Management Team Meeting Minutes - 9/8/14
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MANAGEMENT TEAM MEETING MINUTES Sep. 8, 2014 Submitted by Lorri Heneveld ~ CORRECTED & APPROVED ~
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MEETING DATE/TIME: Mon., Sep. 8, 2014 / 6:15 pm LOCATION: First National Bank, Johansen Branch (430 Merhar Ave., Fairbanks)
!TEAM MEMBERS PRESENT:
• Nancy Frith (Team Coordinator) • Patti Gallagher (Music Team Leader/Director) • Lorri Heneveld (Secretary) • Debra Kouda (Communication Team Leader) • Mary Anne Laroe (Production Team Leader) • Gayle Miller (Membership Team Leader)
!TEAM MEMBERS ABSENT:
• Judy Dellinger (Visual Team Leader) • Joy McDougall (Financial Manager) • Christine Upton (Fundraising Team Leader)
!VISITORS PRESENT: • Ayden Kouda
! NOTE: ACTION ITEMS are shown in red. Attachments are shown in blue. ! I. Approval of Agenda Nancy submitted the September MT Meeting Agenda for approval / MT approved the agenda with no changes; she also provided Lorri with updated copies of the Management Team Job Descriptions *See attached MT Meeting Agenda and Job Descriptions for details
!II. Secretary’s Report
Lorri submitted the final draft of the August MT Meeting Minutes for approval / MT approved the minutes with no changes, and gave permission for Debra to post them on the Chorus website *See attached August Meeting Minutes for details
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! Secretary/Administrative Discussion Topics:
Management Team Meeting Minutes - 9/8/14
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1. MT members commented that they liked the new Minutes format and content 2. Nancy informed the group that the only change she had suggested (from the rough draft of last month’s Minutes) was to add the names of the groups we sent money to; this information was recently added to the final draft 3. Lorri mentioned that she was not receiving Nancy’s meeting agendas in her email; Debra confirmed that Lorri was not on the current MT email list
!ACTION ITEM #1 - LORRI
1) Send approved August MT meeting minutes and attachments to Debra, so that she can post them on the website
!ACTION ITEMS #2 & #3 - NANCY 2) Add Lorri’s email address to the MT email list 3) Send Lorri an electronic copy of today’s meeting agenda
!III. Financial Report •
Mary Anne provided copies of the September Treasurer’s Report on Joy’s behalf, since Joy was absent
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Nancy provided copies of the 2013-14 Annual Budget *See attached September Treasurer’s Report and 2013-14 Annual Budget for details
!Financial Discussion Topics:
1. Current Cash & Bank Account Balance = $27,729.80 2. Current Club Account Balance = $1,130.73 3. Current Checking Account Balance = $9, 175.43 4. Mary Anne informed the group that Nancy had recently found a check in her pocket, which had been written for $50, back in March 2014 (from our Friends & Family Pre-Competition Show) / Joy contacted the person and received permission to deposit the check
! ! Patti asked if anyone was collecting the $25 costume rental fees from our Christmas singers / Gayle confirmed
