Zoom Meeting
7:30 PM

Roll Call:

Robert Soderstrom, Derek Olson, ToiLyn Flick, Nathan Schreier, Kelsey Gronlund, Heather Pittman, Jonathan Tinsley, Becky Tinsley

Reading and approval of the minutes of the preceding meeting:

Motion Jonathan/second Nathan to approve as presented

Review and approval of bills:

Motion Heather/second Nathan

Report of the Executive Director:

Website

The website is now launched. I will begin bringing in other content to it, such as information on previous shows. There is also a section for highlighting BFACT Volunteers that I am going to get up and running where I interview various people. I will also be working up a template for BOD bios that I will send out for people to fill out so we can expand that section.

I have created my bio and shared with the board. If possible, it would be great to get this page updated soon with everyone’s bios and better pictures so we can share this out to people now. I don’t want people to forget about this. The more content we can push now the better. Eventually I will take new photos of everyone, but in the meantime if everyone can provide me with a decent picture of them.

I also worked up questions for the Volunteer Spotlight section. I am going to start with Geno Pesicka and Darin Newton. I will get them the questions and then get that section on the website.

I also worked more with merch but have run into issues. The system I was going to use isn’t going to work, so I am trying to figure out the best replacement. I also did some research into taxes that will need to be paid on merch, there is a lot out there.

Merch

I haven’t gotten business cards yet, at this point I don’t see the point. Once things are more open I will get them made at Sand Creek Printing. I have also signed us up for Printful after doing a lot of research on various options. They are a print-on-demand company. We need a storefront so we will be going with Ecwid. This is free software I have used in my work. This will connect into our website. The free version allows us to only have 10 items in our store at one time which I don’t think will be a problem.

The way Printful works is that we set up different designs and then set the price point. We will be paid from the end-user and then we receive an invoice from Printful for the cost of making the product and shipping. So it will take a little figuring to get the pricing right, the nice thing is that Printful’s base costs are pretty good compared to some other companies. I will be working with Kelsey on figuring out sales tax and the like. My plan is to create a basic shirt to start with and then we can do cooler things later.

Taxes on merchandise are being worked out.  We potentially will need to add the tax into the price of the merchandise and pay it ourselves instead of having Printful pay the taxes on our behalf.

Marketing

I have been talking with Nathan on ways to get our sponsors to the forefront while things are slow. Nathan is now pushing sponsors through our Facebook page. I will also be in touch with our sponsors about events we will have coming up once we have dates.

Renaissance Faire

I have helped Anna get this committee going, Robert has made her the chairperson. We had an initial meeting with Toi and Robert and started getting ideas down. Anna will start creating reports for the board as things get farther along.

Reports of Officers and Committees:

