Minutes for January 15, 2008 Board Meeting
Fifteen
members were in attendance including: Claudia McEwen, Tom O’Neil, Alicia Merel,
Gail Burnett, Nancee Rainaud, Suzanne Terpos, Sandy Holland, Pat Robenolt, Kim
Capps, Rita Irwin, Arnie Steinmetz, C. J. Geotis, Lauren Spinelli, Fred
Hundhammer, Natalia Gimer, and GM, Loretta Geotis.
The meeting
was called to order at 6:00 by Vice President, Claudia McEwen. The meeting was
later conducted by President, Fred Hundhammer, and then turned back to Claudia
while Fred went to rehearsal.
Rita moved to
approve the agenda. A motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting was
made by Alicia Merel and seconded by Kim Capps.
GM
Staff Report
1
BOX OFFICE REPORT
a) Body count for
December is 1056.
b) Three-show season
packages are still available through the current production.
c) “The Smell of the
Kill” tickets are selling very well. As of today, 989 tickets sold
2
CINEMA
a) “Fool’s Gold” is a movie coming out in February sometime about hunting
for a lost treasure. There is
some kind of fancy boat featured in the movie and Marathon Boat Yard has a
similar boat in stock. They have asked if we would be interested in putting
that boat in the parking lot on display during the run of the movie. I left a
note for Bob and asked for his input. I have not received a reply from him. I
told Sherrie Popham (MBY) that I would check
with Bob, the Board and that we would most likely have to get permission from
Ralph regarding the parking lot. We would discuss security and details upon a
decision whether or not to pursue it.
DISCUSSION: Gail
Burnett suggested that parking would be an issue for this project. Claudia
suggested posting a sign in the cinema indicating where they could see the boat;
another suggestion was made for Marathon Boat Yard to purchase a cinema slide
to run during the movie. Final decision is to not allow the boat to be
displayed.
Other stuff
a)
A “snowbird” volunteer school is scheduled for Wednesday, January 16 at 4:00
p.m. in the Gallery. Please pass the word. It has appeared in the newspapers.
b) I
have contacted 40 businesses and organizations regarding the group/volunteer
opportunity. Will be speaking at Rotary tomorrow, Jan. 16. If you belong to
an organization that would like to participate, please contact me. (Will
explain the idea at the board meeting.)
c) Please help me distribute flyers
and brochures in your businesses and offices where possible.
d)
Art currently hanging in the gallery is a combination effort of The
Bougainvillea House Gallery and the Artists in Paradise Gallery in Big Pine
Key. The BH will be moving into the space next to the Chamber on February 1st.
A grand opening evening is planned for February 29. They will be raffling 17
pieces of art that evening. Please tell people about the art displayed here
during the show. Remember, MCT gets 20% of the proceeds sold during our
production.
Also,
January 22 is “Meet the Artists” day here from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Snacks will
be served, and they will bring additional art for sale that day. Most all the
artists will be in attendance as well.
e) Recent publicity appearances include:
Spots running on Key TV…
Rita did an interview on the Morning Mix.
Loretta did an interview on Cal Sutphin’s show on
Friday, Jan 11.
Speaking at Rotary on Wed., January 16.
Remember I’m available to talk to your organizations about the
theatre any time.
f) I am currently talking one-on-one with local media about
getting more coverage. They are very good at printing almost everything I send,
but are not responding to press night or writing anything on their own. I have
had a discussion with Dick Conklin and will speak with the other newspapers as
well. Dick very kindly shared his email list of 160 media contacts for me to
use. I will make the best use of this as possible.
DISCUSSION:
Lauren suggested writing a letter to the editor regarding no pictures in the newspaper;
however, this was discouraged by the GM due to the possibility of irritating
the paper to the point of not running anything. GM says all papers are very
good about running all press releases even though sometimes they don’t have
space for photos. GM feels the relationships she has built with the media
contacts are more important than a letter to the editor.
g) Wish
to discuss Paul’s idea about drawing a seat number for a free drink….
h) The
Opening Night party was very successful. However, I have emailed the
Entertainment Committee regarding trying to cook food here. We will NOT be
doing that again. It’s too much work, we are not set up for this, and it’s not
fair to the few who end up doing all the work. From this point forward, we
want cold foods, sandwiches, finger foods, etc. in throw-away containers only.