5. There was also a $20 bill found with the check, which has also been deposited 6.
that we have started to collect those fees
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7. Gayle commented that she was still unhappy with the lack of budget information in the Treasurer’s Report; the spreadsheet does not show how much money is actually available, vs. how much is already ‘spoken for’
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8. Gayle would like the spreadsheet to show how much ‘real money’ we have to spend / there should be a
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“Designated Funds” category that shows items such as director fees, international, and regional assessments 9. MT agreed that there should be separate categories for each team’s budget, so that team leaders know how much money they have available, on a monthly basis
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Management Team Meeting Minutes - 9/8/14
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10. Nancy informed the team that Joy was currently working on a budget; she handed out copies of the old 2013-2014 budget, and asked the team leaders to review it / Joy is trying to create a more detailed budget, but needs feedback/input from the team leaders Re: what their needs are
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11. Gayle commented that she could not provide feedback, because she had no idea how much money her predecessor had spent / Last year’s spreadsheet doesn’t show any expenses under the Membership category; this is not accurate
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12. Mary Anne commented that we didn’t really spend $5,000 on Production last year (as shown on the spreadsheet); this must have been an estimate
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13. Patti stated that the coaching fees (for Joe Connelly, last year) did not really cost $8,500, like it shows on the spreadsheet
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14. Several team leaders commented that the old budget must be showing estimates only (not how much money was actually spent); this document was also missing categories, e.g., no budget for Communication Team
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15. Patti mentioned that she had recently paid $192 out of her own pocket, to cover the cost of the website (domain renewal for fairbankssweetadelines.com), and had to request a reimbursement; this is an example of a recurring cost that should be in the Communication budget
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16. Nancy explained that it should be fairly easy to figure out who spend what last year, by going back and looking at the 2013-14 reimbursement records / Joy may not know how to locate this data on the old system
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17. Gayle asked if it was possible that “Music” was lumped under the “Administration” category, since there was no obvious category for purchasing music; we know that this was an expense, but the spreadsheet doesn’t show it
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18. Mary Anne mentioned that items like “Facility Rentals” and “Storage Fees” were probably included in the “Administration” category / Gayle commented that Patricia Murphy’s services were probably listed under that same category
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19. Gayle suggested that Joy adds two more “restricted” categories; “Director’s Fees,” and “International and Regional Assessments”
! ! 21. Patti suggested that, although the Chorus isn’t going to Competition in 2015, we still need to have a 20. Nancy confirmed that Joy is using the Quicken program to track our finances
category for that; we need to set money aside for future competitions
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Management Team Meeting Minutes - 9/8/14 ! 22. Nancy explained that the document we were looking at had been created out of a brainstorming session at last year’s MT Retreat; it was not designed to show ‘real money spent’ - it was just a starting-off point for team leaders to start planning their budgets
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23. Nancy requested that each team leader set up a time to meet with Joy, to discuss her respective team’s individual budget, since Joy is in the process of setting up our new computerized finance system
!ACTION!ITEMS #4 & #5 - ALL TEAM LEADERS
4) Review the 2013-14 budget, see what your team spent last year, and estimate the amount of money you will need for this year
!5) Coordinate a date and time to meet with Joy individually, to discuss your team’s budget
!ACTION ITEM #6 - NANCY
6) Meet with Joy to show her where last year’s expenses/reimbursements are located (on the old system)
!ACTION ITEM #7 - JOY
7) Meet with Nancy to discuss how to create more categories within the current budget
!IV. Team Leader Reports !Membership Team
Gayle submitted the September Membership Team Report and the updated Membership Handbook *See attached Membership Team Report and Membership Handbook for details
!Membership Discussion Topics: ! 1. Total Members = 28 (Tenors = 3 / Leads = 13 / Baritones = 4 / Basses = 7) 2. Members on Leave (missing 3 or more rehearsals) = Debra 3. Members Not in Good Standing = None 4. Guests in Christmas Pattern = Callie?, Carmen, Suzanne, Norma, Fawn, Jayden
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5. Tasks Completed Since Last Meeting: •
Revised Standing Rules; approved by Chorus & forwarded to Regional
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Sent email message to International, requesting that Sandy Wise be deleted from roll; confirmation received
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Management Team Meeting Minutes - 9/8/14 •
Discussed Callie’s situation w/International; learned that International had no protocol or guidance Re: procedures for dealing with children as Chorus members; International MT has discussed the possibility of creating guidelines for this, but they haven’t done so yet; they realize that they need to do this, but there is nothing in writing yet; discussed our current Standing Rules with the International rep, and explained how we were handling things so far; Callie must have someone in the chorus assigned to be legally responsible for her during rehearsals; we need to assign an official sponsor, in writing; Joy volunteered to fill this role, but we need a second person (an alternate) to take on this duty when Joy is gone; Gayle talked to Linette Finstadt (one of our former members, now living in Washington); her chorus drew up an actual contract, and had the parents sign it; Gayle had a recent discussion with Callie’s father Re: narrowing down the list of Christmas show songs that Callie would be responsible for learning; Patti is concerned because, so far, Callie hasn’t been checked off on any of the Christmas music; Gayle agreed that “the problem may take care of itself” (meaning that Callie won’t be eligible to perform with us anyway, and may decide to drop out altogether)
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Patti explained that young women’s voices are very different from ours, e.g., very bright and undeveloped, and that young girls Callie’s age really need another type of group to sing with / Gayle explained that children need to have an adult within their section serve as a mentor; Patricia Murphy tried to fill this role (with Callie), but got frustrated because she couldn’t concentrate on learning her own music / Patti has noticed that Callie is usually singing incorrect notes, even when she does come to rehearsal
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Gayle has also been in contact with Fawn (one of our guest singers), and learned that Fawn’s mother is very ill; Fawn asked Gayle’s advice Re: what to do about her Sweet Adelines commitment; Gayle told Fawn that her top priority should be to take care of her mom; Fawn emailed back and informed Gayle that she would rather wait until next Fall, to return to Chorus; Gayle mentioned that the YWIH (Young Women in Harmony) program might be a better fit for some of these young people (e.g., Callie and Jayden), once Patti officially launches it / Patti announced that 21 girls have already signed up for this program, which is encouraging
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Our new Standing Rules have been submitted to Region 13 and International; Gayle isn’t sure what the next step is in this process; will International send something back to her, saying that they’ve been approved?
