circle craft newsletter SUMMER 2017
inside the annual general meeting report from the board retreat
HANDMADE IN BC Circle Craft is a unique BC Artist Cooperative dedicated to providing opportunities for craftspeople to connect with the community. Formed in 1972, Circle Craft has grown to become a major force in the marketing and promotion of quality craft. Built on a reputation for integrity and quality, both our annual Christmas Market and the shop and gallery on Granville Island are Vancouver traditions for locals and visitors alike, and encompass a wide variety of media and design styles. Circle Craft of self-sustaining and is supported by commission on sales and participation fees. Our 1994 mission statement reflects the aims of our founding members: “To promote the development recognition, and success of members and their work.” We are proud of our achievement in fulfilling and continuing to work towards our mission; Circle Craft is one of the most successful organizations of it’s kind in North America.
Cover: Credit— Haejin Lee
circle craft SHOW PRODUCER Paul Yard SHOW COORDINATOR Rossanne Clamp STORE MANAGERS David Camisa Emily Cowan
Credit—Mikel Lefler
contents SUMMER 2017
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Andrea Sanders
BOARD OF DIRECTORS CO-PRESIDENTS
Vesna Yankovich Andrea Roberts
4—Circle Craft AGM Co-Chair’s Report…………………...…..4 Show Producer’s Report……….……..7 Store Manager’s Report………..……..8 Committee Reports Gallery Report………………..…..10 Scholarship Report…….……….11 Selections Report……………....11
13—
Board Retreat Report
Vanja Gavric Gordon Hutchens Svea Vatch
Circle Craft Shop & Gallery 1-1666 Johnston Street Net Loft, Granville Island Vancouver, BC V6H 3S2 t: (604) 669.8021 f: (604) 669.8585 Circle Craft Office 203-1537 West 8th Avenue Vancouver, BC V6J 1T5 t: (604) 801.5220 f: (604) 801.5221
CIRCLE CRAFT AGM THE CIRCLE CRAFT ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING TOOK PLACE AT THE CAROUSEL THEATRE ON GRANVILLE ISLAND ON APRIL 26, 2017
from the co-chairs This Report is for period of May 2016 to April 2017. Right after AGM last year, Board started new cycle with May Retreatwhole day meeting facilitated by Mike Talbot with only one major goal: to come out with a model of governing and managing CC Association under new circumstances. Report from May Retreat you could read in a September Newsletter thanks to Andrea Sanders and Rossanne Clamp. Conclusion from Retreat was to go with the model of a Team Management rather than hiring an Executive Director or General Manager. Board gave up transitional executive function and went back to previous governing position; monitoring finances and working with the Team to achieve goals from Board's vision for the co-op. Team was Rossanne Clamp, Andrea Sanders, and Colin Holmes, with Paul Yard as the Team Leader. It was recognized that we needed well organized Store operations; to have the Store as a happy work place with enthusiastic employees. Also at that time we were talking about developing other sources of income (besides store sales) like sales on line and to revive corporate gift program.
4 : Circle Craft Newsletter
Summer season was busy with sales and Gallery shows. Board rested July and August. September we were back to speed of board business. In order to improve store operations one major correction was made in October. Store Supervisor position was eliminated and agreed that Store should be run by the Team with Ann Uusoja, David Camisa and Emily Cowan. Board is extremely pleased to recognize how well the store operations are running with the new team. Atmosphere in the Store is nice and overall look is constantly improving. In the same time Office Team was progressing very well. Rossanne and Andrea worked nicely on putting together Newsletter, Gallery Shows ran smoothly, Christmas Market was the best ever.... Overall 2016 was well shaped year with Store revenue around $780,000 in sales and fantastic CCC Market Show. CC was well presented at the show. We had spacious booth with hard walls, big banner, and absolutely beautiful artworks from our members. It was a
magic
touch
of
team
work.
