Board Meeting Minutes Synopsis 2014-12

Note: Minutes of the December Meeting were taken by Geoff Sargent, Assistant Chairman, in the Secretary’s absence.

CALL TO ORDER
Tim Edes, Chairman of the Board, called the meeting to order at 10:00 AM on Saturday, December 13, 2014 at the Brace River House in Modesto.

ROLL CALL
Board Members Present: David Brace,Tim Edes, Montie Elston, Steve Goldfield, Mark Hogan, Jim Ingram, Maria Nadauld, Larry Phegley, Geoffrey Sargent
Board Members Absent: David Gooding, Mark Hogan
Officers Present: Marcos Alvira, Carl Pagter, Frank Solivan

SETTING OF THE AGENDA
The Board approved the meeting agenda with two additions.

APPROVAL OF THE NOVEMBER 2014 BOARD MEETING MINUTES
The Board approved the November minutes as written.

PERSONS DESIRING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON UNAGENDIZED ITEMS
Frank Solivan asked to discuss a Wintergrass Donation. This item was added to the agenda.

OLD BUSINESS
2014 FDF Retrospective Update:
Draft #3 of the Retrospective Report was reviewed and approved.
Several Mercantile issues were discussed:
• Mercantile recommended stock-ups on some items such as black CBA logo t-shirts. The Board approved purchase of 12 dozen wine glasses.
• Discussion of how to recruit and comp mercantile volunteers for CBA and non-CBA events.

Great 48 Update:
Larry Phegley reported that sound will be provided by Peter Wonderling.

ASCAP, BMI, SESAC Update:
Montie Elston reported that he sent a letter to ASCAP asking some questions on reporting forms and fee calculation.

Volunteer Pins:
The Board approved purchase of more Volunteer Pins.

NEW BUSINESS
Butte County Fairground North California Campout:
David Brace and Marcos Alvira talked to the Butte County Fairgrounds as a possible site for CBA Campouts, however their fees are more than other fairgrounds we use. Marcos and David will compose a discussion list for area VPs to negotiate with local fairgrounds for local campouts.

IBMA By-laws Committee:
Maria Nadauld has volunteered to serve on IBMA By-laws revision committee. Maria solicited CBA input for comments to the IBMA By-law revisions.

Small Event Policy Statement and Events Packet:
Geoff Sargent will have this policy and packet ready for the February meeting.

By-law Amendment for Electronic Attendance and Voting:
Geoff Sargent led the discussion,and will research polycom system for board meetings.

Publicity, Sponsorships, Advertising, and Membership:
George Martin and Bruce Campbell are on board.

Festival Photographers:
Bob Caulkins, Mike Melnyk and Randy Shelton were approved as official photographers. Others will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Youth Academy:
Darby Brandli was not present but reported via email.
• New cards/flyers will be ready in time for The Great 48
• The bluegrasscampsforkids website will be updated soon.
• They are in the process of selecting faculty.
• Registration opens January 1.
• Donations to the Scholarship Fund have been slow but expected to pick up next month.
• Randy January is digitizing all of the Lending Library files from Bruce. Someone needs to sort through the instruments in the lending library and determine what should be junked.
• A new site will be tried out for Kidfest at FDF 2015
• We now have a CBA Teen Council. They are tasked with brainstorming ideas for teen activities at FDF.
• The Musical Family Comp Program will continue next year
• There is a small group of volunteers interested in taking over the Youth Program in the future.

Bluegrass Member Discount:
The Board agreed to offer, at the Great 48 only, a one-time promotional 10% discount for members of other bluegrass associations to be applied to the 40th FDF for early bird non-member 3 and 4 day tickets.

TAG Committee Appointment:
The Board will consider TAG appointments at the January meeting.

Wintergrass Donation:
The Board approved Frank Solivan’s request to support his trip to Wintergrass in support of the jam suite.

Grange Donation:
The Board approved a donation to the Morgan Hill Grange for facilities upgrades.

Old Time Gathering Budget:
The budget for the Old Time Gathering was approved.

REPORTS
Executive Committee Report:
All items that the Executive Committee discussed between meetings were on the agenda.

Membership Report:
Maria Nadauld sent out 300 letters for expired members from January 1, 2014 to September 30, 2014.

Treasurer’s Report:
Montie Elston recommends writing down festival assets to reflect a more realistic number.

Music Camp Report:
Geoff Sargent reported the following:
• Catchafire: discussed using their service to match volunteers with organizations but required a $2,000 subscription. He declined.
• Japan: He contacted a bluegrass journal in Japan to see if we can reach out to partner with Japanese bluegrass organizations and to raise the CBA profile in Japan to get Japanese festival goers and music camp students.
• Bluegrass Unlimited ad is in for January, March, and May.
• Music Camp contract was discussed and finalized in Closed Session.

Area Activities VP Reports:
Larry Phegley (South Bay / Monterey Bay) – Things are going well in his area.
Marcos Alvira (Statewide Activities VP) – Signed VP agreement letters are coming back. He had to experiment with the medium that elicited the most responses.

President’s Report:
Darby Brandli was absent from the meeting. See report under Youth Academy.

Chairman’s Report:
Chairman Tim Edes reported the following:
• Print cards for Great 48 are done
• Publicity director call with George Martin and Bruce Campbell has occurred
• He contacted Cameron Little regarding FDF signs
• Plymouth festival has been dissolved
• Web site remodel is coming

CONFIRM TIME AND PLACE FOR THE NEXT BOARD MEETING
Next meeting: Saturday January 10, at 11 AM at the Great 48 in Bakersfield.

ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 1:57 PM.