January 11, 2015 ZA Board Meeting Minutes

January 11, 2015 Zimfest Association Board Meeting Synopsis

Members present: Tsitsi Hantuba, Dana Moffett, Paul Mataruse, David Simon, Alex Weeks, Amy Robinson, Jennifer Kyker, Jacqueline Fallon
Nonvoting member absent: Claire Jones

December 14 Board Meeting Minutes and Synopsis

Minutes and synopsis of the December meeting (12-14-14) were approved via email discussion and the synopsis was posted on the blog a few weeks ago.

Festival Coordinator Status

Tsitsi—We should continue to pay the Festival Coordinator as an employee, since it may take up to 6 months to get a response from the IRS. She will contact Paychecks to arrange payment.

2015 Festival Planning Update

Alex—The theme for this year’s festival has been chosen: “Enduring Rhythms ~ Gathering in Harmony.” It has been difficult to speak to the appropriate people at Western Oregon University presumably due to the break. Efforts will be made to resume our planning conversations.

Location of the concert venue is still pending—there are two acceptable options. Good progress has been made on the part of the tech team. Tsitsi is drafting a budget and will present this at the next board meeting.

Timeline highlights: Jan. 20—teacher/performer applications go online. March 10—deadline to return these. During March—teacher/performer applications reviewed. May 10—online registration goes live. Deadline to cancel workshops with less than the minimal enrollment July 30.

Recruiting Board Members

David has been pursuing this and anticipates that at least one person may be submitting a letter of intent. Perhaps we can interview him at the next meeting. Dana and Alex talked to several people who are not available. We still need to reach out to others. We would like to diversify the board in terms of more Zimbabweans and other minorities. Alex can access festival participant lists from 2010 to present to help us generate ideas. He will send this list to the board to facilitate further conversations.

Membership

Tsitsi received feedback that it was not easy for people to find where to click to renew membership or make donations in the annual membership letter. This will be addressed with future letters to the community.

Meeting called to order at 6 pm PST; meeting adjourned 6:37 pm PST.

Next Meeting

February 8, 2015, 6-8 pm PST