MINUTES SLT GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Transcription

1 MINUTES SLT GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING 04 JUNE 2012 Board of Directors: Collin Norman, Robert Cox, Lee Moretz, Jeanette Chapman, Meredith Marchant, Gary Parsons, Mark Hall, Don Curnutte, Shirley Barlow Membership: Twenty-one people (excluding the BOD) Call to order at 7:00 PM Reading of the minutes of the June 2011 General Membership meeting No minutes were available. Treasurer s Report Jeanette Smithfield Little Theatre has a current checking account balance of $63, Smithfield Little Theatre has two Certificates of Deposit (CD s). One is for $65, and the second is for $138, The new Scholarship Fund has received $8, ($5, from Farmers Bank and $3, from citizen donations). A match of $5, from SLT brings the current total to $13, Robert gave an explanation/over-view of the Scholarship Fund. Motion to accept the report: Robert 2 nd : Mark COMMITTEE REPORTS Buildings and Grounds Robert A new fire alarm system has been installed in the theater. A new Heating and Air Conditioning system has been installed backstage. The stained floor tiles in the men s restroom are going to be replaced. We are going to enlarge the Light/Sound Booth this August to move the Sound Tech out into the audience (back row, three center seats). Motion to accept the report: Meredith 2 nd : Lee 1

2 Tickets Shirley For the season we have sold 1,444 season tickets (67% of those available). This is 32 season tickets less than at this time last year. By the show: Summer Show 319 season ticket holders and 333 general admission (31%) Christmas Show all five shows sold out. Fiddler on the Roof 1,057 above season ticket holders (4 weeks of shows). Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 260 above season ticket holders George M 430 above season ticket holders We are getting a lot of groups (some who travel some distance) and they are spreading the word. That is encouraging. Motion to accept the report: Robert 2 nd : Mark Sponsorships and Underwriting Mark We currently have $10, from 176 people/individuals/families. We currently have $4, from 26 companies/corporations. Total: $15, Publicity Lee Times. We continue to stay in contact with the Daily Press, the Virginian Pilot and the Smithfield Motion to accept the report: Meredith 2 nd : Gary Concessions Gary Going to approach Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (at the new Isle of Wight facility) about a corporate sponsorship in the form of their Keurig K -cup coffee products. Gary asked permission to offer them two tickets to one of our shows so they can see what we are all about. The operation of the concession stand is coming back in house beginning with this year s Summer Show. Volunteers are needed. It is hoped to get enough people so that no one has to cover more than one night. We would like to extend a hearty thank you! to the Smithfield Ruritans for their past years of service running the stand during the intermissions. Money taken in by the concession stand goes into the scholarship fund. Motion to accept the report: Don 2 nd : Mark Theater Liason Meredith We are going to offer seats to other area community theater Boards of Directors for our opening (Thursday) nights. nights. We are going to offer free tickets to local school drama clubs for our opening (Thursday) 2

3 Scholarship Fund Elaine At the Gala, the engraved key rings brought in $ in donations and the beverage counter (actually the bar maids Ann and Robyn brought in $65.00 in tips. This money goes into the scholarship fund. Photography Jennifer Jennifer Steiger will be stepping down. We need to find a new source for photography. Thank you! Jen!! Smithfield Music Jim We are becoming one of the neatest small venues in the country! Smithfield Music has donated approximately $20, in the past six years. And it is already approaching $10, this year. Karen Willard: They are a great help to the schools because there is no money available from the schools or the state. Ushers Debbie and June Programs Lighting Dan Debbie and June will continue in their positions but they could use some help. We need someone to volunteer to put together the Playbills. go. We are upgrading all our lighting to LED s. We have started but still have quite a way to Another training session for lights and sound will be given later this year. Costumes Stefanie and Shannon Old Business Stefanie and Shannon will continue to handle costumes. None. New Business Collin: We have an issue with our By-Laws. Currently Robert is the BOD Vice President and the Chairman of the Buildings and Grounds Committee and our current By-Laws do not technically allow that without approval of the membership. The membership at this meeting was polled and unanimously accepted the current situation. Nominating Committee Gary, Jeanette, Lee The nominees are: Trey Gwaltney, Elaine Dairo, and Bonnie Franklin Robert makes a motion to nominate by acclimation The membership votes in favor. The nominees are elected. 2 nd : Mark Motion to adjourn: 9:35 PM Motion to accept: Robert 2 nd : Mark 3

4 SMITHFIELD LITTLE THEATRE MINUTES SLT BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING 04 June 2012 ATTENDEES: Collin Norman, Robert Cox, Jeanette Chapman, Meredith Marchant, Bonnie Franklin, Trey Gwaltney, Mark Hall, Shirley Barlow, Elaine Dairo, Don Curnutte ABSENT: Call to order at 8:35 p.m. Election of Officers Collin Norman for President Motion to accept: Robert 2 nd : Shirley Barlow Vote: For Robert Cox for Vice President Motion to accept: Trey Gwaltney 2 nd : Elaine Dairo Vote: For Trey Gwaltney for Treasurer Motion to accept: Elaine Dairo 2 nd : Robert Cox Vote: For Bonnie Franklin for Secretary Motion to accept: Shirley Barlow 2 nd : Meredith Marchant Vote: For NEW BUSINESS Treasurer New signature cards needed at the bank (Jeanette, Trey, Collin need to sign) Name on scholarship account needs to be changed from Jeanette to Trey