In December board meeting we started discussion how to achieve seamless transition in running the coop without Paul, as we were under impression that Paul is going to retire and will have smaller role in organizing Market. In January, board received proposal from Paul, Rossanne, and Andrea about new role of the Office Team and at what cost. So, Board and the Team (Paul, Rossanne, and Andrea) came to agreement that year 2017/18 is going to be transitional with broader job description for Rossanne and Andrea, slowly taking overall operations that would cover General Manager's job description as well as having great role in organizing Christmas Market. At the other hand, Paul would perform as a Consultant and would overlook Store and Office performance. Board was satisfied with such a plan understanding that this was reasonable to have more learning and training time for successors. After AGM this year, Board with Store and Office Team will have Retreat Meeting to set goals for 2017/18 business year.
CC Association is facing a big challenge with the Lease for the Store in the Net Loft. The Lease will expire December 31, 2018 and CMHC has not given us any option for extension so far. We have to negotiate a new lease. This will come as the main topic at our May Retreat. The biggest concern of the Board is the low motivation among membership to come on Board, to volunteer their time and help our organization to continue being successful for many years to come . As we believe we have not achieved our highest potential yet. Board should ideally have 9 Directors so that creative ideas
and solutions do not always come from a few. Carolyne Curran-Knight and Gordon Hutchens completed two terms (4 years) serving at board; Andrea Roberts, Jason Marlow and Vesna Jankovic completed 2 years; Svea Vatch has 1 more year. Thank you All for your generous contribution to CC. Board warmly welcome Vanja Gavric as a new, fresh addition to the Board. Vanja is a self employed jewellery artist and marketing specialist and we are looking forward to hearing her ideas on how to improve marketing for Circle Craft.
Sadly, no one from our membership expressed any desire to stand for Board this time. To share the exciting part, we have lots to celebrate this year. CC is celebrating 45 years of Excellence. As you have been already informed though the March newsetter and e-mails from Andrea Sanders we will have a big show during the months of July and August in the store. We hope this will be also a great social event and perfect occasion to meet members that you do not know. Thank you. Vesna Yankovich & Andrea Roberts
CO-CHAIRS
Credit— Brian Hoyano
Credit— Debra Sloan
market report Overall, 2016 was a good year for Circle Craft Co-op. We managed to pay members $40,000.00 more than in 2015 and still ended the year with a net income of $52,695.00
case, we are well positioned for another successful show this November.
At the annual Board retreat, the decision was made to adopt a TEAM approach to management, both at the store and at the office. The results of this approach, so far, have been excellent. At the store, David Camisa, Emily Cowan, and Ann Uusoja have taken on the duties of the Co-op/Store manager and divided them up amongst themselves. They all are familiar with all aspects of the job so if someone is sick or leaves, either of the other two could cover the duties of the one missing.
2000 emails collected at the show were entered into our email database….now over 80,000…. and questionnaires were sent out 10 days after the show)
At the office, Rossanne Clamp and Andrea Sanders have taken responsibility for the show and many of the administrative tasks associated with the Co-op such as annual filings, gallery shows, graphics etc. Rossanne has taken over the making of the floor plan of the show along with her graphic duties. The two teams meet together monthly and communicate on almost a daily basis. I think that we are finally getting it right!
Christmas Market: The Christmas Market contributed $174,000.00 to the bottom line of Circle Craft in 2016 as compared to $182,000.00 in 2015. Exhibitors found the show have strong sales as they have signed on to 2017 in record numbers. We are over 92% full. I have the feeling that due to the results of the Nov 7th election in the states, a lot of people needed “retail therapy” and spent more than usual at the show. In any
Statistics:
- 23.9% were new customers - 40.9 % bought their tickets online - 30.1% heard of the show by word of mouth - 75.4% say they will return in 2017 - 24.3% would like to see the “Grapes & Grains” section of the show expanded - 24.5% of attendees were in the 25-40 age bracket
I would like to thank all of the people who work so hard to make Circle Craft the success that it is. -Rossanne, Andrea Maureen at the office;
and
-Emily, David and Anne at store, along with the rest of the store staff including Jackie, Melinda, Linda, Eriko, Laura and LanaiaAnne. Also Jan Macleod who has taken on the job as liaison between the store staff and Board members. -The Christmas Market Committee, made up of Helene Bourget, Jamie Evrard, Barb Head and Jan Macleod.
