Friends of WWOZ Board of Directors Meeting May 9, 2012 General Manager's Report
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Friends of WWOZ Board of Directors Meeting May 9, 2012 General Manager's Report 1. 2012 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Coverage. Once again, WWOZ provided start-to-finish broadcast and webcast coverage of this year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. And once again, the station’s remote production krewe headed by Program Director Dwayne Breashears and Chief Engineer Damond Jacob provided live feeds to seventeen stations around the country, including KUVO (Denver), KVJZ (Vail), WUSM, Hattiesburg, MS, KPOV, Bend, OR, KDHX, St Louis, MO, CIUT, Toronto, Canada, KFCF, Fresno, CA, WNCU, Durham, NC, WCLK, Atlanta, GA, KMUD, Garberville, CA, KMUE, Eureka ,CA, KLAI, Laytonville/Shelter Cove, CA, WPFW, Washington, DC, KGOU, Norman, OK, KROU Spencer/Oklahoma City, KOUA, Ada, OK, KWOU, Woodward, OK. A small broadcast crew and more than 100 volunteers handled WWOZ’s multiple Jazz Fest activities ranging from broadcast, to membership/brass pass distribution, WWOZ Mango Freeze sales, Piano Night, and night time broadcasts from local clubs. Broadcast Krewe: The broadcast crew included George Ingmire, Bradley Blanchard, Jerry Lenaz, SherriLynn Colby-Bottel, David Kunian, Dimitri Apessos, Linda Santi, Olivia Greene, and many more. Engineering Krewe: The engineering crew included Tony Guillory, Robert Carroll, Khalid Hafiz, and Susan Jacob. Volunteer Power: Veronica Cromwell, Bill Insley, Leslie Cooper, Elsie Bunny Walker, Mary Lambert, Marie MacAdory, Paige Patriarca, Ruth Marinello, Jerry Lenaz, Heather McGlynn, Linz Adams, Mary Naughton, Christy Grimes, Ron Clingenpeel, Lance Albert, Rick Wilkof, Eric Ward, Duane Williams, Melissa Gemeinhardt, Christy Carney, Duane Williams, Betty Schlater, Melissa DeOrazio, Matthew De Orazio, Craig Christopher, Steve Daub, and many more. Full-length performances of the following artists were featured in this year’s broadcast: Young Pinstripe Brass Band, Leah Chase, Stephanie Jordan Big Band, Slavic Soul Party, Cubano Be Cubano Bop Poncho Sanchez and His Latin Jazz Band Featuring Terence Blanchard, Loyola University Jazz Ensemble, Peter Martin, Jeremy Lyons & Members of Morphine Tribute to Wardell Querzergue Featuring Dixie Cups, Robert “Barefootin” Parker, Tony Owens, Lionel Ferbos, Pat Casey & New Sound, Ellis Marsalis, Treme Brass Band, Victor Goines, Diane Reeves, Dukes of Dixieland, Regina Carter’s “Reverse Thread,” Kid Chocolate, Mark Braud & The New Orleans Jazz Giants, Doreen’s Jazz New Orleans, Topsy Chapman & Soul Harmony, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Wycliffe Gordon Quintet, “Hello Pops, A Tribute To Louis Armstrong,” Ricardo Crespo and Sol Brasil, Sam Doores and Tumbleweed, Bombino of Niger, John Mooney and Bluesiana, Warren Hayes with Dr. John, Terrance Simien and Zydeco Experience, New Orleans Nightcrawlers. 1 Friends of WWOZ Board of Directors Meeting May 9, 2012 General Manager's Report 2. WWOZ Piano Night. Event Producer and WWOZ Program Director Dwayne Breashears reported that the 2012 WWOZ Piano Night sponsored by People’s Health received critical acclaim this year as pianists from across the city and the globe were showcased on three stages simultaneously from 7 pm till midnight. Featured this year were John Gros, Carol Fran, Joe Krown, Courtney Bryan, Kyle Roussel, Josh Paxton, Cynthia Chen, Jeff Greenberg, Conan Pappas, Jr, Bob Andrews, Bob Malone, Liz McComb, Ike Stubblefield, Marcia Ball, and Henry Butler. 3. WWOZ CD Volume 36. Continuing the tradition of offering a limited edition as part of its 2012 Spring Membership Drive, WWOZ issued a compilation of live performance recordings selected from the station’s previous broadcast from various venues including festivals and night clubs. This CD is not for sale commercially. The 36th volume of its Sound of New Orleans series is entitled, “Peak Performance,” and includes performances by the following artists: Germaine Bazzle, The Revivalists, Stanton Moore Trio, Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band, Joe Krown, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Russell Batiste, Jr, Rene Marie, Carlos Malta Quartet, Betty Shirley. 