Friends of WWOZ, Inc. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Date
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Friends of WWOZ, Inc. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Date: October 9, 2013 Time: 4:30 p.m. Location: 1205 North Rampart Street, New Orleans LA 70116 Board Members Present: C. J. Blache, Parker Sternbergh, Mary Johnston Norriss, Belinda Lewis Batiste, Ruth Chouest, Deborah Harkins, Jim Hutchinson (via telephone), Julie Wise Oreck Board Members Absent: Carol Solomon, Richard Cortizas, Bob Edmundson, David Francis, Katy Roubion, Karen Solomon, David Torkanowsky NOJHF & Foundation Board Members Present: Douglas Hammel, Donna Santiago, Suzette Toledano NOJHF & Foundation Staff Present: Don Marshall WWOZ Staff Present: David Freedman, Beau Royster, Dwayne Breashears, Crystal Gross, Lauren Del Rio, Leslie Molson Also Present: Robert Stein, Lisa Ondak 1. Call to Order. Mr. Blache called the meeting to order at 4:50 p.m. 2. Quorum. Eight of sixteen Board members present (eight required). 3. Minutes. Mr. Blache moved to accept the minutes of the September 11, 2013 Board meeting as previously sent by email to all Board members. Ms. Harkins seconded the motion, which passed by unanimous consent. 4. Public Commentary. None. Page 1 of 2 Friends of WWOZ, Inc. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes 5. Manager’s Report. Mr. Freedman presented the General Manager’s report, attached to these minutes. Ms. Sternbergh moved that WWOZ consult an attorney regarding the contractual relationships involved with Mango Freeze. Ms. Lewis Batiste seconded the motion. The Board passed the motion unanimously. Mr. Freedman made a presentation to the board in which he outlined the station’s intention to broadcast announcements of the board’s meeting schedule and to publish board minutes on www.wwoz.org. Ms. Sternbergh then moved that WWOZ publish its budget as approved by the Finance Committee on www.wwoz.org. Ms. Harkins seconded the motion. The Board passed the motion unanimously. Mr. Freedman introduced a “Public Media Code of Integrity,” and recommended approval to post WWOZ’s adherence to the code on www.wwoz.org. Ms. Harkins moved to adopt the code. Ms. Lewis Batiste seconded. The motion was passed unanimously. 6. Finance Committee Report. WWOZ CFO Beau Royster reported that he and incoming Board Treasurer Belinda Lewis Batiste had met to review WWOZ accounting procedures in general terms. Mr. Royster provided an updated income statement and balance sheet. 7. Operations Presentation. Fund raising consultant Robert Stein of MajorGiving LLC gave a presentation briefly outlining his philosophy and recommendations to WWOZ with regard to establishing a major giving development infrastructure. Mr. Stein invited questions from the Board and discussion ensued. 8. Next Meeting Date. The Board of Directors unanimously agreed to hold the next WWOZ Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday, November 13, 2013 at 4:30pm. 9. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the meeting, Ms. Harkins moved to adjourn the Board meeting. The motion was carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 6:07pm. Page 2 of 2 Friends of WWOZ, Inc. Governance Board Meeting General Manager’s Report Wednesday, October 9, 2013 1. Membership. As of August 31, 2013, WWOZ has received a total of $48,632 from 1,315 members. 862 WWOZ members from outside the state of Louisiana contributed $29,996 (62% of total donations) in the reporting period. 425 WWOZ sustaining members accounted for $9,615 of donations, approximately 20% of total membership revenue. By comparison, in the same period in 2012, WWOZ had received $27,490 from 806 donors, including $16,694 from 443 out-of-state members (61% of total donations). 251 WWOZ sustaining members had contributed $5,425 as of August 31, 2012, approximately 20% of total donations. WWOZ’s fall 2013 Membership Drive will begin on Tuesday, November 5 and end on Friday, November 15, 2013. Membership “Thank You” gifts for this drive will include: a Sixth Edition WWOZ Flag; a WWOZ double-wall acrylic tumbler for hot and cold beverages; WWOZ Collectors’ Edition CD #39 Face the Music; WWOZ Brass Passes for Jazz Fest 2014, and the WWOZ House of Blues Pass. 2. Underwriting. As of August 31, 2013, WWOZ has generated $25,975 in underwriting revenue. New sponsorship accounts include Bonnie Raitt, Red Mountain Entertainment, Alligator Records, Evacuteer.org, the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and the Freret Business & Property Owner Association. 