5 SLT Board Meeting Schedule Tickets Second Monday of each month beginning in July 2012 Shirley will be ordering tickets this week Postcards sent with info about season tickets for next year Budget Collin, Trey and Robert to meet regarding using QuickBooks for financial record-keeping and reporting o Clarify the names (instead of using codes) of expense/income categories o Possibly eliminate need for bookkeeper in the future Goal: to easily be able to view P/L statements by show Consolidate accounting / bookkeeping functions Publicity Chair Lee has developed a good system / information regarding publicity Jeff Johnson has been working with Lee; let him continue to work on publicity Concessions Meredith: Brought up possibility of selling wine at intermission for each show Cost: o $560 / year (annual fee) o $65 (one-time application fee) o $30 (one-time background check fee; $15 each for two people) Revenue: at $5 per glass, costs would be covered by selling two glasses of wine per show Possible issues: o presence of theatre patrons less than 21 years old o liability issues o conflict with other concessions being sold for a donation o image of SLT as a family theatre Meredith to check with Williamsburg Players and PCT about what they do 2

6 Building and Grounds Don: is SLT in compliance with requirements for handicapped seating and hearing impaired receiver(s)? Robert to check on both of these issues Motion to adjourn: 9:32 p.m. 3

7 SMITHFIELD LITTLE THEATRE MINUTES SLT BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING 09 July 2012 ATTENDEES: Shirley Barlow, Robert Cox, Don Curnutte, Elaine Dairo, Bonnie Franklin, Trey Gwaltney, Mark Hall, Meredith Marchant ABSENT: Collin Norman Meeting called to order at 7:05 p.m. Minutes from June 4, 2012 meeting read by Bonnie Franklin. OLD BUSINESS Motion to accept: Mark Hall. Seconded by Shirley Barlow. Motion passes. Treasurer / Trey All signature cards updated (regular account and scholarship fund account) Bookkeeping / QuickBooks o Trey & Mark to meet with accountant in the next two weeks to get everything set up the way the theatre needs it to be. o Goal: put process in place for requests for payment o Still looking for paperwork (for example, monthly bills) for the past year. o Starting fresh with July 2012 (beginning of fiscal year) Next Step: Collin to talk with Jamie (bookkeeper) about the fact that the bookkeeping function will transition to Trey in the next month or two. Wine Sales / Meredith Presented thorough research on what Williamsburg Players, Ferguson Center, PCT, Little Theatre of Norfolk, Poquoson Island Players are doing. Purpose is not fundraising, but atmosphere. Gary trying to get away from labor-intensive concessions; this is more labor-intensive.

8 Would require two people per night (one for wine minimum age 18 and one for soda/cookies) Since last meeting, Shirley has conducted some research on the subject from ticket callers. Most not in favor of wine sales. Gary needs to be made aware of the possibility of wine sales; he would not be responsible for staffing that counter. Motion to sell wine during all shows beginning with Fall 2012: Meredith. Seconded by Trey with the provision that logistical details be worked out first (staffing; arrangement in lobby; notify Gary). Meredith accepted Trey s seconded motion. Plan to move forward starting in the fall. Next Step: Meredith to present formal plan to the Board with all details in place: volunteers, coordination with Gary s concessions, plan for setting up separate station or share counter, etc. NEW BUSINESS Treasurer / Trey CDs o One comes due in August 2013 (approx. value $64,000) o One comes due in July 2012 (approx. value $130,000) Next Step: Trey to talk to bank about best option going forward for the cd that matures this month (one large cd versus several smaller cds) Buildings & Grounds (Robert) Not a lot going on right now No problems with Iron Street Productions Theatre Camp in terms of facility use New soda machine installed Lights in parking lot fixed; extra globe for lights purchased Will be changing sound booth after One-Act Play Festival in August o Three seats to be lost in top row (10, 11, 12) New doormat for outside of front door needed 50 th Anniversary Gala: report on money spent to be presented in the future Tickets / Shirley Letter about to go out about season along with season ticket order form Summer show: so far 94 tickets sold for the first week; 41 tickets sold for the second week Ticket sales answering machine on last legs o No inside wire maintenance coverage 2

9 o Verizon says it isn t their problem Next Step: Trey to put ticket phone line on inside wire maintenance, and check into setting up a Verizon mailbox. Needs to be up and running by the fall show. Motion to authorize Trey to engage the Verizon voice mail function: Mark Hall. Seconded by Bonnie Franklin. Motion passes. The summer show is general admission, but some people require special seating (handicapped, vision impaired). Motion to authorize Shirley to reserve seats for handicapped patrons as needed during general admission shows: Mark Hall. Seconded by Elaine Dairo. Motion passes. Fundraising / Mark Fundraising letters to corporate sponsors will be going out before the next meeting Theatre Camp / Elaine Third year of theatre camp completed with 38 participants. Some confusion about tickets (free tickets, lost tickets, no extra tickets for walk-ins) Would like to get on calendar for next year for the last two weeks of June (June 17 June 29). Robert: SLT has not solicited participant feedback since the first year of the camp. o Based on comments made to Collin and Robert, we need to solicit feedback from this year s participants and parents o Possible issues regarding Le Royce Bratsveen s response to a ticket payment issue and comments to a camp participant regarding acting ability. Motion to solicit feedback from this year s camp participants and families: Elaine Dairo. Seconded by Don Curnutte. Motion passes. Next Step: Bonnie to request a list of camp participants from Le Royce Bratsveen; draft a letter and survey requesting input from camp participants and their parents (to include both quantitative and open-ended questions). Surveys responses to be sent to the P.O. box. Scholarship Fund / Elaine Scholarship Fund: $4417 (not including $5000 from Farmers Bank). With matching funds: $ $ $4417 o Theatre matches $5000 (one-time matching to get fund started). $583 needed to get to $5000 goal. Ongoing fund, but operating side needs to have a starting/stopping date (SLT fiscal year). Fundraising can go along with school year. 3

