Tuesday April 6, 2018, 7:00pm
Mid America Freedom Band
Board Meeting Minutes
Tuesday April 6, 2018, 7:00pm
Virtual
Attendees: Christian Montes, Alex Welch, Ruth Robarge, Erin Trampel, Nathan Brown, Rose Rodriguez ; Staff: Ian Brandt, Jeanine Asay, Jessie Riggins, Lee Hartman; Members: James Arcano
Acting Proxy:
Called to order at 7:05 pm.
Reports
Secretary, Rameka
Minutes submitted 3/30.
No corrections were made to the minutes. Minutes approved as distributed, to be posted to the website.
Artistic Director, Lee
MAC Off-year filed and accepted. Award will be based off last year’s score since this is off-year
Received a grant from Women Band Directors International for a portion of the the Mighty Mo commission
Venue discussions happening. There is a potential we could be full-time at the Gem for rehearsals and concerts. Going through the BizCares Office
Call for proposals is live and receiving good press and submissions already. Closes on May 30.
Performance for MARC paying 1000-1200 for two numbers and a brief fanfare (mid June)
Donations to Senta’s charities PANCAN and KC AIDS Walk
Thinking about summer rehearsals in the park?
Pricing out bell covers/instrument bags
Results of the survey (56 participants)
97% have or want to receive vaccine
50% comfortable returning when 70% are vaccinated. 32% comfortable now. 12% when metro is 70%
Overwhelming majority nothing less than 96% understand they will have to sign in for contact tracing, agree to a waiver, follow ArtSafe guidelines, and that they will not be able to participate unless they agree to the above terms.
Member of the Year Nominations (3)
David, Erin, Lucas
Working with Amanda Grayor (clarinet) who works for the city and proposing MAFB to play for their upcoming June meetings. They will pay for 2 songs and a fanfare. Amanda is also helping us with pursuing the “Queer Eye Space” for MAFB. Space has a cage to secure property, just does not have an office space.
nathan.brown@freedomband.com will complete the donations for Senta - lee.hartman@freedomband.com will provide the information.
Lee wants to consider a sponsorship of ClassicalKC - it is surprisingly affordable and has a large reach!
lee.hartman@freedomband.com will provide a list of music that needs to be scanned for Jeanine, before she drops it off at the church.
Assistant Artistic Director, Jessie
Looking forward to planning what the fall will look like. A lot still in the air because of guidelines around air exchange rates, but I think we could plan to have Mighty Mo rehearse in the open area of the 2nd floor the hour before wind band rehearsal if needed. I will be working closely on logistics with Lee/Joe as the fall gets closer. Can’t wait to get back into the swing of things, terrible pun intended!
Nothing new to report.
Board Chair, Christian
Finally got our tax exempt certificate! If you need it, it’s available in the drive.
Next month will be our Budget board meeting. Please submit any budgetary requests to me by May 2nd. Because of the uncertainty, we will be doing three separate budgets: One with the full season assuming we can meet and perform as usual, one without being able to meet and perform in the first half of the fiscal year (Jul-Dec2021), and one with all digital.
A big welcome to Rose Rodriguez! Rose has been appointed to the board of directors by vote. Thank you so much Rose for volunteering to be on our board!
Had a chat with Kevin from Pride Bands, we have our next meeting with him in July. So far we are doing really well compared to the others. We are giving him hope by pushing through the burnout, etc. Good job everyone!
Budget requests are due to Christian by May 2nd.
Treasurer, Nathan
Financial documentation available upon request.
Nothing new to report.
Business Operations, Ian
Talked the WWI & Gem for concert dates for the upcoming season. Most dates are open for Gem, with a couple exceptions (Oct. 24). Want to make a decision sooner than later. Have not heard back from WWI yet.
Alex sent the updated New Member Handbook, ian.bradt@freedomband.com will review later this week and provide feedback.
Want to move forward with securing a business license. Ian is reaching out to the City to clarify if we (non-profit) need to have one. TBD cost associated. Most other LGBTQ ensembles do not appear to have a license.
Mighty Mo, Joe
Filled out report
Not attending meeting.
Kelly, Social Director
Filled out report
Not attending meeting.
Jeanine, Librarian
Nothing to report.
Nothing to report.
Webmaster, Erin
Minutes posted on website. No other changes made.
Nothing to report. Christian asked to add social icon for Twitch and Twitter
Committee Reports
Fundraising, Rameka
Started working on drag night with Austin, Erin & Grace. Our thoughts were doing it virtually. We lost some steam, but will pick back up.
Have worked on 3 scenarios: Live, Hybrid and Virtual. Will look at booking a potential venue for Sept (?) when things will potentially open up. Rameka will work on putting something together for the spring.
Lee suggested checking out Crowd Purr as a platform.
Marketing, Grace
Filled out report
Not attending meeting.
Christian has artwork for the upcoming concert that he will share. We will start marketing next season when we secure the dates.
Membership, Alex
Submitted edited Participation Handbook to Ian after last committee meeting. Changes include: removing gendered language, adding COVID waiver as per request, updated Mission and added Vision and Diversity statements, made formatting consistent throughout the entire document, updated attendance expectations, updated executive position job descriptions to match bylaws, among other things. To see the current draft, click here
I’ve been in touch with Rochester about open dates for interviews for membership spotlight videos. Waiting on a response from them.
Reached out to Ian to get a list of birthdays that have been shared on FlipCause. Starting in June we will start sending birthday cards. We are missing a few dates, Alex will reach out to confirm (and share with Ian).
Deadline for edits to the handbook is before July 1.
32 people have been identified as Band Ambassadors that will help navigate new members coming in next season. Ian added that we will use a different approach to Membership via FlipCause.
Lee reached out to Mary to check in. She appreciates people reaching out and really hopes we can play together this summer.
Lee is going to work on a plaque for Member of the Year (to keep a running list) and wants to list everyone on the website.
Looking for a way for everyone to sign in when we come back for live events. Alex suggested having the section leaders be accountable for reporting attendance.
Old Business
OKR Update
OKR’s reviewed and updated.
New Business
Recommend mission reword to …
As is
The Mid America Freedom Band provides a safe space for performance opportunities, outreach, and social advocacy through instrumental music for music enthusiasts within the LGBTQ+ and ally spectrum of Kansas City area to create an inclusive community that fosters diversity.
Recommend
The Mid America Freedom Band provides a safe space for instrumental performance opportunities, outreach, and social advocacy for music enthusiasts within the LGBTQ+ and ally spectrum of the Kansas City area to create an inclusive community that fosters and celebrates diversity.
Ruth made the motion to revise our mission, Alex seconds, motion adopted without objection. Motion carries to adopt revised Mission Statement. To be updated on website, handbook and FlipCause.
Meeting adjourns at 8:00pm.
