IJA Board Meeting - October 23, 2001

Present: Paul Richmond, board chair; Martin Frost, Ben Schoenberg, Todd Strong, Art Jennings, Bill Ritchie, Andy Ford, Katje Sabin, directors; Norman Schneiderman, general manager.

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Paul at 1:05am October 24, 2001 Greenwich Mean Time (6:05pm October 23, 2001, Pacific Daylight Time).

Minutes: The minutes were discussed at the end of the meeting.

Magazine Contract: The board has been reviewing three proposals for the publication of the IJA's magazine.

*Martin moved to authorize Norman to continue negotiations and agree to sign a contract with StageWrite Publishing contingent on agreement to remaining contract issues.
*Art seconded the motion.
*The motion passed (Paul, Martin, Ben, Art, Bill, Andy and Katje voted aye; Todd abstained)

2003 Festival Site: The board has been reviewing a proposal for the 2003 IJA Festival in Reno, Nevada. Norman clarified several board members' questions about rates and room reservation history.

Martin indicated that since the facility costs will be cheaper (if the IJA sells 200 rooms at Circus Circus, the pavilion site will be free of charge), the festival fees should reflect that discount. Ben pointed out that the prospective dates (July 13-17 or 15-19) closely follow other west coast juggling events, and that we should investigate later dates.

*Paul moved that the board authorize Ginny Rose, festival coordinator, to continue negotiating with Reno for the 2003 festival.
*Katje seconded the motion.

Discussion: Martin suggested that we look at dates 1, 2 or 3 weeks later because of other juggling events in July. He also encouraged a Sunday-Thursday fest instead of Tuesday-Saturday to help people with room rates. He also wanted to check into the feasibility of a 6-day festival, preferably Sunday-Friday. Norman indicated that he would pass these requests on to Ginny.
*The motion passed unanimously.

Fundraising Letter: Due to unforeseen problems, the Insider was not included with the current issue of the magazine. Since we were planning to send out a fundraising letter to the membership this fall, Paul suggested that we include with that letter some of the announcements and financial information that did not get published in the Insider. Martin was willing to help lay it out.

*Martin and Paul will make sure that the fundraising letter will be sent to the membership via first class mail by Nov. 19, 2001.

Life Member Fund: Paul and Norman explained the concept of withdrawing membership costs from the Life Member Fund to support the costs of the membership of those members. It is hoped that donations from life members will continue to come into the fund. To date, only interest has been withdrawn from the LM fund.

*Paul moved that the IJA annually, in January, transfer money from the Life Member Fund equivalent to normal current dues to cover the cost of membership of Life Members who receive mailings.
*Katje seconded the motion.

Discussion: Ben asked that the board revisit this policy within two years.

The motion is amended to add the phrase: "The treasurer will give a yearly report on the status of the Life Member fund."

*The motion passed unanimously.

New Life Members: The board discussed reopening the Life Member program. Several scenarios were examined in light of the current economy and member rates.

*Paul moved that we accept Life Memberships at the rate of $1,500 each. The new Life Member fund will be administered separately from the existing fund.
*Martin seconded the motion.
*The motion passed unanimously.

Brochures: The staff will print more brochures, as we have already nearly run out of the 10,000 we had printed for the Madison festival this summer. The number of reprints will depend upon costs and staff recommendations.

Committees: The board revisited the structures of the current committees. Martin agreed to create a master listing of all committee members and post them, with permission, on the Web site.

Expelled member requesting membership: An individual who was expelled from the IJA has re-applied for membership. Ben said that if an apology were received by the Board for certain statements and actions that led to the expulsion, then he would vote to readmit the former member. Katje said that we are not a policing organization and that we do not need to start creating conditions for membership other than those listed in the bylaws; if individual board members wish to approach the potential member and ask for clarification, apologies or statements, they should do so independently. Bill wanted to make sure that everyone read a letter sent to the board about the issue from a current IJA member. The issue was tabled and will be reconsidered at the next meeting.

Festival expense details: Martin requested staff to give the board, in the next few weeks, the details of fees and expenses paid and waivers granted to each individual helper or performer at the Madison fest. Norman said he would ask Richard and Ginny to provide the information.

Staff availability: Martin requested prior notification to the board of dates when staff would be out of town.

Minutes: The minutes of the last three meetings have not yet been approved. The board agreed to review and approve all unapproved minutes at the beginning of the next board meeting.

Next Meeting: The board will meet next at 1am GMT on Nov. 28 (that's 6pm PDT Nov. 27, 2001). The agenda, along with any proposals, reports, materials and so on will be due in board members e-mailboxes on Nov. 20, 2001.

Bahamas Fest: According to Norm, only two people have made reservations for the Bahamas Winterfest. A minimum of 50 is needed, therefore it is unlikely that this event will take place.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 3:27am October 24, 2001 Greenwich Mean Time (8:27pm October 23, 2001, Pacific Daylight Time).

Respectfully submitted,

Katje Sabin