1. Call to Order
Chair, Mike Moore, called the meeting to order at: 7:50 pm Eastern
2. Roll:
Present: Amy Wieliczka, Afton Benson, Aslynne Howes, Chris Garcia, Martin Frost, Matan Presberg, Mike Moore
Absent: Scott Steiskal, Eric Shibuya
Recorder: Matan Presberg
3. Approval of Agenda
Motion: Matan Presberg
Second by: Aslynne Howes
Discussion:
Vote: approved by unanimous consent
4. Approval of Minutes:
Business Board Meeting (LINK)
Motion: Aslynne Howes
Second: Chris Garcia
Discussion:
Vote: approved by unanimous consent
5. Reports
Please keep verbal reports to 5 min or less except for festival discussion.
2021 Festival Report (Ross Berenson)
Discussion:
Afton: no news – festival team has not met since last time
Working on getting preliminary contacts for the festival
Martin: how and when will we decide about having the festival re:pandemic
Afton: doesn’t matter much until tickets are released, all deposits are already made, so decision is not urgent. Working to contact venues to discuss contingencies. Most venues working to maintain relationships and not burn bridges – and generally willing to work with clients since everyone’s in the same position.
[Scott joins the call 7:56 pm]
Amy: What does our timeline look like for decision making? Especially since Ross is not interested in running an online event, will have to switch gears if we want to make that happen.
Afton: Previously agreed to wait until November to assess the state of the world. Budget is nearly complete – budgeting a deficit since we recognize the festival will be a hard sell for 2021, especially international guests.
Aslynne: Are there capacity restrictions?
Afton: Probably, yes. Currently in place all over the USA. Also considering creating a questionnaire for members – are people interested in a 2021 festival? Would people come? Travel restrictions might be in place as well for Wichita, KS.
Scott: what has to change for the festival to be feasible? (vaccines, local restrictions, number of cases, etc.)
Afton: also noting that a lot of professionals need work, and might not be able to commit to the festival, since they need to take any higher paying gigs at that time
Afton: Be prepared for the festival to look very different if it does happen.
Chris: Do we have a hard deadline for when to cancel or not?
Afton: for 2020, the board made the decision to cancel very quickly because people had tickets and were buying airline tickets. Can probably wait for February to cancel at the latest because people don’t have festival passes, hotel rooms or plane tickets yet.
Afton: Ross is working on base festival site, can go live with ambiguous ‘we will have to see’ information
Afton: If we get charged, already 30k in the hole for 2021 festival.
Chris: Do we have an online team for the festival? For broadcasting an in person festival, or running an online festival.
Mike: approximately February to put one together.
Amy: agree that timeline is far enough ahead.
Scott: We should broadcast in person festival if it happens.
Amy: Do we have a report for the fest from last year?
Afton: should have final 2020 IJA report on money raised / spent very soon.
Financial Report (Afton Benson)
Discussion:
Unnamed will be unable to make any further donations for 2020; they are sending the previously agreed $25,000 for the IRCs. If the markets recover they may be able to provide support for 2021, but as of this moment it would be best not to bank on that.
Afton: similar deal with iiWii, shouldn’t count on 2021 donations. Do have a cash buffer for 2021, but we rely on the festival for income and base IJA operations. For example, it might not be financially feasible to run IRCs at its current capacity. Looking to need to raise $200,000 a year to maintain current operations. Festival usually raises 8-10k net, 200k is the gross number needed for all operations (site, festival, IRCs, YJA, etc.)
Mike: how much in addition to a typical festival would we need to raise to run in current capacity? $150,000ish?
Afton: yes, that’s approximately correct. Festival needs ~500 people to be at full capacity. Currently planning for a 200 person festival, which would give us a 20-25k deficit already budgeting for a low cost festival.
eJuggle Report (Scott Seltzer)
Discussion:
Mike: reminder of meeting – probably November 7th 1pm EDT. someone needs to put together an agenda for that. Eric sent some questions to get us started.
Matan: will move agenda forward, get at least a draft
Membership (Marilyn Sullivan)
Membership Data
Discussion:
Mike: numbers are continuing to drop, but not unprecedented
Marketing Report (Erin Stephens/Matan Presberg)
Discussion: TotM continues, day-to-day is continuing, partnering with Turbo to help with their online fest. Doing promotion for Battle Night.
Scott: Mondo too?
Matan: Yep, hit me up
IRC Report (Erin Stephens)
Discussion:
G Suite Migration (Mike Sullivan)
Discussion:
Mike Moore: talked to Mike S recently, and he will be getting back into the g suite migration work soon.
Amy: Is the plan still to pay a company to help us with migration?
Mike Moore: I think so. Payment will be covered by the donor.
Amy: Noting her professional experience in G Suite Migration, will reach out to Mike S to discuss.
YJA Report (Galen Harp)
Discussion:
6. Motions for Consideration
A: Motion to…
Author :
Motion :
Second :
Discussion :
Vote :
In favour:
Oppose :
Abstain :
Result :
7. Varia:
Martin: We forgot to list Eric as absent
Mike: Oops, fixed, thanks
8. Confirm Next Meeting
Next meetings will take place on…
for the next vision meeting – November 11 7:45pm Eastern
for the next business meeting – November 25 7:45pm Eastern
9. Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 8:28 pm Eastern.