Hudson Valley Singers
Fall Board Meeting
12:00pm on Saturday, October 5, 2013
Financials
Funds are tighter this year. Attempt being made for this year to be for membership and financial building. Suggestion made to only perform in White Plains during the Spring semester. Eugene would like NY concert as well.
Potential new venue is the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew. Eugene and Verna to meet with the church next Friday (October 11, 2013). Fees include:
Concert fee: $1,600.
Rehearsal fee: $125 an hour.
Free after 2pm service.
With orchestra costs of approximately $10,000 and soloists fees of about $4,000, second concert seems doable.
There is currently $5,000 in the HVS account, and $12,500 in additional funds is expected in dues. The winter concert expenses of $1,800 plus piano rental (?) includes the venue for the concert and rehearsals. Anastasia will accompany the group, and the soloists will be at no cost. The current forecast for finances the end of the winter concert: approximately $30,000 to $35,000
New Issue: Need to consider limit on comp tickets given to soloists and orchestra.
Motion to create a committee to discuss comp ticket policy and to present the policy to the executive board by November 15th. Moved: Erika Zamek. Second: Peg Mayo. Passes unanimously.
Committee members: Lia Tedorescu, David Parker, David Morse, and Peg Mayo. Chaired by David Parker.
Charges:
Only a percentage of the available seats should be allowed to be distributed as comp tickets
Proposed: 10% to be given out as deemed necessary. Exceptions will be allowed for special situations where we have additional groups performing.
Can we ask orchestra members who want comp tickets to purchase at half price?
Could we assign each orchestra member two – or some other number – tickets and require that they pay for any additional at full or discounted price?
Spring Concert in NYC
Motion to approve two concerts in the spring pending examination and approval of budget and venue issues. Moved: Carol Morse. Second: David Parker. Passes unanimously.
Does having a city concert detract from our focus on Westchester, especially PR and advertising?
Do we lose audience in Westchester when we have city concerts? Are we splitting our audience?
Do city concerts pay for themselves?
The issue surrounding audience is rooted in the singers. More people need to actually sell tickets. We do not have an audience that comes to see us in NYC.
Carol Morse to visit a new NYC venue on Monday October 7, 2013.
Spring Concert in White Plains
The current proposed date is Sunday April 27, 2014.
Program Ads
Cynthia Anderson will manage this effort, create packet and work with another individual to encourage the group and facilitate ad sales.
•Need to start sales very early in the season, and establish a deadline of when ads are due.
•Holding two concerts in Westchester will make it easier to sell ads. Businesses are more likely to purchase space if the concerts will be held locally and be seen by Westchester residents. Could also offer discounts for ads that run in both seasons. When selling, members should make it a point to mention the group’s community involvement.
•Need to provide proof of advertising to those that buy ads to show them that the ad was actually printed.
•Should also make a point of telling singers to patronize the businesses that support us.
Public Relations
Motion to establish a committee to address PR issues for this year. Motion: Randee Ginsberg. Second: Carol Morse. Passes unanimously.
Committee Members: Randee Ginsberg, Melanie Anderson, Susie Morse, and Carol Morse.
•A committee will be formed to address public relations and develop and overarching strategy.
•Current ideas for PR include:
•Purchasing ads in local papers
•Research radio stations, look for opportunities for airtime
•Run public service announcements in local papers (and possibly on the radio?)
•Traditional mailing
•The internet
•Write another article featuring the HVS.
•Suggestion made that perhaps we should keep a PR person for NYC, as it is more difficult for us to advertise in NYC.
•This decision can be finalized at the next meeting. Add to agenda for January meeting.
Fundraising
Motion: To hold a concert reception in partnership with the Volunteer Center of the United Way in January 2014. Motion: Susanna Morse. Second: David Morse. Passes unanimously.
•Each ticket would entitle the holder to attend the concert and a reception afterward. We could add a silent auction of items like baskets of wine and lottery tickets. Other options include holding a 50/50 raffle.
•Part of the reception space would be devoted to collection bins for our sponsors, for example for clothing, books, and food. The concert could be part of Martin Luther King weekend, and serve as a day of service for the volunteer center. Post for assistance ushers, etc.