10 Major contributors should be named in programs. Vice President / Robert Received letter from Thomas K. Norment (state senator) congratulating SLT on its 50 th anniversary. Looks forward to introducing commending resolution in State Senate Next Step: Scan and put on website. Website / Don Don / Collin have not met yet Don proposes that we purchase space on the website provider ($75) instead of using free version which is more limited. Added functionality would include passwordprotected pages so that different people can own different parts of the website. Need some artistic people to figure out what the website should look like. Motion to purchase space on website provider: Don Curnutte. Seconded by Mark Hall. Motion passes. Budget / Robert Budget Committee met on July 8 (Collin, Trey, Robert) Historical information was not as complete and organized as it could have been; getting information in proper condition is one of the goals of the new treasurer. Goal is to be able to present both a monthly budget and a YTD budget on a monthly basis. Budget submitted for approval by board. Revisions discussed. Motion to accept budget as revised: Elaine Dairo. Seconded by Meredith Marchant. Motion passes. Other Don sent information to Board via about the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT). Cost is under $200. Would give SLT access to national one-act play festivals (winners of the SLT one-act festival could advance to other competitions). Elaine has been contacted by the Chamber of Commerce about SLT paying to be included as a point of interest on a glossy map to be given to new families in the community. Cost $349. Next Step: Elaine to tell them that SLT is not interested. Motion to adjourn: Mark Hall. Seconded by Elaine Dairo. Meeting adjourned at 9:06 p.m. 4

11 SMITHFIELD LITTLE THEATRE MINUTES SLT BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING 13 August 2012 ATTENDEES: Collin Norman, Robert Cox, Don Curnutte, Elaine Dairo, Bonnie Franklin, Trey Gwaltney, Mark Hall, Shirley Barlow ABSENT: Meredith Marchant Meeting called to order at 7:04 p.m. Minutes from July 9, 2012 meeting read by Bonnie Franklin. Motion to accept: Mark Hall Seconded by Elaine Dairo. Motion passes. COMMITTEE REPORTS Treasurer / Trey Has chart of accounts if anyone wants to see it. Distributed three Profit & Loss Statements, showing information effective July 1. o Profit & Loss o Profit & Loss Budget v. Actual Some expenses entered 100% in July; some expenses spread out over 12 months. This system of allocating expenses can be adjusted in future reports if needed. o Profit & Loss by Job [Show] Show expenses can reflect old shows, or upcoming shows. Example: current report has expenses for Anything Goes and Oliver. Currently, no deadline for people turning in costs associated with a show. When a job is complete, it will be dropped off of the report. Reports reflect bills that Trey has paid; does not reflect bills that others have paid. Reports can be run through prior month end, or through a couple of days before board meetings.

12 Reports do not show any expenses from before July 1, but can be set up to run any range of dates. Trey to check numbers on report vs. budget Motion to accept: Mark Hall Seconded by Elaine Dairo. Motion passes. Buildings & Grounds (Robert) Getting tidied up after One-Act Play Festival and summer play. Sound booth project o Halfway through sound booth project; hope to finish up this week some time. o On calendar, no sound or lights until Aug 26 th / 27 th. Should be operational before then. o Cables came in; budgeted for $1500; actual cost was $825. o Don asked Robert to get new carpet for light room (padded carpet to deaden sound). Phone in lobby: line is working, but no dial tone. Robert to install new batteries. Tickets / Shirley 419 tickets sold for CIA (average 50 per night). Fewer than sales for Drop Dead. Mailed 635 season ticket letters; 2 returned undelivered. Not all back yet, but out of ones received, two people have dropped subscriptions because of location (they live in Williamsburg); another has stopped because of age / health, but sent a donation. Will have a more complete update by next month s meeting. Fundraising / Mark Some letters have gone out; remaining letters to go out tomorrow (August 14, 2012) OLD BUSINESS Treasurer / Trey Next Step: Collin to talk with Jamie (bookkeeper) about the fact that the bookkeeping function will transition to Trey in the next month or two. o Update: After several missed phone calls between Collin and Jamie, Collin sent an e- mail informing Jamie that her services were no longer required. No response as of August 13, Next Step: Trey to talk to bank about best option going forward for the cd that matures this month (one large cd versus several smaller cds) 2

13 o Update: The CD that matures in 2013 is still there. The one that matured in July 2012 for $130,000 has been split into three CDs. This will reduce the amount of the penalty if SLT has to cash one of the CDs early. o $80,000 (3 years, due Aug ); o $40,000 (2 years, due Aug ); o $10,000 (2 years, due Aug ). o An account has been set up for the escrow for Buildings & Grounds. Transferred $10,000 from basic checking into money market account (can withdraw, write checks on it). Separate from operating money. Wine Sales / Meredith Next Step: Meredith to present formal plan to the Board with all details in place: volunteers, coordination with Gary s concessions, plan for setting up separate station or share counter, etc. o Update: Continued to September meeting. Tickets / Shirley Next Step: Trey to put ticket phone line on inside wire maintenance, and check into setting up a Verizon mailbox. Needs to be up and running by the fall show. o Update: Inside line maintenance was installed, and then repairs were made to the phone line. Currently working fine. Verizon voice mailbox has been set up. o Next Step: Trey / Shirley to make sure that Verizon voice mailbox messages are being checked. Theatre Camp / Elaine Next Step: Bonnie to request a list of camp participants from Le Royce Bratsveen; draft a letter and survey requesting input from camp participants and their parents (to include both quantitative and open-ended questions). Surveys responses to be sent to the P.O. box. o Update: 32 surveys sent, with a 28% response rate. Overall positive; a few negative comments about yelling on the part of the camp director. o Next Step: Elaine to talk with Le Royce about survey results, with the understanding that SLT wants to keep offering summer theatre camp. Vice President / Robert Next Step: Scan letter from Thomas K. Norment (state senator) congratulating SLT on its 50 th anniversary and put on website. o Update: Needed at September meeting. Website / Don Next Step: Don to purchase space on website provider. o Update: Completed. 3