• President
  • Working on the radio play.  Making a new crown for Mr. Beautiful Fork.  Wondering if it would be a good idea to roll Mr. Beautiful Fork into the Renaissance Faire?
• Vice President
  • Wondering about doing something for kids?  Kelsey suggested reading fairy tales-we’d need to look for public domain stories/material.
• Treasurer
  • Current balance is $3913.21.  Paid $131.37 to purchase 150 checks/deposit slips/binder/business stamp.
• Secretary
  • None
• Grant & Fundraising Committee
  • Grant application did not get submitted this year, but we will have a better chance of approval in the future when we have more financial records.
• Membership Committee
  • It looks like people may still be missing in Arts People.  Jonathan and Kelsey need to do an audit to see who is missing.
• Public Relations Committee
  • Social media is being updated regularly.  The link for picture upload is active.
• Creative Committee
  • I was in the process of getting Mr. Beautiful Fork ready when we decided to postpone because of the pandemic. As of right now and after talking to the other contestants and Grap’s, we are just postponing this event. The goal is still to do this, just later in the Summer or even the Fall once things are more open. No other real info here right now.
  • After talking with the Creative Committee we think it makes sense to cancel the Summer One Acts. Auditions would need to happen in a few weeks and experts are saying our peak may not be until June so I don’t think it would be wise for use to be doing practices and have the show right in the middle of this. I will contact the Rec Center and let them know about this.
  • We are also going to move the dates for The Man Who Came to Dinner. This is set right now for July 24 – 26. We want to move this by a month to the end of August. I will contact the rights’ holder, DPS to see if they will allow us to do this. I don’t think it should be an issue with everything going on, besides we haven’t paid the invoice yet. I will also need to talk with the Rec Center about dates so once I have those I will let the Board know.
  • As of right now we are still on for the September show with the other Community Theaters in the area. This is set for the end of the month so we should still have enough time to get this together while also pushing back The Man Who Came to Dinner.
  • Since we won’t have anything until the end of August, the Creative Committee has decided on something else we can be doing in the meantime. We are going to put together an original radio play. I have already had a brainstorming meeting to start figuring out specifics. I am creating a writing room right now to get the creative sorted out. The end goal will be to put this on our YouTube channel, potentially other platforms as well, and do a premiere watch party through our Facebook account. This would be free but we should treat it like a show. Costs will be low, really only marketing. I will get writers and directors figured out and eventually hold some online auditions for actors. I think this is a unique thing that could get traction outside of Belle to the surrounding area. We will mention our sponsors just like a show, maybe even do little ads in the vein of old Radio plays. Plus we could tell people that if they want they can donate online to maybe get in some revenue from it. I would like this to happen later May or early June.
  • The Man Who Came to Dinner
    • I was able to move this show after contacting the right’s company and the Rec Center. We are now set for August 28 – 30 with auditions on July 20 and 21. I sent the invoice to Kelsey to be paid but we may want to wait to pay that until we have to, just in case we have to move the show again.
  • Radio Play
    • Working with the Creative Committee we worked up the idea of a radio play. From there I organized a brainstorming group and met and came up with some ideas. From there I created a writer’s group and we start solidifying our plan. We have met several times and the rough draft of the pilot is being written now by Robert and Isaac Otterman. This is based on their ideas, some of mine and some of the group. Once they have a rough draft we will discuss and refine as the group and then people will start writing more episodes.
    • Once we have enough episodes written we will hold online auditions and start getting some dates set up. The idea is that we will record episodes with the cast and I will edit them together and then we will put them up on our YouTube page and then we will hold a Facebook Watch Party to premiere each episode, if possible just a week apart. We will push donations that we can take on the website for people instead of any kind of charge. Once I have a date I will begin advertising it pretty heavily, will try and get as much Black Hills coverage as we can, maybe even statewide.
    • I will have to do some work to our website to work with this type of content. Will begin work once I have more things ready to go on this.

Old and unfinished business:

1. None

New business:

1. The middle school set needs struck from the rec center stage.  Derek will notify volunteers of date/time to meet and assist with this.
2. Jonathan motioned/Kelsey seconded to give Derek an advance on July wages for the amount of $1171.88.

Other:

None

Next BOD meeting:

Wednesday, May 20 @ 6:30pm via Zoom

Adjournment:

Jonathan motioned/Heather seconded

Respectfully submitted by Becky Tinsley, Secretary

The Stadium
7:00 PM

Roll Call:

Jonathan Tinsley, ToiLyn Flick, Nathan Schreier, Robert Soderstrom, Kelsey Grunland, Heather Pittman, Derek Olson, Becky Tinsley

Reading and approval of the minutes of the preceding meeting:

 Approved as presented.

Review and approval of bills:

Reimburse Derek $54.90 for scripts-motion by Jonathan/second by Heather.  Motion by Nathan/second by Heather to allow payment of any outstanding credit card bills with review/approval at the next regular meeting. Both motions passed.

Report of the Executive Director:

License for The Man Who Came to Dinner has been approved.  Cost is $120/performance= $360.  Total is due by July.  Ticket price will be $10/adults.

Mr. Beautiful Fork: Marketing is being worked on now.  Date is delayed r/t COVID, probably to open in May. 

Website will launch next Tuesday.

Theme for Night of One Acts is “Outlaws”.  Budget proposals are in a shared folder.

Working on getting business cards. Will order 250 double sided cards.

SD Arts Council annual meeting is May 14-16.  Motion by Nathan/second Kelsey: BFACT will pay for up to three board members to attend.

