IJA Board Meeting- October 24, 2007

1. CALL TO ORDER: Chair Don Lewis called the meeting to order at 8:11 p.m. EDT.

2. ROLL:
Present: Don Lewis, chair; Kim Laird, John Satriano, Chuck Hawley, Will Penman, Sandy Brown, Jerry Martin (arrived at 8:16 p.m.) (Board members); Janelle Hawley (Recording Secretary), Holly Greeley (Treasurer), Martin Frost (Communications Director), Jim Maxwell (Membership Director), Richard Kennison (2008 Festival Director)

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Kim Laird moved to approve the agenda - agenda was passed by unanimous consent

4. PREVIOUS MINUTES: Kim Laird moved to approve the minutes from the September 12th meeting

Don Lewis would like to amend 6d from the September 12th minutes. It should read Don Lewis moves to continue to examine a request submitted by Dave Davis.

September 12, 2007 minutes passed with amendment by unanimous consent

5. REPORTS:

Finances (Holly Greeley) - There is little activity in finances during the month of September. The IJA continues to be at a positive cash flow for the year. The 3rd quarter financials will be done shortly. Progress is slow for next year's budget due to response. Holly will put together a budget based on this year's expenditures. Video income is down considerably due to the copyrighted DVD's being removed from the store.

Membership (Jim Maxwell) - The current membership number is 1700. This is normal after the festival; these months are slow. Mike Sullivan had one training session with the Murray's. They are doing a great job and are being updated on the software and information. Jim is researching the ordering of decals and stickers to send to new members and to send out with merchandise. Pricing is around $700 to $900 depending on type of sticker or cling-on. Also, data synchronization is in the evaluation and development phase. A timeline will be presented soon.

Store (Sandy Brown) - An order came in from Naranja. They are ordering 100 of our 2007 DVD 2-pack. This goes towards their credit from the pulled DVD's and the rest will be paid in cash by the end of 2007. Any store orders in the next 3 weeks will not be filled until around the 27th of November due to Sandy Brown being out of town. A note will be on the website to make people aware of the situation.

Festival (Richard Kennison) - The 2008 festival site in Lexington, KY has many things in close proximity and within walking distance. A renegade venue has been found. Stage shows and the Cascade of Stars will be in a nearby theatre. Richard is on the search for performers and has a few prospects, such as Casey Boehmer. Vendors will be in the same room with the jugglers. The budget is being based off the 2007 festival budget. Richard would like to continue the trading card idea in 2008, which is one item that would need to be added into the budget. Bill Barr and Richard are looking into a public show at the local Children's Hospital. The ticket money from the show will be donated back to the hospital. Any one person can buy tickets to the show. The show will take place on Monday before the festival officially begins and it will not be offered as part of the festival package, but everyone is welcomed to attend. Chuck Hawley is the new Stage Championships Coordinator.

Videos & DVD's (John Satriano, pro-tem) - The final 2007 festival DVD's are ready for production. The cover art is ready with one last approval. A shipping date for delivery will be the 1st week in December.

Bylaws (Will Penman) - The group has compiled a list of 20 items to be discussed. They are discussing the broadest issues first such as having a president, adding an article of purpose, and the format of the bylaws.

Stage Competition (Chuck Hawley) - A forum has been set up to discuss ideas. There are 7-8 people on the judging working group other than the board of directors. Chuck also approached some members about specific opinions on certain items because of their experience with those issues. He would like to have an update posted on the general forum in early November. Then start finalizing the judging criteria throughout November to have it ready for the December board meeting as well as JUGGLE magazine so competitors can be prepared for the competition.

eNewsletter (Don Lewis) - Submit ideas to Don for the next issue. To help members become acquainted with the city, each eNewsletter will have an article about Lexington, KY.

6. MOTIONS

6a. Sandy Brown moved to implement the comp proposal that has been presented to the membership and the board. (See Below)

There was one change to the proposal since it was presented to the membership and that was to add a comp for the Store Manager. Also, Holly Greeley will get a comp because she is the acting treasurer until replaced. The Recording Secretary will be on a case by case basis depending on whether or not they attend meetings, record minutes, and put them in final format for the website. Consensus from the BOD is one comp will suffice for each volunteer.

