5:30 PM
Virtual
Call To Order:
President Nathan S
Roll Call:
Nathan S, Mike, Kelsey, Heather, Derek
Approval of Previous Minutes:
Motion to approve: Mike, Second: Kelsey, unanimous passage
Executive Director Report:
GivingTuesday
This year we struggled a bit on GivingTuesday. Our engagement was not as good as last year’s. We struggled getting shares on our posts that made it go much past our more attentive audience. Thank you to everyone who was able to share and comment as the day went. In 2023 we raised $340 but this year we only raised $174.45, which is still a decent amount. It does feed into our struggles a little overall keeping our audience engaged throughout the year. It is worth doing again, but I might try a few other things to try and draw some more engagement and donations.
Sound
We have been having quite a few sound issues as of late. I have had to run to the theater multiple times over the last few months to help get sound working for some event, as has Nathan. Very often I’m not aware of events happening that requires help, I am trying to get the Rec to let us know more ahead of time in those instances. This will change some once the new sound system is in place, which really looks like it will happen at some point in 2025. The system will be more cohesive and easier to use than what is currently cobbled together in the theater by myself. It sounds like the Rec may be looking to hire a sound/lights technician to run events for people in the future, I am not sure what that will mean for us and our contract though. I am hoping to speak with Jody more on this.
With the Christmas show we needed a larger board than ours, which is currently the only board working in the theater. After our first attempts failed I was able to track down a board that the Rec rented for use for the show. It seemed to work well and we may have to do something similar for our upcoming musical this Summer if the new system is not in place yet. I want to say a huge thank you to Mike for running sound for the Christmas show and troubleshooting issues since I was unable to attend.
Sponsorship
I have contacted all of our existing sponsors to get them to sponsor again in 2025. We will continue having Grap’s and TDG Agency on as in-kind sponsors for meeting space and website hosting respectively. I have reached out to Hunter Anderson and Print Mark-et to see if they would like to continue our sponsorship trade out in the new year. Other than that Watson Hennessey Realty has agreed to sponsor again at $500 and it looks like SME’s Treats will be back again at some level. After the new year I will reach out again to start locking down our current sponsors for 2025.
I will also begin my business calling in the new year to see if we can get any new sponsors. If anyone is willing to help with that, even for a single business that you know, it would be appreciated. Last year we had $9,750 in actual money sponsorships. That was the most we have ever had, I’m not 100% sure we will be able to match that. My goal is at least $8,500 but hopefully we can go higher than that.
Volunteer Appreciation
We held our Volunteer Appreciation this past Saturday at Grap’s Backroom. They let us use the space for free which was very generous. We did purchase a meat/cheese tray and pinwheels from them at a cost of $150. I also purchased some other goodies and drinks from Lynn’s for $67.96 for the event. Thank you to Allan and Mike for coming down and participating. Overall I think everyone that attended had a good time. I was hoping for a few more people to come, but there wasn’t a bad turnout. We had a large group from the Christmas show, which was great and they all seem to be really looking forward to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” For 2025 we may want to consider a different time of year rather than December. It is a busy time of year plus there was a lot of sickness going around. This will be something I want to work with the new Volunteer Committee Chair on next year.
Christmas Show
The Christmas show was a huge hit and I’m really sorry I was unable to attend due to illness. Thank you to everyone who took over my responsibilities while I was out. I heard nothing but great things from those that attended, they really loved the show and had so many compliments for the cast and crew. We sold a total 449 tickets, with our biggest night being Saturday where we sold 195. That 195 is the biggest individual show attendance since “Beauty and the Beast.” We also had a large cast that seems to be excited about continuing on with BFACT especially with “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
Overall we spent $4,360, which was under-budget, for this show. $2,669 was from just licensing and scripts. We did also buy several things for the bake sale and pizza for the cast and crew while they struck the set. We made $4,875 in ticket sales alone which gives a profit of $514.93. That doesn’t include the whopping $685.15 we got for the bake sale. Together that is a total of $1,173.08. I would call this show a big success and a great way to close the 2024 Season.
