Kentucky Theatre Association
Board of Directors Meeting
Sunday, August 19, 2018
Glema Mahr Center for the Arts, Madisonville, KY
Present: Sarah B., Lisa C., Brad D., Kelley E., Wayne K., Jeremy K., Phillip N., Zackary R.
(on phone): Alana G., Kim M.
Absent: Cheryl B., Dawn C., Kathi E., Alicia H., Bart L., Jane M., Shelby S., Kim W.
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The day began with a tour of the facilities, showing where various events will be held. HS in the Glema Mahr, & CT in the Steve Beshear Center.
The meeting was called to order at 1:45 p.m. (CDT) by President Brad
Minutes of the January 27, 2018, Board meeting were reviewed. Sarah moved to approve the minutes. Phil seconded the motion, which was approved.
The treasurer’s report was tabled for now.
SETC Report – The 2019 SETC Festival will be held in Knoxville, TN, on Feb. 27 – Mar. 3. The Fall Business meeting will be Aug. 24 – 25, in Charlotte, NC. SETC will be taking more control of the adjudication process for the screening auditions, helping to find adjudicators and standardizing fees for next year (set at $75). John “Jerf” Friedenberg will be the representative at our State Conference. There is a desire to make a master list of out-of-state adjudicators to share with all states for their festivals.
H.S. Regionals – Current schedule is: Oct. 13 – Central @ Bryan Station H.S.; Northwest @ Hardin Co. PAC; and North @ Scott H.S. (tentative); Oct. 20 – West @ Owensboro H.S.; Nov. 3 – East @ Madison South H.S.
Website – Lots of info has been updated, with special features working, such as membership renewal notices and registration forms and payments. About 20 or so have paid membership dues so far.
State Conference – Registration fee for the H.S. Festival (registration & membership) will be $155 (early bird) and $175 after the deadline.
Most area hotels will be offering a group rate for the conference, ranging from the mid-$60s to $90-$99. Some of the hotels include Comfort Inn, Baymont, Hampton Inn. Information will be put online.
Student Staff – Glema Mahr students & staff will be working at the festivals. The same people should be working the full festival schedule. The AACT Festival Commissioner will be Steve Krempasky.
Adjudicators – This area is being discussed. See below.
Workshops – We are trying to put together some workshops to appeal to all participants. There will be a shout-out for submissions, with the form being placed on the website. This will also be true for vendors.
HS Festival – This will be held in the Glema Mahr theatre. There will be spots for 12 theatres. There might be some renovation work in the lobby/common area, but hopefully this will be completed prior to the conference.
C.T. Festival – This will be in the new Steve Beshear Learning Center. Currently it looks like 4-5 theatres are interested in competing.
Roots of the Bluegrass – Applications are online and have started coming in. Deadline for submission is Sept. 15. Everyone should help spread the word and get more submissions.
Screening Auditions – As mentioned above, SETC is taking a more active part in the planning for this. It will probably be about the same participation as in the past.
Karen Willis Award – No award was presented last year. There were 2 nominations. These submissions will be sent to the Board members prior to the next meeting. Additional nominees will be accepted. It is possible to present 2 awards this year. A suggestion was made to create a standing awards committee which would handle this, and possibly additional, awards in the future. Consensus was that this was a good idea.
Middle Grades Festival – A suggestion was made to hold the 2019 festival at Paul L. Dunbar H.S. and Atherton H.S. in 2020. The Board gave its approval to go with this plan. They would like to have workshops in all areas of theatre – acting, tech, writing, etc., even a possibility for a 10-minute play reading/writing workshop.
President’s Report – The adjudication certification process is moving ahead. Kathy Pingel (AACT) has agreed to present two 2-hour webinar sessions on adjudicating. This could be helpful for all levels of festivals.
Does KTA want to consider looking at a part-time Executive Director again? Current finances could probably support it. A second option would be to increase the Board, with more specific selection criteria. It might be helpful to hold a Board Retreat or Strategic Planning Session. A Strategic Planning Committee was formed to proceed on these and other topics. Committee members will be the Executive Officers, Alana, and Kelley.
A nominating committee was appointed which will meet prior to the next meeting. It consists of Alana, Sarah, and Brad.
Bylaws Review – Jeremy has copies of the KTA Bylaws, as well as those from other states. He will send these out to the review committee for discussion and recommending possible amendments.
With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 2:56 p.m. (CDT).
