MISCELLANEOUS BOARD ACTIVITIES

The Board presented Mary Wilkins with a floral bouquet in recognition of her excellent work in the "history" room at the 50th anniversary festival. Braidy Brown's two auctions at the Pittsburgh festival produced approximately $3,000 for the archive fund and we have now moved all revenues from previous auctions into that fund. Braidy is working on a specific definition of the archive fund and its management; and, to consolidate the increasing list of IJA awards and track the various criteria and deadlines, Braidy has been appointed "Awards Director."

 

Bill Giduz concludes his editorship of Jugglers World with this issue and is working with our affiliate juggling clubs and, in particular, "World Juggling Day" which is set for June 20, 1998. Bill is also working on getting juggling added to the list of activities eligible for a Presidential Fitness Award.

 

The Board is continuing to work with Norman Schneiderman on an endowment fund to protect us from the financial risks of low festival turnout. Steve Salberg is working on the Internet discussion forum. Bud Markowitz is continuing to work on corporate fund-raising. Perry Rubenfeld is serving as Board liaison with Stan Allen of Magic magazine and overseeing for the Board the final issue of Jugglers World.

 

At the annual meeting the IJA bylaws were found wanting in a number of ways and Art Jennings and I are working on amendments to bring them up to date with our actual procedures, particularly regarding voting.

 

CHAIRMAN'S FORUM

In response to the adversarial tone of some of the discussion at the annual meeting, the Board has instituted an open forum to occur at the annual festival subsequent to both the annual meeting and the first meeting of the new board. The purpose is to have an open discussion, free of rules and votes, of what the Board is working on and anything else the participants wish to discuss with the Board Chairman and any other Board and staff members as may be available.

 

Our first forum drew an appreciative and articulate group of 40 to 50 members and we discussed a range of matters, most of which are addressed in this report. Much discussion focused on details of convention logistics and it was interesting to see how many of the concerns matched with the lJA's list of specific criteria, including walking distances, information, food service and more. Other topics addressed were affiliates and how to nurture them, an IJA festival in Europe, interaction with the European festival, marketing of videotapes, fewer events at festivals, institutional memberships, and more.

 

AND, FINALLY

To me, three things are very clear from the first forum. First, that because of our diverse membership and because we get together in large numbers only annually, this forum is a welcome addition to communication between Board and membership. Second, we can discuss things more effectively when we do not feel pressured by time, voting and rules. Third, a surprising number of concerns dissipate once informed by discussion with the leadership.

 

Which brings me to solicit your input (by letter, phone or fax, for now) so that the Board has at least some year-round input from members. (On-line Board members do have

input now via the Internet.) And, if I may ask, please also feel free to inquire about matters of concern, especially before making assumptions about the level, or lack of, intelligence or good intentions of the IJA leadership!

 

My experience is that you have a group of hard working, scrupulously honest and highly intelligent people whose only concern is to make the IJA run smoothly and to serve the needs of the membership and juggling as a whole. I pledge to remain mindful of our official mission statement: "To educate and render assistance to fellow jugglers, to provide an accessible source of juggling information to jugglers and the public, and to record and maintain the history of juggling." I also pledge to have fun.

 

Your Pal,

Sam Kilbourn; South Portland ME