Don Lewis moved to vote on implementing the comp proposal

Motion is approved by unanimous consent

6b. Don Lewis proposed a motion whereas the IJA has received a complaint from David Davis, and whereas competent legal advice has advised that the claim is without merit, be it resolved that a response be sent to Mr. Davis indicating that his complaint has been found to be without merit.

The BOD has sought legal advice in pro bono. The lawyer has looked over postings and studied the situation and from the information gathered the content was seen as not libelous and has no legal merit.

Motion was passed by unanimous consent

6c. John Satriano addressed authorizing Todd Strong to work on a contract for the 2009 Festival in Winston-Salem. Winston-Salem is developing a proposal to present to the IJA. There was positive feedback from the membership regarding the site and the Winston-Salem festival.

John Satriano moved Todd Strong be authorized to develop a contract with Twin City Quarter Management to hold our annual festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 2009.

Motion carried by unanimous consent.

7. VARIA

7a. Kim Laird updated the BOD on the insurance policy. The Philly jugglers (through Jackie Erickson) bought the insurance for their festival and for their club next year. IJA members have also contacted Kim regarding the insurance. There are around 10 members signed up for the insurance. Also, the clowning society's insurance expires on May 1st; they are considering using the insurance as well.

7b. Chuck Hawley raised the issue of copyrighted music. The team that placed third in Championships; Genetic Fallout played copyright music during their performance. They received permission from Sony to use the music and from the pop rock group Fallout Boy for their performance and DVD. It should be known that if you put in the legwork, it could happen that you are able to use copyrighted music. About ½ of the stage competition acts were dubbed over in the DVD because permission was not granted. The IJA is not necessarily helping the competitors or the DVD with royalty free music since most venues have BMI and ASCAP licenses that performers could use for their live performances. On the other hand, some jugglers do not mind using copyright free music. Issue will be raised on the open forum for further discussion.

8. NEXT MEETING: Next regular BOD meeting will be held on December 5th, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. EST.

9. ADJOURNMENT: Jerry Martin moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:48 p.m. EDT.

Respectfully submitted by Janelle Hawley.

Comp Proposal for 2008

A 'comp' is defined as one full festival package. These cannot be transferred, sold, or carried over from year to year. The Festival DVD is not included in the comp. No partial comps will be given.

Comps will be divided into two catagories: Festival-related comps and Non-festival-related comps (staff). The two lists below are guidelines.

1) Festival-related comps: these comps are given at the discretion of the Festival Director. Each person will receive one comp, (with the exception of the Festival Director, who will receive two comps). This list will include, but is not limited to:

o Festival Director
o Show performers
o Show directors
o IJA Table staff
o Registrar
o Cashier
o Joggling Director
o Championships Director
o Vendor Coordinator
o Security Coordinator
o Numbers Director(s)
o Workshop Coordinator
o Volunteer Coordinator
o Games Director
o Emcees
o Graphic Artists
o Other festival volunteers in positions which require a substantial number of hours during, or add a significant amount of value to the festival.

* In the past, several positions, such as the Auction Coordinator and the Festival Newsletter Writer have been awarded comps. It is questionable whether these positions merit a comp, however, this is a choice to be determined by the Festival Director.

2) Non-festival-related comps: comps given to yearlong IJA staff.

o Board of Directors (1) per Director
o Memberships Director(s) (1) per Director (there are currently three Membership Directors-each will receive one comp)
o Treasurer/Bookkeeper (1)
o Webmaster (1)
o DVD/Magazine Distributor (1)
o Video Coordinator (1)
o Communications Director (1)
o Future Festivals Site Coordinator (1)

The Board may add individuals on to this list in advance of the festival.

Service on committees will not entitle committee members to comps.

A person serving in two or more roles will only receive a comp from at most one of those roles. For instance, a Board Member who is also the DVD/Magazine Distributor will only receive one comp.

The Festival Director will compile the entire comp list and no one may add or delete a name from the list without the authority of the Festival Director. If the Festival Director has any questions regarding comps, he/she should ask the Board. He/she will provide the Board with the current list of festival comps several months prior to the festival and then again during the month before the festival, as updates are made. The Board will give the Festival Director the list of non-festival-related comps well in advance of the festival.

If a volunteer resigns having worked for 9 months or less, no comp will be awarded.