14 Other: AACT (American Association of Community Theatre) Don sent information to Board via about the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT). Cost is under $200. Would give SLT access to national one-act play festivals (winners of the SLT one-act festival could advance to other competitions). o Update: Needed at September meeting. Collin was invited by One-Act Play Festival judges to attend an event in Norfolk (he ll be attending on August 26 th ). Judges liked the SLT festival, and had suggestions for some tweaks. NEW BUSINESS Policy for being a Director at SLT (Robert) Question: does being an assistant director here fix a problem? Does it acclimate the person? Does being in a show accomplish the same thing? If you get a good director who has not been an assistant, SLT could assign them a liason (PCT does this). In the past, new directors had to have a supervising director. o Next Step: Presentation of pros and cons (change v. no change to current policy) at the October 2012 meeting. Summer Schedule (various) At the September meeting, discussion will focus on the summer as a whole: o theatre camp o summer show o One-Act festival Trey Gwaltney / Judy Winslow to present Light Board (Robert) Purchase of new light board v. purchase of software has been discussed, but no decision ever made. Don brought in personal copy of LightFactory for Sin, Sex and the CIA but will be taking it home. Options: o Purchase a new light board ($6600, plus $1800 for remote) o Refurbish current board (TBD. Analysis by ETC is free.) o Purchase LightFactory ($1800 for computer and software) Timing: we have August, September, October to address the issue. Dan wants LightFactory; Daniel has reservations about LightFactory. Questions: o To what degree will the theatre be improved by adding LED lights? o What are the total costs over the next few years? 4

15 o Are we dissatisfied with what we have today? o Do we buy a system that will control LEDs, then gradually replace current lights with LED lights? o If we buy LightFactory, are we going to use it? LightFactory: o Made for a programmed show o One person can run smaller shows o No problems using LightFactory for Sin, Sex and the CIA. o Company was responsive to questions (by ; company is in Australia) o Will run current lights (non-led), LED lights, and moving lights o Gives remote access o Synchronizes sound effects with lighting o Consistency for actors o Separates sound from sound effects; enables sound person to focus on soundboard; light person could run both sound effects and lights Existing light board o Made for quick decisions o Will not run LED lights or moving lights o Adequate for standard lights; not adequate for LED lights Motion to purchase LightFactory: Trey Gwaltney. Seconded by Don Curnutte. Next Step: Don to purchase LightFactory, and to call ETC to schedule an evaluation of the existing board. Upcoming Meetings Monday, September 10, 2012 Monday, October 8, 2012 Monday, November 12, 2012 Monday, December 10, 2012 Motion to adjourn: Shirley Barlow. Seconded by Mark Hall. Meeting adjourned at 8:54p.m. 5

16 SMITHFIELD LITTLE THEATRE MINUTES SLT BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING 10 September 2012 ATTENDEES: Collin Norman, Robert Cox, Don Curnutte, Elaine Dairo, Bonnie Franklin, Trey Gwaltney, Shirley Barlow, Meredith Marchant ABSENT: Mark Hall Meeting called to order at 7:05 p.m. Minutes from 13 August 2012 meeting presented prior to meeting. Motion to accept: Robert Cox. Seconded by Meredith Marchant. Motion passes. COMMITTEE REPORTS Treasurer / Trey Balance Sheet: o based on deposits / checks written through today (checking account balance $85,497.64) o When scholarship fund gets to $10,000, SLT s match of $5,000 will kick in ($5,000 from bank; $5,000 being raised by Elaine; $5,000 from SLT) o CDs: one due in one year, two due in 2 years, one due in 3 years Profit & Loss Statement: shows what we ve spent, what we ve brought in o More details available from Trey if needed o % of Budget number should be 100% or less o Show Expenses % of Budget over 100%; still includes some numbers from past shows in earlier seasons. Once Trey removes those plays from the report, the number will be a more accurate representation. o Still fine-tuning which expenses are divided over 12 months v. paid all at once Report by Shows o Prints in alphabetical order, not date order o Three shows coming up this season: Ticket Sales shows breakdown of season ticket sales to date.

17 Motion to accept: Meredith Marchant. Seconded by Shirley Barlow. Motion passes. Buildings & Grounds (Robert) Men s room tile floor redone Sound booth done New mat at front door in place Tickets / Shirley Season tickets so far: 1,157 (last year: 1,440) Not everyone has responded yet Donations: $10,105; in addition, $250 should go to corporate (sent to Shirley instead of Mark) Next Step: Trey to call Mark and see if he has a mailbox key. Website / Don Events organized into two main categories: Shows and Special Events. Pages: Home, Shows, Past Shows, Tickets, Auditions, Special Events, Calendar, About Us, Scholarship, Smithfield Music, Past Shows Home: Contains a list of our current season shows, a calendar that automatically pulls the next few events from the master calendar, information on the next upcoming events in the theater, and a few other interesting pieces of information. Shows: Contains a brief description of this season s shows. When a show finishes, it will be moved to the Past Shows page, hopefully with photos and other information. Page can be updated immediately after the board selects the next season s shows each year. Tickets: No changes. Auditions: Meredith / Don developed audition page for Christmas show; provides a lot of information for anyone interested in auditioning. Would work well as a template for future shows. Special Events: Contains anything happening in the theatre other than one of the main shows, including music concerts and the one-act play festival. Currently, there are no plans for a history page for these events. Calendar: This is one of the most important pages; it must be kept current in order to be effective. We started with a single calendar but soon realized it was going to be a lot of work for one person to maintain. o There are now eight calendars (Fall Show, Christmas Show, Winter Show, Spring Show, Summer Show, Special Events, Board of Director Events, Technical Theatre Events). o All of these calendars are color-coded and combined into one on the website. o With each calendar split out we can assign permissions to individual directors and allow them to control their own calendars. This will allow directors to make changes 2

