Kentucky Theatre Association
Board of Directors Meeting
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Lexington Children’s Theatre, Lexington, KY
Present: Cheryl B., Sarah B., Dawn C., Brad D., Kelley E., Alana G., Wayne K., Jeremy K., Kim M., Jane M., Zackary R.,
Shelby S., Kim W.
(on phone): Lisa C., Bart L.
Absent: Kathi E., Alicia H., Phillip N.
— — — —
The meeting was called to order at 12:12 by President Brad
Introductions of new members – Kelley Elder (Owensboro) and Cheryl Brumley (Campbellsville Univ.)
Minutes of the November 17, 2017, Board meeting were distributed and reviewed. Corrections: “Kathy” should be “Kathi”; and HS Festival had 26 competing, 11 at the State level. Kim W. moved to approve the minutes as amended; Zack seconded. The motion passed.
Kim M. gave the treasurer’s report. The monthly report was table; with current balance around $38,000. The proposed budget was distributed and discussed. In 2017, we took in about $2,000 more than we spent. The budget shows an increase in postage. Having the State Festival at EKU is still unconfirmed, but may cost more than the last time we were there. The budget proposal is conservative, but realistic. There was a request for additional funding for groups going to SETC in Mobile, especially in reference to the extra travel costs. It was suggested we ask groups going to SETC to give volunteer service in their HS Regional festival, as in-kind service. This concept was rejected. Jeremy reported that KY is about the lowest state in SETC in giving financial assistance to the groups representing them. We may possibly want to set up a policy for increasing the travel stipend based on the number of miles to the festival. Since only 1 C.T. group is going this year, we are saving some money. It was the consensus to give the C.T. rep and both HS reps a stipend of $750 plus $250 in mileage support. Jeremy asked to raise the SETC State Rep budget up to $500. After discussion on the website upgrade (see below), that budget line was increased to $1200. After further discussion and input, Jeremy moved to approve the budget as amended; Alana seconded. The motion passed.
Website – Zack has been working on improving & streamlining the website. He presented a proposal to contract with WILD APRICOT (an online system for membership management, registration, communications, etc.). It would handle the financial items, directories, registrations, event check-ins, and send automatic reminders. This system coordinates well with WORD PRESS, which we are currently using. The fee, based on a membership of up to 500, would be $756 for the year. There would be a percentage fee for online pay gateway (less than 3%). This cost would be in addition to the current domain costs. Feelings were this looks like a great way to help KTA grow. Kim M. moved, and Stacy seconded, to approve a contract with WILD APRICOT. The motion was approved.
Review of the 2017 State Conference – UPike and Jenny Wiley did a wonderful job in hosting the festival. Kim W. made a request that KTA send Jenny Wiley a formal letter of thanks that could be used for their grant purposes. Brad will take care of it. All left over awards were returned to the KTA office to be sent on to the recipients.
SETC – Jeremy reported this year festival is in Mobile, AL, in February. They are working on creating a central database for resources, contacts, etc. Audition process is still under discussion. They are considering whether each State should continue to be allowed to send 2 reps per festival or go back to just 1 per State. The current Exec. Director will be resigning soon; so a search will be upcoming. There will be KY’s State meeting at SETC. All persons in attendance is urged to come to the meeting. [Note: SETC in 2019 will be Feb. 27-Mar.3 in Knoxville.]
Middle Grades Festival – Things are moving along for this year’s festival, which will be March 17, at Spencer Co. Registration information will be sent to Zack soon for posting on the website. So far 4 schools have committed, with the hope of more signing up. One more adjudicator is needed. Since this is the 5th year, they will be using a pirate theme, “Storm the Stage”. Several workshops have been lined up; would like to have another one. All were urged to encourage other schools and teachers to attend, even if just to watch and learn.
High School Regionals – Tentative locations are being lined up: W – Owensboro HS; NW – Hardin Co.; N – Scott HS ?; E – Madison Southern; and C – ??? Dates will be determined soon.
Community Theatre – Wayne reported he and Lisa Cole are making plans to contact ALL CTs in the State, hopefully in person, to discuss KTA, including membership and participation. It would help to have a flier describing benefits and resources for KTA members. Jeremy will put something together by March 1st.
Roots of the Bluegrass – We need a chair for this, with a full committee assigned. Cheryl agreed to chair with a number of others offering to help out. A scoring system for the submissions will be recreated and put back into use.
State Conference – Tentative plans are for EKU on Nov. 16-17 (?), with Glema Mahr hosting the 2019 conference. We have received a request from the Univ. of Louisville to host the 2019 festival. Option one: EKU in 2018, UofL in 2019, and Glema in 2020. Option 2: (if EKU can’t) Glema in 2018 and UofL in 2019. More info is to come.
Karen Willis Award – So far 2 nominations have been received: Actors for Children Theatre, who works at a grief counseling camp for kids, among other deeds; and Teatro Tercera Llamada – a Latino theatre group presenting social justice & bilingual theatre to the Louisville area. Brad will send out information on both groups, and asks Board members to return votes by email to Brad only.
Bylaws – A review needs to be done; last update was around 2007. Brad, Shelby, and Jeremy will serve on the committee.
2018 Board meetings – Proposed schedule includes:
May/June – held by conference call
August – held at the Conference site
October – brief meeting by conference call
November – held at the Conference
It was suggested we look into using ZOOM for future meetings.
KCAE – Jane reported the Conference will be held in June, possibly in the Louisville area. They are looking for presenters for the Conference. Several offered to help.
With no further business brought forth, the meeting was adjourned at 1:52.
