Keern Haslem, John Zirkle, Jill Dostert-Wagner, Jim Peaco, Larry Gomoll, Connie Jenkins,                  Misty Annala, Tom Webster, Alyssa Roggow

MPAC meeting

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Meeting called to order Sunday June 16th, 4:15 pm

Minutes in review, 


Amy Olson may be interested in a board position, she is extremely busy with BPAC though. 


Jill moved, Connie seconded, unanimously approved the minutes from February 2nd, 2021.


Board Member Organization check-in: Pandemic was rough on Tom. Although the University voted to end his position, he is actively booking acts, including David Sedaris, Moscow Ballet and symphony productions. Montana Tune Hound Productions, LLC is his group. As an active promoter he’s still eligible for the board. 


Great Falls Community Concert Association has a short season. Four shows beginning January 22nd. They normally hold six shows per year. 


Chouteau County Performing Arts didn’t have a season. Summer Celebration is happening later this month though, Dobler and The Midnight Conversations are playing. They are starting early, September 1st, with Here Comes The Sun. They have eight shows scheduled for their coming season. 


Warren Miller Performing Arts Center technically reached double their normal attendance this past season. By live-streaming their performances, at approximately half the rate of in person shows. Those who attended were very socially distanced. Big Sky experienced growth. The housing boom was substantial. Their presenting efforts were “almost sci-fi at times” with a piano on the golf course, and skiers listening over headphones; an escape room in the theater. The community is growing rapidly, and new competition is moving in. However, the prospects are hopeful. John will be in on a call with Steve Daines office, as a part of an infrastructure panel, discussing funding for non-profit organizations.


Alyssa toured with the Chinook Winds chamber group and carried on a full concert schedule. The concerts were live-streamed. Payments were taken on a donation basis. The Great Falls Symphony Association did well.


Northeastern Arts Network has a four show series coming up. The first show is in tribute to Allison Nichols. Two recipients received scholarships of $500 each, jointly paid for by NAN and MPAC. Both are residents of Glasgow. Their season is Monday through Friday, except the schools are at a four day week. Which makes scheduling in-school assemblies challenging. 


Judith Arts Society is doing four shows this season. Kicking off the season with a pub night, in Utica. Then America’s Sweethearts, Twin Kennedy and Bridge and Wolack. 


Electric Peak Arts Council had a shortened season last year. They held a zoom concert with Dee-Dee Darby Duffin, who also workshopped with the school via zoom. The Art of Quarantine was a project they held, they offered $50 per person to artists to exhibit their performance and visual art. Four or five performances are scheduled for the coming season. The first is around the first of November. An improv group called “The Last Best Comedy” will be one of their shows. 


Tom congratulated Keern on holding the virtual conference, this year. 




We broke for dinner at 5:45


Meeting resumed at 9:10 am, Monday June 7th


Discussion about new presenters in Great Falls, The Newberry. Kalispel, at the college. Shane Lalani Center in Livingston. All building or growing. 


Existing presenters in Lewistown and Butte, The Wyo Theater in Sheridan, (Erin Butler.)


A greater understanding of the states presenters would benefit our organization. 


We’re seeing presenter growth in the state. How can our statewide organization access their growth. 


Joined by Tatiana and Tom Cordingly at 10:06. House bill 9 is the cultural trust. Returns on the cultural trust will be lower in part because the receipts through the trust are lower and the funds are required to be invested in bonds. However, bonds are not doing well. Administrative percentages play a factor, and are predicted in advance. This year, MAC managed their customary funds plus approximately 400 thousand in federal funding for covid relief. 


House bill 2 shows a flat budget. This year had a conservative budgeting, from the legislature. Drew Geyger, hire from WESTAF, monitors the legislature. And the legislature is maintaining its support for Montana Arts Council. Six positions on the council are up for senate confirmation. Four new appointees are being considered. Two carried over. 


Statewide Service Organizations may be needing to open up to some exclusive arts. They have relaxed their demand for paid staff, to organizations who wish to apply for Statewide Service Organizations. Of which there are currently four. 


Tom Cordingly addressed the Statewide Service Organization application. The application began in 2016. The most recent application was reviewed. The application went through narrowly. The application narrative needs to describe the reach throughout the state. Montana Arts Council members aren’t necessarily acquainted with the organization. 


Governance and staffing, strengthening the community, artistic reach. 