18 which are then immediately available to their cast and crew on the website, via direct link to the calendar, or an . o Robin Ness has access to the Fall show calendar and Meredith Marchant has taken over the Christmas show calendar. Fundraising / Mark No update OLD BUSINESS Wine Sales / Meredith Next Step: Meredith to present formal plan to the Board with all details in place: volunteers, coordination with Gary s concessions, plan for setting up separate station or share counter, etc. Update: o Meredith will head up wine sales o Has gotten volunteers through Facebook o Verified that the plan is okay with Gary o Wine sales will share the counter with Gary, but operations will be separate. o Wine must be stored in a refrigerator with a lock; Gary has been looking at that anyway for sodas. Gary / Meredith to share refrigerator. o Initial cost for wine sales: $700 (liquor license). o Proceeds (after paying for license and half of the refrigerator) will go to the scholarship fund. Motion to implement wine sales for one season: Meredith Marchant. Seconded by Elaine Dairo. Opposed: Shirley Barlow. Motion passes. Other: AACT (American Association of Community Theatre) Don sent information to Board via about the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT). Cost is under $200. Would give SLT access to national one-act play festivals (winners of the SLT one-act festival could advance to other competitions). o Update: Needed at October meeting. Policy for being a Director at SLT (Robert) Question: does being an assistant director here fix a problem? Does it acclimate the person? Does being in a show accomplish the same thing? If you get a good director who has not been an assistant, SLT could assign them a liason (PCT does this). In the past, new directors had to have a supervising director. o Next Step: Presentation of pros and cons (change v. no change to current policy) at the October 2012 meeting. 3

19 Sound Booth (Don Curnutte) Robert and crew did a great job modifying the sound booth Everything except the new padded carpet is finished Enough equipment reinstalled to provide basic sound and lighting Wireless mics, ClearComm system, and the printer are not yet connected As soon as the carpet is in we will move the remaining equipment into the booth and get back to 100% functionality Light Board (Don Curnutte) Next Step: Don to purchase LightFactory, and to call ETC to schedule an evaluation of the existing board. Update: o Don is in the process of loading the new lighting computer with our lighting and sound software and configuring it for our network o LightFactory software should be arriving soon o Both computers in the booth will be configured with identical software for maximum flexibility when we configure lights and sound for a show Summer Schedule: Theatre Camp / Summer Show / One-Act Festival Trey: Summer Kids Production o Directed by Trey Gwaltney and Judy Winslow o Proposal: produce another show with kids in all parts (considering Fun on 42 nd Street, which is a show about theatre) o Staying away from camp approach; want to do multiple performances o Incorporate instructional aspects, using parts from the show to demonstrate the concepts. Acting as well as sound, lights, set construction; whatever is ageappropriate. For example, instead of just blocking scenes, use some of the time as a blocking/staging workshop Could split group into those interested in the tech part / those interested in being on stage Use multiple instructors. Not all instructors would be needed for every session. Once show is selected, find out how many numbers each instructor can handle. o Marketing Market at schools during the spring Market tickets to our regular patrons, not just parents of participants o Cost: not decided, but possibly $100 per participant. o Time frame: mid-june to mid-august School gets out on Friday, June 14 th Performances: possibly 5 over 1 weekend, or 8 over 2 weekends 4

20 August 15, 16, 17, 18 most likely dates o Concerns / Challenges: Goal is not to take the place of the summer show and I-SPY camp, but realistically it might have that effect. If we try this and it doesn t work, we may not be able to get Le Royce (I-SPY) back at SLT. I-SPY has been a popular program. One-Act Play Festival could be one of the weekends during this. Would One- Act participants be able to get onstage / work around sets? Biggest challenge: people traveling SLT needs to give this full support (Trey Gwaltney / Judy Winslow willing to make a multi-year commitment) Summer Show o Was experimental for SLT to do a summer show (for the past two years) Drop Dead: 649 tickets ($13 for season ticket holders, $15 for non-season ticket holders). 31% of house sold (3 week run) Sin, Sex and the CIA: 625 postcards mailed (for Gala, Summer Show, and One-Act Festival). Patrons received notice about the summer show in the middle of May, and again in July. 429 tickets sold (2 week run); approx. 30% of house. o With regular shows, patrons get advanced notice from mailings beginning in August. With the summer show people don t have as much notice, and there is no commitment from season ticket holders. Season ticket holders had 3 weeks (once the season ticket letters went out) o Including the summer show in the season ticket package would guarantee sales, but a higher season ticket price might discourage some people from purchasing season tickets. o If the summer show is going to be part of a season (25% of a season), then it needs the same percentage of the resources. It has not gotten that in the past. Meredith (Drop Dead director) a lot of new people came out for the first summer show o Robert: we should drop the summer show Never a commitment by our group behind the two summer shows Summer show is like a red-headed stepchild compared to the regular season shows Commitment was there for the Christmas show (3-year commitment) Shouldn t do a show without that commitment; turns into a bad experience for us and our patrons Would have had better success if the summer show had been at the end of a season, and if it had been made part of the season ticket package Motion to drop the summer show from the schedule and keep the three-show season: Shirley Barlow. Second: Robert Cox. Abstain: Trey Gwaltney. Motion passes. 5

