NEFFA News

Treasurer's Report (Ralph Jones)

Ralph presented his annual survey of NEFFA finances.

It showed that the Festival expenses were higher than anticipated. Some of these expenses, Bob Solosko explained, should go down in future years. Others will recur. The Signs expense seemed higher than expected; Bob will check it.

Dan complimented Ralph on the quality of the report, and encouraged Ralph to share high-level information with members at the annual meeting. John thought this information might help to explain why "ticket prices are so high". The Treasurers report was approved by voice vote.

Nancy circulated the proposed committee chair list.

Advisor: Larry Jennings; Family Dance: Jacob Bloom; Grants: Robert Johnson; Legal Advisor: Leslie Morrison; Membership: Bill Cochran; NEFFA News: Angel Roman; Publicity: Steve Boylan; Ralph Page Memorial Committee: Sylvia Miskoe (chair), Sam Alexander, George Fogg, Ellen Mandigo, Deanna Marvin, Don Parkhurst, Angela Taylor, Marianne Taylor, Mary Wakefield, Clay Wilcox , Peter Yarensky; Thursday Night Dance Committee: Dan Pearl; Activity Room: Linda Palmstrom; Arrangements, Inside Facilities: Bob Solosko; Outside Facilities Chair: Jean Krogh; Signs: Diane Biglow, Michael Resnick; Crafts: Mary Stafford; Operations: Dan Pearl; Folk Bazaar: Angela Taylor; Food Operations: Mary Wakefield, Don Parkhurst; Food Pre-Festival: Sandy Borden; Hospitality: Shelagh Ellman-Pearl; Housing: Elsa Elliott; Instrument Check: Michael Anthony; Safety: John Wojtowicz, Rayna Tulysewski; Sound: Michael Bergman, Peter Olszowka; Volunteer Sound: Sue Carboni; Performer Liaison: Stacie Barker; Tickets: Claire Reid, David Reid; Volunteers: Nancy Hanssen; Program: Janet Yeracaris; American Participatory Dance: Lisa Greenleaf; Dance Performances: Doris Possi; International Couple Dance: Susan Worland; International Line Dance: Jonathan Young and Mari Young; Folk Music and Song: Ann Schunior, Suzanne Mrozak; Morris Dance: Katy Burns; Performer Sales: Beth Parkes; Printed Materials: Lori Fassman; T-shirt: Lisa Greenleaf.

The list was approved by voice vote.

It was noticed that some members of the Program Committee are not NEFFA members. Do we want to require NEFFA membership for chairs, or would this discourage some from volunteering? After discussing a potential policy, Larry was assigned to redraft a policy for a subsequent meeting.

Janet thought it unusual that the Nominating Committee, as a matter of course, didn't guarantee that candidates were, in fact, NEFFA members. She'll take this up with the rest of the NomCom.

Bill Cochran reports that he is getting very busy, and wouldn't mind stepping down as Membership Chair. Let me know if you know anyone who'd like to take this on, as we may have an opening. Access to a MS-DOS computer would assist in the transfer of records.

A report was distributed and the recommendations were discussed and modified. Eventually the following set of policies were developed:

1. All Festival chairs shall track and report the number of tickets he or she distributes.

2. The Ticket Chair shall track and report on all tickets he hands out.

3. "Tickets are not transferable" shall be printed at the bottom of the tickets price poster in the lobby.

4. The chairs, particularly of Crafts, Sound and Activities, should recognize that a regular volunteer earns an all-session ticket for four hours of work, and that any tickets the chair distributes should require a comparable degree of effort.

5. Crafts, Folk Bazaar and Food chairs shall establish guidelines to be consistently enforced that will include the maximum number of tickets per booth required to staff the booth at any one time, as well as criteria for the allocation of this number. The ticket is for the purposes of manning the booth.

