Present were Susan Meyer, Fiona Solkowski, Phil Coleman, Tony Gregory, Juliet Port, Ted Capshew, and Jan Withers, for the Board, constituting the entire Board.
Fiona welcomed the returning Board members – Tony Gregory, Phil Coleman, and incoming Board member, Jan Withers.
The Board approved the minutes of the November 18 and December 02, 2003 meetings.
Officer responsibilities were discussed, and officers were nominated and elected, as follows:
a. President – Fiona Solkowski, who agreed to run stipulating that she would serve only one more year.
b. Vice-President – Phil Coleman, who agreed to understudy the President’s role this year, so that someone who had an overlapping Board term would know what the functions were at the end of Fiona’s term.
c. Treasurer – Susan Meyer, who also agreed to serve one more year. Ted Capshew agreed to understudy this office.
d. Secretary – Tony Gregory, also agreeing to serve one more year.
The Board assigned/agreed to committee chairmanships as follows;
e. Scheduling/Talent – Juliet Port
f. Communications – Fiona Solkowski and Jan Withers
g. Site Prep and Sound – Tony Gregory
h. Special Events – Phil Coleman and Fiona Solkowski
i. Food – Juliet Port and Susan Meyer
j. Nominations and Elections – Tony Gregory
Susan Meyer delivered the budget report for 2003.
k. The group lost a small amount of money in 2003
i. This was largely due to the increased rent at the Athenaeum, and the snow storm during the 2003 Beach Party.
l. The group would have lost money 2004 YTD if not for the membership collections so far.
m. The group almost broke even on the Beach Party this year (for the first time in memory) due to excellent attendance.
Special events
n. The 3/23/2004 dance with Kitchen Chair and Bev Bernbaum is scheduled, and Fiona will check with them about dinner.
o. The 4/20/2004 dance with Barb Kirchner and the Avant Gardners is scheduled and Fiona will check with them about dinner.
p. The 5/04/2004 dance with Larry, Lissa and Corey is a problem, in that we have been moved to the YMCA room.
i. Fiona will check if the Lion’s Club is available.
ii. Tony will provide sound if the Lion’s Club is used.
iii. Tony will negotiate for the Athenaeum to drop the rent charge for that week if we move to the Lion’s Club.
Scheduling
q. The scheduling for next quarter is about half done.
r. The Board agreed that the new schedule needs to be out at least a week before the quarter ends.
Advertising
s. Fiona discussed the advertising and promotional options that had been pursued.
t. Phil agreed to approach Arthur’s Music Store about support or sponsorship.
u. Phil also agreed to talk to Hog Eye Navvy about a special concert/dance, at Jan’s suggestion.
v. Pictures from the Gypsy Moon Ball are now up on the Website.
w. Fiona agreed to pursue the details of the White River Folk Festival (June 5-6) offer to trade admissions for staffing the dance barn as hosts, and their contra dance plans.
Dance Hall
x. It was agreed that the best we would likely do in the face of the $100 weekly Athenaeum rent now was to break even during the year, which puts the group at risk as soon as expenditures (for updating, repairing, or replacing sound equipment, for example) are required.
y. It was noted that other facilities (Harrison and Lion’s Club) have rented to us for $50. The Athenaeum rent has increased from $50 to $100 over two years. We believe Dance Norden is paying only $25, which was our initial rate five years ago. The rent seems unreasonable to us, and our gate is not offsetting the increases, even with the $1 increase in admission. Our admission is now $6, compared to $4 for nearby dances – and increase of 150%.
z. Given this, Tony agreed to draft a letter for the Board’s approval to the Athenaeum, detailing the problem, the losses, the impact of the admission increase on our attendance, and our intention to move the dance if the price of the hall cannot be renegotiated downward.
i. The Board will approve the final version of this letter, and decide if it should also go to the Atheneaum Board.
aa. The Board agreed to pursue moving the dance if the response was not favorable.
bb. Fiona will contact Joy of All Who Sorrow and the Fisher’s Lion’s Club about the possibility of using their dance halls.
Gypsy Moon
cc. The Board agreed to a 2 day dance.
dd. The Hall at Belzer has been booked by Susan, for October 30/31.
ee. Tim Padrick is tentatively booked for Sound. Tony to confirm.
ff. Bands and callers are in process, and not fully decided yet.
gg. The Board decided against workshops.
Snow days
hh. In order to avoid future confusion about dance cancellations, the Board agreed to publish a policy that states that if the Indianapolis Public School System closes for snow that day, then the contra dance is cancelled.
The next Board Meeting was scheduled for April 27th, at 6:15 at the Lockerbie Pub.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned
This is a true record.
Tony Gregory, Secretary