3. Major Giving. Major Giving has received $4,660 from five donors to date for FY 2014, compared to $5,300 from six donors at the same time in FY 2013. Fundraising consultants Robert Stein and Lisa Ondak from MajorGiving will visit New Orleans on October 8 -9, 2013, to work with the WWOZ Development Department and the WWOZ Board of Directors. Major Gifts Officer Lauren Del Rio will host donor cultivation events in Chicago in connection with WWOZ’s live broadcast from the Chicago Theatre featuring Irvin Mayfield & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and Haley Reinhart on Thursday, November 21, 2013 at 8:00pm CT. WWOZ has 95 members in Chicago, and all will be invited to attend a “happy hour” event in the city; moreover, there will be exclusive VIP opportunities for major donors at the concert itself and a VIP reception on Friday, November 22, 2013, hosted by the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. WWOZ will throw a “Birthday Bash” at Tipitina’s on Thursday, December 5, 2013, and Irvin Mayfield has agreed both to be our MC of Funk and to put together an all-star band for the occasion, featuring some of the artists featured as WWOZ “Guardians of the Groove”. WWOZ will also host a “Member Appreciation” night on Friday, December 6, 2013 and a second line on Saturday, December 7, 2013. Ms. Del Rio invites all WWOZ Board members to contact her if they are interested in pitching and/or giving live or recorded testimonials during WWOZ’s Fall Membership Drive from November 5-15, 2013. The Development Committee requests that all Board members contribute during the Fall Drive. Development Director Crystal Gross will be hosting two training sessions to support any Board members interested in pitching on the air, on Wednesday, October 23 and Saturday, October 26. Page 1 of 8 Friends of WWOZ, Inc. Governance Board Meeting General Manager’s Report Wednesday, October 9, 2013 4. Swamp Shop. Swamp Shop revenue totaled $4,523.15 for September 2013, bringing the FY 2014 total to $9,558.09, a year-to-date increase of 30%. Swamp Shop started its seasonal festival presence at the Bogalusa Blues & Heritage Festival. We have had successful online sales with Facebook support, as well as increasing inventory of the most popular merchandise items. The Swamp Shop has initiated both regularly-scheduled on-air announcements and more frequent digital pushes through our social media platforms to direct listeners and members to the online Swamp Shop store. WWOZ’s cookbook That Sounds Good! is now available for purchase on Amazon.com to catch a national audience and in available in more local bookstores. 5. Marketing and Development. On September 25, 2013, WWOZ and the Alford Agency held the latest “Guardian of the Groove” photo shoot at One Eyed Jacks with Hurray for the Riff Raff’s lead singer Alynda lee [sic] Segarra. “WWOZ Guardian of the Groove” Trombone Shorty ran as a full-page ad in the September 24, 2013 issue of the Gambit. On September 26, 2013, WWOZ Show Host T.R. Johnson interviewed Donald Harrison, Jr. at Julius Kimbrough’s The Prime Example on North Broad for the second installment of the “WWOZ Guardians of the Groove” interview series for WWL-TV’s “Eyewitness News.” Mr. Harrison’s interview will air on Wednesday, October 16, 2013, at 10:00 p.m. 6. Outreach. On September 10, 2013, Outreach Coordinator Dimitri Apessos participated in Tulane University’s “Making a Difference” Service fair, introducing the station to students and soliciting volunteers from within the Tulane community. On September 18, 2013, WWOZ hosted a Community Advisory Board meeting, where the station received great input and advice from members of the public. On September 28, 2013, the Outreach team attended the Bogalusa Blues and Heritage Festival, to reach out to listeners in the recently expanded broadcast area to the north, and to educate the uninitiated about WWOZ’s mission, programming, and status as a listener-supported community radio station. On October 4, 2013, WWOZ had an outreach table at both the Ponderosa Stomp Music History Conference at the Wyndham Riverfront New Orleans and the Ponderosa Stomp opening night concert at the Mid-City Lanes Rock ‘n’ Bowl. WWOZ Outreach has an inventory of new giveaways, including new bumper stickers, WWOZ Mardi Gras-style go-cups, and “WWOZ Guardians of the Groove” paper church-style hand fans. Page 2 of 8 Friends of WWOZ, Inc. Governance Board Meeting General Manager’s Report Wednesday, October 9, 2013 7. New Media. New Media is in the process of updating and proofing all development- related pages ahead of the fall 2013 Membership Drive start date of November 5, 2013. New Media, Development, and C4 Tech are collaborating on a “splash page” layout dedicated to the Membership Drive for the wwoz.org homepage, so that visitors to wwoz.org will have to click through a donation appeal page before continuing on to the main site. New Media Director David Stafford has been working with Scott Aiges of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation on a reworking of the the Gig Gator music database on the Foundation’s website. Stafford is in the process of establishing target dates and cost estimates for the project. On September 16, 2013, Louisiana Public Broadcasting’s IT Manager John Tooraen gave Stafford a virtual tour of their customized content management system (or CMS), to assess its suitability for WWOZ’s music library.