7:00 PM
Grap’s Wine Room

Call To Order:

President Nathan  S

Roll Call: 

Nathan S, Nathan T (10 minutes late), Mike, Kelsey, Heather, Derek

Approval of Previous Minutes:

Motion to approve: Mike, Seconded Kelsey, unanimous passage

New Business:

1. Annual Meeting – January 25th 1pm -2pm open house. 2pm meeting started. Reports due by January 1st
2. Volunteer appreciation: December 21st graps backroom 3pm – 7pm
3. July 4th: committee proposed to be chosen by March meeting 

Executive Director Report:

Sound & Lights

Mike helped me set up the old sound board as well as repositioning speakers. We are no longer using the Bose speakers, the control box was sounding awful, and use two speakers in the front and our two in the back. The sound is pretty good right now. We got everything working when we were there but unfortunately when I ran sound for Concert Series last Saturday the sound board stopped working properly. Also, during the concert two of the wireless mics stopped working as well. We still have two that seem to function. I have rigged up two wired mics next to the snake so those can be used for events in the theater.

The day after the concert the light board also stopped working. It seems to be a bit of a catastrophic failure on the board’s end and we haven’t been able to get it working. I have spoken with Jody about the multiple issues and tomorrow someone will be in to look at the sound board and the light board to see if they can be fixed. Hopefully that will be the case. In the shorter term I have worked with the school on a way to do lights for their upcoming show and I hooked back up our sound board so sound is functional. If the sound board is not able to be fixed we will need to find a different board to use for the musical in December. I have put out feelers with some people to see if they have a board we can borrow. Jody also said if they can’t fix the sound board the Rec probably could rent a bigger one for the short term.

It sounds like the new sound system and projector have been approved for 2025 and will be installed sometime early next year which will be great. Once done I will learn how to use it and teach others how to as well to help when we need to provide help with events.

Storage

I was told by Jody due to the dance studio renting the theater on December 7 we have to move all of our materials located behind the back curtain out of there. This led to a larger discussion with myself, the school district and the city. We explained that we couldn’t just move all of those materials out, there was no place to put them and most would just be destroyed. I spoke with Toi and Adam N from the school district and we are on the same page about needing to find a place to store everything at the theater otherwise it would drastically hurt BFACT as well as the school’s program. There ended up being a meeting last Friday with myself, Adam N, the Mayor, the City Manager, Jody and Terry H. We explained our concerns and I think they were heard. A compromise was devised. We are going to only keep flats against the back wall and will install a strap so nothing can fall. We will also build some other mini-storage against the back wall that is condensed and safer for people to cross behind the back curtain. Whatever doesn’t fit there can be placed in the garage behind the band shells. The work for this will need to happen on November 24, I will put out the call for volunteers to help us get the work done. The HS will also be there tearing down their set, so that will be some help as well.

In this discussion we talked in a broader sense of needing better storage in the theater. There was discussion of a storage shed being placed behind the Rec Center near the trash bins. Originally it was asked that BFACT or the school district pay for it and the city would cover insurance. I explained we don’t have the funds to purchase something like that and there are restrictions on the district that don’t allow them to pay for it as well. We did discuss possibly having the wood shop build the unit though as part of their program and we may donate some money to help get it done. There are early conversations happening on this. If it works, we would move out most all building materials from the theater to the shed which would be ideal. We also discussed adding a small second floor in the garage, basically extending what is already there. This idea was originally pitched by me to Nathan Velander but nothing came of it. The city seemed very interested in this idea and are looking into what it would cost. We may provide some building materials and labor to help get this done. If this happens we could put some costumes up on racks as well as move a lot of materials from above the piano case up there.

Overall I was worried going into the meeting but it was very productive and positive all around. We will do our best to condense what we have and I think the city is making an earnest effort to help with storage.

Intern

I have done more research and planning about the intern position I spoke about at the last meeting. After some research what I would like to do is a contract position, labeled as an intern, to last from January to September. It would be paid at $12 an hour for an average of 5 hours a week. As far as our planning goes, that 5 hours is an estimate. Some weeks will be less and others much more so it is an average. The total payment would be $2,500 which I think would be worth the money for me to be able to execute our ambitious 15th Season. I want to offer this position to Isabella Quianjo. She has been working with BFACT since spring 2023. She is a theater major that will graduate this May from BHSU. In discussion with her and BHSU, I don’t think we would work through BHSU for this internship for this year, we always could if we want to do this again, but doesn’t really matter for 2025.

