NOTES FROM THE IJA WINTER BUSINESS MEETING

 

The IJA board of directors held a winter business meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, Feb. 1-3 in conjunction with the Groundhog Day Festival. Members present were Bill Barr, president; Glenn Ceponis, vice­president; Rich Chamberlin, secretary; Ginny Rose, treasurer; Bill Giduz, publications editor; Holly Greeley, championships director; Alan Howard, director; and Rodger French and Toni Shifalo, convention chairmen. Below is a condensation of the minutes of that meeting:

 

Friday evening session:

 

First order of business was the summer convention.

 

French reported the package plan will be about $200. The U.S. Nationals and Public Show, and possibly Team championships, will be held in the 1,760-seat Atlanta Symphony Hall, with Juniors and Numbers championships held in the 450-seat Druid Hills High School auditorium. Rodger went over a tentative schedule of events, promising to submit a full schedule and registration information in time for the Spring issue of Juggler's World.

 

Second order of business was a membership drive. Giduz showed a dummy of a new IJA/Juggler's World brochure that will be .made available to everyone to pass out to friends. Businesses that stamp their logos in the referral spot on the application will receive a $1 referral fee for each new member signed up through their cooperation. A contest for referrals by individual members was discussed, but details were not finalized. It is hoped that plans will be com­plete by the summer convention.

 

Andrew Schwartz, Juggler's World advertising manager, suggested membership could be boosted by putting ads in other magazines and by having a spokesman for the organization for radio and television appearances. Schwartz said it will be hard to interest large clients in magazine ads until circulation rises. It was decided to begin selling subscriptions to the magazine separate from IJA membership. It was also moved and passed that life memberships will henceforth cost $250 and contributing memberships will be $30.

 

There was discussion of setting up an IJA Hall of Fame to recognize great jugglers of the ages. It would also establish the IJA as a prime resource for media interested in juggling. Chamberlin agreed to set up a committee to decide qualifications and procedures for induction.

 

The IJA's contact with European members was discussed. There were very few suggestions on how we can serve this group better, but the need to keep

in touch with them through correspondence and an official IJA presence at European juggling conventions was recognized.                                                 .

 

Saturday session:

 

First order of business was the choice of 1986 and 1987 convention sites. The board heard proposals from Akron, Ohio; Arcata, California; Eugene, Oregon; Lake Forest, Illinois; Oakland, California; and Orlando, Florida.

 

After hearing all proposals, the board decided to recommend Oakland as the 1986  and Akron as the 1987 site.  Barry Bakalor from Oakland and Kevin Delagrange and others from Akron made these presentations and accepted the jobs of convention chairmen. Members have until the end of March to dispute the board's decision in writing. Address letters to IJA, Kenmore, NY.

 

Reasons for rejecting sites were: Arcata - the proposal did not arrive in the mail until after the meeting ended. Also, the location was felt to be too remote to ensure good attendance. Eugene - inadequate gym size, but the proposal was lauded as "the best written proposal ever," with congratulations to its author, Tom Dewart.  Lake Forest - the proposal was incomplete and gym facilities deemed too small. Orlando - the proposal was incomplete, though Ron Severini's idea of staging the IJA convention in conjunction with conventions of other allied artists groups was applauded.

 

A motion was made and passed that the IJA should appoint from its board a co-chairman to work with on-site chairmen of all conventions beginning in

1986.

 

Second order of business was organizational restructuring. In accordance with decisions made last year, the secretary will drop off of the board of directors as of the end of the convention. This was decided to avoid conflict of interest since secretary is the only paid IJA position. To fill the slot on the executive board, the championships director will be added to that body.