As always, a special thanks to our Board! They have done a terrific job of guiding us through the maze of the past year. Welcome to our two newcomers, Svea Vatch and Vanja Gavric who joined us since the last AGM and a special thanks to outgoing
members Carolyne Curran-Knight and Jason Marlow. In closing, I would like to point out that the Board we put in place tonight is made up of only five members. I find it appalling, that out of a membership of over 135 members we can’t find nine willing to serve! Circle Craft Co-op is an amazing organization but make no mistake…..it will collapse if members continue to ignore their responsibility and to refuse to participate. You can join the Board during the year and help until the next AGM …..there are four vacancies at this time! If you feel that being a Board member is too time consuming (9 – 10 meetings a year), you could join one of our committees….whatever, just get involved! Paul Yard SHOW PRODUCER
store management report
Hello Members!
For those we haven’t had the chance to introduce ourselves to yet, we’re David, Ann, & Emily your current managerial team at the store here on Granville Island. First of all, we want to take this opportunity to thank you all for the warm welcome we have received since taking over store operations in October of last year. We truly appreciate everyone’s support during the transition and believe, that with your help, we’ve been able to foster a positive environment for our Artists, staff, and customers alike. We came into the role with diverse personalities & strengths, but with a unified vision that we feel has served the store well. The ownership of various responsibilities quite naturally fell in to place and we quickly found we were a well-rounded team that compliments each other well. Most of our staff has been with us for over a year now and we’ve just held interviews to fill a sales associate posting before our busy summer season hits and are thrilled with our candidates.
Store revenue was up in 2016 to $772,978, which is an increase of almost $30,000 from the 2015 figures. This equates to over $40,000 more paid out to members over the same time period. This year has started slowly, particularly with the bad weather in January and February, which not only kept customers
from coming to the store but many of our Artists from being able to work in their studios. However, the past few weeks have seen sales pick up. We sold the clock by Kelly Backs which, when paid off in full, will put an extra $8000 in the bank. This looks to be just the start of an upward trend.
As 2017 saw things slow down we were able to take that opportunity to focus on projects that needed attention in the store. Under the direction of the board, and with the help of Jan MacLeod, we organized and oversaw improvements to the display units, including a fresh coat of paint and the installation of new glass shelving and light fixtures. If you haven’t seen it already, come and take a look! We’ve also established a regular posting schedule on our social media sites and are featuring your work on Instagram and Facebook. Please, if you have your own business accounts on these sites, get them to us so we can tag and promote you when we share your work.
As always, we’re happy to hear from any of you, should you ever need anything or have any questions, we’re only a phone call or email away. David Camisa Emily Cowan Ann Uusoja
STORE MANAGEMENT
Credit— Sasha Shkolnik Photo Credit—Leon Shkolnik
9
gallery report Dear Circle Craft Members, Finding suitable artists or curators for a good show has been successful and the gallery program is going well. With great support from the Administrative Assistant, Andrea Sanders, all communication, planning, overall process is now running very smoothly. A big thanks to Andrea, she is not only taking care of the administrative part prior to each show. Andrea actually has a curating degree from the UK and it is fair to say she is a great asset to our organization. I would like to extend my thanks to Rossanne Clamp and the store team to help make each show a success with logistics, input to show openings. For each show there is a lot of planning necessary to make it a success, not only from the artist or curators perspective. I would like to take this opportunity to send out an urgent call to members. Please consider to offer your time, any time you really have, giving back to an amazing organization. The past two years were a truly humbling experience for me that broadened my insight on how Committees work together and how we can be part of positive changes. I believe we still have more potential for the future! However, we need more members to get involved