DISCUSSION: Numerous suggestions were offered about the
opening night party ranging from completely dispensing with it back to the
original suggestion to Keep It Simple. A motion was made by Lauren and
seconded by Kim to go with the original suggestion offered by the GM to request
from members and serve only cold, finger foods that need no preparation and are
in throw-away containers. This ensures less clean-up and less work for
everyone involved.
i) Directors/Producers - Don’t forget to email me any
changes/additions/deletions to your rehearsal schedules, cast information,
meetings, use of rooms etc. Please check with myself or Gail to make sure we
are not scheduling on top of each other. And, please be considerate of those
who are rehearsing regarding noise, running in and out, interruptions, etc.
j) Please double check to make sure lights are out, doors are
locked, A/C is off.
There is a key
in a magnetic box inside the glass case by the front door. This allows people
who are coming in to work during the day (especially) to keep the front door locked
and still leave the key in the outside lock box for others.
As always, if any
board member has any questions or concerns – please feel free to contact me
directly in the business office at 743-0408 or via email at gm@marathontheater.org. Loretta
Geotis, MCT General Manager.
Committee
reports
Finance
Alicia
reports according to the financial report, numbers remain about the same for
the past several months. Cash balance is $48,605 plus the TIB CD in the amount
of $21,051. Finance committee voted to add the extra $1,000 to the monthly
payment toward the principal for February.
Alicia also
reported that California Suite was down somewhat from the projected
budget, but concessions were up from the projection. A decent gross profit was
realized.
Alicia also
reported that minimum wage was raised at the beginning of the year, but does
not affect us since we start cinema employees above that rate.
VP
Production
Gail reports
she is getting royalties in order for the spring reading. The current
productions are well underway.
Playreading
DISCUSSION: Arnie’s suggestion to allow
persons who have directed in other areas to direct here was put on hold for
another meeting since VP of Production and the President needed to be at
rehearsal.
The second
suggestion from Arnie was regarding director’s to request critique from other
director’s during rehearsals.
DISCUSSION: Rita states that any good director
would automatically ask another director to sit in on a rehearsal and look at
it from a different perspective. However, it was stated that some directors do
not want a critique from others and will not pay attention if offered. Alicia
says we cannot order directors to request critique from others. Rita says this
falls under the VP of Production role which sometimes makes that position very
unpopular. MCT has in the past actually fired a director due to similar
issues. The decision comes down to the fact that the Playreading Committee
comes to the Board with the suggested productions for the next season, with proposed
directors in place, and then the decision is made as to whether certain
directors are allowed to direct or not. Bottom line… if we have four shows
with one problematic director, do we go with that decision or do we go with
three shows with no problematic director.
Stage and
Sound
Tom received
a request to research the purchase of microphones for some musical numbers. Tom
asked the Board’s opinion before he invests any more time in this project. There
are countless numbers of options as well as issues with this idea. Many
questions need to be answered before a final decision would be made on this.
Rita says she would not recommend it. We have done very well all along without
mikes.
Building
Building
committee will schedule a meeting prior to the next Board meeting.
Entertainment
The Opening
Night party was previously discussed during the GM report. The Entertainment Committee
needs to regroup and will call a meeting prior to the next opening night!
Membership
Lauren reiterates
the importance of having all our members paid. The issue of raising dues,
changing the description of “members in good standing,” and others were
discussed and tabled for another meeting. Alicia checked on the insurance requirements
regarding coverage. *Please see document attached. CJ reminds us to make sure
we do not open ourselves up for financial destruction.
At this
time, nearly 100% of our participants are paid and those who are not have been
notified. Membership renewal is included on the season brochure, emailed to
all members at renewal time and mailed to those who do not have emails. It is
also duly noted at general membership meetings.
As the
membership list changes almost daily, please contact the GM any time for the
most up-to-date list.
Nominating
Committee
CJ said
response to his first email looking for nominating committee members was
underwhelming. However, he does have two people willing to serve on the
committee. He will have the committee pulled together in the near future.
Other
Old
Business
New
Business
Good of
the order
Suzanne
Terpos made a motion to adjourn. Second by Kim Capps.
Meeting
adjourned at 7:19 p.m.
