Director's Reports
January 11, 2012
Please click here to read the January 2012 Director's report.
December 14, 2011
Please click here to read the December 2011 Director's report.
November 2, 2011
Please click here to read the November Director's report.
If you click here, there's a chance you might be able to read the 2011 Festival Budget Report as of November 2, 2011.
October 5, 2011
Please click here to read the October 2011 Director's report.
September 7, 2011
If you click here you might be able to read the September 2011 Director's report.
August 3, 2011
Board actions requested: Sober Site proposal for 2012, Refund judgement call, performer thank-you notes, card for Keith's family, Savoca concert proposal, out-of-town board member proposal
FESTIVAL
Wheatland board swap: Wheatland is willing to do a four-ticket board swap with us again this year. Three were spoken for at the July meeting, so, unless someone has made arrangement with Wheatland directly since then, there is still one ticket on offer.
Keith Swanson: Memorial services for Keith will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, August 6, at Messiah Lutheran Church. Keith's wife, June, asked for some Hiawatha memorabilia to display. I suggested a 2010 t-shirt (the last year Keith attended) and (I hope) copies of the first two year's Festival posters, and June said those would be fine. I'll get them there. I have a sympathy card for us to sign tonight. June also said she had someone who would be willing to take over our legal work pro bono. It is the same person whose name Keith gave us in case something came up when he was in the hospital. She will give him Keith's Hiawatha files, and we can get in touch after a respectful period.
Final City Bill: Our City bill for extra staff, Public Works, Campground License and damages was $5,033.16, just a shade less than last year. I have it here, if you'd like to review it. It seems mostly in line, although I am checking a couple of things like possible double charges for Thursday campsites and billing for delivery and pick up of trash barrels, which the City did not do. No big money at stake, but I believe it's important that they know we check. Once these few details are settled, I will contact one of you to sign the check.
Festival Sober Site: A member of the local recovery community has made the following proposal: "To HMF Board Members: I believe there ought to be a site in the quiet area designated as a 'sober site.' I am willing to make the commitment necessary to see to the organization and management of such a site." He made this proposal last year, and the board elected to let them go through the same process as any other camper and not publicize the site through announcements, etc. He did address this request to the board.
ATM at Festival: Have not heard from ATM contractor Erik Keough since the Festival, but Sunday night he provided an estimate of what the machine had paid out.
TV6 ad proposal: Michael Lampi of the TV6 ad department was not able to gather enough sponsors to create the ad campaign he planned for us, but we both agree that we started too late. We both hope to approach this again in early 2012.
Results: Waiting for the General Ledger and deadwood totals from Mark.
Card reader at the Festival: We had almost $1,500 in sales on the manual card reader.
Bad checks: We've received three bad checks to date. If there are no objections, I would like to eliminate my second letter to the writers and instead, send them one letter with a two-week make-good deadline, then turn them over to Credit Check. Credit Check says we don't have to give them any notice before turning them over, but since their fees go up a lot once it goes to collection, and since our bad checks are often just careless mistakes, I'd still like to give them one chance.
Increase internet bandwidth: We did not exceed our band width. It was at 80 percent right before the Festival, but, if it went higher, I didn't see it.
Copier: You may have noticed that the rental copier is still here, despite our agreement to rent it only for May, June and July. I decided to treat myself to it for August as well. I will pay the extra $25, since it's just an indulgence on my part.
MISC:
**Savoca concert proposal: Just a reminder that Karen B. emailed the following proposal last week: "Karen Savoca is interested in coming to town either Friday, November 11, or Sunday, November 13, (they will be in the area). I know that the concert group is working on getting bands but thought I would toss this out there. If they were to play at the Little Theater at the high school on Friday we wouldn't have to pay extra for custodial costs." This would be the week after the Annual Members Meeting. Upside: good opportunity to sell tickets at the meeting. Downsides: One event might pull attendees from the other; and we lost money on their 2007 concert. I have the budget report here, if you'd like to see it.
Remote board/committee member? Dick Pierson asks: "Has anyone ever served on the board or served on a committee remotely by attended meeting via telcom or on-line/e-mail? I would like to figure out how to do more for Hiawatha."
July 6, 2011
BOARD ACTIONS REQUESTED Wheatland board swap, ATM at Festival, TV6 ad proposal
FESTIVAL
Wheatland board swap: Wheatland is willing to do a four-ticket board swap with us again this year. If anyone wants to participate, please let me know so I can give Lola the names.
ATM at Festival: Local independent ATM contractor Erik Keough can put an ATM at the Festival at no cost to us, no liability to us (although we will want Keith to look at the contract to be sure), and paying a percentage of the transaction fees TO us. I visited with the member of the Marquette County Fair Board who worked with him to set up a unit at the Fair last year, and they were very pleased with his service. The unit uses wireless transmission, so will not need a phone line, and will only need 110 electric service. Norm Duman, our Electrical Coordinator, says that's no problem. I recommend that we do this if Keith approves the proposed contract.
TV6 ad proposal: Michael Lampi of the TV6 ad department would like to put together a package of pre-Festival promotions for the Festival that are paid for by business sponsors in the community. I am attaching his proposal. I have emphasized our need to approve the sponsors, and also to review who he plans to approach so we are not competing against our own program (not as much of an issue now that the ad deadline is passed), or approaching people who are already donating to us in other ways - food, etc. He seems to understand those issues. I would like to pursue this at least as far as seeing who he wants to contact. You can do an e-vote on the final proposal if you would like me to go forward with this.
Sales: As of today, advance sales are down $842 from where we were the same number of days before the Festival last year. Not insurmountable but not great. To the good: memberships are above $3,000, and it looks like the program will at least pay for itself in advertising. Plus, we got a nice grant, see below.
