April 8, 2018 ZA Board Meeting Minutes

April 8, 2018 Zimfest Association Board Meeting Synopsis

Members in Attendance: Jacqueline Fallon, Chris Halaska, Daniel Lockley, Evelyn Mukwedeya, David Simon, Mandy Walker-LaFollette, Alex Weeks, Janis Weeks
Members Absent: Rujeko Dumbutshena
Non-voting member in attendance: Claire Jones

Finalize March Minutes and Synopsis (All)

Approved

Review/Modify Agenda (All)

Good

Update on Tech Initiative (Alex/Janis)

Thanks to those who have been doing some testing the past few weeks. The real data is now being entered into the new system. The volunteer system is being updated but it is pretty much unchanged since 2016. More testing will happen once the real data has been entered.

Organizing Committee Update (Claire)

There is a ZF style guide that the proofreaders are following for similar style. Vendor applications are now open and a few inquiries. Bands have received their concert times. There are about 8 bands on the waiting list. Nyunga Nyunga jam to help showcase some of the new Zimbabweans, especially those not performing on the evening concert. A community outreach workshop was proposed, doing some work reaching out to the Monmouth community to see if something can be set up. WOU sent room allotment. There have been requests in the past about use of a kitchen, there is a shared kitchen on the 4th floor of Ackerman but no rooms allotted on that floor, so Claire is looking into that. Still waiting on the contract. Some of the workshop rooms that we’ve used in the past are not available and the new rooms have not been decided on. They said costs for facility and dining will be the same, so not much difference than previous years. Don Boderman with WOU has helped us immensely and is retiring before ZF. Follow-up on the Zimfest 2018 recording proposal – this is time-sensitive as we need to let Thaddeus know asap. We have decided not for this year. There are still boxes of the old CDs from 2000. Maybe we should bring them back and digitize it to make them more accessible. That is not too much extra work and is possible. We received a request from Europe to use the name Zimfest. Our recommendation will be that if they want to use Zimfest, there should be something after it, like Zimfest France or something similar, to help avoid confusion.

Update on Zimfest 2019 Venue Selection (Claire)

Site visit to Fort Worden with Sales & Marketing and the Supervisor, all was going smoothly until Claire asked about a curfew. The concert venue is an old balloon hanger, the curfew is 10pm and neighbors complain more than they used to. There are some venues in town that are being looked into. We would have to rent by the building. Their thought was for us to use the old school house for all the marimba classes but that won’t work for us, so it will be more expensive. Not decided yet, but not looking too hopeful.

Update on the Marimbas on Sale (Mandy/Alex)

They are in good working condition for our purposes. If we can get to a balanced budget then possibly, if we go to an every other year schedule, then the marimbas will be used less. Most are not comfortable deciding yet.

Discuss Zimfest Association Proposed Budget (All)

New updates from a potential $6000 loss is now showing us in the black by $150. Donations in 2015-$4000 and 2016-$8000. Thoughts about increasing prices. We raised the registration fee by $3 for this year. In 2016 we raised the concert ticket prices. We do mark up the housing costs. The meal prices don’t make sense to mark up because the advance price is the same as the walk-up price. We have not increased workshop and presentation fees for a long time. We are still affordable for workshops, thinking about workshop costs elsewhere. We went through the detailed budget and decided to increase the workshop fee to $17.50 and the presentations to $10 per hour.

Discuss Next Steps on Fundraising Drive Proposal (Jacqueline)

Not enough time to get to everything yet, picked out important points to accomplish first. Ways to engage the ZF community. Post on Facebook – What makes you excited about Zimfest? Create an impact statement for the board to review by email. Send out on April 17th in conjunction with Zimbabwean Independence Day. Add a new idea to the Support Zimfest page about ZF supporters making their gift In Memory of someone and creating an In Memoriam section.