April 12, 2015 Zimfest Association Board Meeting Synopsis
Members present: David Simon, Alex Weeks, Tsitsi Hantuba, Paul Mataruse, Daniel Lockley, Amy Robinson, Dana Moffett
Members absent: Jacqueline Fallon
Nonvoting member in attendance: Claire Jones
Review of March 8 Meeting Minutes and Synopsis
Approved.
Zimfest 2015 (Claire)
Teacher applications closed. Workshop and concert schedule drafts underway. Notifications and contracts should be sent out by the end of the month.
Online registrations and webpages in progress—hope to be online by May 10. Alex and Larry are working on the website—should be working tomorrow.
Zimbabwean Dinner: Claire tried to arrange this several different ways, but it won’t be possible due to prohibitive costs.
The organizing committee (OC) is addressing the problem of people registering for workshops out of their levels, including teachers who want to teach a specific song signing up for beginning workshops. This has made beginning and advanced-beginning workshops unpleasant for the students. Certain workshops will clearly specify beginners or advanced beginners only, no teachers.
Contract and camping options—still in negotiation. Camping fee will likely be $10/tent/night.
Treasurer’s Report (Tsitsi)
IRS Issue: Tsitis is working on this. Tsitsi is also organizing past records.
Tsitsi inquired from the IRS about transitioning the paid coordinator position from employee to contractor. They do not require any permission. Claire will see what Washington State requires.
She renewed the board insurance policy and will renew the festival policy in June.
She is seeking an accountant for the tax preparation.
Festival budget projects for $4,000 profit but does not take into account the expense of the paid coordinator. This will be revised once we receive the contract from Western Oregon University.
Do we need to separate the association from the festival from the standpoint of bank accounts? We need to have 2 accounts, one dedicated to PayPal and one checking account combining festival and association funds. The pros/cons of keeping separate accounts for the festival and association was discussed. We will try combining festival and association accounts and change back if problems occur. Detailed accounting will be maintained itemizing profit and loss from each aspect of the festival either way.
Account Location
A co-op shared branch credit union may have lower fees than Chase. Action item: David will see whether there is a credit union in Colorado he can access. We desire a good online interface and ease of adding/transitioning new users.
Annual Bylaws Review
We wanted for everyone on the board to have time to consider the revisions. The changes were unanimously approved. After the meeting, Alex will update and save the changes. The changes will be reported to the IRS with our next filing. Alex put a copy of the changes at the end of the bylaws.
Jennifer Kyker’s Departure from the Board
We want to acknowledge her numerous contributions to the board over the past few years. We thank her and welcome her opinion in the future.
Board Member Recruitment
We are now at 8 board members which is our minimum. We will continue to reach out to potential new members and specifically a treasurer.
Next Meeting
May 10, 6-8 PST
The ZA Bylaws from the website are dated 3/7/2015. Will someone please update these to the latest version? Thanks!
As a permanent “Advanced Beginner” (I’m able to keep up at that level) I have had workshops with and without teachers as workshop members. I find they help, not hinder the class. They help remind you of your part, hold down their own part to free up the instructor’s time for those who need help, and help move the class along so you are exposed to all the parts of the song so you can practice them later from your recording.
Good to hear that, Marion!