**Free advertising: Karen Bacula arranged for us to have a short interview on the Doug Garrison show this week. Thanks, Karen!
Dance floor money: Here's a bit of cheery news: the Ray and Peg Hirvonen Foundation gave us $1,200 this year to help defray some of the expenses we've incurred with the dance floor. And, thanks to some connections between Ron and Bob Miller of Scandinavian MidSummerFest, we got the new trailer tires for quite a bit less than expected. We expected to pay about $800 for new tires for the dance-floor trailer but came in at $432.32. We still paid $600 for this year's storage of the floor and spent $900-plus last year refurbishing the most-needed parts of the floor.
New Credit Card reader: The new Credit Card reader arrived just in time for the first Worker Sign-up Party - and I do mean just. There were a few issues with it, but it ultimately worked and we sold more than $800 on it in tickets and memberships.
Card reader at the Festival: One of the "issues" I had with the new reader (and it's an interesting tale, but I'll spare you unless you're just perishing to hear it) makes me suspect it was the reason we had trouble with the unit we borrowed last year. I still recommend we not pay for the phone line at Info, but if, for example, the Park office would let us upload some transactions, I wouldn't be opposed to testing it again. We did also buy a manual "hand crank" credit card transaction machine to use this year for just $10, with free carbonless receipts.
Increase internet bandwidth: Thanks for approving this. Chuck and I are watching our use reports and trying to delay this extra expense as long as we can. Nathan says it can be changed almost instantly when we're ready.
Last worker sign-up event: Chris Fries is planning the last worker sign-up party for Tuesday, July 19, 7-9, here in the Conference Room.
Dam Construction: Ron, did Erik Booth reply to your question about security for construction equipment, and, if so, can we get a copy for the office? Thanks!
MISC:
Music Can Be Fun: Peninsula Arts Appreciation Council benefit concert featuring Jonathan Rundman and Sara Pajunen's duo, Kaivama, Friday, July 8, at 7 p.m., at the historic Vista Theater in downtown Negaunee.
June 1, 2011
BOARD ACTIONS REQUESTED: Sign check for Pride Printing, extra costs for recycling, delay dance floor improvements, credit cards at Festival, upgrade webhosting package
Sorry to miss another meeting, especially with a lot to discuss. I should have my cell on Wednesday evening, so please do not hesitate to call.
FESTIVAL
Festival Meeting: Next Festival Committee and potluck is set for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 7, at Bertrams'.
Online sales delay: This was in your reminder email, but, to get it into the record: We did not start online ticket orders May 31, as planned. I will spare you the details of everything our webmaster and I have tried, but please feel welcome to look back through the recent email traffic on the Mac. For one, brief and shining moment Monday evening, it seemed like we might save it at the last minute. But then something else screwed up, and I told Nathan I was giving up til I get back from downstate. I hope, within that time, he will be able to troubleshoot and fix the last problem. Sadly, we did say in the newsletter - which only went to 2000-plus people - that we would start online sales tomorrow. So here is what I have put on the website:
"All ticket sales, in our office or by phone, will begin at noon, Monday, June 6. We planned to start online sales on May 31, but encountered technical problems with the order forms, so that option is not available at this time. We promise it is not for lack of trying! We hope to begin online sales June 6. Please check back. We are very, very sorry for the delay. In the meantime, you may click here for a printable form to mail, if you'd rather not wait. If you would like to start or renew a Music Co-op membership with your ticket order, please click here for a printable form for that option.
Again - so sorry about the delay for online orders.
You are right to wonder why this happened at the last minute. Here's the abridged version. Last year, Nathan Lyle, our webmaster, offered to redo our online order forms so that I could update them on the web host and not tangle with the complicated DreamWeaver software that we now use. Nathan does all that kind of work for us pro bono, so I did not lean on him about getting it done. We touched base before my April trip, and things seemed on pace. This month, we had about a week of phone and email tag and finally decided that I should do one more year with Dreamweaver. I updated the forms, but when I tried to upload them to the host, I got a Norton Firewall warning about a site I'd never heard of trying to gain access. It took Nathan and I literally days to determine that it was a legitimate branch of a subcontractor of his hosting source. So finally, Monday night, I uploaded the forms, and they wouldn't work. They display; they take information, all the links look right; but the test sales (to my credit card) don't go through. The basic membership form (not the one for member ticket orders) works, so it's not the whole system. And, because I didn't update the old forms right after we set prices, as I normally would have done, there wasn't enough time to troubleshoot this new thing by the original target date. I am really sorry to have misjudged this project and to lack the technical skills to save it at the last minute. As noted on the website, it is not for lack of trying.
Spirit of Hiawatha: Brian Cabell dropped off a check on May 17, representing our share of DVDs sold to date. We will sell them at the T-shirt booth at the Festival and take our share of those sales like we do performer merch, except at 20% for the DVDs instead of 10% for performer sales.
Thursday night: Karen DeYoung and I did almost all the lottery paperwork in two afternoons, May 11-12, etc. Chuck redesigned the form and map, and cut WAY down on applicant errors. Thanks, Chuck! Leah LaCasse, who worked on the lottery at the Park, started a new job May 10, so was not able to help, but her advice has been very helpful.
Here's the approximate time breakdown:
May 10: I spent about 90 minutes assigning bypassers their sites, checking their paperwork, etc.
May 11: Karen and I worked from 1-5:30 p.m. drawing site winners. I spent from 5:30-6 entering them on the Excel spreadsheet.
May 12: we spent from 1:30-5:30 stuffing envelopes. A couple of belated insights would have made that job faster. We spent an extra 30-40 minutes making copies of all the winner forms and checks. I plan to use those to improve our handling of the weekend camping tags we set aside for Thursday campers, plus, it gives us our own record if the City questions something.
