February 10, 2019 Zimfest Association Board Meeting Synopsis
Members in Attendance: Jacqueline Fallon, Chris Halaska, Evelyn Mukwedeya, Mandy Walker-LaFollette, Alex Weeks, Janis Weeks
Members Absent: Daniel Lockley
Non-voting member in attendance: Claire Jones
Review/Modify Agenda (All)
Nothing to add
Final Approval of November/December Meeting Minutes (All)
Approved
Review/Approve January Minutes/Synopsis (All)
Approved. Send all three synopses and with an apology for them coming late.
Zimfest 2019 Organizing Committee Update (Claire)
- Status of applications. Teacher apps 9 (13 in 2018); Performers 18 (16 in 2018), around the same time.
- Only 1 North American teacher has applied so far.
- Claire has reached out to a few teachers and a few more have applied.
- Applications close Feb. 28th. Let’s check in later. Do we have enough applying?
- Regarding concert ticket prices for Sunday “by donation” concert, OC proposes to keep single ticket prices and recommended donation the same ($18 adults) but eliminate the 3-concert package so as not to lose money on Sunday.
- Some concern if this financially viable.
- We are trying this out since the Sunday concerts are generally low attendance. It will give the Zimbabweans with a B-1 visa a chance to perform on an evening concert who don’t normally get to.
- Claire suggests to increase price for Teacher Membership from $60 to at least $100.
- We need more information to make a decision.
- Marketplace vendors and assistants should register for rooms and meals by the deadline if they are staying in the dorms, just like teachers, performers and participants. There may be a proposal to institute a late vendor registration fee.
- Rachel is working on Save the Date card. There is a change in distribution this year. If someone is interested, Claire will email the file for individuals to print on their own and get reimbursed (saves postage costs) if so choose.
- Heads-up: MyLinda is holding her annual concert fundraiser in April and wants to make sure proceeds are earmarked to support Zimbabwean accommodation and travel to the festival.
- Both WOU and Monmouth City Council are on board for co-sponsoring Zimfest 2019, including generating B-1 letters.
ZATC Report (Janis)
Recommendation from the ZA Tech Committee to migrate from My Drive to Team Drive. In Team Drive, the files don’t belong to an individual person, so files won’t be lost like in My Drive if someone deleted their account. The plan is to not be disruptive of current work being done. Approved by the Board to migrate files when appropriate.
Board Members Acknowledge Code of Conduct (Claire)
A note for us to complete the acknowledgment of the code of conduct.
Research and Recommendation for a Criminal Background Check Provider (Janis)
They find people by SSN, this covers felony not misdemeanors. $6.95/person an extra $10 for adding misdemeanors. A demo is available. Adding other countries is possible and more expensive. Background checks differs state to state. Board members might be governed by WA since ZF Association is registered through there. We recommend teachers and Board members for now. Once a teacher is accepted, it’s conditional on a successful background check. Janis will write a blog post.
Financial Report (Chris)
- 2018 final financial report
- Our strong fundraising push last spring really made a impact on a positive financial outcome.
- 2019 Preliminary budget is ready.
- Chris will make a list of items to help improve the budget process for next year.
Marimba Set Donation Follow-Up (Alex)
Alex is gathering more information
Board Member Recruitment (All)
Evelyn will be stepping out soon, we need to look for potential candidates for the board, particularly Zimbabwean candidates.
- Recruitment strategy and target
- Send out a call for board members via blog post.
Next Meeting
Sunday March 10th, 6:30 pm PST on Google Hangouts