and come on board to insure the wellbeing of the organization. This year we are celebrating 45 years of Excellence with a great show in the gallery at the GI store during July and August that will extend to the CCCM store booth later this year. Selections and Gallery Committee were sharing their vision for the show. Planning of the show is ongoing and we have received already great response from members who will contribute artwork specially designed for the show. I hope that you had a chance to come to the Gallery while you were at the store and take a look at a few shows that were running in the new Gallery space. I would like to thank Fredi Rahn for curating the 'Last Cone Standing' group show with artists from the Shadbolt Art Center ceramic group. The show received very positive feedback overall and pieces were selling well too. Upcoming in May, Kaija Rautiainen will curate a textile group show with fibre group show with fibre artists Anni Hunt, Catherine Nicholls, Julie Pongrac and Michelle Sirois-Silver. In June we have scheduled a solo show with local glass artist Laura Murdoch. July/August the gallery is exhibiting 45 years of Circle Craft Excellence with a show opening on Thursday, July 6. We antici-
pate to have a great reception and celebration with many members that come to the opening that day. Make sure to put this date on your calendar. Andrea Sanders will send out a reminder in regards to time lines and the event soon. During September, Miran Elbakyan will have a solo metal show at the gallery. We already have numerous applications for 2018 and the gallery schedule is shaping up nicely. The Textiles Society of America will have their Conference in Vancouver in September next year and applied for a show in conjunction with other shows that will take place on Granville Island during that month. It will be an international event with artists from around the world. I would like to remind and encourage Circle Craft members to consider having a solo or group show at the gallery. July and August are months that are exclusively reserved for CC members. To apply for a show, you can go online. If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact Andrea Sanders at: andrea@circlecraft.net. Andrea Roberts GALLERY CHAIR
IN THE GALLERY: July 6—September 3: “Circle Craft: Celebrating 45 Years” - a group show from Circle Craft members, showcasing examples of their best work. September 7—October 1: Miran Elbakyan - solo show from Circle Craft member Miran Elbakyan. October 5—November 2: “Market Preview Show” - a group show featuring a selection of new exhibitors from the 2017 Circle Craft Market Credit Left: Greg Kawczynski Credit Right: Cathi Jefferson
membership report
selections report
scholarship report
Selections for 2017 has now been completed. We held our first round meeting on April 10th, where the committee went through the 40 applications from Stage 1. 15 of these were chosen to move on to the second round, which took place this morning, April 26th. For the second round, a chosen Jury looks at actual samples of the work from the fifteen applicants, and from this pool, 7 applicants were chosen to be invited as members. For one year, these 7 members will be on a probationary period, and if they prove to be active and productive members during this time, will be invited to full membership. We would like to welcome our new members: -Anne Verkerk -Ashley Ponter -Cindy Cantelon & Marshall Mar -Jan Phelan -Joan Scarabelli -Lorna Moffatt -Thomas Bundic
There is nothing to report for the Scholarship Committee. During our time of financial crunch, member scholarships were put on hold and the funds kept in our operating expenses. Our financial situation is much improved and member scholarships are available again. We did give out the Student Scholarship Awards as usual in 2016. The recipients were: - Elnaz Zomorodian (VCC, Jewellery) - Jessica Mok (Emily Carr, Ceramics) - Darwin Greyeyes (Selkirk College, Metal) The scholarship show took place in the Circle Craft Gallery in February 2017. We would also like to note that the Emily Carr University of Art + Design scholarship has been re-named to honour Thelma Ruck Keene, a long contributing Circle Craft member who passed away this past winter.
Jason Marlow SELECTIONS CHAIR
Gordon Hutchens
SCHOLARSHIP CHAIR
Credit—Den Jones
CIRCLE CRAFT BOARD RETREAT THE BOARD RETREAT TOOK PLACE ON MAY 27, 2017 AT THE CAROUSEL THEATRE ON GRANVILLE ISLAND
1.
Introduction
At the last Board Retreat (May 2016), it was agreed that, in anticipation of Paul's retirement, the General Manager's role at Circle Craft would be filled by a three-person management team consisting of the store manager, coop administrator and show producer. In the event, Paul has not retired(!) and the store manager left Circle Craft in September. A threeperson team (David, Emily and Ann) now fulfills most of the functions of a store manager. They do not, however, meet with the coop administrator (Andrea) and show producer (Rossanne) as a senior management team as envisaged at last year's retreat. The purpose of this year's retreat was to clarify the current functioning of the organization and to plan for its future development. The Board and management staff participated in the morning session and the Board and the General Manager met in the afternoon. There was a commitment that staff would be briefed on the outcomes of the afternoon session during the week following the meeting. For the sake of clarity, some items in this note of meeting do not strictly follow the order in which the discussion occurred.
