Board Meeting Minutes Synopsis 2020-02

Chair Geoff Sargent called the meeting to order at 10:02am on Saturday, February 15, 2020. The meeting was held at the Gooding Residence in Vacaville, CA.

ROLL CALL

Board Members Present: Patrick Campbell, Brandon Godman, David Gooding,
Karen Celia Heil, Chuck Hurd, Kara Kundert, Steve Ladonga, Pete Ludé, Larry Phegley, Geoffrey Sargent.  

Board Members Absent: None

Officers, Coordinators and Members Present: Theresa Gooding

Officers, Coordinators and Members joining by Phone: Valerie Cornejo, Darby Brandli,
Deb Livermore and Carl Pagter. 

SETTING OF THE AGENDA

Dave Gooding proposed adding a discussion of SPBGMA. Mr. Sargent proposed moving the FDF 2020 Contracting Status discussion to Closed Session

APPROVAL OF THE JANUARY BOARD MEETING MINUTES

The January 20, 2019 minutes were approved with several changes

PERSONS DESIRING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON UNAGENDIZED ITEMS

Carl Pagter: Mr. Pagter expressed his appreciation for the new the CBA Report, which is an excellent overview of the organization’s accomplishments. Congratulations to Patrick Campbell for his work in producing the outstanding report. Mr. Pager suggested some entities which should receive a copy from us, including the Bluegrass Museum, Library of Congress, East Tennessee State and others. 

OLD BUSINESS

FDF 2020 Prospective

Deb Livermore, volunteer coordinator, reported that she is working on filling out some key volunteer positions for the Festival. Finding sufficient volunteer staffing for the People-Mover is difficult.
Plans for ice supplier and distribution plans were discussed. Our past supplier has increased prices. Mr. Ludé reports that he has found a second option, but the pricing and service may not fill all our needs. Mr. Livermore will work with PJ Thorpe to further define requirements based on last year.  Mr. Hurd reports that the full-hookup lottery winners have been announced. All of them understand that they need to pay separately for early camping. Early camping will be complementary for volunteers whose duty requires them to be on site prior to the festival.   Theresa Gooding reviewed who is assigned responsibility for back stage and entertainment. 

NEW BUSINESS

CBA Social Media

Mr. Ludé reported that, as requested by Geoff Sargent, he conducted a quick survey of existing CBA Social media accounts. He reports that there are currently 12 CBA-branded Facebook instances (pages, groups and entities), such as CBA Main, Father’s Day Festival, Old Time Campout, Bluegrass Breakdown, Regional Areas and Youth. There is only one Instagram site, branded as Father’s Day Festival, one Twitter Account and one YouTube channel. There is also a separate Youth web page.
  Ms. Kundert recommends that our Facebook activities are consolidated under one account. Accounts should be focused on community and common interests, rather than on different events. Regional area accounts could migrate to email blasts managed by Constant Contact. Ms. Kundert has identified a candidate for a social media coordinator, who has appropriate skills, and that Kara would serve as the coordinator. The board agreed that it should provide guidance on social media, and should coordinate involvement by other volunteers. 

Board Candidate voting by Mail

Discussion of this topic will be postponed until a future meeting.

Photo Coordinator

Mr. Campbell recommends that we manage the photographer pool as a year-round activity for all events, not just a “Father’s Day Festival Photographer” activity. He reports that Robin Frenette, Alan Bond and Patrick Campbell will share duties as CBA photographers year-round. He has contacted some of the excellent photographers that have helped CBA in the past, but most have retired, or are not currently able to support the activity. Patrick will coordinate assignments between the three.
  The team identified the need high-quality photo archive to store and search un-edited high-resolution photo files. Robin Frenette has started developing such a site using Zenfolio. Patrick will propose specific guidelines for use of the CBA Zenfolio archive, including who has access, and copywrite and photo credit polices. This will be shared with the Board shortly. 

Bill and Faye Downs Award and Lifetime Members

Theresa Gooding presented list a of past award winners for reference.