Further follow-up on the grant application and reviewer expectations. SSO Grant approved. MAC would 


Budget approved as amended. Broke for lunch at 11:57


Meeting resumed at 1:10


The next board retreat will take place in Fort Benton at the Grand Union, probably on June 5th and 6th. 


Mike Jones and Don Phillips will be asked to be back, to tech. 


Artist Showcase Development and Desert hour after dinner, before jam session. 


WESTAF workshop 9:00 to 10:00
A.M. showcase block from 10:30 to 12:30
Lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 
1:30 to 2:30 Resource room
P.M. Showcase block 2:30 to 5:30 
(Cookie etc intermission in second showcase block)
5:45 pm to 6:45 pm resource room
6:45 pm to 7:45 Dinner
7:45 to 8:45 pm Artist Showcase Development and Desert


August conference call. 


Great Falls Jury selection in November (approximately the 17th)


Connie, Jim, Misty, Tom, Keern, Larry


Meeting adjourned at 2:48

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Members of the board and their friends and significant others gathered for trivia at Golden Triangle Brew Co. Competition was fierce. The two MPAC teams went into sudden death overtime. With the team of Becky Nielsen, Ewa Zirkle, John Zirkle, Tori Hill, Connie Jenkins & (front) Tom Webster coming out victorious. 

Attendance
​ COVID-19 ​

JAS - 
EPAC - schools demands for Covid-19 control EPAC venue
CCPA - fears from board and majority of patrons because of at-risk age 
NaN - cancelled season, school prohibitions a factor
WMPAC - virtual presence, one free show had 1500 person attendance. Working around delay is a challenge. Pivoting to virtual experiences. 
UofM - layoffs throughout Dennison theater crew. Made to postpone acts until fall 2021. Pods of fifty people can sit together. 
GFCCA - September unlikely, because allied needs a tour. The 1000 person membership precludes social distancing in the Mansfield theater. 
GFSA - livestream equipment on stage possibly. Artists are challenged to tour. Summer festivals are challenged. Some moving on line. Membership fills the seats over 75% capacity. Live-streaming is more likely. Chamber music series has discussed moving into larger areas to accommodate social distancing. Ticket structure remain the same with streaming as the product. 

Outreach to help presenters embrace changes and create instruments, such as polls, to keep presenters engaged and streaming. Streaming live concerts is feasible, even in small communities. 

Jill moved to approve the minutes and John seconded, all approved. 

Long Range 

Conversion to quickbooks moved by John Zirkle and seconded by Connie and unanimously approved.

​Tatiana - Sso Grant, State of the arts calendar, cares act, cultural and asthetic panel, 

Sso Grant wish to be honored. 

First keep paid staff

Provide services, activities that advance the mission.

Maintaining cash match. 

Reporting in September needs to match the application. Then an update to demonstrate the new mode of applying our mission. 

None of the following require a cash match.

From the NEASalaries, contractual employees or artists and facilities.

Partners grant invitation: only for public partner grantees. Deadline July 1st. Public value partnership. Future costs, does not preclude grant funding from recovery. 

Recovery grant: May include anyone who will have brought in an artist in. Will require receipts. Must show loss. Also open to artists.

Individuals: 60% to individual artists, and also salary, consultant or facilities based. 

Two webinars posted on Facebook, more coming up. On-demand. Check MAC Facebook. 
Statewide calendar, formerly Lively times. Two bids, for calendar and newspaper. Four bids received. Six people bid. Four on one, four on the other. Two on both. 

Cultural trust committee needs more applicants for the panel. Jill and John are both on it.  

Symphony contracts are challenging, block booking has made that difficult. Canadian groups can’t get into the country. 


Meeting 9:20 Sunday morning 

Discussion about challenges relating to streaming music acts with multiple performers and “in the dark” performances.

Inclusivity, from grantors, is a critical aspect. Defining what it means, for the sake of an organization. How do we define inclusion?

Perople at Arts Northwest, people at Western States Arts want to know.  

MPAC creates a template and then guides member presenter organizations in their inclusion efforts. 

What does it mean to invite people in? 

Our responsibility to be thinking about how inclusion is done. 

Putting kids to work, i.e. as ushers, has a positive effect. Experience from the administrative side, as well as from actual involvement has demonstrated positive results. 

Esports are going into the Dennison theater, with the intention of becoming THE leader in esports event hosting in the region.

Anti-racism training.

We agreed to draft an inclusion statement, via google docs. 

Where will our showcase conference be in 2022?

