ORPHEUS MALE CHORUS OF PHOENIX MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OCTOBER 16, 2019 CENTRAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH PHOENIX, AZ

MINUTES

1. Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 6:01pm by President Ira Rubins.

2. Attendance:

a. In attendance were Board members Ira Rubins, Dick Janac, Alex Areno, Robert Meier, Frank McPeek, Owen Swenson, Makoto Matsumoto, Karen McNally, David Schwarz, Judy Wagner, Cyndee Chaffee (ex officio), and Brook Larson (ex officio).

b. Also in attendance were Kevin Staab, John Wagner and Zak Tenpenny.

c. Absent was Skip Pepers.

3. Quorum: It was established that a quorum was present.

4. Approval of minutes of previous meeting: It was moved (Dick Janac) and seconded (Frank McPeek) that the minutes of the September 2019 meeting be accepted without amendment. The motion carried.

5. Opening remarks: President Ira Rubins commented on how successful and enjoyable the collaborative concert with the Saxony State Youth Chorus had been. A vote of thanks was extended to Frank McPeek for carrying off the event in such an outstanding way.

6. Treasurer’s report: Submitted.

a. It was moved (Dick Janac) and seconded (Karen McNally) that the Profit and Loss Statement be accepted as presented. The motion carried.

b. It was moved (Makoto Matsumoto) and seconded (Judy Wagner) that the Legacy Concert Report be accepted as presented. The motion carried.

c. There was discussion of collaboration between Orpheus and the Phoenix Youth Chorus re budgeted expenses going forward.

7. Artistic Director’s report: Submitted.

8. Operations Director's report: Submitted. 9. Committee reports (standing):

a. Development (JD Helms): Submitted.

b. Finance (Rick Griset): Submitted.

c. Marketing (Kevin Staab): Submitted.

d. Membership (Skip Richards): No report.

e. Outreach (Drew Peterson): No report.

f. Production (Floyd Land): Submitted.

g. Social (Michael Krolick): No report.

10. Committee reports (ad hoc):

a. Bylaws Revision (Emerson Yearwood): No report.

b. ACDA Salt Lake (Jack Sarrett): No report.

c. German Choir Collaborative (Frank McPeek) – Post-event review – Delivered.

d. Board Retreat (Owen Swenson) – Post-event review – None.

e. 2021 Tour (Judy Wagner): Submitted.

11. Action items and task force reports:

a. Attendance policy (Cyndee Chaffee): Draft was presented to Chorus members; feedback solicited. Some feedback has been received. The policy will be discussed further at the upcoming Chorus retreat.

b. Advisory Council on-line communications tool (Cyndee Chaffee): Some sort of tool would be desirable in order to facilitate exchange of information between Council and the Operations Director. Cyndee will look into this further.

c. Follow-up with mentors re confusion over where to obtain “A” uniform (Ira Rubins) – This will be addressed in January, as no outstanding issues remain for the current concert season.

d. 90th birthday party (Social Committee, Drew Peterson) – create on-line signup (Jay Murphy): Created.

e. ACDA Salt Lake “Angel” Fund (Jack Sarrett): i. A fund has been established.

ii. Donations to this fund are not tax-deductible, as they are considered a gift.

iii. Donations to the fund must be earmarked for this specific purpose.

iv. Disbursements cannot be made from the Chorus general fund for the benefit of individual members.

v. We must guard against abuse – Ira Rubins, Owen Swenson and Zak Tenpenny have volunteered to make one-on-one contact with individuals who may be in need of assistance from this fund.

12. Old business:

a. Revised treasurer enabling policy: Submitted.

b. Bylaws revision (Emerson Yearwood):

i. Ira Rubins presented an outline of proposed language for succession to the Presidency. Discussion ensued.

ii. Alex Areno has resigned from the Bylaws Revision Committee.

c. Website security: take up back-end issues with Big Marlin (Dick Janac):

i. Report received from Big Marlin – what they say doesn’t match what we’ve observed.

ii. It was pointed out that Big Marlin has moved the physical location of the Orpheus website from Godaddy’s servers to their own servers, and so they now own it.

iii. Dick Janac and Zak Tenpenny will work out remaining issues with Big Marlin.

d. New e-mail lists – final testing (Dick Janac, Alex Areno):

i. New lists have been successfully tested.

ii. Dick Janac will handle rollout.

e. Appoint person to replace Makoto Matsumoto re Chorus policy review: Still an open issue.

f. Table/booth at community events – look into from a global perspective (not limited to Pride Festival) (Marketing Committee): This has been tabled. g. Shawn Kirchner commission for “Sweet Rivers” (Brook Larson): This has been canceled.

h. Front-of-house retractable signage (Cyndee Chaffee): Purchased.

i. Members delinquent in dues:

i. There is enough money in the assistance fund to cover all Chorus members who may need assistance, provided each pays even a small percentage out of their own pocket.

ii. Most members still delinquent have made arrangements to become up-to-date; a handful have not responded to outreach.

iii. Bob Meier will provide Ira Rubins with a list of those who have not responded.

13. New business:

a. Strategic Visioning Review and Project Commitments:

i. Tasks were identified both for committees and for the Board.

ii. Ira Rubins will meet with committees to discuss how to move forward – other Board members invited to participate also. (Makoto Matsumoto volunteered to participate in discussions with the Development Committee.)

iii. Ira will also schedule Board tasks as Board meeting agenda items.

b. Phoenix Ringing Invitation:

i. Orpheus has been invited to participate in a new chorus being formed – either by joining it outright or by sending a subgroup to participate in individual appearances.

ii. It was pointed out that this may result in possible conflicts with Orpheus concerts or in member burnout from their spreading themselves too thin.

iii. It is not for us to say, however, what members can and cannot do, although the consensus is that it would not be viable for Chorus members to be an official part of this new group.

iv. We will make this opportunity available to Members via announcement in the newsletter.

v. Any participation should be a part of Orpheus’ outreach efforts. c. Appoint “Thank you” person to thank event sponsors, venue managers, etc. as appropriate:

i. Cyndee Chaffee will handle this.

ii. Committee chairs will be informed.

14. Other

a. Earlybird promotion results:

i. Dick Janac presented a summary of the online activity during this promotion.

ii. Discussion took place of ticket sales generated by earlybird promotion program.

15. Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 8:57pm.

Respectfully submitted, Alex Areno, Secretary