BQPA/PIONEERS
Barbershop Quartet Preservation Association
BQPA / Pioneers Board Meeting, 9/8/2011
Minutes of the April, 2011 membership meeting in Tempe were read by Ed Simons, amended and accepted by acclamation.
Jim Gallagher gave financial report: after Tempe, we had $500 more in the treasury than before, even thought the beer funds came up a bit short. Balance is about $5500.00. There are 31 new registrations, including the Tempe festival and since!
Regarding shirts: Raymond Schwartzkopf suggested that a laptop computer be used at registration for ordering shirts over the internet, via the link in our website. The board will discuss this; Raymond will try it out. Jim said that, even so, he may bring a few shirts to Tempe. The sense of the meeting was that, although a number of colors are available, along with various other clothing items with our logo, the “official” color for the shirt is the dark royal blue.
It was mentioned that we would not draw the attention of the IRS until we have a treasury balance of more than $50,000.00.
Gerry Carroll provided a Chicago festival organization report. He had determined a few months ago that the restaurant at the Ramada was NOT going to re-open without an expenditure of more than $200,000.00. He therefore approached J.C. to move the festival to the Best Western (same management.) Negotiations included getting them to house all of us in the same wing, to avoid disturbing their other guests with our singing after hours. It’s expected that there will be coupons for free breakfasts for Friday and Saturday, and the management is providing the beer free this festival, as an indication of their wish to keep us coming to their properties. Gerry was asked to draft a letter of appreciation for board approval. He will arrange to reserve the Best Western for the same weekend next year.
There’s a hope that we will garner some additional members during the memorial for Lynn Hauldren planned for Saturday at 2:00 PM in our meeting room (The Lafayette).
Frank Fliszar reported that we have on the order of 256 members on the register at present.
Raymond had been asked by Gerry to organize the entertainments, and he reported that Tom Neal is slated to be the MC for the Friday evening quartet contest, and Don Reed is a possible MC for the Saturday night show, with Raymond as backup. Both events are scheduled for 7:30 PM. Raymond reported that his talent search started with notes to more than 50 quartets; 27 were invited. 3 accepted, 7 were “working on it”, and some had not answered. (After Hours cannot attend, as they are sing at a wedding downstate…) He wants to be involved in the talent search for the Chicago festival in 2012.
It was emphasized that the donation bucket is to be displayed in a prominent spot in the entryway for the Saturday show; the show is not “Free”!
Our web presence was discussed at some length. Jim Milner noted that our domain name was not owned by ADDR.COM, which hosts our website, but we were able to get a reduction to $60.00 a year from the owner, GODADDY.COM. Raymond has volunteered to back up Jim in administering the website.
Discussion of the lyrics sheets resulted in Tom Noble agreeing to have Rosie’s cleaned up lyrics pages copied Friday morning so they are available to members.
Jim Gallagher will order 200 new BQPA pins, the supply of which is nearly exhausted.
A discussion of our bylaws resulted in an agreement to add a clause that permits the board to elect officers as needed, since continuity is important to the organization. Shel Rosenthal will propose language at the next festival in Tempe. Jack Martin still wants to resign from the presidency, but wants to be assured that his successor is a good guy…
Gerry Carroll brought up the need for a new supply of quartet contest medals, as the old ones are in short supply. Two proposed designs for new medals were presented. The #1 proposed design was selected by agreement, rather than the #2 design, and the medals will be the same for both festivals. Gerry and Jim Gallagher will look into locating a supplier for 100 new medals.
“Montana” Jack Fitzgerald emphasized that the organization needs to have a long term plan in mind, including the possibility of expanding to one or two more festivals per year, and planning festivals in more venues, such as the east coast, to draw more members from that area. This was taken under advisement for discussion by the board…
There being no more business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Tom Noble