What is the consensus for this January 2021? A showcase conference will not be held. 

A website task force will review the website and provide input to Keern on input. 

Board elections: John and Connie up for re-elections moved by Tom, Seconded by Jill, unanimously approved. 

Budget for fiscal year 2021. Our budget will be determined. 

Discussion with Rebecca outlined the provisions of the grant. 

Name people required to draw the crowd for RegFest. 

The possibility of acting as a pass through. 

The best option would be to set up an LLC under Keern and remove the funds from MPAC. 

Budget without AASC: 30,000.

That figure includes operations costs, not including the trip to arts northwest, and presenter development. 

Block booking as a service, done through the website. I.e. offering streaming contracts to artists to provide virtual concerts for presenters. 

Workshoping

Resiliency (grit) 

Anti-racism. A link to resources exists on Arts northwest. 

Partner with Montana Arts Council for trainings of presenters. What recommendations would they make for these kinds of services. 

Stage manager conference discussion tabled until January meeting. 

July 1st letter out to artists and presenters describing our plan to forgo the next showcase conference and workshop activities, meaningful programming.

To put in letter, please provide 50% of your presenter membership fee January. 

Call presenter members this next week and get their input. 

Board members will provide information to go into the letter.

Two workshops to be held before January. Email back and forth before July 1st describing needs and providing draft of letter. 

Meeting adjourned at 2:00

​MPAC Board Meeting
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Grand Union, Fort Benton MT
11:00 a.m.

Meeting called to order 11:20

Present:     
Keern Haslem Executive Director, Tom Webster UofM, Larry Gomoll CCCCS, Connie Jenkins CCPA, Jim Peaco EPAC, Misty Annala JAS, Jill Hill NAN, Tatiana Gant MAC, John Zirkle WMPAC (virtual attendance)
Absent:
Alyssa Roggow Artist Rep

Artist Feedback Alyssa collected:
Overall, positive--artists had a good experience. 
Found turn-the-tables and Jam Session to be helpful
Would like greater clarity of information:
No contact person listed on website/better site
Schedule is unclear about which events artists are supposed to got to, be involved in
Would like a complete list of attendees w/email address (artists & presenters) so they can take notes/keep track of who they meet
What happens at the end/what’s the follow-up process?
For Turn-the-tables, artists would like a packet similar to what presenters get for artists, with info about each presenter, the kind of grants they use, and room to make notes
More time for resource room--this year felt cramped, and there wasn’t time for presenters to talk to everyone (badge raffle could only be for presenters who have gone to every booth)
More accessible to artists, especially non-showcasers:
Have a day pass available at a cheaper price point
For artists to check it out without paying a booth fee
How can MPAC have a stronger presence throughout the year, or be a resource for presenters & artists apart from the showcase?
Perhaps have a session by artists for artists on how to put together a great showcase, and/or the business side of things--how they handle marketing, grants, etc.

​Tom asked for comments on conference
Program notes:
 include artist info, genre, location, grant eligibility
Give less space to non-showcasing artists
Block Booking page was great - put in showcase order
Presenters still want a paper copy of contact info for presenters and artists
Stage notes:
Interviewing artists during stage transitions good idea, but flow needs to improve
Enjoyed new MC’s 
Communication issues - need headsets for techs, projector was purchased but not used, we may still need paper copies of tech riders, techs may need artist phone numbers. Keern will have post production meeting. 

Jill reported Silent Auction raised $832

Summer Board meeting set for June 13-15 2020. Rooms will be reserved at Grand Union

Next year’s conference dates will be January 29-31 2021 in Great Falls

Finance report presented, Keern will file a final report for conference.
Conference cost estimate: $11,000
Conference income estimate: $13,000
Tom moved to raise the registration fee for artists to $50 for MPAC. Booth rates will stay at $150. Connie seconded. 

Tatiana spoke about the Lively Times Statewide calendar, which will be closing down in June. She urged us to reach out to Christie Neimeyer and other state entities who use this calendar service. 

Keern reported on his work with the Reggie Watts project - RegFest. He has asked to deposit funds for this project in the MPAC savings account. The board asked for more clarification from an accountant to make sure there are no conflicts. Keern will report back with that information.

Board members: no terms expire until 2022. 

