December 8, 2019 Zimfest Association Board Meeting Synopsis
Members in Attendance: Daniel Lockley, Jacqueline Fallon, Chris Halaska, Tendai Muparutsa, Mandy Walker-LaFollette, Janis Weeks, Alex Weeks
Members Absent: none
Non-voting member in attendance: Claire Jones
Review Agenda (All)
No changes
Review November Minutes/Synopsis (All)
Need to approve by email
Board Member Recruitment (All)
We must have 8+ board members (7 currently) to avoid WA state excise taxes. Discussed a few other potential community members to reach out to. Will send out a general recruiting call to see if we can get others interested.
End of Year Fundraising Drive (All)
The response has been low, but includes 4 membership renewals and 3ish donations. Claire will include another plug in her message, then send another closer to the end of Dec.
Zimfest 2020 Update (Claire)
- 2020 OC to have first meeting Dec 10
- Teacher and Performer Application revisions are in progress and scheduled to open Jan. 2
- Evergreen site visit Nov 15, Claire with a few local arrangements folks
- Decision made to set up outdoor stage and Marketplace on athletic fields as close to the grove of trees as possible. Housing Community Center nearby for Registration area and close to dorms.
- Longhouse is the best choice for the evening stage. The Concert production team is set to visit on Dec 17. May need tents outside behind the stage area for the Green Room and Dressing room.
- Booking agreement/contract had outrageous estimates (>$110,000!), so I have asked for revision based on more reasonable numbers of participants and meals. Will need $1000 deposit upon signing, $300 non-refundable.
- Meal plans will be much like 2019: All-meal plan (11 meals) purchasers get programmable cards, flexible 2-meals/day for those staying two or more nights in the dorms to be given individual tickets by Evergreen staff. Prices with sales tax are more expensive than what we’ve seen for the past few years.
- We can cater our own Green Room snacks (yay!)
- Meal times will not likely be more than 45 minutes
- No camping or even RVs (problems with homeless). One of the locals is looking into block prices at a nearby campground.
- Vendor storage is still to be determined
- An announcement will be made for art competition for this years artwork
- Background check – keep for 3 years, only check for new people, UK – possibility but it is more expensive
Board Business
Julie and Claire tossed out many old files of previous OCs and brought home important documents. We need to be aware of the need for Institutional Memory since Board and OC members change. There are many important discussions that appear to have taken place over email and were not saved electronically. Try to capture some of these in a folder.
Claire will need the finance figures before January 31st.
The plan for Teacher and performer applications are to be open January 2nd – February 29th.
Next Meeting
Sunday January 12th, 6:30 pm Pacific time on Google Hangouts
I offer a huge tatenda to the board members, the tech committee and all the volunteers who continue to guide this Zimbabwean festival community. Your work is greatly appreciated. A special shoutout to Chris for donating his time to prepare the taxes, and to Claire for your continuing role as our fearless clarifier of all things Zimfest. Thanks too for the tech committee who ‘make it so’ after decisions get made. We are lucky to have this great community!
And thank you Angela, for being such a diligent volunteer and supportive community member!