6. The "NEFFA" ticket shall be redesigned to include space for both the sponsoring committee and the bearer's name.

7. A new category of all-session "complimentary" tickets shall be created. These tickets are distinguished from all other categories in that they are not paid for nor do they require a specific degree of effort.

8. "Squeaky Wheel" tickets are regular admission tickets for the purpose of appeasing "squeaky wheels".

The motion passed by voice vote.

There was additional discussion on the issue of souvenir Festival Committee badges. Some suggested replacing them with an honorary "Former Committee" badges. Shelagh suggested redesigning the Festival Committee badge. Ralph suggested that it have a clearly-visible year designation. Lisa suggested a compromise to cover up "Festival Committee" on the badges. Shelagh suggested just talking to the owners of old Festival Committee badges to explain the problem to them.

The sentiment is that the Festival Committee badge is to signify that you are up on current policy. Larry will redraft the policy on Festival Committee badge usage.

This task force felt that the chaos during Friday setup was organized chaos. There were recommendations to better handle early arrivers. They recommended that:

1. That there be a welcoming committee stationed at the Hospitality/Arrangements table starting at 3:00pm.

2. That signs be posted directing early arrivers to the Hospitality/Arrangements table.

3. That, as far as possible, unloading to be done through the doors around the courtyard, leaving other doors locked.

4. That all early arrivals be encouraged to wear their Festival badges, so that the welcoming committee can easily distinguish between official and non-official early arrivals.

5. That the welcoming committee have available diagrams of all booth locations and constantly updated locations and need of Festival Chairs who are setting up on Friday, so as to be able to direct people efficiently.

The above procedures were not voted on, but there was support for them.

Early admission in case of rain? The following people will look into this: Bob, John, Jean and Larry (as advisor).

A timeline shifted earlier than previous timelines, was proposed. Notable items: The Preliminary Grid, now distributed with the ballot, will go with the February newsletter (along with the Volunteer Form, and the Housing Form); the Philosophy presentation at the January meeting will be recast as a "Festival Program Preview", to more accurately represent its function.

There was support for the new timeline, and it will be followed this year.

They recommended that a standing editorial committee be created to help provide material to the News editor. There was support for the concept but few volunteers.

The publication deadlines were also deemed in need of revision. They were modified (as listed on the back page of the News). If you don't get the material to the editor by the deadline, there is no guarantee the material will be accepted for publication.

A season summary was presented. The series is doing well, and has established a reputation for quality. Dan thanked Larry for his vision in establishing a quality program with caring administration. Larry thanked Dan for his diligence and contribution to the committee.

A summary of recent grant applications was distributed. The annual motion to fund the Grants Committee was passed.

Steve Boylan wants hints of where we should be publicizing the Festival, so that he can determine contacts and publicity schedule early on.

Lori Fassman Resignation

Board Member Lori Fassman has resigned her elected position. She will continue as Printed Materials chair.

Larry distributed a proposed membership policy. Although there was support for the concepts, a significant number of people thought that the policy as written was more verbose than necessary. A specific suggestion was made that a fee-based proposal would be better received than a membership-status-based proposal. Larry will redraft the proposal for a future meeting.

The philosophy of ticket price changes was discussed. In the past, we have not made increases until the Festival lost money. Ignoring T-shirt income, in 1997, the Festival made $600. In 1996, we lost $4000. In 1995, we made $2500. We did raise prices last year, but because of unanticipated expenses, we were not as much in the black as we would have expected. The Festival is still a bargain, compared to other festivals.

Larry: Suggest raising prices $1. Michael: If attendance was down, we should advertise more to increase income. Nancy: Minutes say that we had about 150 more people in 1997 than in 1996. Michael: An increase of 100 people would have a significant effect to the bottom line.

David: Should we consider having a family maximum? [General discussion ensued. People thought that this might be difficult to administer, and the prices were cheap enough for kids as it is.]

Larry: It would be good to make $4000-$5000 in 1998. John: Regular small increases are better for goodwill than more occasional large increases.