Reports of Officers and Committees:

• President
  • Anna Robinson is appointed as chair for Renaissance Fair committee
• Vice President
  • None
• Treasurer
  • Credit card bill paid= $6311.86
• Secretary
  • None
• Grant & Fundraising Committee
  • Working on reorganizing lists for fundraising help.
• Membership Committee
  • Website content has been added.
• Public Relations Committee
  • Newsletter will now be quarterly.  A public folder has been created so people can add photos/content for website.
• Creative Committee
  • Meeting will be later in March.

Old and unfinished business:

1. BFACT t shirts: Printful charges $9/shirt.  Shirts are printed on demand.  Orders will be paid to us and we pay the printer.  Derek will check to see if we are required to pay sales tax on orders.

New business:

1. Flex/Season tickets: Discussion held on use of Season/Flex tickets.  Concensus is that these tickets could be used at shows and Mr. Beautiful Fork, but not dinner theater or fundraisers.  This would need to start during 2020-2021 season.
2. Ticket prices: Discussion held regarding restructuring on ticket prices.  Derek proposed $12/adult, $10/senior and $5/student.  Nathan proposed $10/adult, $7/senior and $5/student.  No final decision made at this time.

Other:

None

Next BOD meeting:

April 8th, 7pm @ The Leaky Pot

Adjournment:

Motion by Nathan/seconded by Jonathan

Respectfully submitted by Becky Tinsley, Secretary

Leaky Pot
7:00 PM

Roll Call:

Derek Olson, Kelsey Gronlund, Heather Pittman, Nathan Schreier, Jonathan Tinsley, Becky Tinsley, Robert Soderstrom, ToiLyn Flick

Reading and approval of the minutes of the preceding meeting:

Motion by Jonathan/second by Heather to approve.

Review and approval of bills:

$92.63 for Facebook Ads.  Motion by Kelsey/second by Heather to approve.

Report of the Executive Director:

Rec Center 

• I have worked to organize or run lights and sound on the Talent Show and a Concert Series.
• I met with the new director of the Rec Center and we discussed Theater needs and what exactly we do. He also had me send him a report of everything wrong in the theater and a list of ways to fix them:
  • I told them to purchase a speaker for use as a monitor. The main curtain needs to be repaired ASAP. Storage in the garage area would be great in the next few months. Some of the wing curtains need to be replaced, that could be in the next year or two. There are a few panels in the floor that need to be replaced, that also could be the next year or two. I would like to mount the speakers in the theater as well as do some rearranging of the cords that could be done, but doesn’t need to be immediate. Hope that helps.

Website

I recently received a copy for several pages for the site. I need help on just a few more, Toi said she would help. I still need Membership, Donations and Sponsorships. I will be launching the site this month.

Arts People

I did a training with Arts People on how to set up ticketing, discounts, comp tickets and the like. It was an in-depth training but I think I’ve got it so we can set up our own pricing. I will work with the Creative Committee on pricing but if anyone has any thoughts on that, I would love to hear them. I also received the CC reader and have tested and know how it works.  We will need to order a specialized printer in order to have the ability to print receipts.

Sponsorships

I haven’t been able to work as much on Sponsorships the last month because of my move and having to redo lots of the new house. We have gotten more sponsorships in the past month bringing our total of paid sponsorships to ten with three in-kind sponsors. We will be pusing sponsorships hard over the next couple of months.  We currently have 13 sponsors (3 in-kind).

Advertising

Lacey from the Black Hills Pioneer is going to be interviewing me next week about all things BFACT. Going to talk about our upcoming season and other things we are hoping to do down the road.