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Sandy Wise has been deleted from our rolls; Gayle has not been able to establish communication with her Re: returning her costumes; Gayle is uncomfortable with the situation, but at this point, will have to approach Ken (the ex-boyfriend), to ask if Sandy left any costumes at his house
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Gayle asked the team why we had made the decision to move the Afterglow party from Lou Davis’ house to Raven Landing last year / the MT couldn’t think of a good reason - other than the fact that Patricia Murphy had just moved to Raven Landing, and wanted us to try their new facility
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Discussed new attendance procedure w/Melba; sign-in sheets will be used to keep track of attendance at bonus rehearsals, from now on
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Obtained information about using Square™ for IFF; this small piece of hardware can be attached to a cell phone and used to process credit card payments at the venue
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!ACTION ITEMS #8 through #10 - GAYLE
Management Team Meeting Minutes - 9/8/14
8) Begin researching site for Christmas Show Afterglow party 9) Continue attempts to get costumes back from Sandy Wise 10) Research the approval process for getting new Standing Rules accepted by International
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Fundraising Team No Fundraising Team Report was submitted for September. No Fundraising Team representatives attended the meeting.
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Music Team Patti submitted the September Music Team Report *See attached Music Team Report for details
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Music Discussion Topics: 1.
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Patti and the Mes Amies Quartet went to North Pole High School to recruit girls for the new YWIH (Young Women in Harmony) program; they taught the girls a tag, did a demo, etc.; they had a lot of fun, and 21 girls expressed interest in the program; Patti is looking for two locations where these girls can rehearse (one in North Pole and one in Fairbanks); this program will also be open to home-schooled kids Patti sent email messages to Carolyn Soderlund (Lathrop High School music teacher) and Liesl Wietgrefe (West Valley High School music teacher); is awaiting responses The Writing Team met in the Noel Wein Library recently, to work on the Christmas show script; Mes Amies will open the show with ‘Holly Jolly Christmas;’ the theme is a competition between the male and female elves; there is no official title for the show yet; Patti is open to ideas / Debra needs the theme decided soon, so that she can design the poster, program cover, etc. Patti wants us to focus on learning/reviewing the music for our upcoming performances; these non-Christmas songs will be reviewed at the end of our Thursday night rehearsals Next Music Team meeting: tentatively scheduled for 12:00 noon, Sat., Sep. 27, @ the Morris Thompson Center conference room (immediately following our Cancer Walk sing-out); the Music Team is “on automatic” right now we have the learning grid, the section leaders are working toward getting their music signed off, so that they can help others get checked off; Patti cancelled last month’s meeting because there wasn’t anything new to discuss; she is wondering if there is a compelling reason for the Music Team to meet in September; is it really necessary? It might be better to meet with the Writing Team at the end of this month, rather than the Music Team; we still need to finish writing the script for Act 2, but the men won’t be ready to focus on the Christmas show until after their current show is over (the men are hosting the Storm Front Quartet at their upcoming show); the second act should be easy to write because it is all sacred songs; we just have to research the history of each song, and say a few words about it, to create smooth transitions between each piece Debra asked Patti to send her an electronic copy of the Christmas music learning grid, so that she could add it to the weekly announcements Patti asked Gayle how the Monday bonus rehearsals were going, and if we were keeping track of attendance / Gayle confirmed that we were using a sign-in sheet for these extra rehearsals, and that those would be given to Melba
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Management Team Meeting Minutes - 9/8/14 Mary Anne commented that a few people have expressed concern about the proposed martian theme for our next competition Patti stated that we had just had a meeting about this, and that the majority of the women had a positive response to the idea; she doesn’t think we should change the theme because of one or two individuals’ opinions; wants to stick with the martian theme, because there are so many ways we could make this entertaining for our audience
!10. Nancy commented that she thought people will relax about this, once we start learning the music for competition; this led to a short discussion about painting our faces green, and what types of makeup will be needed, to make us look like aliens from another planet
!11. Lorri asked Patti if we would be required to have our competition music memorized by the time our coach (Joe Connelly) arrives to work with us in May 2015
!12. Patti stated that, YES, it would helpful if we had the songs memorized by the time Joe gets here; she plans to start !