MORNING SESSION 2. Fundamentals of Organization Design Mike provided an overview of some of the key concepts of organization design.
2.1 Primary Metaphor or Model There are numerous ways to think about organizations. Mike highlighted two. Traditionally - 1850 to 1980 - the dominant metaphor or model for business and industry was the machine. In this model, production is broken down into its component parts and workers are allocated to fairly narrow and repetitive jobs. Supervision and coordination is provided by a command and control structure that operates through a hierarchy. Motivation is provided by a carrot and stick approach. Motivation is extrinsic to the individual. These machine-like organizations were highly productive and provided the foundation for the high standard of living that we have in western countries today. Two of their drawbacks were that they were slow to adapt to changing external conditions and that they provided a mundane and repetitive working life for employees.
In contrast, the metaphor that is increasingly used today is the organization as a living system. It is more akin to an organism than a machine. Each organization exists within a business or societal ecosystem and has a role to fulfill within that system. Each organization is a system in its own right and is composed of various subsystems (production, marketing, finance, H.R., I.T., etc..) The organization, its subsystems and individual employees each have their own purpose. In such organizations there is more of an emphasis on intrinsic motivation. Ideally, employees are doing work that is meaningful to them and provides a sense of fulfillment. Along with viewing organizations as systems has come the importance of work groups as teams and, increasingly, self-managed teams. In this way of organizing, a group of employees is responsible for a part of the organization's output, staffing, quality management, financial performance, etc.. 2.2 Organization Development .... The shift from viewing organizations as machines to viewing them as systems is part of a broader movement in the development of human consciousness. Fundamental to such development is the phenomenon of transcend and include. That is, the emerging level of consciousness (organizations as systems) does not replace the old one (organizations as machines) but incorporates it. The old hierarchical structure and management responsibilities can still be found in the new along with a variety of new concepts and new ways of functioning. Another kind of development occurs when an organization "grows up" from birth to maturity within a level of consciousness. The following are a series of typical developmental step. Level 1 - Initial or Start Up Organization processes are typically undocumented and in a state of dynamic change. They tend to be driven in an ad hoc, uncontrolled and reactive manner by users or events. Level 2 - Repeatable Some processes are repeated, sometimes with consistent results. Process discipline is unlikely to be rigorous but where it exists it may be maintained during times of stress. Level 3 - Defined There are defined and documented standard processes generally established but they may not be consistently followed. Level 4 - Managed (Capable) Defined processes are generally followed and there are metrics in place to routinely measure effectiveness. Level 5 - Optimizing The focus is on continually improving process performance through both incremental improvements and innovative technological changes. At this point in time, Circle Craft is working towards the completion of Level 3.
Continued‌.
14 : Circle Craft Newsletter
Right: Credit—Lisa Samphire
2.3 Organization Functions There is a useful distinction to be made between what are traditionally called line and staff functions. These terms come from the military and their modern-day equivalents are "customer facing" and "backroom". Essentially, line functions are those that directly affect the organization's customers or clients. In Circle Craft's case, these are retail customers, Christmas market booth holders and co-op members. Staff functions provide services to the other parts of the organization (financial administration, human resources and I.T.). 3. Organization Design for Circle Craft 3.1 The Organization Today Participants divided themselves into three groups and developed a diagram of how they see Circle Craft functioning today. As is to be expected, the diagrams are quite similar. The main variations are in their degree of detail and the extent to which Paul's role is seen as distinctive and apart from the office and store teams. One participant commented that Paul is the glue that holds the organization together. Participants were then asked to rate the effectiveness of the current organization. On a ten-point scale, the results were: Points
No. Participants
8
4
7
4
Don’t Know
1
In addition, participants were asked to rate their personal satisfaction with their role at Circle Craft. This time the staff and board members were separated out.
Staff:
Points
No. Participants
Points
No. Participants
9
1
9
1
8
3
7
2
6
1
5
1
Board:
In response to the question, "What is working well at Circle Craft?", the comments were: − − − − − −
I love working here. There is one greater team. Communication is open, "super good". There is an atmosphere of kindness, respect, no petty fighting. Clear decision making. There is room for creativity.
Continued….