Meeting adjourned at 12:45

​June 9th and 10th, 2019

Minutes
Called to order by Tom at 4:02
Introductions 
Present: Tatiana Gant (MAC), Connie Jenkins (CCPA) Secretary, Larry Gomoll (GGCCA) Treasurer 12 years on MPAC Board, Jill Hill (NAN) Vice President member for 16 years, Tom Webster (UofM) President, Board member for 25 years, Misty Annala (JAS) First year, Alyssa Roggow (GFSA) First year, Jim Peaco (EPAC) 10 to 12 years with organization, John Zirkle (WMPAC), two years, Keern Haslem (Executive Director) First year. 

 Housekeeping 
Announcement by Tom, receipt of Check from MTA for remaining funding after dissolution, for $2500 for matched funds, via John Barsness. To go into a separate account as of the beginning of next fiscal year. 

Public Comments
Tatiana Gant (Montana Arts Counci) thanked us for welcoming her. 

Announcements
8 shows at CCPA some which had somewhat diminished attendance, due in large part to rough weather in February. 

GFCCA put on 6 shows, which all went well, except one with bad weather. Fees are going up next year, their 90th year, to approximately $13 per show. Which will bring the season ticket cost to $84 for current members. 

Record season for NAN, except their February show, which will have gotten snowed out. Artist fees were up. But two WESTAF grants and one IMtour grant came through for Seffarine. Kristine Astell and the Heart Strings.

Tom’s life has changed greatly because of dean changes in business and journalism at U of M. First time in six deans the new dean set foot in his office. The concert market in Missoula is saturated. A lot is happening though. 

Judith Arts presented four concerts. Okaidja Afroso played the night of horrible weather. 

Alyssa’s season has been remarkable. She travelled with Harry Potter live and played school shows as well as Chamber Orchestra business, as well as a concert in Rochester, NY.

Six shows at EPAC, plus a talent show. The local resort tax is treating their organization well. They’ve enjoyed improvements to their theatre as well as artist fees. They have a large board with some vacancies. Jim (Peaco) is the sound man. WESTAF is helping book Dennis Stroughmatt and Stringfever. 

Tourism tax benefits towns smaller than 5000. 

John Z has seen great benefits from the resort tax. That tax base has reached 8 mil. Affordable housing in Big Sky has become a challenge though. How much of that funding will start to go to infrastructure? 

Their season was great. They’ve been taking on Broadway level self produced shows. Their next year will offer trucked in shows. 

New business: amended the by-laws to require the Artist’s Rep to be based in Montana. Discussion: motion tabled.

Election of officers
Officer elections took place in January.

Volunteers for Presenter Development Panel (August) and Showcase Artists (November)
Presenter development panel (quick-grant Panel) volunteers are expected to be Tom, Kristin and John Z. as well as Keern. 

Showcase Artist selection jury will consist of Tom, Jim and Keern. 

At the state level it is critical for MPAC to demonstrate community engagement, in terms of dollars. Otherwise, adequate matching funds won’t exist for our grant application in 2020. 
Silent auction items need to be available to a wide array of people, not just artists and presenters.

MONDAY

WESTAF granted to CCPA 2 TourWest, NAN 2 TourWest and 1 IMTour, JAS TourWest, EPAC 2 TourWest

January Minutes, Jill was re-upped for another term that change. Jill moved, Connie seconded, all approved. 

Artists would like a desert in the Artist Meeting. We would gladly agree to bait them to attend. 

Prospective Presenters: YO theatre in Sheridan to check into for a presenter organization. Hardin, 

Ralph Paulus 

Montana Brewers Association 

Approval to extend Keern’s reach

Prospective Former presenters: Chouteau, White Sulphur Springs, Havre, 

Calendar link to Lively Times

Links to MPO webpages? 

Affiliate members 

IMTour Presenter Profile links

Non-profit (based on budget size) v. Commercial Presenter Membership Rates

Affiliate Member Rate

Tourism Board Affiliation 

Community College Affiliates

Library Affiliates 

Theaters and Civic Center

Donation button on website

Foundant operates out of Bozeman and provides registration for Artists and Presenters. What needs to be in the program, as well as all pertinent application information. 

Tom moved to proceed with Foundant. 

Tatiana described a Biennium agreement via MAC at no cost through fiscal year 20 and 21. 

Following that time their may be a cost to MPAC for administration rights. 

Larry seconds adopting Foundant. All in favor. 

Adjourn for lunch at 12:27

Meeting resumed at 1:17

Donation caption on bottom of flyer for the public to donate. 

50/50 at the jam session. 

Silent auction during the showcase.

Schedule fall conference call. 

Meeting adjourned at 2:30