We sent out 110 acceptance letters (plus order forms in the 82 that went to others besides our bypassers), 186 de-selectee letters. At 2.5 cents each on our borrowed copier, that represents $9.45 in copies.
Karen and I think would streamline the drawing to give entrants a field in which they may check "Any Site In This Area." Toward the end of the drawing, we drew many whose first, second and third choices were taken. An "any site this price' option would have made the last of the drawing faster.
We shredded four apps for no SASE. Two de-selectee letters were returned as undeliverable and also shredded. I noted the names in case they call.
Recycling proposal: Joe LaBrecque and Becky Simmons of Green Team want very much to ramp up our recycling efforts. Via email from Becky: "We would like to offer recycling this year, and have some of our helpers sorting recycling. The recycling dumpster would be $300. We could put more recycling barrels out and make a handout to be given to campers to explain the system. We could give campers brown paper bags to put recycling in, and make rounds to pick the bags up on a regular schedule. I would be taking charge of recycling, and Joe would focus on garbage. Also, we are overhauling our team. Could we make one monitor into two if the number of tickets needed stays the same? We would all camp on our site, with plenty of room. I guess the only additional thing would be one t-shirt and a parking pass. (I said yes on the extra monitor, since it's essentially converting a guest to a monitor.) We would be assigning them to help me with recycle. This would be much more recycling than ever before, including glass, plastic, cardboard, and paper. We would work to inform and educate and try to get as much as possible. Joe and I would like to offer a different schedule for volunteers, too. We do not need as many pickers, but will need recycling sorters. We often find the pickers saying they are having a hard time finding stuff to pick. They are still needed consistently, but we wonder if some changes might be good." (Still working with Chris Fries on that bit.)
Because of the unexpected expenses with the dance floor, the wild-card of the dam construction, etc., I told Becky I worried about the $300 rental for the recycle dumpster. Our trash dumpster rental is donated again by North Country Disposal, and we will just pay for tonnage tipped. Last year that was $212. Even if we recycled half our previous trash tonnage, we'd spend $300 to save about $100. Not counting extra barrels, sorters' gloves, etc. Becky cited some businesses she believes might donate to help pay for the recycle dumpster. To my knowledge, they are not ones that we are tapping for anything else, so I told her to see what she could come up with. There is a non-monetary value to recycling, and Becky and Joe have put a lot of thought into their plan. I think we should do everything we can, but, in this kind of wild-card year, I hate to spend what we don't have to. But I told Becky not to give up on it yet. What's the board's view on this?
Delay dance floor improvements: Because we expect to pay about $800 for new tires for the dance-floor trailer (after which it should do what we bought it to do), and paid $600 for this year's storage of the floor and trailer, Ron and I discussed putting off the approx. $1,000 of additional floor improvements planned for this year. We spent $900-plus last year refurbishing the most-needed parts of the floor. Ron and Steve Kriegel both say we can put off additional work at least a year, and I would like to recommend that we do that.
New Credit Card reader: The above makes it a bit disingenuous for me to report that I ordered us a new Credit Card reader for $129. We have talked about this purchase for a couple of years. Our card reader is more than 10 years old. It works, but it will not store offline transactions, which means we cannot use it at concerts, worker sign-up parties, etc. Having seen how much our rented save-and-send units were used at the worker parties the past two years, I think the new unit will pay for itself in a short time. I'm never sure whether I should get a board vote on things like this, but there was a time factor at work, and I figured I've spent that much at a whack on office supplies, so I went ahead. Hope that was OK. Just for perspective: card readers used to cost hundreds!
Card reader at the Festival: This will seem to contradict the above, but I would like to recommend that we not try to process credit cards at this year's Festival. I realize that's a step backward. But we had a little trouble with it in 2009, and so much trouble with it in 2010 that we gave up. I suspect - but can't prove - that the problem may be the phone line at Info. It hangs on the pole 362 days a year, plus it's a long, long reach to where we plug in the card reader. Connecting that phone line costs about $130, which would be worth it if we did a lot of card transactions. But last year, it was pretty much wasted. I recommend that we become familiar with the new card reader, explore possible other ways to upload transactions, and pursue this option again next year.
Increase internet bandwidth: Chuck or someone else more tech savvy than me, please jump in and correct any part of this: Our web hosting agreement is based on amount of bandwidth, which is (I hope!) a function of how much activity we have on our site, including email, site visits, site maintenance, online orders, etc. Our current plan is the "Basic," and for most of the year, that's fine. Last year, however, in the two or three months before the Festival, we almost reached our maximum monthly bandwidth transfer each month. If we exceed the max, our site might not be available, ticket orders might not work (well, isn't that an unexpectedly ironic point), etc. I believe that as more people check Festival updates, order online, etc., this could be a real issue this year. We can increase our bandwidth substantially by upping our hosting agreement from Basic to Standard. Cost would rise from $85.86 to $139.86 a year. I've been banging on about expenses, but that's only $4 a month more to ensure our site stays up and does everything it's supposed to, so I recommend we do it, unless someone more tech savvy than me (which is almost anyon) recommends otherwise.
Worker sign-up events: Chris Fries is planning the main worker sign-up party for Sunday, June 19, time TBA. That's Father's Day, but we've done it then before, and it's been fine. We also plan a last-gasp sign-up and ticket sale 7-9 p.m., Tuesday night before the Festival, July 19. This conflicts with the welcome reception for the Dan Levenson workshop, but Tuesday was the only workable night, and Phil, Chris and I agreed that the musicians and Festival-goers who will sign up for the workshop are mostly not the same folks who will buy tickets and volunteer on the last day.
T-shirts: Julie has placed our Official and Performer order, and Pat has placed our merchandise order, all with Screened Image again.