16 : Circle Craft Newsletter
"Opportunities for improvement" were: − Could decisions be speedier? - for example, the question of selling cards in the store. Couldn't that decision be made by us (store staff) as it always was in the past? − The website - where is it at? - how is it managed? − What about a customer list? − Office priorities keep changing and projects get interrupted. Paul acts as gatekeeper. Is there an annual pattern? − What about performance management? − Store managers experience surprises. Could there be a more direct line of communication between the store and the Board? 3.2 The Organization of Tomorrow Paul currently fulfills two roles at Circle Craft; he is both General Manager and leader of the Christmas Market team. Paul is expected to fully retire from Circle Craft in the next one to two years. Meeting participants divided into the same three groups and drew diagrams of how they foresaw Circle Craft operating after Paul's departure. A number of options emerged: − Paul, as General Manager will be replaced by a current member of staff or by the office staff (Andrea and Rossanne) operating as a team; − The store will continue to be managed by a management team and the store team will report to the General Manager Alternatively: − There will be no General Manager as such. Both the office and the store teams will report to the board. 4. "Governance" In addition to Circle Craft's operations, there is the question of governance - the role of the Board. The Board represents the interests of the Coop's members. For many years the Circle Craft Board has functioned within the framework of Carver's "Policy Governance" model. It has two key elements. The Board: 1) speaks with one voice; 2) develops policies and does not make management or operational decisions. The numerous policy decisions that have been made by the Board are collected together in the Board binder. Carver recommends that the Board not form committees. However, in Circle Craft's case there are four long-standing committees: − − − −
Selections Gallery Scholarship Membership
In general, these have worked well because their remits are clear and there is minimal overlap with the Circle Craft operations for which staff are responsible. Continued….
Following a period when the Board has, of necessity, been actively involved with the budgeting and the retail operation of the Co-op, it is now appropriate that the Board return to operating within the Policy Governance model. There may, however, be a need for an occasional ad hoc committee. One related to store operations is being established with Jan MacLeod at its head.
AFTERNOON SESSION 5. Discussion and Conclusions Participants in the afternoon session were the Board members and Paul Yard. They raised a number of questions about how a team-based Circle Craft would operate and identified next steps. 5.1 Some Questions The Board's questions included: In the current operation: − How much do the staff trust themselves? (At present, Paul is a font of information). − Are the staff professionals or is this just a job? In a team based management structure: − How are productivity and quality assured? − Who hires and fires? − Who decides on rates of pay? − How are budgets established? − Who decides on staffing levels? − What happens when the bottom falls out? For example, if two of the three store managers resign simultaneously or there is a bad hire? 5.2 Conclusions 5.2.1 Organization Design − The Board is committed to Circle Craft operating with a team-based management structure. It is expected that full implementation will take one to two years. − Paul will continue in his current role as General Manager for at least this calendar year. During this period, team responsibilities and reporting relationships will remain as they are today. − The show/membership/office team (Andrea and Rosanne) will continue to provide admin services to the store (finance, HR, IT). − The primary formal link between the management teams and the Board will be provided by Paul in his General Manager role but there will be opportunities for managers to attend Board meetings. − The configuration of the management teams that will be put in place when Paul retires will be decided in due course.
Continued….
18 : Circle Craft Newsletter
5.2.2 Board/Governance − The Board will continue to operate using Carver’s model of “Policy Governance): the Board will focus on policy decisions and speak with one voice. − An important exception to the pure Carver model has long existed at Circle Craft. This is the work of four Committees: Selections, Gallery, Membership and Scholarship. 5.2.3 Organization Development and Other Initiatives − The immediate developmental tasks related to the management teams are to: − − − − −
create “job" descriptions which define the responsibilities and authority for each team; define the skills that managers require to fulfill their responsibilities; develop training manuals that can be used to orient new staff. A store liaison Committee led by Jan MacLeod is currently being established; Vanja has volunteered to support store staff in developing a marketing plan and reviewing the function of the website.
6. Follow-Up to this Meeting Mike will: − provide briefing notes to Paul for his meeting with staff on Monday morning; − write a report of meeting. Mike Talbot FACILITATOR
Credit— Jeff Burnette
Wednesday, November 8—Sunday, November 12, 2017