BQPA/PIONEERS
Barbershop Quartet Preservation Association
Minutes – Membership Meeting – Chicago – 2013
We memorialized a list of “Departed Friends” by singing The Old Songs in their honor.
Treasurer’s Report: Jim Gallagher reported that we are solvent, with a bit more than $6320.00 in the bank before expenses of the current festival. We are a bit close to spending more than we collect in Tempe, but so far we have a surplus in our treasury.
The Platoons have not requested actual outlay from us although we offered to assist with their expenses when their original request was received last year.
Announcements of our festival were sent to various district bulletins, and notices were sent to all members, with many email messages having bounced. All attendees were encouraged to register and double-check their email addresses.
Montana Jack was applauded on his efforts in getting a “top twenty-five favorite songs” list as a result of the survey he and Keith Eckhardt mounted on the internet.
It was noted that we rented sound equipment for the Chicago festival again this year, at minimal expense.
Don Doss provided the seed for the new 200-song BQPA song list. Raymond Schwartzkopf has suggested that we offer this on our website, but provide the download only when folks provide name and email address, and this facility will be coming soon.
A Tempe festival report from Jim Milner included notice that the details describing the next festival there are now on the website. The guest room rate has risen by $4.00 to $109.00 per night. We will be in a smaller meeting room on the second floor, and the rate for that room is higher than the previous rate for the larger room on the first floor.
A report on the current festival was provided by Gerry Carroll, who reports that the hotel folks here love us. Gerry praised Dave Brady for organizing the golf arrangements. He also praised Raymond for arranging for the talent for the Saturday evening show. Raymond has also agreed to backstop Gerry in the negotiations with the hotel and making arrangements for future festivals in Chicago.
Gerry asked us to call or email the hotel to commend them for our experiences here, and also to get on www.bwfeedback.com to report on our positive experiences at Best Western Hillside this week.
Shel and Rosie have announced that they are retiring as registrars for our festivals. We need volunteers to organize and chair the registration table activity in future. Shel reported that it’s not all that huge a job, and that the materials for doing the job are contained in a Harmony University briefcase. He also emphasized that the job of administering the pick-up quartet contest could be separated from the registrars’ job, if that’s a sticking point. Again, volunteers are solicited…
A round of applause was raised in appreciation for Rosie and Shel, who have been our registrars for many years, now.
Mention was made of the fact that local women’s SAI and HI organizations could not be with us due to educational and retreat activities which conflicted this week.
Frank Fliszar’s membership roster shows 303 members at this point, with more than 45 registered at the festival and more than ten new members having joined, including some of the younger attendees who have come with Jim Angell.
Mention was made of the possibility of moving the western festival to someplace like Portland, Oregon. This has come up due to schedule conflicts for accommodations in Tempe, in 2015. We have information suggesting that there may be someone in the Portland area who would be willing to organize a festival in that location. Comments on such a move were both pro and con. Change of date is a possibility, as well, remaining in Tempe. Suggestions were solicited.
Raymond has done yeoman’s duty in getting us and our activities “out there” via Facebook, etc. Facebook postings and/or links were sent this year to people who don’t usually come to our festivals, and some folks actually came to this festival as a result.
Frank Goode made a suggestion at the board meeting, which would call for local volunteers to form a quartet and visit some senior centers and residences local to the festival venue, in anticipation of our festivals. Frank suggests that we might expect some women, who make up the majority of resident communities in such facilities, may be interested in forming quartets and doing some singing, possibly attending our festivals as a result.
Comments regarding the judging criteria for our pick-up quartet contests were solicited, and far more immediate comments were positive than negative.
Moderation criteria for the email group were discussed. Montana Jack objected to the idea of imposing criteria on the moderators. Further discussions will be undertaken on this topic.
The meeting was adjourned with the singing of Sweet, Sweet Roses of Morn…
Respectfully submitted,
Tom Noble. President
BQPA/Pioneers