November 18, 2024 Minutes
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:
- Annual Meeting – January 25th 1pm -2pm open house. 2pm meeting started. Reports due by January 1st
- Volunteer appreciation: December 21st graps backroom 3pm – 7pm
- 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
- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
- 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:
- 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