A straw vote favored a small increase in ticket prices.

David Reid made a proposal that raised ticket prices a dollar or two per session. This proposal will be considered at the next meeting..

Bob presented a timeline and budget. Costs will be on a par with last year.

A revised timeline and budget were presented.

Where/when should the preliminary grid be released? If it goes out with the newsletter, then people would be getting it in March, even though it was produced in early February. Do the members have to get it first? When does it go on the website? I'm thinking that we publish/distribute it when it is ready; members get it as a convenience and not necessarily as breaking news. Nancy: How early can we do the ballot mailing? We want the grid and volunteer form to go out together. Elsa: Then can we separate the ballot from the other pieces? Jean: It would be good to have a parking flyer go out with the first Festival publicity. Janet: So we should distribute the grid in February when available at dances, on the website,...Michael: At the Dance Flurry. Nancy: Make more copies, because they will be distributed longer. Janet: I am inclined not to publish any changes anywhere except the website. Michael: We can target distribution of the grid; not everyone needs it. The main flyer can list selected performers as an enticement. Dan: Favor printing modest amounts of grids, and allow updates, say, every two weeks. Janet: February to April is a long time, and the morris and performance schedules get determined during that time. I need to think about this issue. Larry: We should limit ourselves to one News mailing and one First Class mailing. On February 8, put whatever you have out with the newsletter. Between 3 and 5 weeks later, in mid-March, do the First Class (ballot) mailing with an updated grid, then release an update just before the Festival. Dan: Consider mailing the March 1 newsletter first class; for members, we would also include membership/ballot material. This newsletter would be smaller if we omit the Calendar (or just have updates). A first class mailing will also help us clean up the entire mailing list.

March 25 is the program book deadline.

Program book will be more expensive to produce next year. Our printer's records about prior years are confusing. Dan: Can we change the quality of the program booklet? Would newsprint with a web press process reduce costs? Janet: I don't object to lower quality; we should ask people what they use the booklet for. Claire: Consider specifying post-consumer recycled stock. Michael: A nicely-made booklet says "take me"; a less attractive booklet will be taken only by people who want/need the information. Jonathan: Janet says they cost $1 apiece; at this point we could sell them. Nancy: How low is "low quality"? Michael: Layout is more important to creating an impression. Nancy: Paper quality. Claire: Bleed through should be avoided.

Budget is still in process. Anticipated costs are slightly higher for 1998.

We can save $2000 by going to volunteer sound in the Auditorium. It is relatively simple to do sound there. We have a proposal from Persis Thorndike and her husband. They run a recording studio, but are willing to take on coordinating sound in the Auditorium. We would ensure the equipment in the hall is what is needed to do the job. We would provide volunteers and they would cover the time we couldn't provide volunteers for. As with anything new, there is some risk. Dan: I think Auditorium is hard because of logistical issues. Michael: It's easier because the hall was designed for sound reinforcement. Peter: On the stage, with lots of smaller speakers, it's easier to hear dance leaders. Michael: Sometimes, our professional contractors just sent their volunteers for coffee; we think that if we went to all volunteers, it would make things smoother during event changes. [There was general support for the proposal.]

See Larry's proposal of 5 October 1997. There was extensive discussion, and there were questions and points were addressed by the proposal.

Ralph favors prominent display of the year on Festival Committee badges. Larry said that the very few people who wear old FC badges can be handled by the President or designee.

It was the consensus that Committee chairs should have authority to issue "NEFFA" badges (the issuance of same to be reported to the Board).

Ralph favors the deletion of "blue-green" at the top of page 3. Larry thinks when we have a policy, Ralph's issue goes away.

Larry will rework the proposal for a subsequent meeting.

The policy was presented and discussed. The consensus is to implement this policy clarifying procedures for early entry in case of inclement weather.

Please call 508-229-2854 for the schedule of future meetings.