working exclusively on the competition songs as soon as IFF is over; we haven’t finalized the competition music yet; we’ll probably end up with a parody of some kind; the Music Team is considering the theme from ‘My Favorite Martian’ / Patti explained that she will have to request a new barbershop arrangement of this song, if we decide to use it *NOTES Re: My Favorite Martian: Internet link to the My Favorite Martian theme song audio clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccd7sVSpDzI
!*Background Info:
The original (instrumental) theme was composed by George Greeley. Additional lyrics were written by Paul Tanner, recorded by The Sattelite Singers, and produced by Golden Records, in 1964. The show aired on CBS from 1964 until 1966, starring Ray Walston as the earth-marooned Martian, with his earthly sidekick, Tim O’ Hara, played by Bill Bixby.
!Internet link to the My Favorite Martian TV show: !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Favorite_Martian
ACTION ITEM #11 - JUDY 11) Create an “Applause-o-Meter” sign as a prop for Christmas show (or assign someone to do this)
!ACTION ITEMS #12 & #13 - PATTI
12) Send Christmas grid to Debra 13) Locate sheet music for ‘My Favorite Martian’ and ask an arranger to create a barbershop version of it
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! Production Team
Management Team Meeting Minutes - 9/8/14
Mary Anne submitted the September Production Team Report and copies of the IFF Letter to Midnight Sun Catering *See attached Production Team Report and IFF Letter to Midnight Sun Catering for details
!Production Discussion Topics: 1.
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An anonymous donation of $100 has been received and was given to the Monroe Foundation, as a deposit for the venue Mary Anne spoke w/Doug Campbell Re: catering for IFF; Doug requested that she send him an email, w/a list of food items and any other pertinent information he will need; this will be easier than trying to schedule a face-to-face meeting Patti asked why Doug didn’t have a contract, or whether we were planning on giving him a contract / Mary Anne asked him if he had a current form for this; he does not; we will need to provide one for him; Mary Anne plans to use the IFF Letter to Midnight Sun Catering as the written contract, if the MT approves; MT liked the format of the letter, but suggested that Mary Anne adds a signature line at the bottom, so that Doug can sign it Nancy asked about the cream puffs; the letter says “cream puffs provided by Corbet & Christine Upton” - Nancy asked if we buy the supplies and ingredients for the cream puffs / Mary Anne stated that, YES, we do purchase them, as opposed to Midnight Sun Catering providing them; this is stated in writing so that Doug knows we will have cream puffs for dessert, i.e., he does not need to provide dessert for us Monroe doesn’t know about the no-host bar yet; it’s just a matter of paperwork; it looks like Doug’s permit will allow us to do this
!ACTION ITEMS #14-16 - MARY ANNE
14) Add a signature line to the bottom of the Midnight Sun Catering contract 15) Add a line (in the contract) that states “Midnight Sun Catering not responsible for providing dessert” 16) Make a list of the things we will provide, and the things we expect Doug to provide Communication Team Debra Kouda submitted the September Communication Team Report *See Communication Team Report for more details
!Communication Discussion Topics:
1. Patti asked Debra if she had received an updated copy of the e-blast list from last year / Debra stated that she had received a list of contacts and email addresses from Jennifer Shelton, and some additional information from Jo Knox
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2. Debra stated that she had recently updated the website, added some new events, and some audio recordings that Sandy S-N had produced; she has also been sending out the weekly announcements via email
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3. Patti and Mary Anne both asked for a few corrections to upcoming calendar events; • The Christmas Tree Lighting performance should be Dec. 11 - not Dec. 10 • The next IFF Planning meeting should be Sep. 20 - not Sep. 16