21 I-SPY SUMMER CAMP o Two weeks of work for one half-hour performance o Iron Street uses SLT for free; they make money off of it o Robert: in favor of continuing with I-SPY if we don t plan something else that will preclude it ONE-ACT PLAY FESTIVAL (Mary Rose) o Overall, went well. Just finished 6 th year; continues to be a work in progress. o Strengths: Workshops. Led by three local people. Well-attended, well-received. Presenters added value to the festival. Content. Very good; original work every year. Participation. Had enough in each category (at least two) o Biggest weakness: Publicity Would like to have audience of at least 50% full from beginning to end of festival Could publicize better if submissions are due 2 3 months before the festival Publicity currently goes to board members of neighboring community theatres in May; Smithfield Times; tried Observer, Daily Press, Virginia Pilot; radio station (Gloucester, NN, Richmond); glossy cards; Governor s School Would be nice to be able to publicize line-up of shows, order of events, biographies of workshop leaders Other opportunities: high schools, I-SPY o Don C: if we go with VTA, we ll need drastic changes (how it is judged, format, layout, time). o Collin: would like to see a 2-day event Saturday morning workshops Saturday afternoon presentations, mixer, awards ceremony (would encourage people to stay at the mixer) o Deadline for submissions: 2 3 months before the Festival o Could invite groups from PCT, Williamsburg Players to participate Give an award for best showing by a theatre Contestants would stay at mixer to hear results o Collin: Judges from Aug 26 event may be able to help us with grant-writing process ($ $2000; this would cover almost the entire budget). o Robert: suggests adding a Festival Manager Explore other opportunities for marketing Publicity; booking hotel rooms; logistics Free up Mary Rose to handle artistic aspects Start making contacts in January Need list of dates: what needs to be done? When? Assign to Festival Manager / Artistic Director o Board needs to set some parameters, timeline 6

22 o Collin: We d like to see a set schedule (set by Board); 2-day festival with workshops; interested in looking into official festival through VTA; cut-off date (left up to Festival Manager) Mary Rose: prefers to set a consistent weekend (1 st weekend of August v. 2 nd week of August just be consistent) College / high school kids are often involved; need to make it earlier than right before they go back to school If participants were not allowed to come rehearse in SLT, would it be detrimental? Mary Rose: 75% would not be affected; 25% would be. Collin: amateur participants tend to want more time for rehearsal; seasoned veterans don t need that time. Currently, One-Act has become a lot of work in terms of sound & lights. o Changes need to be determined / publicized as soon as possible Motion: Continue the One-Act Festival with the following parameters: set schedule determined by SLT Board; two-day festival that includes workshops; look into offering the festival through VTA; and to divide the responsibilities into the roles of Artistic Director and Festival Manager: Robert Cox. Seconded by Elaine Dairo. Motion passes. Motion: Summer Kids Program (as presented by Trey Gwaltney) to be implemented in Summer 2013 with a three-year commitment, thus eliminating the need for I-SPY Theatre Camp: Trey Gwaltney. Seconded: Robert Cox. Opposed: Elaine Dairo. Next Step: Robert requests more detailed information and a timeline from Trey for the next SLT Board meeting. Next Step: Elaine to talk with Le Royce Bratsveen about SLT s plans for next summer. FUTURE TOPICS Path to being a director at SLT (on agenda for October 8, 2012) Release of Liability form (TBD topic raised via by Don Curnutte in August 2012) Upcoming Meetings o Monday, October 8, 2012 o Monday, November 12, 2012 o Monday, December 10, 2012 Meeting Adjourned: 9:20 p.m. 7

23 8

24 SMITHFIELD LITTLE THEATRE MINUTES SLT BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING 8 October 2012 Revised 5 November 2012 Second Revision 7 November 2012 ATTENDEES: Collin Norman, Mark Hall, Don Curnutte, Elaine Dairo, Bonnie Franklin, Trey Gwaltney, Shirley Barlow, Meredith Marchant ABSENT: Robert Cox Meeting called to order at 7:03 p.m. Minutes from 10 September 2012 meeting distributed via on September 16 (original minutes) and October 6 (amended minutes). Motion to accept minutes as amended: Mark Hall. Seconded by Meredith Marchant. Motion passes. COMMITTEE REPORTS Treasurer / Trey Presented Balance Sheet, Profit / Loss Statement, and Profit / Loss Statement by Show (all reports reflect activity from July 1, 2012 October 8, 2012) Profit / Loss: What we ve brought in and spent through today Profit / Loss by Show (One-Act, Summer Show, Christmas Show, 3 Regular Season Shows) o Season ticket sales divided evenly for the three regular season shows o Trey is telling directors to be sending receipts to him o Asking for all show receipts by 30 days after show closes Balance Sheet o Current Assets: $86, o CDs: $195, o Over $300,000 in liquid assets