Dam Construction: Ron: did Erik Booth reply to your question about security for construction equipment, and, if so, can we get a copy for the office? Thanks!
Copier rental: Thank you for approving the copier rental for May, June and July. It's already been a huge help!
MISC:
Office Lease: There were eight email votes in favor of renewing our office lease and none against, so I signed the lease for another year on May 27. I believe this e-vote should be read into the minutes for this meeting. Thanks!
Music Can Be Fun: Chasin' Steel benefit for Graveraet Fountain, Friday, June 3. Saturday concerts at Falling Rock Cafe all summer.
May 4, 2011
No Director's report due to jet lag.
April 4, 2011
Festival Meeting: Next Festival Committee and potluck is set for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 7, at
Bertrams'.
Copier rental: Thank you for approving the copier rental for May, June and July. I have
completed the paperwork and the machine will be delivered when I get back.
Thursday night: Chuck has redesigned the form and the map, and we FINALLY got them to
upload to the website. I have emailed all the Coordinators the link and info about the bypass and
have made a folder for bypasser forms to go in when they arrive. I expect to pick up the public
lottery forms from Parks and Rec on May 10 (deadline is May 9). Leah LaCasse has been in
touch about working on the drawing and we are tentatively hoping to start that job May 10.
Security: Jim DeYoung and Chris Crockett decided to hire four CJ security people for noon to
9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday; and six overnight Friday and overnight Saturday (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.)
That will cost $1,980 (compared to $640 for just the overnight hires in the past). They decided to
leave Friday afternoon all volunteer. The change will cut the number of 3-hour volunteer shifts from 166 to 118.
T-shirt pricing: Julie Foster-Lindquist bid out our Volunteer and Performer tshirts this year.
Here are the bids:
Globe: $4034.40
Back Check Sportswear: $3944.84
Screened Image: $3273.20
As you can see, Screened Image had the lowest bid at $761.20 less than Globe and $671.64
less than Back Check. SI also sweetened the deal with offers to purchase an add in the program
for $150 (which they have done for several years), and be a sponsor for another $150. Julie
notes, "Screened Image has always given us a really good price on shirts, it's the service side of
things that has been inconsistent over the years. I think we have to go with SI again this year, as
there is such a huge difference between their bid and the other two." Julie and I hope that a new
work sheet and contract we put together can put an end to the "inconsistencies."
As noted in my Away Notes, we may need a large deposit check sooner rather than
later to lock in prices. Pat Saari may also want to order her merchandise shirts early.
Tent/Set-Aside: Jesse's notes on your two proposals were sent to Keith last week.
Dam Construction: Ron is working on a letter to Erik Booth, BL&P project manager,
concerning security for dam-construction equipment.
MISC:
Spring Newsletter: This is in the mail. The box of extra newsletters is in the outer office. I have set aside for the office and archive. The rest can go to the library, visitors' center, etc., if someone wants to do that. Just leave me a note where they went. The printing bill from Globe should arrive soon and needs to be paid. You will notice some difference in paper stock. It saves us a little money to allow Globe to use small ends of paper batches, as long as they are the same weight and similar in color.
Music CAN be fun: Derrell Syria First Thursday concert at PWPL; Ann Hills at Second
Sunday on April 10; Contra/square dance with live music, April 22, Dance Zone; new Beaumier
Coffeehouse series at NMU; and lots more. Details on our website on the Other Traditional Music
and Dance Events page.
March 9, 2011
(Meeting rescheduled from March 2 because of spring breaks)
BOARD ACTIONS REQUESTED:
Arabesque Tent Update;
Request to rent copier for Festival season;
Discuss possible increase in hired Security budget;
Discuss possible early tshirt order;
Request to change office-sales start date
FESTIVAL
Festival Meeting: Next Festival Committee and potluck is set for 6 p.m., Tuesday, March 22, at Bertrams'.
Copier rental: The photocopier we use as part of our lease agreement has been moved to the third-floor UPCM offices. For most of the year, our copy needs can be met with our fax machine and occasional jaunts upstairs for larger jobs. However, as Festival time approaches, the need to run upstairs every time we need copies will be a problem. Also, I typically do a lot of catch-up paperwork after hours, when the UPCM offices might not be open.
Northern Stationers will rent us a Ricoh Aficio 1013 desktop model for $25 per month and .025 per copy. The fee includes toner and maintenance but not paper. I'm thinking May, June and July: $75 plus paper. This year I will try to keep a record of our pre-Festival copy use and the times we copy the most to help determine how valid this expense is for future years. For now, I respectfully request that rental be approved.
Thursday night: After last week's first-come, first-served proposal from Parks and Rec, I think we are back to what we wanted this year: People will still send their money to the City and make their checks out to the City, but we'll do the drawing, notify the winners and "de-selectees." Chuck Howe is designing an improved lottery app that we expect to post on our website and the City's.
Security: Jim DeYoung and Chris Crockett have been working on the numbers involved to replace some Security volunteers with hired security from the NMU CJ program. Here is the latest thinking: In recent years they've had eight volunteers from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on each full day; 12 volunteers from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., plus four CJ hires, overnight Friday and overnight Saturday. Those four hires have received $160 each, for a total of $640. Jim and Chris think they could cut down to four volunteers in the days and eight overnight if they had four daytime hires from noon to 9 p.m. both days, and six overnight hires from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. both nights. If day hires got $150 for both days (plus ticket and tshirt), and night hires got $180 (plus ticket and tshirt), our paid security would rise from $640 to at least $1,680. We are still discussing what to do on Friday afternoon. It would cut the number of 3-hour volunteer shifts from 166 to 112.