Reports of Officers and Committees:

• President
  • Robert will be hosting a writer’s workshop at his home.  Date TBA. We need to get Derek some business cards.
• Vice President
  • Audit is complete and everything was in order.
• Treasurer
  •  Current balance $4942.92 plus we received $1500 in additional donations this week.  Checks and endorser are being ordered.
• Secretary
  • No additions to minutes.
• Grant & Fundraising Committee
  • Thank you letters and donor receipts have been sent out.
• Membership Committee
  • Paid members roster is being updated.  There is a problem with people missing from lists in Arts People-looking into this issue.  Emails with dates for upcoming events will be sent out.
• Public Relations Committee
  • Newsletter will be sent out.  Facebook analysis had four campaigns with over 31,000 reaches.
• Creative Committee
  • Hannah Rehmeier has decided to no longer be a part of the Creative Committee, she said she is just too busy to devote the time needed. Beyond that we have narrowed the main show this summer down to four shows and I ordered scripts for Nathan to read all four and decide on the show. He has picked The Man Who Came to Dinner. I will start putting a budget together for this and the one acts and should have them for the March meeting. Dates for this show are July 24-26, 2020.For the Night of One Acts we are doing the theme of Outlaws, I will be writing a Robin Hood-esque show, Nathan a Western and Emma a 1920’s gangster one act. Dates are June 4-6, 2020.
  • We have also set a date for Mr. Beautiful Fork, April 4, 2020 at Grap’s. We have five confirmed contestants, myself, Nathan, Geno, Darin and Nic Loper. We are talking with two others now to round out the group. Carrie is taking point on this and has made lots of headway, we will be having a meeting soon to finalize everything. We are looking for a budget of $600 for this show.
  • We also discussed moving the Murder Mystery Dinner Theater to May to allow Reva some more time to work on it since she is in the middle of the Middle School show right now.
  • Anna Robinson will be heading up a Renaissance Faire committee and we will be having our first meeting soon on this. We have already been in discussion with the city, they reached out to us on this. They are very excited about this idea and want to help. Will have more info next month.
  • Final season show will be participating in the Regional Community Theater One Acts September 25-28, 2020.  Shows will run in various locations throughout the Northern Black Hills area.  BFACT will host the shows on September 28, 2020.

Old and unfinished business:

1. None

New business:

1. Geno Pesicka- Christmas carolers needed for a Grinch theme during Parade of Lights. More information will be available closer to the date.  Geno shared that Hill City is advertising a Renaissance Festival this summer.  He is proposing that BFACT consider creating a “Weekend Wasteland: Mad Max/Steampunk ” themed festival for Belle Fourche, possibly for the 2021 season.
2. Business cards for Derek- motion by Jonathan/second by Kelsey to approve ordering.
3. Mr. Beautiful Fork budget: $600 to cover venue, advertising and game supplies.  Motion by Jonathan/second by ToiLyn to approve a budget up to $600.

Other:

BFACT T-shirts: look into ordering shirts to make available for purchase online and for members/BOD to wear at events.

Member dinner/cast parties: discussion held regarding BFACT ability to pay for supplies/food for special events.  We can pay as long as persons invited are not required to make donations/pay in order to attend.

Next BOD meeting:

Wednesday, March 11, 2020 @ 7pm

Adjournment:

Motion by Becky/seconded by Heather to adjourn

Respectfully submitted by Becky Tinsley, Secretary

Leaky Pot

Roll Call:

Robert Soderstrom, ToiLyn Flick, Derek Olson, Nathan Schreier, Heather Pittman, Kelsey Gronlund, Jonathan Tinsley, Becky Tinsley

Reading and approval of the minutes of the preceding meeting:

Motion by Jonathan, second by Kelsey to approve minutes as presented.

Review and approval of bills:

Motion by Nathan, second by Heather to approve bills paid.

Report of the Executive Director:

Discussions with the City

• We have a signed contract with the city and things are in effect
• There is a new Executive Director at the BFACC, I will try and schedule a meeting with him in the near future to discuss the theater
• I have already been running lights and sound for multiple events, as things settle down I am going to start training other people to help with these

Christmas Show

• The Christmas show went great, a good turnout of people and great donations for the bake sale
• Arts People seemed to work well, curious on Kelsey and Heather’s thoughts taking tickets, would definitely like to push online sales more
• We now have the CC swiper to use at the next show
• We have had some discussions about changing pricing to $13 for adults and $10 for kids, maybe a little cheaper for the Christmas shows and things like that. We maybe should do Veterans and Senior pricing
• The bake sale went well and we should look at doing something like it again

