were in budget and approved, all that was needed was for Loretta and Alicia to pick an opportune moment with respect to the cash balance and make the purchase.
VP Production: There may be a problem with the winter reading due to scheduling conflicts with the director, who cannot be reached at this time for confirmation. Ginger mentioned that she would like to bring Vanities back. There are two slower times that might work, February and April. Dates and shows will be decided upon once confirmation is obtained from Adrienne. There will be a production meeting on Saturday at 10am. Any special requests should be given to Gail, or come to the meeting! Otherwise all is going well.
Playreading: Loretta got some catalogs of new plays and Arnie has read them all and is trying to pass them on. There are copies of “Bells are Ringing” circulating, contact Arnie if you would like to get one to watch. Any directors with particular interests should mention them to Arnie, as well as anyone who would like to submit a script to be read.
Stage Committee:
Building: The emergency lighting has been check and is working well.
Entertainment: Rita makes a motion to take the stars down. No one seconded the motion. Loretta asked if members of the committee could stay at the end for a quick meeting.
Membership: Quarterly membership meeting dates need to be adjusted so that the voting occurs separately from Pampered Palms. May 7th will be a voting meeting. The Nominating Committee will need to be nominated in January, so that a March ballot can be prepared and members have the time to prepare for the vote in May.
By-Laws: will meet quickly after the board meeting.
Historical: Paul reports that both Christine and Ward are giving many video cassettes of past shows to the theatre, so the library will increase.
Please be prepared for the September 5th Quarterly Membership Meeting. The entertainment committee needs to decide about refreshments and all committee chairmen need to be prepared to report to the membership. This meeting takes place at 7pm.
Other:
Old Business:
New Business:
Laura Hutt made the suggestion that for OWO, we offer a 10% discount to any active or veteran US military personnel who attends the show in uniform. CJ made the motion, which was seconded and passed.
Good of the Order: Don’t forget the Quarterly meeting on September 5th at 7pm.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 6:57p.m.
Submitted by Sylvia Rickett, Secretary