T-shirt pricing: Julie Foster-Lindquist is bidding out our Volunteer and Performer tshirts this year. Two shops she's contacted suggest that we might want to purchase shirts as soon as we can because cotton prices are rising, apparently sharply. (One shop provided a 14-page document about the increase, but no clear indication of percentage increase, and really just 14 pages of "tough luck, you." I will forward it to anyone who wants to see it.)
Julie expects all the bids by the end of next week. If she can make a guess about sizes, we could place at least a partial order soon. She is unsure how much we could save, and whether it would be enough to justify the hassle of storing them, having less accurate sizes (especially on performers; mainstage contract packets just went out last Thursday), etc. Will keep you posted if it looks like something needs a board vote. We may need a large ($2,000-plus) deposit check sooner rather than later. Pat Saari received this information, too, for merchandise shirts.
Tent and Set-Aside: Sue and I compiled extensive notes from our February 7 meeting with Keith and City staff. I sent the notes to Keith and have not heard back from him.
Dam Construction: Ron met with Erik Booth, B of L&P project manager, on February 24, to walk the construction site and contemplate its impact on us. It was a bitter-cold day, and Erik was sick, so I think it was not as in-depth as Ron expected. But we have a map of the areas likely to be affected, which I provided on Wednesday night. In our March 4 meeting with Parks and Rec, Karl and Cindy indicated we could probably put some D campsites in the ball diamond. They did not seem concerned about tent stakes, etc., as there will be no games there this summer. We're in touch with Ron LaLonde about the workshop impact and potential (likely) loss of the acoustic workshop tent. Rob seems flexible about it all.
Coordinators: I spoke to Becky last week about the transition to a new Children's Music Coordinator, and she says she will send us information on everyone she's spoken to for this year. I have met with the new Coordinator, Doug Kitchel, and he seems excited and eager to get to work, but also understanding of the need to honor any commitments Becky made for this year.
Re-think of the re-think: I have had a much better idea for our ticket-sales start date. Last month, you agreed to start office sales Tuesday, June 7. I now think it would be smarter to go straight to expanded hours (12-6 Mon-Thurs) the week of June 6. That's only one week earlier than usual and will mean no loss of office ticket sale days. We could still begin filling mail orders and doing online sales at the usual time. This is the idea I should have had last month! Is that OK?
Emergency plans: We have so much on our plates this year, but I think we should still think about a disaster plan for the Festival. Here are some sites with information we might discuss:
http://www.expertsafety.com/articles/AreYouReady.pdf
http://management.about.com/cs/communication/a/PlaceBlame1000.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_management
MISC:
Spring Newsletter: Noreen Collins has updated the mailing list; I still need to delete inactive addresses. The newsletter should be at the printer by March 18, and mailed by early April. Content: Festival line-up; 2011 logo; Levenson Workshop promotion, Volunteer sign-up info and form; dam construction notice; lottery reminder; Logo winner info; Member ticket order form; Regular ticket order form; Festival rules and ticket-order instructions; Campground map (not adjusted for construction).
Credit Union Account: Phil closed our Credit Union account, and the whopping $19.78 balance has been added to checking.
Marquette Regional History Center: In light of our email discussion the weekend of February 12, I bought us a Non Profit Business Membership for $100, instead of one ticket to the opening gala.
Music CAN be fun: Lots of music and dance in the next few weeks. Dala concert this Saturday at Forest Roberts (NMU International Concert Series); Stas and Misha this Sunday at Fortune Lake; Irish Ceilidh with live music, March 17, Dance Zone; Open acoustic jam, March 20, PWPL; Contra/square dance with live music, March 25, Dance Zone; and lots more. Details on our website on the Other Traditional Music and Dance Events page.
February 2, 2011
BOARD ACTIONS REQUESTED:
Tent Update
Festival Budget
Request to change office-sales start date
Clarify email logo submissions
Request to EFT Michigan Withholding
Proposed donations to other groups
FESTIVAL
Festival Meeting: Next Festival Committee and potluck is set for 6 p.m., Tuesday, March 22, at Bertrams'.
Budget/prices: The group at the January 18 Festival Meeting discussed a possible parking-tag increase, since Jesse's survey at last year's Festival indicated most people would not object to that. I propose that all prices remain at 2010 levels this year (below), except that Parking passes be raised from $40 to $50. Because of the Tent issue, the need for additional updates and the blinding headache I had a couple of days last week, I did not fine tune the budget as I hoped. I hope the board will approve the preliminary budget as presented - especially the ticket prices - so we can update the website, start the newsletter, plan our ticket-printing order, etc.
2010 Regular Weekend Advance Prices:
Adults (18 and older): $60
Seniors (62 and older): $50
Teens (13 to 17): $50
Children (5 to 12): $5
Parking Pass: $40
Camping, per tag: $15
Friday Night Dance Only (Advance and Gate)
Adults, Seniors, Teens: $15
Children: $5
Saturday or Sunday Only (Advance and Gate)
Adults, Seniors, Teens: $40
Children: $5
Weekend Gate Price
Adults, Seniors, Teens: $70
Children: $5
Thursday night: At the Festival meeting, I suggested that we not take over the Park on Thursday night this year, as has been proposed, but wait to make that a part of our next contract negotiations. This is our last year on the current contract. For 2011, I hope the City will let us follow the same procedures as last year for the Thursday-night lottery, except that we will be able to fully conduct the drawing. People would still send their money to the City and make their checks out to the City, but we'd do the drawing. Those attending agreed, and Sue Bertram posited that it would not need a board action since it does not represent a change from the previous year. There was not a board quorum present, so I just wanted to be sure everyone was OK with that. Leah LaCasse, who used to do the drawing for the Tourist Park plans to help again this year.