Intern
I have completed the Intern Contract, which can be viewed through our Drive
This contract would run from January to the end of September. The total of this contract is for $2,500 which takes into account an average of five hours a week at slightly above minimum wage. If the board approves this, I will offer the intern position to Isabella Quijano and she will start in the new year.
Motion to approve contract: Mike, Second: Kelsey, unanimous passage
Officer Reports:
- President
- Working on ED review, reminder to submit annual reports by Jan 1st
- Vice President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Current bank balance $17799.01, this does not include cash ticket sales that are still waiting to be deposited.
- Creative Committee
- 2025 Season
- We have all of the dates set for our four main shows of 2025. GOAT will be March 29, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will be June 26 – 29, Is He Dead? will be September 12 – 14 and our Christmas show will be on December 12 – 14. We will be doing the one-act Atomic Lobsters from the Center of the Earth for GOAT, this was originally from our second season so rights are already secured. I have purchased the music, rights and scripts for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which is a total of $3,532.50. $400 of that is a deposit so as long as we send the music back we will get that refunded. This ended up being cheaper than I initially thought. We have to limit ticket sales to 250 per performance, which I don’t think should be an issue. The rights and scripts for Is He Dead? is purchased as well for a total of $874.67. We haven’t purchased the rights to It’s a Wonderful Life: Radio Drama yet though. Initially the cost was going to be $360 a performance for licensing but I did ask and if we limit ticket sales the cost will come down. I don’t think we will have to worry about doing that and it will save us some money. I am waiting until the CC is paid off to purchase the licensing for this show, there wasn’t enough room on the CC when I purchased the others to get this as well.
- Other 2025 Events
- Beyond our four main stage shows we will be doing a New Play Showcase at some point, probably October. This will be a showcase where we solicit local authors to write short plays and then perform them in a week. Cost should be very minimal with this production. I am also planning an Advanced Writing Workshop, to hold another Acting Workshop or two and a Directors Bootcamp. Over the 4th of July we are hoping to do a Reunion BBQ along with the parade float. We will need to find some people to oversee this event. Beyond these things, we have talked about a day of service and some other potential events related to the 15th Season.
- Public Relations
- Poster distribution successful. Social media engagement up 174%
- Volunteer Committee
- Fundraising Committee
- Strategic Planning Committee
- January 4th at Graps set for introductory meeting. Board lunch from noon to one, come prepared to discuss expectations with committee
- Gala Committee
- We have the Community Hall reserved for the 90s Prom Fundraiser on March 1. We have already paid for this, it was $200 plus a $400 deposit we will get back as long as everything is cleaned up. The committee will be meeting in another week or so to set ticket prices and then we can start promoting the event. We already have lined up food, it will be prepared for and provided by the Farmhouse for free, we are looking to increase their sponsorship for this though. Their Executive Chef will also be on hand to oversee serving. The Outlaw Bar will be covering all alcoholic beverages as well as the liquor license. They are going to donate everything above their costs to BFACT. Due the to the alcohol that will be served, we are not planning this as a family event. We are also looking for a professional DJ, and we already have at least one that has offered their services for free. After the next meeting we should have more of an idea of a budget for this event, but it won’t be crazy expensive in the grand scheme of things. We already have other ways to fundraise lined up for the event itself as well as decorations and games set. We are very excited to start promoting this and I hope it will draw a large crowd.
Old Business:
- ED review: Nathan S compiling reviews and will meet with Nathan T and Derek to go over and sign new contract.
New Business:
- Power tools: Nathan S/Derek checking with the high school to see if they have some leftover budget to purchase some shared drills.
- Annual Meeting: Derek will arrange snacks for the meeting.
Next Meeting:
Jan 25th 2025 1pm to 2pm open house, 2 pm meeting start. Venue 519
Adjournment:
Motion to Adjourn: Mike, seconded: Kelsey, unanimous passage
Respectfully submitted by Secretary Heather Pittman.