•In addition to inviting the public, this concert and reception could be used as a vehicle to honor Bettey’s 50th year and Eugene’s 15th year with the HVS.
•Ticket prices should remain the same.
•Items for silent auction could be donations from advertisers, community businesses.
•Audience members would need to be aware of the fundraiser prior to the concert. The information re fundraiser and collection would be posted on the website and included on all printed material. Volunteer center would post it on their website and Facebook page. HVS members would also tell people that they are selling tickets to about the events.
•Audrey would need to manage concert day including reception.
•How much money do we want to raise? Idea needs to go back to the membership to get support and additional manpower. Need to meet with Audrey first – the idea needs to be fleshed out before decision can be made.
•Amazon Affiliates: We need to research and evaluate potential for HVS.
•Annual letter should be going out soon. Plan to find member to rewrite first, and if no one volunteers, take it to writer who composed the magazine article featuring HVS.
•Become members of the Westchester Arts Council. Look into membership in the River Arts Council.
Motion: Finalize the design of and pursue creation of Euro ovals. Motion: Carol Morse. Second: Susanna Morse. Passes unanimously.
•HVS Ovals: Initial efforts were more expensive and smaller than anticipated. May need to seek out a new supplier for cheaper price moving forward.
Poster Contest
•The art for this concert’s flyers and poster will be created by high school students during a poster contest. First place reward will be $100 and the winner’s name in the flyer. An art teacher in Yonkers has been contacted. Entries from the students are expected by the end of October. The teacher will narrow to three entries, and we will choose the winning piece.
Website
•The ticket section is under construction.
•Consider adding:
•Section for Art Winners (show Top 3)
•Additional items to calendar:
•HVCS rehearsals
•HVCS concert dates
•Board meeting dates
•Considerations: Add items to members only section, or to public site? If on the public site, it needs to be stripped of any sensitive information like addresses and phone numbers.
•Currently, the calendar download function is only date by date; can’t import the entire calendar at once. Consensus is to keep the calendar public, and to add a section in the members-only portion for the meeting minutes, though only an abridged version of the minutes will be included (motions and important concepts). Additional items for members-only section include:
•Rehearsal notes
•Eugene blog
•Announcements from the President.
•History section – Bettey has many older posters and articles about the group from the past.
•Section for the HVCS which explains the group.
•An outreach section that discusses the group’s holiday caroling and activities in support of Andrus.
•The website requires that members login to each secure page individually. This is necessary to keep information on the group out of Google searches and make sure individual pages are secure. Add note to members section explaining this.
•Media, Music, Videos (YouTube page) – This is currently in progress. Also working on ability to link things from the webpage to the HVS Facebook page.
HVCS
•Group will report at every board meeting.
•Off for the summer. Performed at the Sara Neuman Center on September 15th. Cancelled the October performance due to singer conflicts.
Spring 2014 Retreat (April 4- 6 2014)
•Mixed response from members. Need to determine the minimum number of people required to hold retreat. Currently 15 have responded that they would attend. Need to talk up to group to try to get new singers involved. This would go far toward enhancing group cohesiveness.
Miscellaneous/More Group Cohesiveness
•Question raised: Should we follow-up with new people after their first rehearsal? Yes, section leader first, then perhaps executive board member. Consider providing a mentor to new members… a “buddy”.
•Should also provide musical support to singers that need it using stronger, more experienced singers.
•David Parker to provide Section Leader responsibilities for distribution. Susanna Morse to provide attendance sheets.
Partnership with Another Chorus
•Nurt and Eugene have been discussing a partnering/exchange project with a chorus in Paris. Currently in need of a proposal – no work has been done at this time. The spring program merits repeating and would be the subject of a proposal to the French chorus. In addition, we would need to include dates in the proposal.
•Need to determine sources of funding for instrumentalists and soloists. Any publicity and audience would be the responsibility of the home chorus. The handling of costs in Paris would need to be worked out.
•Other options: Eugene could contact people he knows in other countries to arrange another trip; Lia Tedorescu could look into chorus in Romania.
•Question raised: Do we need to travel internationally? Can we go somewhere in the US?
Recruitment
•Begin recruitment efforts now for this concert and for the spring.