Minutes of Team Meeting 17th June 2019 - 5.30pm held at Curl,

Present: Debbie Pern, Anne Fraser, Sophie Radcliffe, Aluinn Paterson, Mairi Redhead, Mhairi Adie, Averil Duncan

1. Apologies: Jane Kuipers

2. Approval of Minutes: The May minute was approved.

3. Matters arising from Last Minute

Anne F has secured an area on the top floor in the H1 building at Hill of Rubislaw for storage of our costumes etc. There is an open plan area for choreo and small rehearsals and meetings. There is plenty of space for all the groups using the facility and it is especially ideal for small groups and PVIs. Eight chorus members will have passes.

4. Reports

• Treasurer’s report – Mairi Readhead

The report for May 2019 has been uploaded onto Groupanizer The accounts stand at:

Account 1: £22,029.21 Account 2: £ 2,178.86

We obtained £11,664.00 from HMRC by way of Gift Aid donations over the last three years. We also received £500 from the region for achieving our wild card status.

A new bank account is being set up for our trip to Kentucky and savings. Any fundraising will go into the new account and be reconciled separately.

Debbie will apply for some educational funding from Aberdeen Endowments Trust and Aberdeen City Council.

• Director – Sophie Radcliffe

We had a great night at the Music Festival and retained our trophy for another year! Good to see so many groups performing - an opportunity to recruit new members too! Thanks to all who sang last Tuesday.

Our focus now is preparing for our fringe show in August! Lots of rep songs to work on to get up to our usual high standard. We’ll be doing live Evals each week for the songs that we’ve been working on, so if you need to do one...come on down! Such an efficient way to get everyone qualified quickly. The script is well underway - thank you to Lizzie and the team for that, it’s going to be a great show! New music - Africa is sounding great and shouldn’t be long before we’re off paper and really able to work on dynamics and all the little details. More new music coming soon! Coaching - we have Amy and Bonnie coming in October which will kick start our preparations for Kentucky 2020. The rehearsal venue for this will be the Carmelite Hotel. I have been in contact with Britt-Heléne regarding our March retreat and she has said she would LOVE to come back and coach Aberdeen again! Just need to firm up the dates with her. We’ve had quite a few new faces at rehearsals recently which is so wonderful to see. Continue to promote the chorus to as many people as possible - they need to know how fabulous we are and how much fun it is! Thank you so much to all of you that have been coming up with ideas for fundraising! You’re already doing a wonderful job with sweet treats, quiz nights, cute sock dolls, cleaning offers and much more! Amazing job ladies, your enthusiasm is fab, keep up the hard work and riding that high from convention - go Team FAberdeen!

• Marketing and Publicity – Mhairi Adie Publicity drive SHMU Radio have been advertising our win and membership drive. Adverts have been placed online at Free Ads and on Locanto which has an app. These sites may not be so highly used in but are growing and we are certainly getting viewing hits. Publicity Emails have been sent to: Culter Courier, Trend Magazine, Aberdeen Citizen, Buchan Observer, Bucksburn News, Leopard Magazine, Herald, Mearns Leader/Kincardineshire Observer and MBC News – awaiting print success. Wonderful advert with Sandra’s sock dolls in the Evening Express. Thank you Sandra for agreeing to this. The P&J came to the chorus to take photos and we are awaiting an article. The journalist has been on holiday, hence the delay. Vera secured a slot for an article in the UpFront NHSG magazine. Anne Cargill has written a super article which should be coming out in the July edition. Thank-you Vera and Anne. If your work or club has a publication, let me know The advertising poster is available in an A4 size on Groupanizer under Publicity. Please print off and put up in any clubs, shops etc. Facebook has been on fire. Thanks to Lizzie and Alison for keeping the momentum going.

Edinburgh Fringe The flyer for the Fringe is available on groupanizer under publicity. Please circulate. The tickets are available through the chorus. Helen Gauld and Anne C have the tickets. Please try and sell at least two each.The Fringe Programme is in its final edit.