President’s Role

Ms. Gooding explained that she views the CBA President’s role as a side activity to board, not as a member of the board. The intent to give aide the goals of the organization and “apply strengths where you can”. She welcomes feedback from the board, volunteers and members. She explained that she has a background in data management and strategy, and can therefore potentially help with Salesforce transition, member database, and websites. Regarding volunteerism: Mr. Gooding would like to bring voices back to the board – the President is liaison between membership and board. New initiatives in improving our data management will help us understand member needs. Finally, she recommends that Father’s Day festival organization is reviewed in order to reduce risk from key-man dependency.

Replacement of Colleen Hogan as Secretary

Geoff Sargent nominated Pete Ludé to serve as Board Secretary, replacing Colleen Hogan, who resigned last month. There was no objection. Mr. Ludé agreed to accept this assignment.

Otter Opry Quilt

Mr. Phegley reported that a donation of One Hundred dollars was received at a recent regional event in Gilroy. He proposes to use this as a down-payment on a T-shirt quilt to be commissioned for the Otter Opry concert on August 30. His proposal was approved by the board.

Bluegrass Pride Sponsorship Agreement

Ms. Kundert proposes that CBA and Bluegrass Pride enter into a joint sponsorship agreement with the same level as last year. The proposal was approved.

Large Music Publishers and local venues and jams

Karen Celia Heil reported that ASCAP/BMI has been aggressively threatening music events, even those exclusively featuring old-time music in the public domain. Mr. Sargent suggests reaching out to IBMA. Dave Gooding recommends consulting with John Frezel, formerly of BMI.

Annual Report and Potential Donors – Patrick Campbell

Mr. Campbell reported that the Ad-hoc committee formed at the last board meeting convened two meetings so far, with constructive discussion on potential donors. The immediate goal is how to use CBA reports as vehicle to get larger donors. Bruce Sadownick is also pursuing expanding FDF Sponsorships to Pioneer stage. An introductory cover letter is being drafted. Mr. Sargent suggests that Hideaki Mizuni could be good resource.

SPBGMA – Dave Gooding

Mr. Gooding reported on the SPBGMA event which is a long-established traditional Bluegrass event held each January. CBA has never had a presence. He recommends that CBA consider having a presence there at next event in January 2021. He will research costs and report back to board with specific proposal at a future board meeting.

Eastern Tennessee State University – Dave Gooding

This institution has a well-respected Bluegrass Music program. The director, Nate, will be attending the FDF, and we may want to propose a sponsorship agreement or promotional booth.

REPORTS

Exec Committee: Chuck Hurd reported on the new CBA policy for full electrical hookup, involving early camping fees except for Music Camp attendees and volunteers working prior to the festival.

Membership Report – Larry Phegley

There are a total of 2,801 members.

Treasurer’s Report – Valerie Cornejo

Reports were distributed. Balance sheet shows a cash reserve of $334k, which equates to about 6-month of operating revenue. The board should be determining what an appropriate reserve level should be, and we may determine that it should be greater than we current funding. P&L from Oct to Feb 14 has been favorable vs. prior year. The FY2019 report shows that we hit nearly breakeven, which was the goal. Analysis of FDF 2020 shows that we are roughly in line with last year.

Youth Program Report – Darby Brandli

Registration opened today for the Youth Academy. Over $5,600 raised in the Youth fund since October, compare with $4,600 last year.

Area VP Reports

South Bay Area: Larry Phegley reported that several concerts coming up, including DB Layton March 27, North Country Blue May 30, Old Pals on August 30, and something in November.

Sonoma: Mark Hogan sent a written report, that the Sonoma Folk Festival is set for March 14.

No other reports were presented.

Budget Committee Report – No Report

Board Action Item Status – Pete Ludé

Mr. Ludé reviewed all action items and updated status.

President’s Report – No Report

Chairman’s Report – No Report

CONFIRM TIME AND PLACE FOR THE NEXT BOARD MEETING

The March meeting will be held Saturday, March 15, 2020 starting at 10:00am at Lagunitas Brewery in Petaluma

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 2:35 pm.