Website

• The website is almost ready to launch, just need some help with contenting and a few technical things and it will be ready to go

Graphic Design

• I am going to be working on creating new versions of our various documents so everything has the same look and feel

Regional Theater Meeting

• Met with a group of Spearfish, Sturgis and Lead/Deadwood theater groups, they would like to share some resources amongst each other, they also want to have inserts in each other’s programs for info on each theater’s activities
  They want to do a show with the four different theaters at each location, a night of one acts, 20 – 30 min shows that are mostly family friendly
• Possibly Sept 25 26 27 28

Beacon newspaper

• Beginning discussions about actors to help with summerstock/re-enactments. Derek is getting more information from Doug Cole.

Reports of Officers and Committees:

President

• We may need to consider providing more guidance to sponsors about which information is needed to promote/advertise them at shows and on the website.
• We need to share packaging information with people who are donating to the concessions for the shows to ensure that we have uniform presentation.

Vice President

• CHRISTMAS SHOW THOUGHTS
  • This is also my vice president’s report so I will most likely incorporate a bit more into this report than just what I thought worked for the show and what I thought did not work.  Let us begin with the rough edges so that we can end with the awesome stuff. 
  • I spoke with Carrie about these things too since she was assisting, and her insights and opinions are valuable.   The largest problem we saw was the dates of the performances. We lost 3 adult actors because it was too close to Christmas.  Losing the adult actors was especially disappointing because they are a resource we need for our organization to flourish and grow.  December 21st and 22nd proved to be at the tail end of a very busy 2-week period at the BFACC.  There were several school concerts during that time, for one of which teachers decorated on Thursday, December 19th and then performed the entire day on December 20th.  This made it quite difficult to do any kind of set for our play.  There was also a funeral that ate in to some set building time. It did not cause any real problems, but it is something to keep in mind for the future.  The short time frame was also tricky. It worked, but only because this was a play of sketches. The only other format that might work in this same time frame is one acts.  While our advertising was good, I think we may need to do more in that area as our organization progresses. I think we need to brainstorm and really try to think outside the proverbial box as to what we can do for advertising.  A large and upsetting thing to me was the Chamber putting the Parade of Lights festivities on our opening night. I would like to talk to them about that. I’d like to let them know that it was disrespectful to our organization. However, I will defer to the Board and do whatever we all think is best in regard to this situation.  Carrie also mentioned the tight budget was a challenge, but in this case there was nothing to be done about that. And due to the lack of time we could have an actual set on stage, the tight budget really didn’t hamper the show.
  • There were numerous wonderful things about our first production as the BFACT!  To begin with, the script worked very well and was quite funny. Its sketch format allowed for flexible scheduling and the opportunity for actors to play multiple roles.  This was VERY helpful given our timeframe and scheduling conflicts. This also allowed for us to see how the adult actors in particular did playing different roles which could be useful for later productions.  The script allowed for a large and varied cast and we had one. There are always challenges working with a cast made up of diverse ages, but it is also rewarding. The audiences tend to be larger and it helps fulfill our mission of educating about and providing opportunities in theatre.  The simple set worked well and the costuming got many compliments. It also made strike much easier! The mastermind behind the holiday concessions deserves a medal as this was clearly successful. It, along with the live music provided by Anna, added the perfect festive air to the performances.  Hearing the cast belting out Jingle Bells as I entered the foyer is a memory I will carry with me for many, many years. It really felt like a Christmas production and I think people ate it up…pun intended! The free-will offering for the treats also fit the Christmas setting and accentuated the season of giving.  Thank you Heather, for your hours spent in the kitchen! It was a lot of work, but I think it is something we should do with every Christmas show. The Arts People ticket taking system seemed to work extremely well. Heather, Derek and Kelsey can probably speak more to that, as I was running around doing other things and crossing fingers for a good house.  The final thing I can think of to add as a plus for this show is the advertising. The posters were beautiful, FB was covered with reminders of our show, and the radio interview was awesome. I really enjoyed doing that and would encourage us to use that resource for everything we do. I do not know how many people that station reaches, but they are very easy to work with and open to helping us.
• We did it guys!  We built an organization and launched a very successful first show!  I heard nothing bad about The Little Town of Christmas.  I even had people who didn’t get to come tell me they were told by lots of people how good it was.  All of the actors had a great time and the ones I questioned intend to do it again. I think we can even get several of them to become members.  Jessica Carr’s husband mentioned that he would be willing to build stuff for us if we get a hold of him. He’s the one who created the gigantic pumpkin the Rec has had during Halloween and the gingerbread house that’s been in the parade of lights a time or two.  We should maybe talk to him about a sponsorship….