Photos Sophie has chosen 12 photos from Cardiff which the Chorus now has on file. Members can still order online. The video given to us by the region is the only edit available.

Sea Safari outing 8th July - Those who are confirmed on the boat trips can pay £20 to the chorus directly. Both trips are now full. Thank you to all who have signed up. Can’t wait.

Costume Report Once we have access and the building has been cleaned we will move costumes in. At this time Anne F will do formal handover to Averil. Anne F has completed a list of known costumes and a full inventory will be carried out once we transfer to H1. 6 Roses were purchased to give to our newest member and replenish stock. Norma and Sally have both now returned their costumes and jewellery etc.

Katherine, Efe and Diana were all issued a Rose. Chorus t-shirt with logo - Enquiries made with several companies, quite a few did not reply and others require the purchase of their clothing to be printed. The Dugout Aberdeen, based on George Street were the best option and it was agreed to work with them. After discussion it was agreed that Averil will get a black top with both front and back logo to see what it looks like before progressing further. It was agreed that chorus members would purchase their own tops and the chorus would pay for one set of printing. If chorus members would like more than one top printed this would be at their own cost. There is specific criteria for the type of top The top must be totally plain black, for continuity properly black and not a faded shade, there must be no seams, buttons, zips or any other embellishment on the printed area.

Aberdeen Chorus Handbook – It was agreed at the last meeting that it would be good to have an Aberdeen Chorus Handbook. This task will take some time as Averil is collating information from various apps/programmes/fonts etc. This also provides an opportunity to review all Aberdeen Chorus documentation and Standing Rules etc. to ensure they are up to date and accurate. Many thanks to Averil for taking this on.

5. Fringe - 17th August – The risers are being transported for us. The programmes and tickets are in hand. 6. Christmas Performance Dates – our three Christmas shows will be held at Curl. There will be two shows on the Sunday 1st December at 2.30pm and 5.30pm. Each show will last approximately one and a half hours. There will be no dress rehearsal before the 2.30pm show. Our third show will be on Monday at 7.30pm. We will hold a raffle. Tickets will be £12 and £10 with children attending free of charge.

7. Retreat Weekend 2020 Dundee – Coaching for the retreat will start on Saturday 7th March and Sunday 8th March. This will enable members to pay only one night's accommodation if preferred. Members will be able to stay on the Friday night if wished.

8. 40th Anniversary Celebration – It was agreed to put the Beach Ballroom dinner and dance in December 2020 on hold. Our fundraising efforts will focus on Kentucky. Lorna Smith has organised a chorus fundraiser quiz night with fish and chips at The Ashvale at the cost of £15 per head. The proceeds will be for chorus funds not the Kentucky fund.

9. Kentucky 2020 Committee – Debbie and Anne F will head up a small committee for Kentucky.

10. AOCB. Ooters ( temporary members from other Sweet Adeline Choruses) will be required to attend at least two rehearsals per month if planning to come with us to Kentucky. Non-barber shop singers will be required to attend regularly with May 2020 being the cut-off point for the start of their attendance. Both new members and ooters will be expected to attend any additional coaching after May 2020.

Calendar

21st June International Make Music Day 7.30pm The Acorn Centre, Inverurie

3rd July Extra Rehearsal 7pm H1/Cricket Club

8th July Chorus Holiday

28th July Dementia Friendly Leathen Park Home,

7th August Extra Rehearsal 7pm H1 building

17th August Edinburgh Fringe 2pm St Andrew's and St George's Church

24th August Celebrate Aberdeen parade 11am Albyn Place

1st September Charity Shop George Street

4t September Extra rehearsal 7pm H1 building

19th September The Good Companion St Mary's Church

2nd October Extra rehearsal 7pm H1 building

24th October Chorus Quiz Night Ashvale Fish Restaurant

6th November Extra Rehearsal 7pm Curl

1st December Christmas shows 2.30pm Curl (call time 1pm) 5.30pm Curl

2nd December Christmas show 7.30pm

3rd December Balmedie Friendship Club 2pm Eigie Houses

Next meeting: Monday 15th July 2019