Security: There are no cadet or reserve groups available to help with security. The Festival group agreed that we should replace a number of our volunteer security positions with additional "hires" from the NMU Criminal Justice program. We currently hire four people from this program for overnight Security, and Jim and his crew have been pleased with them. Jim will consult his Monitors and come up with a reasonable number of additional "hireds." He agreed that those working the overnight shift should receive more money. Jim reminded the group of the Post 2010 Festival decision to print tent-spacing rules on the tent tags.
Tent/Set-Aside: I hope you have all been getting the recent emails concerning this issue - including the one I sent late in the afternoon Tuesday. Keith has arranged an appointment for us with City Attorney Ron Keefe and City staff members regarding this issue. Keith says we should have no more than three people at the meeting: himself, one board member and me. The meeting is set for 3:30 p.m., Monday, February 7, at Ron Keefe's personal office at 128 W. Spring St., next to Jansen House.
Dam Construction: Erik Booth, B of L&P project manager, and I have been in touch about the Festival. He originally suggested a meeting on June 28, to review the project schedule and impact on our event. I explained that we need to know much sooner than that if we will lose Area D campsites, if we will need to move or even cancel our acoustic workshop tent, etc. He agreed to meet earlier and suggested sometime the week of February 7. I have emailed Ron about getting involved at this point. He would be much better able to assess needed changes than I would. I also emailed Ron LaLonde about the potential workshop concern.
Ticket-sales start date: Would the board consider allowing office advance ticket sales to start on Tuesday, June 7, this year, instead of the Tuesday after Memorial Day? Clyde has a trip downstate the week after Memorial Day. We have family along the way, and I would like to go along if possible. I was out of the office one other time during the first days of ticket sales, and Heidi, who was my suffering stand-in, will testify that it was NOT a good idea. We could begin filling mail orders and doing online sales at the usual time. This change would only involve two office days, as the expanded office hours (12-6 Mon-Thurs) usually don't start til the second week in June.
Email Logo Entries: We received three Logo Contest entries this year from people outside the US, who verbally or in practice (by waiting til the last minute), refused to send paper submissions as indicated in the rules. I printed those, marked them as electronic only and included them with the other entries. Do you want to consider them? I hope I am not being too crabby to ask that we strengthen the wording of the rules to something like "We will not consider entries that are submitted by email only. You must send a hard copy." I realize it's a digital, internet world, but I'm not crazy about opening attachments from strangers- Norton notwithstanding - and spending our time and toner. Plus, it's unfair to the people who do pay postage or hand-deliver.
Emergency plans: Given what happened in Marquette today, I suppose it's naive not to think about a disaster plan for the Festival. I looked a bit online today, and here are some sites with information we might discuss at a future meeting:
http://www.expertsafety.com/articles/AreYouReady.pdf
http://management.about.com/cs/communication/a/PlaceBlame1000.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_management
After today, Darwin Gager at NMU would probably have some strong insights.
MISC:
Sponsorships/donations/memberships: Right before the Festival, the Marquette Food Co-op made a $1,000 membership donation. Matt Gougeon, MFC manager, and I need to discuss how MFC perceives the gift (Lifetime? Annual?) to help us arrive at a fair reciprocation. I really haven't forgotten this. Sorry.
Michigan Withholding EFT: Our new accountant looked into making phone payments for our Michigan Withholding and Sales Tax. That is now the only tax we pay by check. If we switch to EFT/phone payments, we will have to file monthly instead of quarterly as we do now, regardless of how much we pay in tax. Our accountant would call in the monthly amounts before the 20th of the following month. I hope you will approve this action.
Credit Union Account: Closed?
Marquette Regional History Center: I recently had a nice phone visit with Tiina Harris, the educator at the History Center. She wanted recommendations of traditional musicians and crafters, and I gave her several leads. We also discussed the potential for collaborations. They will have a couple of areas suitable for small concerts, plus the rotunda, which will seat 250, but they don't know how the acoustics will be. Their grand opening events are in March and will include a teenage Metis fiddler from the Copper Country. Their gala pre-opening fundraiser will be February 19. The tickets are $100 each, of which $75 goes to the capital campaign. Any interest in buying a ticket for someone from Hiawatha or just making a donation?
Bonifas donation: The Bonifas Arts Center in Escanaba will hold an Auction For The Arts on May 7. May we donate one weekend Festival ticket? We did this last year and have done similar things for other organizations. It's good PR, and it might hook a new Festival-goer who would pay in the future.
January 5, 2011
BOARD ACTIONS REQUESTED: Set first Festival Meeting; Tent Update; Spirit of Hiawatha DVD sales
FESTIVAL
ABO Tent Discount: Deposit ($2,546.25) mailed December 8.
Festival Meeting: We need to set the first Festival Committee meeting sometime this month, ideally on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening.
News on the Tent Front: On December 14, we got the City's reply to our November proposal to consider a venue discount instead of a tent-use agreement to fulfill the "mutually agreeable" aspect of releasing part of the set-aside fund. Not only did they reject our proposal, the letter indicated they spent the set-aside money anyway. I wanted to visit with Keith Swanson before I shared the letter with you so, ideally, you could discuss a response instead of just the problem. I had no idea that would turn into three weeks' delay in telling you. I apologize for that. It seemed smart at the time. Keith wanted me to clarify a couple of points with Karl Zueger, then, selfishly, I asked if we could set it aside for Christmas week. Keith and I spoke again on December 29, and he planned to talk to City Attorney Ron Keefe to see if he could restore this issue to some kind of productive status. Keith also recommended that I wait til he'd done that, and then present you with a complete update at the January board meeting. Keith called this morning and is still trying to reach Ron. I have attached a summary of our tent discussions and a recap of the latest developments.