I can work up a full job description if needed, but basically the intern will help with administration work as well as with shows. They would be available to help with productions as issues arise as well as helping me with sponsorships and all activities. Basically there to handle a lot of smaller issues so I can work on higher level work that is hard to accomplish while I handle every little thing that comes in.

Grants & Sponsorships

I applied for the Jim Hess grant through BH Area Community Foundation but we were turned down. I will begin messaging existing sponsors after Thanksgiving and then in December start contacting other businesses about 2025 Sponsorships.

Officer Reports: 

• President
  • Nothing to report
• Vice President
  • Nothing to report
• Secretary
  • Nothing to report 
• Treasurer
  • Current bank balance: $19.097.37. Po Box renewed
• Creative Committee
  • The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
    • Practices are progressing well with the show. The big marketing push will begin later this week after I am able to get photos for the poster and get that done. There have been some issues with Rec Center scheduling, but after speaking with them I think I have it figured out and there shouldn’t be anymore. I will deal with any that do come up though. Venue 519 graciously let us practice for free last week when we couldn’t get into the Rec so we will make sure to thank them in the program. We need to start tracking down bake sale and ticket takers for the show. We will also need someone there with the silent auction to monitor that.
  • 2025 Season
    • The Creative Committee met a few weeks ago and decided on most of the 2025 Season. We are still waiting on the fate of GOAT for 2025 but I have a meeting with the other theaters on Wednesday and we should have an answer then finally. So there is a bit of a hole in the Spring while we decide what goes there. If GOAT doesn’t happen, we will hold our own night of one-acts in the Spring. We are also talking of doing the one-act showcase during 2025 but we are waiting for a final decision on GOAT before picking the date. This is a project I am hoping to have Isabella lead as part of the internship.
  • We do have dates and shows picked, subject to licensing approval, for most of the main shows. We are looking at doing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on June 26 – 29, Is He Dead? on September 12 – 14 and It’s a Wonderful Life: Radio Drama possibly during two weekends on December 13 & 14 and 20 & 21. These dates have been approved by the Rec Center except for Christmas. I want to speak with the dance studio first to make sure if we do those dates we won’t have conflicts like we are having this year.
  • We can’t announce anything until I get approval from the licensing companies and I would like to announce it at the Christmas show. We are looking at around a cost of $5,000 – $7,00 for the musical for everything but set and costumes. We don’t have to pay everything up front for this, but have to pay some. We would be looking at around $700 for scripts and licensing for Is He Dead? and $600 for It’s a Wonderful Life. For those two shows, we will have to pay up front. I would like to get approval so I can get licensing purchased so we can announce. GOAT or a night of one-acts won’t cost very much for licensing, probably only $100 or so.
  • Motion to approve purchase of licensing: Nathan T, seconded Mike, unanimous passage
• Public Relations
  • Newsletter going out Monday for Christmas show promotion, GivingTuesday, silent auction, and interviews with directors. Social media engagement is down but the Christmas show campaign is about to begin. 
• Volunteer Committee
  • Nothing to report, absent
• Fundraising Committee
  • Absent, silent auction said to be on track
• Strategic Planning Committee
  • Sheila, Toi, Joel, Derek, Mike, Kelsey, Nathan S, Colleen. Retreat set January 4th. Board expected for lunch . 
• Gala Committee
  • The Gala Committee met this past Wednesday virtually, the committee consists of: Myself; Heather Pittman; Kelsey Gronlund; Michael Meemken; Anna Robins; Taffy Anderson; Crystal Woods. Originally we had talked about a Medieval Times type gala for 2025 and our 15 Season Celebration, but after meeting with the committee we have decided we don’t have the time needed to make something this ambitious happen. We were also worried that since we have never done anything like this before, we aren’t sure about attendance and this idea would cost a lot of money that we maybe couldn’t recoup or only make a small amount, which kind of defeats the purpose.
  • We came up with a new idea that will be still a lot of fun but much easier to pull off and much cheaper. We have decided to move forward with a 90’s Prom Theme. We will be meeting again in the next week or so to solidify ideas for the event itself. We have decided if we will do a full meal or just appetizers. In our discussions we decided to make this event strictly for adults so we can serve alcohol. We are in the process of deciding if we will handle alcohol sales or have someone else do it. The idea for the event will be to hold it in February at some point in Community Hall. More information to come at the next BOD meeting.