4. Membership. As of May 2nd WWOZ has raised $1,744,385 from 7,456 members compared to $1,451,240 from 6,797 members this time last year. Brass Pass memberships for 2012 total 3,007 compared to 2,499 Brass Passes issued last year. Of that 728 Brass Passes were issued to out of town members compared to 994 last year. The fall membership drive is scheduled for September 29th-October 5th. 5. Major Giving/$100,000 Grant. Major Giving has received $144,331.10 for the FY2012. $69,400 of the total amount is major giving Brass Pass memberships. The RosaMary Foundation has awarded WWOZ a $100,000 grant for the signal expansion. NOLA Motorsports Park will be hosting a major fundraiser for WWOZ and The Roots of Music in September. Mary Johnston Norriss, David Freedman and Lauren Del Rio met with owner Laney Chouest and his team to begin planning the event. Proceeds will go to the Signal expansion and to The Roots of Music’s trip to the Rose Bowl. We are currently planning a major giving cultivation event in Houston at the NFCB conference on June 15th at the Continental Club featuring Papa Grows Funk. 2 Friends of WWOZ Board of Directors Meeting May 9, 2012 General Manager's Report 6. Underwriting. WWOZ Chief Financial Officer Beau Royster reports that underwriting income for the period of April 9, 2012 to present totaled $ 44,998. WWOZ hosted its third Peoples Health Outreach event held on March 29, 2012. The guests were given a tour of the WWOZ studios in 2 groups, watched a film at the National Jazz Park Museum in Dutch Alley and then had lunch at Galvez Restaurant overlooking the Mississippi River. Show host Sally Young, Major Gift Officer Lauren Del Rio, Underwriting Representative Carmen Post and volunteer Karen Smith were in attendance along with three staff members from Peoples Health. As a direct result of this event, three of the senior guests enrolled as WWOZ volunteers. Peoples Health is the major sponsor of WWOZ’s Annual Piano Night Benefit Concert event held each year at the House of Blues during Jazz Fest. 7. Swamp Shop. The Swamp Shop earned a record amount of income for the month of April--a total of $7,863 (a 205% increase from April 2011). $2,333 was received during the three- day "hallway" event during the station's brass pass pick-up times, and $382 was received at Piano Night. Sales so far this fiscal year total $42,967 (a 42% increase from 2011’s year total and a 53% increase from 2010’s year total), with a net income of $16,269. The shop is featuring several new items, and is well stocked for the remainder of the fiscal year, positively affecting total net income. 8. Digital Development. The Digital Deployment Team carried out a social media blitz during the French Quarter Festival and Jazz Fest to take advantage of WWOZ’s most highly trafficked time of the year. WWOZ’s website, Facebook and Twitter platforms were also refreshed for the April festival season. In addition the monthly newsletter, help email and greatly-expanded online music calendar were all maintained on schedule. Live event coverage of French Quarter Festival and Jazz Fest was provided with social media campaigns, photo highlights and daily recaps. New Facebook, Twitter and newsletter subscribers were cultivated throughout the active festival season with the goal of growing WWOZ’s contact lists. Moreover, WWOZ’s regular features, Takin' It to the Streets and New Orleans All the Way Live were supported through supplemental digital content. Real-time song information was maintained on the website even with WWOZ’s increased server load five times greater than normal. Notably, live video stream events for the Sync Up conference and the International Jazz Day concert were offered on the WWOZ website. Finally, the load on WWOZ’s audio stream services was monitored to ensure no interruption in streaming coverage of its live broadcasts from Jazz Fest. 9. CTIA. WWOZ has agreed to provide a live feed for the CTIA (International Association of Wireless Communication) media reception Wednesday, May 9, 2012 from 3:30 - 4:30 pm. Approximately 800 representatives of the press from around the world will be present at the reception. It is estimated that 40,000 attendees of this major technological conference being held on the heels of Jazz Fest will hear leaders in the field as well as public figures such as President Bill Clinton. 3 Friends of WWOZ Board of Directors Meeting May 9, 2012 General Manager's Report 10. National Association of Broadcasters. General Manager David Freedman attended the NAB Conference in Las Vegas April 14-19. The theme of the conference was “disruptive technology” and the ineluctable message was thek need for broadcasters to quickly adapt to multiple platforms and transmedia formats in an era of ever-shortening change cycles. The National Association of Broadcasters is the most important trade organization in the broadcast industry, and the strong sense of urgency that pervaded the conference signals a major change in the paradigm of an industry that is now experiencing the same challenges encountered in earlier years in the record and publishing industries. 11. Guardian of the Groove Award. WWOZ Show Host Jivin’ Gene Mark was honored with the WWOZ Guardians of the Groove Award this year at the Big Easy Music Award ceremonies held April 23rd at Harrah’s Theatre. Eric Ward received the award recognizing off-air volunteers. 12. Parking. On April 17, 2012, the French Market notified WWOZ that it had finalized its review of the issues raised by WWOZ regarding significant increases in rates and operational problems resulting from changes to our previous parking arrangements. WWOZ will be allowed to park two vehicles in the French Market Corporation’s Red Parking Lot during the hours of 9:30 p.m. to 6:30 am, seven days a week.