25 o Includes $1000 scholarship check that we wrote Motion to accept: Mark Hall. Seconded by Don Curnutte. Motion passes. Buildings & Grounds / Collin reporting for Robert) Structural building done for Forum Cover going on soon Painting to take place after Robert gets back in town Tickets / Shirley 1317 season tickets sold to date Season ticket information needed on website Shirley sent information to Collin; Collin to forward to Don. Shirley wants season ticket information to be published in the Smithfield Times Jeff can help publicize availability of season tickets in Smithfield Times and elsewhere. Could be good to publicize more to retirement homes / communities Next Steps: Collin to forward ticket information from Shirley to Don. Shirley to get with Jeff J. and Judy W. about publicizing season tickets in the Smithfield Times and at retirement homes / communities. Publicity Don: does Jeff have a standard procedure for doing publicity? Did he get a list from Lee Moretz? Meredith: has been offering tickets to local school drama departments; schools have to call Shirley to arrange. Does the same thing for Board of Director members of area community theatres Judy Winslow has comp tickets for donations to local groups (i.e., Cub Scouts, etc.) for opening night Meredith: Chamber of Commerce putting together a Night in Smithfield basket as a door prize for IsleFest; would like to include a pair of tickets for one of the shows (also dinner tickets / room at Smithfield Station. Next Step: Meredith to get with Judy about tickets for Night in Smithfield basket. Website / Don No update Scholarship Fund (Trey / Elaine) $5000 donation from Farmers Bank is in bank Fundraising activities have now met matching $5000 amount, so SLT s $5000 contribution is due SLT has paid the $1000 scholarship award to Taryn Johnson Balance in actual fund is $10,113, less $1000 (adjusted total: $9,113). 2

26 Projected new balance after transfer of matching funds: $14,113 Next Step: Trey to transfer $5,000 from checking account to scholarship fund Fundraising / Mark Projections for this year: slightly lower than last year, slightly higher than the year before Last year s numbers were higher because of the 50 th anniversary Looking pretty good overall OLD BUSINESS Wine Sales / Meredith Official DMV transcript needed from SLT officers Can apply online ($8) Fee: $300 license Cannot put anything on website until we have the license Next Step: SLT officers to provide official DMV transcripts to Meredith Summer Show / Trey & Judy Have outline of schedule; 8 elements to cover/ 8 week schedule o Begin 3 rd week of June o Sun / Mon / Wed rehearsals, Tues workshops o All in the evening Tie in workshop with the specific show; split age groups Have talked to more people about coming on board Have talked to a few parents (getting ideas) Ordered script, music (42 nd Street for kids); would like to put kids in the band, too o Trey: hard to get kids for bands during school year Fee charging a fee gets more of a commitment from participants o Participants: $100 (maybe w/sibling discount) o Tickets: considering $10 adults, $5 kids o Tickets could be sold from the Visitor Center (not through Shirley) Next Step: Trey & Judy to present final information (ready for publicity) at the next Board meeting on November 12 Website / Publicity Elaine / Jeff: On all of our forms (website) include How did you hear about us? Elaine: We should list Smithfield Inn on our website Next Step: Smithfield Inn to be listed on SLT website. 3

27 Criteria for being a Director Current Policy: must be an assistant director at SLT before being a director o Benefits: Trey: our criteria are a good thing. We re not trying to limit new directors; we re trying to ensure that they understand how SLT works We can be more proactive about recruiting new directors without changing the criteria Assistant directorship is like an SLT orientation for potential directors Ensures that directors have experience at SLT before we turn over 1/3 of our regular season revenue to them o Concerns: Experience of being an assistant director can vary greatly from director to director Assistant directors may not learn everything they need to learn for being a director (for example, blocking a scene) What about potential directors who are very experienced, just not at SLT? Collin: Same pool of directors all the time; the current policy may limit the influx of different directors at SLT Other Theatres o PCT has certain criteria you have to meet in order to direct o Lots of oversight at rehearsals o Visiting director has to go through Production Manager Bringing New Directors / Plays to SLT o Elaine: PCT website has a list of shows they d like to present; also have a Director s Forum where people can get in touch with PCT o Don: We need a play submission page on the website Instructions for submitting a proposal due date for submissions for upcoming season note that we accept submissions all year long Suggestions o Consider having an and/or approach: assistant director under an SLT director, and/or experienced but new-to-slt directors can direct with oversight from a mentor director or production manager Maybe directors would be less resistant to having a Production Manager than to having a Mentor Director o Collin / Don: allow experienced but new-to-slt directors to direct (with our people); provide a list of criteria of what they must do when directing at SLT; assign a Production Manager who would provide oversight, give guidelines, handle money Trey: getting away from the Producer being the set builder. Producer now has coordination responsibilities (set building, costumers, publicity, etc.) 4

28 Producer v. Production Manager (consultant) o Collin: ask some of our top directors: what are the things that directors at SLT have to know / do? o Handbook should be placed in director s hands with a list of requirements that the director has to work on with the assistant director Next Step: Collin and Trey will meet to discuss the handbook; they may involve others such as Barbara and Robert, as well as others who have directed during the past five years. After that has taken place, the board will continue the discussion of a policy change (specifically, revising the handbook and/or changing the official role of an assistant director). NEW BUSINESS Windsor Castle Park / Elaine Be aware of the possible sale or lease of Windsor Castle Park for winery Came up at Isle of Wight Arts League Mark recommends looking at proposal o 20 acres o Lots of covenants / restrictions Gentlemen of the College of William & Mary / Mark Show: December 9 th Hamtown Harmony Chorus has been asked to open. SLT will co-sponsor The Gentlemen of the College concert with the William & Mary Alumni Association South of the James Chapter (W&M SoJ) who will feed the performers backstage and pitch in anywhere else that could be helpful. Will work with Robert on if any alumni could be used for ushering, ticket sales or anything. W&M SoJ will advertise the event through its W&M channels. o Mark needs to be in theatre at 5:30 to set up food backstage o Meredith: Friends & Family 2:30 4:00; small reception afterwards in lobby; no conflict with concert. The Gentlemen are paid $375 by SLT from the Special Events / Outside Shows budget. Tickets will be sold for $5/seat, open seating. All proceeds of ticket sales will be donated to the CoP food bank program in cash. Motion: SLT will co-sponsor the Gentlemen of William and Mary concert with the College of William & Mary Alumni Association, South of the James chapter Mark Hall. Seconded by Elaine Dairo. Motion passes. Chesapeake Health Department Request / Trey Received request for free tickets / donation (for employee gift) 5