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!ACTION ITEMS #17-21 - DEBRA/LORRI
Management Team Meeting Minutes - 9/8/14
17) Update the e-blast list and send out an announcement Re: our upcoming Christmas show 18) Fix the dates for the Christmas Tree Lighting performance, and the IFF meeting 19) Confirm warm-up times for all performances 20) Design the Christmas show poster; get ideas from Lorri, following the next planning meeting 21) Create a new FSA brochure that can be used for year-round recruiting
!Visual Team
No Visual Team Report was submitted for September. No Visual Team representatives attended the meeting.
!Visual Discussion Topics:
1. Patti asked if the Visual Team had reorganized the UCPC storage room yet; several MT members confirmed that they had done so; there are still stacks of sheet music that need to be organized, alphabetized, and put into some sort of a filing system; Nancy tried to return some old sheet music, but couldn’t figure out where to file it; she just put it on top of one of the stacks / Patti suggested that we plan a work party to alphabetize the music
!V. Old Business - Discussion Topics:
l. Cards and gifts to winning choruses and quartets
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• Joy completed this task 2. Chamber of Commerce schedule of attendance • Patti commented that we shouldn’t ‘use’ the Chamber of Commerce only as a method for advertising and recruiting; we need to encourage maximum participation in these luncheons, all year round (not just attend when we have a special event coming up / Lorri asked if the luncheons might be cost-prohibitive for some of our members who are on a fixed income, since it cost $18 to eat lunch / Patti reminded the group that one could still attend the Chamber meetings, without eating lunch / Patti likes the idea of having a Sweet Adelines presence there twice a month; we don’t always have to hand out brochures; we should sometimes just attend for the purpose of meeting people, and applauding for them when they are recognized by the Chamber for their own accomplishments / Lorri mentioned that she had attended two Chamber luncheons recently, and had received positive comments about our parkas; other Chamber members are beginning to associate the blue parkas with the Sweet Adelines; Lorri asked if the Visual Team had decided on an ‘official costume’ for the Chamber meetings, and whether this should be an agenda item at our next meeting / Nancy stated that it was not an agenda item, but recommended that we discuss it with Judy soon / Patti likes the idea of wearing the parkas for regular meetings, and wearing a different costume when we actually perform there; Nancy asked if the blue spirit shirts should be considered as another possible costume for the regular Chamber meetings / Patti stated that the challenge was providing all of our members with the spirit shirts; there are several members who still don’t have them / Nancy suggested that members could borrow one of the extra spirit shirts that are kept in the storage room / Patti mentioned that it would be nice to get a quartet to sing at one of the Chamber meetings, as we get closer to the Christmas season; this will be easier than trying to get the whole chorus there, since many of our members work during the day, and are never available at noon on a Tuesday
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!! VI. New Business - Discussion Topics:
Management Team Meeting Minutes - 9/8/14
l. Update emergency contact phone numbers/contact information
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• Gayle thought that the MT had decided this was a Communication Team task; we had a short discussion about this, and decided that it really belonged under Membership Team; Gayle will add this to her list of follow-up items, and will either do it herself or delegate it to one of her team members; watch for an email about this, in the next few weeks; Nancy found an old one from February 2010; it definitely needs to be updated 2. Square™ Card Reader on board!