Treasurer

• Christmas show ticket sales $2250 (cash/checks), Bake Sale $586.50, total with sponsorships $5066.50
• December bank balance $6406.65.  We paid Derek’s wages so new balance is closer to $4000
• Bills paid: Derek Olson $38.32 (Christmas show), Arts People $165.60 (Christmas show), BFACC $512 (Christmas show)

Secretary

• By laws addendum is in the shared drive

Grant & Fundraising Committee

• Bake Sale 586.50 made.  Would like to do these at each show, even had a few people show just to buy treats
• Sponsorships/grants
  • Now that the tax year has turned over, we’ll be aggressively seeking this quarter
  • We have a good start at $4000
  • Now that i have time, planning to start the SD arts grant application this weekend
• Meeting
  • Will be meeting with my team in the next 10 days to plan dates for fundraisers throughout the year and discuss prospective budgets for anything that will cost a bit of startup
• Tax Stuff
  • Will be finalizing a form letter to send to donors and sponsors with their tax exempt donation amount and id. Need a postage budget
    • IRS MANDATED
  •     The name of the organization;
  •     The amount of cash contribution;
  •  A description (but not the value) of non-cash contribution;
  • A statement that no goods or services were provided by the organization in return for the contribution, if that was the case;
  • A description and good faith estimate of the value of goods or services, if any, that an organization provided in return for the contribution;
  • A statement that goods or services, if any, that an organization provided in return for the contribution consisted entirely of intangible religious benefits.
    • Will also include:
      • Statement of thanks
      • What donations helped us produce
      • What our goals are for donations producing this year
      • Invitation to participate 
• We need to create signage for prices (tickets and concessions).

From Executive Director report: 

• We now have 11 sponsors, 3 of those being in-kind sponsors
• That is $4,000 in sponsorships plus 3 $100 donations
• We will be hitting fundraising hard now that it is the new year, we already have a line on a couple
• We will also be submitting for some bigger sponsorships that are now available again

Membership Committee

• No report

Public Relations Committee

• Met with Belle Fourche Arts Council-it was a positive meeting.  Their concerns are not having any one group monopolize BFACC, making better use of BFACC for projects and producing culturally relevant shows
• Facebook Ads for Winter season totaled $132.58.  Nathan will report on data at next meeting

Creative Committee

• I will be meeting with the Creative Committee next week to lock down the shows we are doing this Summer, plus getting dates for Mr. Beautiful Fork and the Murder Mystery Dinner Theater
• We are planning on a night of One Acts on June 4 – 6 with auditions on April 27 and 28
• The Night of One Acts will be written by Nathan, Emma Tinsley and myself, figuring out directors now and a theme
• Nathan is directing our main show and we are getting what that is locked down, we are thinking something a little older, well known and cheaper. That show will be July 24 – 26 with auditions on June 15 and 16
• For the summer shows we have dates locked in with the Rec Center already

Old and unfinished business:

1. Christmas Show- See Vice President report

New business:

1. Robert presented information regarding a production of “War of the Worlds”. Potential for a live radio show for Halloween season. He has looked into purchasing a directors script for $80. Derek/ToiLyn advised looking for a less expensive outlet for scripts. Derek offered to assist in finding a script outlet through his current connections.
2. Membership to American Association for Community Theaters was discussed. We need to research cost vs benefits before we make this financial decision

Other:

Next BOD meeting:

February 12 @ 7pm at The Leaky Pot

Adjournment:

Motion by Kelsey, seconded by Heather

Respectfully submitted by Becky Tinsley, Secretary