Old Business:

1. Insurance: table for new year

Next Meeting:

Dec 23rd, Virtual, 5:30 PM

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn: Nathan T, seconded Mike, unanimous passage

Respectfully submitted by Secretary Heather Pittman

7:00 PM
Grap’s Wine Room

Call To Order:

President Nathan S

Roll Call: 

Nathan S, Nathan T(arrival 10 minutes after start of meeting), Kelsey, Heather, Mike, Derek. Quorum achieved. 

Approval of previous minutes:

Motion to approve: Kelsey, Seconded by Mike, unanimous passage

Executive Director Report:

Sponsorships

As 2024 wraps up I will start to contact all of our existing sponsors about re-upping for 2025 to try and get a large chunk of sponsorships done right away before 2025 even starts. Once I have reached out to them I will begin work on my master list of businesses to contact. I could definitely use some help with contacting these businesses for the coming year, I will talk with Allan and the Fundraising Committee about this. There are well over 100 businesses on my list currently and I know there are others to add for 2025. Our goal for sponsorships should be around 9,000 again.

Grants

I am starting to research grants for the 2025 season. Our Arts Council grant runs through summer of 2025. I want to be aggressive again for next season, but we will see what is available. I did apply for the Jim Hess grant through Black Hills Area Community Foundation a couple of weeks ago. This grant goes to organizations in the Northern Hills and we submitted for $10,000. I will update the board once I know if we win it or not.

GOAT

GOAT went very well although attendance was not quite what I was hoping for. We sold 68 tickets but last year we sold over 90. I’m not sure it was because of it being a Thursday or something else. Even though we didn’t sell quite as many tickets as I would have liked, the show itself went great and we received a lot of compliments from attendees and volunteers from other shows, there were about 40 people from the other theaters. Our show went very well, the cast and crew were great and we received a lot of compliments about the script.

In total we spent $724.56 between costs of the show, Rec rental, hospitality and goodie bags, and etc. The cost was more than originally hoped for because we ended up having to print scripts from elsewhere and that cost quite a bit. We made $760 in ticket sales and $118 for the bake sale. That gives us a profit of $153.44. Again, was hoping for a bit more in profit, but all in all it went very well and I think it was an overall success.

Sound

The large back speaker was fixed and is in the theater. The rec set up the system for a program they had last weekend, but I was unable to help. I will be going in this week to reconnect everything and set it up in the most optimal way possible. We will use the two large speakers for the front of house to help augment the Bose speakers that are going out. We will use our two speakers for back of house, these can be removed easily if we need them for anything ourselves. I am also going to be working on getting the old sound board working so we no longer have to use our board. This is also important for the Christmas show, because our board does not have enough inputs for individual mics. If the old sound board ends up not working I will research another solution. It sounds as though the larger sound/video quote for the Rec Center has been submitted to the City Council. Once I know anything on this, I will update the board.

CRM

I will talk with Sharon and will join the next volunteer committee meeting to talk over with them what they are looking for in a CRM and then will try out some free trials of different softwares to pick the one that will help us the most.

15 Season Items

We have many ideas for 15 Season programming, materials, events, etc. and I am beginning work on them. I will be reaching out on an individual basis on specific items I need help with. We have many big ideas for next season and it will take a lot of work to make it all happen but my hope is that we bring in new volunteers and excite some who haven’t participated in a while to help us in 2025 and into the future.

Annual Gala

I almost have my committee set for the gala and will be meeting in the next few weeks to get everything in motion. This will be a quick turnaround but I think it is very possible but we will need many volunteers to make it happen, including ones from the board. I have a lot of hope for this idea and I think if it is a success it could become an annual tradition.

Giving Tuesday

GivingTuesday is coming up in November and I am going to get stuff ready to go soon so we can start promoting it. Last year we raised $340 from it, I am hoping to be around the same range. I will also enter us in some national and SD drawings with this programing, if we win we will get some extra exposure. I will be talking to people to get some quotes for the social media campaign.