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• Nancy purchased one of these card readers and tested it with her iPhone; she used it to process orders for her bush flying videos, at her recent pilot’s conference; it worked great; for a $15 video, Square™ charged an extra 49¢; this is a 2.75% mark-up; Gayle has heard from other people that we should have a separate bank account for all Square™ transactions, because it is very vulnerable to hackers; Nancy explained that it was free to set up an online Square™ account (it is a free app from the Apple App Store™); she purchased the card reader attachment for $9.99 @ Fred Meyer, then downloaded the app; the reader came with a coupon code, which she entered into the app; once she had this information entered, Square™ deposited $10 into her account / Debra informed the group that this device can also be used to send money from one checking account to another; Gayle mentioned that some friends of hers have set up a separate email account for their Square™ transactions, so that they don’t get inundated with advertisements / Debra explained that there should be a way to set up filters, so that all the unwanted emails go into a different account (as opposed to your personal email account); we can use our current FSA Gmail account to process Square™ transactions; Debra can set this up for us, including setting up filters; we plan to use this card reader for the 2015 IFF auction, and possibly for 2014 Christmas show ticket sales 3. 2017 Sweet Adelines Music Tour Opportunity - Portland, Oregon to Auckland, New Zealand • Nancy announced that the Pride of Portland Chorus recently sent out an invitation for Sweet Adeline members, family, and friends to join them on their 2017 music tour to New Zealand; you must be a member in good standing to participate; the dates are Feb. 17 - Mar. 5, 2017; this will be summertime in New Zealand; the estimated cost is $4,000 per person; the more people who sign up for the trip, the lower the cost will be; they are already working on an itinerary and group activities; they will be performing with four New Zealand musical groups and arranging sight-seeing activities along the way; the tour includes Auckland, Hamilton, Roturua, Wellington, Christchurch, etc.; if you decide you want to perform with them, you must also make arrangements to attend their rehearsals, and purchase a reasonably-priced costume; music and videos will be available on the Pride of Portland website, and a few on-site Saturday rehearsals will be held the year before they depart; they have set up a special website to advertise this opportunity; for more information, go to http:// www.prideofportland.org/New%20Zealand%20trip
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Management Team Meeting Minutes - 9/8/14 4. Christmas Singer Request: Gayle asked Patti’s permission to allow a recently-graduated music major to join us for the Christmas show; Patti approved this request, but reminded Gayle that the woman had already missed the first three rehearsals; Gayle must ensure that this woman understands that she will be expected to catch up, by attending extra (bonus) rehearsals; Gayle will pass the message on, and we will hopefully meet this lady soon / Patti would like to meet her this Thursday, and place her in the appropriate voice section
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5. Nancy provided new Raven Landing information to the Production Team; Raven Landing has acquired a beer and wine license, and recently purchased a reconfigurable portable stage; they have also put in a new sound system; this venue and equipment are now available for local organizations; Nancy has pricing information
VII. DECISIONS MADE AT THIS MEETING: • Re: 2016 Regional Competition - We will stick with the martian theme
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• Re: UCPC Storage Room - We need a plan for organizing all the loose sheet music; Janice and Sandy Dunkle are the music librarians, but could probably use some help with this project; we need to plan a ‘work party’
! Re: Emergency Contact List - MT has permanently assigned this annual task to the Membership Team •
VIII. UPCOMING MEETINGS:
! ! ! ! ! ACTION ITEM #22 - ALL TEAM LEADERS: !Reminder from Nancy: It is very important that EVERY TEAM is represented at EVERY MAJOR PLANNING MEETING. If the team leader cannot attend, she should arrange to have one of her team members attend. This ensures continuity and ongoing, open communication between the teams, planning committees, and outside agencies that the Chorus is working with. Team representatives should take notes and/or record the meetings, and pass the information to the team leader within a week, so that action items are accomplished in a timely manner.
!The next three critical meetings are: !Christmas Show Planning meeting: Tue., Sep. 16, 2014 / 5:00 - 6:30 pm !
• Noel Wein Library (conference room)
IFF Planning meeting: Sat., Sep. 20, 2014 / 12:30 - 2:00 pm
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• First National Bank, Johansen Branch (conference room)
Management Team meeting: Mon., Oct 13, 2014 / 6:15 - 9:30 pm • First National Bank, Johansen Branch (conference room)
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