29 Motion: give two tickets for the opening night of The Sting Mark Hall. Seconded by Elaine Dairo. Motion passes. Remote Access to Sound and Cameras / Robert (from Collin) New light/sound computer can be accessed remotely o System has the capacity for a camera that films the stage (not currently set up) o Stage microphones can be accessed remotely Don loads sound for shows from home Access to system is password-protected People need to be made aware Next Step: Bonnie to look into legalities of capacity for remote camera access Benefit Concert Cassie Donegan / Collin Lydia Fray Music Scholarship o Designed for seniors going to college o Organized under CharitySmith Concert o $10 / seat o Publicized at high school, paper in Hampton o Concert and Silent Auction Expenses: beverage & food (concessions), silent auction items Publicity: Cassie s mother handling that Adult Supervision: Cassie s mom, stepfather, grandmother Concerns / Issues: o Christmas Play Tech week for Christmas play Daniel Moretz: there are enough sound channels to handle both events o Liability According to SLT by-laws, any advertisements would have to say that we are co-sponsoring the event (which means that we assume 50% of the liability) Does Cassie need / can she get special event liability insurance? Does CharitySmith provide any insurance / liability coverage? What does SLT s liability policy cover? o Scholarship Must be clear that this event is different from the SLT scholarship fund How much do we need to concern ourselves with how she picks recipients? How much of the money raised will go to the recipient? o Publicity: must be a plan in place Trey: Board is in favor, if we can work all of the issues out Next Step: Try to have an answer to Cassie by the end of the week. Questions include: 6

30 o What does our liability insurance cover? (Trey) o What is Cassie s liability insurance coverage? (Cassie to provide this information to Collin) o How does she select the scholarship recipient? (Collin) FUTURE TOPICS Release of Liability form (TBD topic raised via by Don in August 2012) AACT (American Association of Community Theatre): would give SLT access to national oneact play festivals (winners of the SLT one-act festival could advance to other competitions). Update needed. Decision-Making: Do our by-laws allow this? Question raised at Oct 8 meeting (Mark). Upcoming Meetings o Monday, November 12, 2012 o Monday, December 10, 2012 o Monday, January 14, 2013 o Monday, February 11, 2013 Meeting Adjourned: 9:39 p.m. 7

31 SMITHFIELD LITTLE THEATRE MINUTES SLT BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING 19 November 2012 ATTENDEES: Collin Norman, Robert Cox, Don Curnutte, Bonnie Franklin, Trey Gwaltney, Shirley Barlow, Meredith Marchant (for part of meeting) ABSENT: Elaine Dairo Meeting called to order at 7:06 p.m. Minutes from 8 October 2012 meeting distributed via on October 19. First revision distributed via on November 5; second revision distributed via on November 7. COMMITTEE REPORTS Motion to accept second revision of minutes: Robert Cox. Seconded by Don Curnutte. Motion passes. Tickets / Shirley Sold 1,411 season tickets; close to last year s numbers. Will continue to sell season tickets for second two shows Shirley estimates that 2/3 of opening night seats are taken w/season tickets Has received $11,104 from donations $25 memorial donation in memory of Jim Groves Motion to apply $25 donation to scholarship fund: Robert Cox. Seconded by Don Curnutte. Motion passes. Forum: sold 230 tickets for run of show (beyond season tickets) o 22 from Lake Prince for opening night (don t have season tickets) Three seats in top center row have not been missed; some people have said seat 13 (next to booth) is not the best. Should be described as partially obstructed. Local theatre community: two people from Williamsburg Players board attended; no response from school drama departments.

32 Next Step: find out what Meredith did in terms of contacting other theatres / drama departments; consider offering $10 tickets to students groups (for opening night) Question for Meredith: setting some seats aside for handicapped patrons Building & Grounds / Robert Leak coming in under front door Discussed getting nicer trash cans for lobby Shirley: the varnish on the arms of the front row chairs is coming up; they do not look nice. Next Steps: Robert to get a quote on a new mat for the front door, and to look into new front row chairs w/ arms on them Finance / Trey Balance Sheet: $82, Profit & Loss by Job (Forum, Oliver, Sin, Sex, CIA, Sting, Christmas Show) Profit & Loss Budget v. Actual July Nov 2012 o Net income $48, through 11/19/12 Robert would like to see monthly breakdown of expenses by category Next Step: Trey to re-work P&L report. Gentlemen of the College of William & Mary / Mark We are paying the group $325 Charging $5 per tickets (instead of food donation) Mark to provide two people to collect money inside front doors Front middle section (10 seats) to be reserved for handicapped patrons Robert in charge of bank (couple of hundred dollars) Announce how much raised for food bank after Hamtown Harmony Chorus performs Group is planning to arrive at 6:00 Mark to set up in back (while Christmas show Friends & Family reception finishes in front lobby) Next Step: Don to add Hamtown Harmony Chorus to info on website. Wine Sales / Meredith Signatures needed on the back of by-laws Additional info needed from board members (per ) Has been difficult to find out exactly what info is needed We have paid registration fee, done background checks, and put ads in paper. Not sure what additional $300 is for. Should be $560 (annual liquor license fee) 2