Intern

I have been thinking a lot about everything that required my attention with BFACT and as we grow it is becoming a struggle to get everything done. With that in mind I am proposing we hire an intern for the 2025 Season. I have already spoken with Bella at BHSU just to gauge interest and I think she would leap at the opportunity and be an invaluable asset. If the board agrees to this I would work with BHSU to set it up with them to make sure whoever it is receives credit through the college. Their jobs would be helping me with the 2025 Season and all the associated programming around it which will free me up to handle more of the administrative side of my job. I would only feel comfortable hiring an intern if we could pay them. I know not all organizations do, but I think it is important for us to set a standard for this. Will come up with what a contract will look like with approx hours required and begin the process of reaching out to BHSU.

Officer Reports: 

• President
  • It is time to start working on the Executive Director reviews and contract for next year. New contract to be signed by January 1st 2025.
• Vice President
  • Nothing to report
• Secretary
  • Nothing to report 
• Treasurer
  • Current balance of bank account: $20,347.37
• Creative Committee
  • Christmas Show
    • Auditions were a big success for the Christmas show this year, there were over 80 people that auditioned. The cast list is up and the first practice is tonight. There is a lot of excitement around this show and I think people are going to be very impressed.
    • I have a proposed budget for this show that I would like approved. Some of these numbers are a bit of estimates because Sharon is still tracking down more concrete numbers on rental space at the dance studio and any other costs associated with that.
    • Proposed Budget
      • Licensing (Already Paid): 1545
      • Scripts (Already Paid): 999
      • Shipping/Handling (Already Paid): 125
      • Rec Center Rental: 780
      • Printing: 50
      • Misc: 200
      • Advertising: 50
      • Costumes/Props: 200
      • Set Building: 400
      • Contractors/Rental Space: 500
      • Total: 4849
    • Motion to approve the budget of $2180 that has not already been paid for: Mike, Seconded by Nathan T, unanimous passage. 
  • Next Season
    • We have been waiting to set the 2025 season until I was able to lock down the other theaters for GOAT next year but unfortunately I have not been able to get concrete dates yet and the other theaters have already set their schedules so we will be meeting very soon to lock in our dates for everything we know and just see if we can fit GOAT in. Our proposed season includes: Is He Dead?, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (or some other equivalent musical), It’s a Wonderful Life: Radio Drama, Short play showcase and GOAT 2025. Once we have dates we will start locking down directors, as of right now I will be directing Is He Dead? But that is the only concrete director yet but we have several other names in mind for the other shows.
• Public Relations
  • Followers and engagements are up across social media. Continuing newsletters. Planning to promote auction and show in November and annual meeting in December. 
• Volunteer Committee
  • Nothing to report, absent. ED plans to meet to discuss volunteer appreciation event. 
• Fundraising Committee
  • Absent. Passed along report of ongoing efforts to collect donations for the silent auction. Committee meeting pending to finalize details. 
• Strategic planning Committee
  • Met with Anna to set up a retreat for a full day session to begin the planning process. It would be requested that board members not part of the planning committee attend the lunch hour to share ideas with the committee. Potential dates include Dec 21st, Jan 4th, and Jan 11th. Requesting the following budget to hire Anna/Open Space Creative as facilitator:
    • $750 facilitator fee + materials (estimated to be <$100)
    • $250 (approx) for lunch for board members, committee, and facilitators
    • Estimated approx budget of $1100
  • Motion to app proposed budget: Nathan T, seconded by Mike, unanimous passage

Old Business:

1. Insurance: Kelsey did some research based on the non profit she works for and discovered that we should consider liability insurance and also directors and officers fiduciary liability insurance. Nathan T will conduct further research for the next meeting. 

New Business:

1. Annual meeting- tabled for priority discussion at November meeting

Next meeting:

November 18th, 2024 @ Graps

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn: Mike, Seconded by Kelsey, unanimous passage.

Respectfully submitted by Secretary Heather Pittman

7:00 PM
Grap’s Wine Room

Call To Order:

President Nathan S

Roll Call: 

Nathan S, Nathan T, Kelsey, Heather, Sharon, Mike, Derek, Al was present for first 20 minutes only. 