Spirit of Hiawatha DVD: On sale now at Brian Cabell's website. He has asked to pay us our first share after 100 copies are sold. I agreed to that, since it's all kind of free money for us anyway. Info about the DVD sale, as well as Brian's link, are on our website and FaceBook page.
Logo Contest: February 1, is the deadline for this year's logo contest. Selecting the winner will be on the agenda for your February 2, meeting. We have 21 entries to date, and I just sent out another news release and email reminder.
MISC:
Sponsorships/donations/memberships: Right before the Festival, the Marquette Food Co-op made a $1,000 membership donation. Matt Gougeon, MFC manager, and I need to discuss how MFC perceives the gift (Lifetime? Annual?) to help us arrive at a fair reciprocation. He and I are still playing phone tag. Sorry.
Meetings: I have penciled us in for this meeting room for 5 p.m., first Wednesday of the month, through December 2011. That can change if it needs to, depending on how fast the room schedule fills up.
Credit Card: What would you think about putting some of our routine bills, like phone and internet, on this card? That would help, for example, when I'm gone. I switched our web hosting and domain registration charges from my own card with reimbursement to our new organizational card.
Credit Union Account: Closed?
Phone update: We received a voicemail confirmation on December 3, that our account has been renewed at the old rate. This month's bill will be the real proof one way or the other.
PWPL Christmas tree: Thanks, Karen and Chuck, for helping decorate. It was fun (except for finding a parking on the night of an enormous youth-theatre casting call)! The tree was undecorated January 2.
December 1, 2010
BOARD ACTIONS REQUESTED: ABO early-pay discount, Spirit of Hiawatha DVD sales, Phone issue, Credit card, Cards and notes
FESTIVAL
Results: We have still not received a bill from Mike VanDamme for hauling the semi-trailer, which is a $400 budget item.
Tent Discount: ABO Tent Events is again offering a 5% discount ($254.63) if we pay our deposit ($2,546.25) by December 15; a 4% discount ($203.70) if we pay by January 1. They had a similar offer last year. We sent the 2010 check in time to qualify but entered it in the checkbook dated January 1. That altered-date entry was done purely to make the Quicken budget reports manageable. I recommend we do likewise this year.
Spirit of Hiawatha DVD: Brian Cabell emailed today that all talent consents are in, and Superior Productions will produce the DVD, and the initial run of 200 should be ready soon. They are working on cover art now. Brian wants suggestions on how to sell them. I said you'd have an opportunity to discuss it this evening. He will sell the DVDs on his website; there will be a promo on the TV6 website and probably an on-air promo, too. The DVDs will sell for $20, with $4 coming to Hiawatha. I've suggested that it seems logical to have all sales processed through the same channel - at least until Festival time. Seems cumbersome for both of us to set up an online sales system and have our respective shares of money flowing both ways - although that could be done. I'm no tax accountant, but I wonder, if our share came from Brian or TV6 as a donation, maybe there would be some advantage to them. At Festival time, we could handle them like we do performers' merchandise: take a set inventory, keep a record of the sales, pay Brian or the station the appropriate share and return any unsold at the end of the weekend. In the meantime, we have email distribution lists of members, key volunteers and recent ticket-buyers, and we could contact those people with the DVD-sales link and other info, too.
City issues, Tent: I mailed our letter right before Thanksgiving. No response as of today. However, as I emailed earlier, there is a presentation on the Arabesque Tent at 5:30, December 8, at the Arts and Culture Center. I will be glad to go for us, but will not be able to get there til after 6. Any other possible attendees?
MISC.
Sponsorships, donations, memberships: Right before the Festival, the Marquette Food Co-op made a $1,000 membership donation. Matt Gougeon, MFC manager, and I need to discuss how MFC perceives the gift (Lifetime? Annual?) to help us arrive at a fair reciprocation. He and I are still playing phone tag. Sorry.
Credit Card: Our new credit card, applied and approved online, November 10. Card received, activated, mailing address changed from street address (as required on app) to PO Box, November 30. Customer service was fast and good, which was encouraging. I have made a folder for this card where I plan to keep an envelope with current receipts until they are paid, then file them in the appropriate receipts folder, as I would for any bill paid by check.
I think it would be smart for a board officer to review each month's statement and receipts and sign the check. I anticipate this being a low use card: mainly for things like software purchases, our web-hosting and domain registrations (which are currently paid on my own card and reimbursed) and the occasional need to pay for something upfront in a hurry, like last year's token order.
Credit Union Account: Closed?
Phone update: I ordered our new AT&T plan, as approved at your November meeting, on November 10. Tuesday we received an email from the customer service rep I worked with saying, "Our department closed. Please forward this business essential request to 800-660-3000. I apologize for the inconvenience." I spent 15 minutes on hold to that number (our call was very important to them). The service rep I finally spoke with insisted they could "grandfather us in" at our old rate. Does that sound familiar? Like what I'd been requesting since October 1? And was told repeatedly it couldn't be done? I have no idea what they're up to, but today's service rep said if she couldn't grandfather us in, AT&T would honor the rate the previous rep promised me, which will be about $10 a month more than we pay now. That sounds like a lot, but originally, they wanted almost $30 a month more! Should know tomorrow if we really will keep the old rate.
Annual Meeting: I counted 38 people at the business meeting, including some late arrivals. We had 30 paid admissions to the dance in addition to those who attended the meeting. We made $500 in new and renewed memberships, bringing our 2011 membership total to $1,190. Ron sold $54 in merchandise, mostly stickers. Thanks again to Ron for tending the sales table and hauling all the merch!
PWPL Christmas tree: Signed us up November 10. Hope some of us can decorate this evening. I am also taking one of our vintage ornaments to add to the Downtown Marquette tree.
