SFS Annual Meeting Feb 28, 2010 In attendance: Board members John Ullman, Marni Rachmiel, Karen Shaw, Valerie Cohen, Susan Howell, Fred Maslan, Bruce Baker, Ralph Kosche, Adam Carlson, Carol Zander General members and others John Watt, Gerard Hranek, Rene ?, Barbara Powers Welcome - John Ullman John introduced the organization Umbrella organization - help with logistics, organziation, planning, acting as recipients for grants, etc. Concert - Susan Howell - Sound cabinet was just installed - Want to upgrade equipment - Planning up to 1 year out - Karen mentioned that at the concert last night, Jamie Laval thanked the volunteers and commented on how well organized the concert was - Starting to take more risks on smaller name musicians - John Watt commented that making money on big concerts to fund less well known musicians has always been a practice of the convert committee Emerald city dance - Adam Carlson - Dance has been getting stronger every year - We are sold out about once a month on average (though it's more common in winter, and less in summer) - We raised our rates, in response to a rent increase, and saw no change in attendance - We have a strong showing of younger dancers and frequently get large crowds of first timers Song circle - Bruce Baker - 2009 saw increased interest, greater attendance. Regularly a dozen or more - Lots of folks coming who had dropped out for a while - More young people - Outreach has been really important, especially online Rainy camp - Bruce Baker - First year that Jane Smith didn't turn the gears behind the scenes, discovered how much work was involved - Largest attended year out of the last 10 or more - Almost 1/3 were newcomers, almost 20 workshops, lots of energy even after the fact Green Festival - Valerie Cohen - Looking for more committee members (don't have to be board members) - Set for first weekend of June (June 5-6) - Focus on participatory music and perhaps dance - SFS would have a lot of visibility - Probably not in central area - Connecting with people in Whitecenter CDA and group leaders for Pacific islander session - Working on lengths of music events (panel sessions are 45 min + 15 for turnover) - Bruce: What would our role be? Sponsor for staffing room with volunteers, recruiting group leaders, like a mini-Folklife. Might do song circles, music jam, etc. - John: Green arts are participatory, play with not play for. Schedule was more concert heavy, rather than participatory, we're putting together a more encompassing program - Green festival couldn't find dates for a while, so it's been up in the air, now that date is set, they need to line everything up by end of March - Working with ForCulture New Years Camp - Marni Rachmiel - At camp sealth on Vashon island - Full with 160 people 18 on waitlist - Self organized - Lots of core regulars weren't there but people stepped up - Gerard: What drives max attendance? Space in lodge Archive - John Ullman - Obtained John Ross' collection of recordings - Very organic, just came up and people pitched in - Karen will house collection - Need to figure out long term solutions for housing, digitizing, making the archive available - Especially valuable collection because of John's focus in curating it Folklife performances - Bruce Baker - Got approval from Devon to do a reprise of "A Tribute to Silent Voices" at this year's Folklife, and might be preceded by a Tugboat song session, possibly led by John Pfaff Publications - Karen Shaw - Karen handed out some example flyers for other orgs from Prestige print. They'll also handle mailing, which has been problematic with the Mail Room in the past. - Current printer has been giving us lower priority - Want to start this month - About $0.10 per flyer cheaper - Fewer early deadline Financial report - Ralph Kosche The current year can be characterized as continuation of declining trends in income, especially memberships and declining investment income. The operating expenses to maintain the core of our operation has remained stable, with publishing the newsletter and insurance coverage being the main expense group. We did purchase an AED for the dance event, as a safety precaution. This one time purchase would be considered extraordinary. Our year end checking balance was $2,910.00 but was as high as $10,000. The investment account has been managed for maximum safety of capital preservation. All funds have been kept in money market related funds, and not issued by small or unknown banks. No bonds or commercial paper funds. The yields have naturally been low, 1 %, and this has impacted our income for checking account funds. We currently have assets of $122,600.00. All State and city licenses are current. The IRS income tax 990 form was filed on time. We did receive a fine for improper filing of 1099.s in 2006, which we paid, as it wasn.t worth fighting. I have seen a notice that new IRS tax reporting forms, going forward, may make the filing easier. In meeting with a CPA, evaluating the proper accounting of funds was considered good. More standardized or formalized procedures are an area for improvement. This is especially important for an organization that has turnover of volunteers, and of differing skill levels. In January, a Paypal account was set up, and plans are underway to incorporate the website into taking online membership payments. In conclusion, our organization is in great financial health. We should be able to meet any new challenges and opportunity with confidence. Our activities of dances and producing concerts are operating in the black and well attended. 2010 board election Election of board members Board elections at the annual meeting are presented as a slate by the chair of the nomination committee. Votes for each person on the slate are given (and tallied) individually. The slate comprised Bruce Baker Carol Zander Gerard Hranek Karen Shaw Ralph Kosche Warren Argo The entire slate was elected. Congratulations returning board members, and welcome Gerard!