Approval of previous minutes:

Motion to approve: Sharon, seconded by Mike, unanimous passage

Old Business:

1. Strategic Planning committee appointments: Jody and Sheila have agreed to sit on committee. President Nathan S appoints Kelsey, Mike, Derek, and himself to seat committee as well. Tentative October meeting

New Business:

1. Insurance for fundraising committee: Nathan T will research liability insurance. 

Executive Director Report:

CRM

I have been doing more research into Zeffy and it looks like it has some contact storage and such, it is more focused on fundraising. The good thing about that, is it has lots of tools about tracking donations and such with individual people. I would like to meet with the Volunteer committee and get from them what they think would be helpful in a CRM and then make a final determination and move forward with one.

Grants

I am going to move forward soon with 2025 Grants. I will start with Midco, Walmart, the Dreyfuss Foundation and look into the Clarkson Foundation. I will also look into a larger donation from FIB through their giving organization. We won’t be eligible for SD Community Foundation or Arts Council next year so I will have to go out more to look for grants we can get.

Stage

The Rec ended up painting the stage but there seems to be two different types of paint on the stage. They are aware of the issue but want to give a week drying time to any painting on the stage so they won’t be doing that in the near future. It’s not ideal, but I don’t think it will be a huge issue for GOAT.

Sound

I spoke with Jody and she has put into her budget request for next year all of the sound/video equipment. We will see how that goes. Also, we are not sure if the back speaker can get fixed in Belle so we might need to look further out to get it fixed. My hope is to have it working before GOAT. I am also pushing to get a new iPad in place or to see if the old sound board can be utilized soon so we have the ability to do more mics, especially for the Christmas Show.

Concert Series

There is a Concert Series on Oct 4. We will need a person there at 3pm to help and then be there for the show at 7 to run lights. Is anyone available, otherwise I will handle it. If possible it would be great to get someone else there for the performance itself. I can help with setup at 3pm.

Officer Reports: 

• President
  • Nothing to report
• Vice President
  • Nothing to report
• Secretary
  • Nothing to report
• Treasurer
  • Current bank balance of $23,195.15
• Creative Committee
  • GOAT
    • Things are progressing well on GOAT. The show has been cast and they are practicing now and it seems to be going well. We are in the process of scheduling times for the other theaters to come to Belle to practice and for us to go to theirs. Our night will be October 10 and tickets will go on sale tomorrow. We will need some people to help take tickets, run bake sale and possibly usher, I will need help tracking down those people. Also, we will be doing some gift bags for people like last year, I could use a hand with that as well. *last second expense of $150 for print scripts
  • Next Season
    • I am struggling getting all of the other theaters set for a date for GOAT 2025, not sure if October will work now. If I cannot get everyone committed to a date by the end of next week I am going to schedule a CC meeting and we will get our dates set and try and figure out when to slip GOAT in, we can’t wait forever to set the season.
• Public Relations
  • Posters are going out for GOAT. Will share call for carolers for vintage Christmas for the city. Collecting info for upcoming newsletter. 
• Volunteer Committee
  • Planning October meeting. 
• Fundraising Committee
  • Working on getting gift baskets and collecting donations for the silent action. Planning a few items online only and the rest in person only. 
• 15 Year Committee
  • Goals: to celebrate, fundraise, and establish
  • 1500 donation goal outside of other fundraising
  • Have someone at each show to talk to people specifically about 15 year
  • Social media campaign headed by Anna/Derek
  • Specific merch headed by Anna/Derek
  • Documentary: initial cost: 7,000, 2,000 from us, 5,000 from grant headed by Anna
  • Short film to be completed by main show, shorter version for advertising
  • Display at the rec center and museum
  • Annual fundraiser medieval times style. Will have its own committee to plan. Nathan S appoints Derek as chair
  • July 4th float and cookout-class reunion theme
  • City declaration of performing arts day. Hopefully to coincide with the first show. Heidi Parker will investigate.  
  • Day of Service

Next meeting:

10/28/24 @ 7pm

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn: Mike, seconded by Kelsey, unanimous passage. 

Respectfully submitted by Secretary Heather Pittman