Speaking of Christmas: For the last several years, I have sent holiday greeting cards to about 20 "friends of Hiawatha," including the Parks and Rec staff and businesses that donate goods or services or provide discounts for us. If no objections, I would like to do that again.
November 3, 2010
BOARD ACTIONS REQUESTED: Annual meeting final details; New Concession and Children's Music coordinators; Phone issue; Credit card app; Credit Union account; Holiday closing
FESTIVAL
Results: Update attached. We have still not received a bill from Mike VanDamme for hauling the semi-trailer, which is a $400 budget item.
Report to Parks and Rec: Our Park contract requires us to send Parks and Rec a Festival budget report within 90 days of the event. We did not get our third-quarter payroll- and sales-tax statements until October 20, and I wanted to wait for those, so the City report was technically a couple of days late. I figured it was worth the delay to remind people that we pay taxes. In my cover letter, I assured Karl and Cindy that we would be in touch soon about the tent and Thursday night issues.
Concessions coordinator vacancy: John Fegan has stepped down as Concessions co-coordinator. He anticipates their church's mission trips to continue to be close to or at Festival time, and sometimes to change from "close-to" to "at" without much notice, as happened this year. Any likely suspects to help Darlene with this area? How about Children's Music?
City issues, Tent: I have started a draft of a tent/set-aside proposal letter, but I'm having a hard time finishing it. Other things keep coming up.
MISC.
Sponsorships/donations/memberships: Right before the Festival, the Marquette Food Co-op made a $1,000 membership donation. Matt Gougeon, MFC manager, and I need to discuss how MFC perceives the gift (Lifetime? Annual?) to help us arrive at a fair reciprocation.
Credit Card: If the board still agrees that an organizational credit card would be helpful to us, I would like to recommend the Capital One Small Business No Hassle Cash card. Details to be attached at meeting.
Credit Union Account: Last month the Marquette Community Credit Union announced - with a tiny little notice in its fall newsletter and no individual notice to us - that, starting in October, it will assess a $5/month penalty for accounts with no activity in the past two years. That was us. Interest deposits don't count. I ran in October 15, and put a $1 in the account to dodge the fee for now. I would like to recommend that we close that account. I looked into a Visa card issued by the MCFCU. Terms are similar to the Capital One, so that's another option if we keep that account. (Background: We used to have a CD at the MCFCU, and, when interest rates dropped to not-worth-the-paperwork levels, we kept a small share account to simplify buying a CD if interest rates ever recovered. It's been years; that hasn't happened. When John Fegan was treasurer, he researched moving all our banking to MCFCU to support another non-profit and turn away from the Big Enormous Corporate Bank (Wells-Fargo). We abandoned the idea because the Credit Union could not demonstrate that they could accurately handle the magnitude of our Festival business - especially the Monday morning after the event when all those deposits are in the night-deposit. Further details on request.)
Phone update: As noted earlier, our current phone plan will be discontinued in December. I spent more than an hour on the phone with various AT&T reps one day (I know it seems like I sit around all afternoon and don't do anything!) and got someone to commit to $23 per line per month, or $46/month before access fees, taxes, etc. They will never tell you exactly what those are, but the access fees will be at least $10, so probably close to $60/month. That is better than the $80/month of their original proposal and only about $10/month more than we pay now. Begrudgingly, I guess I recommend that we take that offer. The research eats up so much time and any change in provider will eat up even more. Philosophically, I would rather not reward AT&T for jacking us, but I would like to put this to rest so we can work on more important things.
Other options: I was been quoted $52.59/month for the phone part of a Charter bundle with no long distance on our second line and .07 cents/minute for our long-distance faxes. Nathan Lyle, our webmaster, now believes AT&T DSL would work for our purposes, but I hate to give them MORE business. I know "everyone" hates Charter, but we have not had a bit of trouble with our cable internet (knock on wood). Plus, Other alternatives not explored: switching our main line to Vonage and only keep the fax/card reader line on AT&T; disconnect our second line for all but the three or four months around Festival time. If I'm doing the math right, that would bring the cost of that line to an average of $15/month but greatly increase the hassle factor. If I read the manual for the fax machine correctly, it will serve the split use.
Keith Swanson semi-retirement: Keith called in mid-October to let us know he is leaving Swanson and Dettman for health reasons. He plans to continue to work at home, with a reduced client load, which will mercifully still include Hiawatha.
Ron Perkins Thank-you: I have a thank-you card for Ron, if you'd like to sign it. He was our accountant for eight years before his recent retirement.
Annual Meeting: We have the Flatbellys' signed contract; Jim Supanich has their sound specs. I have put the meeting on all the Community Calendars I know of, including Northern Notes; have sent it to the Mining Journal twice - the second time with the band's pic, and to Marquette Monthly. Plus we have Jesse's donated PR90 day sponsorship the Thursday before. I am also going to email a reminder to our Members distribution list and a couple of other events lists.
Holidays: For the past several years, the board has approved closing of our office the weeks of Christmas and New Year. This year that would be December 21-22, and December 28-29. I would continue to check the email and voicemail daily during those times if the closing is approved.
PWPL Christmas tree: Speaking of the holidays, PWPL is hosting the Winter Wonderland decorated Christmas tree display again this year. Entry deadline November 24; tree decorating December 1-4; open house December 5; tear-down January 2-4. We had a Hiawatha tree for two or three years, skipped last year but still have the decorations. I can tear down if creative folks can set up. Phil, do you think some of the PWPL monthly jam regulars would be interested in joining us to do a tree? I will sign us up if there's interest.
Younkers Community Day vote: Thanks for the email vote on this fundraiser. I only heard from three people, but they all said "no." I made a note on our calendar to revisit this next August, when they start signing up groups. That way we could separate the short time frame from the other parts of the decision.
