1. Call to Order
Chair, Benjamin Domask-Ruh, called the meeting to order at: 6:02pm Eastern
2. Roll:
Present: Afton Benson, Mike Sullivan, Jonathan Perry, Jake Darrow, Noel Yee, Dan Holzman, Thom Wall, Martin Frost, Sofia Noethe, Niels Duinker
Absent: Aslynne Howes, Luther Bangert,
Recorder: Afton Benson
3. Approval of Agenda
Motion: Jonathan
Second by: Benjamin
Discussion:
Vote: Passes Unanimously
4. Approval of Minutes:
Business Board Meeting ( Business Meeting Agenda – 03/17/2025)
Motion: Benjamin
Second: Jonathan
Discussion:
Vote: Passes Unanimously!
5. Reports
Please keep verbal reports to 5 min or less except for festival discussion.
2025 Festival Report (Jess Mardini)
Discussion: **ITEMS ADDED AFTER REMINDER WENT OUT**
Festival Report – Updates Afton & Noel
Financial Report (Afton Benson)
Discussion:
Have a meeting with Dennis tomorrow. No Q1 numbers yet, finishing up 2024. Then get everything into Quickbooks online and off of just Dennis’ computer. Will be getting a subscription from TechSoup where it is a bit cheaper.
Future Festival Site Report (Mike Sullivan and Jake Darrow)
Discussion: No updates since previous Meeting; other than the cities we have sent the rider to have been accepting of it / readily signed it.
Got all the contracts back for Southbend, the other sites haven’t brought up anything pushing back.
Mike Sullivan leaves 6:16 PM ET
eJuggle Report (Eric Shibuya)
No significant updates since update from the previous Vision Meeting. JoAnn Ireland notified me that she was doing a recap for RIT fest.
Discussion:
Membership (Marilyn Sullivan)
Membership Data
Discussion:
Marketing Report (Lisa Ellipse)IJA social media requests
Discussion:
Social media plan is underway for the IJA festival promotion, Kaylin and I are running it.
We plan to raise awareness of the festivals highlights
Spreadsheet found https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vGYbRjBzjS6YiJ7T3yY7-132674LM7dQUmwU17_yC70/edit?usp=drivesdk here:
- Cross posting to the forums on Facebook pages?
- Possible IJA Ambassadors in the future?
- Dan/Niels: Special Guest announcements?
- Once we get the materials we will be posting about
IRC Report (Erin Stephens)
Discussion:
Benjamin – Erin held a meeting with some South American associations about setting up communications between leaders in Central and South America and how the IRCs can operate moving forward and maybe holding larger group competitions.
YJA Report (Benjamin Domask-Ruh)
Discussion:
- Submissions for Juggling Education book rolling in!
- End at the end of April 30th 2025
- 8 submissions currently!
- Need another social media post about it to remind everyone we are nearing the deadline
Going to have Club YJA, Table, and Juggling Educator workshop.
OpsO Report (Ross Berenson)
Discussion:
- website redesign in progress
6. Motions for Consideration
- Motion to approve Kayla Malmgren as the Flamingo Club Awardee.
Author: Afton Benson
Motion: Noel
Second: Sofia
Discussion:
Afton – The Flamingo Club met and we have selected Kayla Malmgren for the 2025 awardee.
Kayla was nominated by multiple people and is someone the group has been considering for a few years. Her dedication to youth in juggling and creating a supportive environment for all jugglers makes her an excellent choice for the Flamingo Club Award. Kayla founded REACH Youth Juggling in St. Paul, MN to ensure there was space for all youth learners, this was vital after Jugheads youth juggling closed. She also is an avid volunteer and has been heading up Club YJA events at both MONDO and the IJA.
These are a few of the reasons why we feel Kayla is an excellent choice for the Flamingo Club Award.
Vote: Passes Unanimously
- Motion to award Bobby Jule Honorary Life Membership
Author: Daniel Holzman
Motion: Niels
Second: Jonathan
Discussion:
In researching the awards for the I.J.A. I realized that the original charter member, Bobby Jule, had never received an honorary life membership. Since no vote has taken place yet, I would like to amend my original list of nominees and officially nominate him for this recognition. This decision has been discussed with all the members of the awards committee, and we are unanimous in our support.
Bobby is currently 100 years old and lives in Pennsylvania. He is mentioned prominently on the I.J.A. website’s history of the I.J.A. as an original charter member and as a memorable part of the 1947 I.J.A. Festival, where the I.J.A. was founded.
There is a quote on the same page that states:
We salute our founding fathers who created the IJA to answer the need for an “organization for jugglers that would provide meetings at regular intervals in an atmosphere of mutual friendship”.
For those board members not aware of Bobby Jule and his career, I have included the following Biographical information: (source David Cain)
Bobby Jule was born Joseph Pegnato in 1924 in
New Castle, Pennsylvania (USA). He was one of
the breakout juggling stars from the USA in the
1940s and enjoyed a forty-year performing
career. Bobby Jule was a versatile and successful
juggler who traveled around the world
entertaining audiences. He was a charter member
of the IJA. Bobby was also the first juggler to
juggle five clubs on television. He was the 2015
recipient of the IJA’s Historical Achievement
Let’s take advantage of this opportunity to pay tribute and salute the last surviving original charter member of our organization, presenting Bobby Jule with an honorary life membership.
Martin: The honorary life membership is for long term commitment and service to the IJA
Vote: Passes Unanimously
- Motion to approve IJA Honorary Awards Selections
Author: Benjamin Domask-Ruh
Motion: Sofia
Second: Benjamin
Discussion: 2025 | IJA Honorary Awards
Niels: Confused about why we didn’t vote about the requests for changes. Jonathan: We asked for an alternative choice. Dan: also confused about this.
Motion to move into Executive Session with everyone present on Zoom call:
Motion: Jonathan
Second: Sofia
Passes Unanimously
Motion to exit Executive Session:
Motion: Jonathan
Second: Niels
Passes Unanimously
Vote: Passes Unanimously
7. Varia:
Kaylin: Dealing with troublesome behaviors in the community. (More in the vision meeting)
Benjamin is going to reach out to the award winners, Niels & Dan will reach out to Bobby.
8. Confirm Next Meeting
Next meetings will take place on…
5/5/2025 at 6:00pm ET for the next vision meeting
5/19/2025 at 6:00pm ET for the next business meeting
9. Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 7:41pm Eastern.