Board Meeting Minutes December 2021

MINUTES

Colorado Music Business Organization Board of Directors Meeting

Sunday, December 5, 2021

1. Called to Order at 7:05 p.m.

Present: Barb Dye, David Barber, Johnnie Johnson, Jamie Krutz, Tony Molina, Sheena Morgan

Absent: Annette Cannon, Tracey Chirhart, Alex Teitz (all excused)

Guest: Shanica Jules

Consultants: Clark Hagan, Angela Whaley (both absent)

2. Approval of the Minutes of November 7, 2021: Johnnieso moved, David seconded. Approved.

3. Treasurer’s Report:

Income received:

Memberships (Paypal) $ 30.00 (See Membership Report)

Income from Roxy: $ 15.00 (collected from attendees)

Barb reimbursement: $ 250.00 (for unauthorized use of photo)

Interest on Savings: $ .01(November 2021)

Total: $ 295.01

Expenses paid:

Bank Fees for November: $ 2.00 (checking fees)

Hartford Insurance: $ 500.00 (for liability insurance for 2022)

PicRights: $ 250.00 (unauthorized use of photo)

Paypal fees: $ 1.54 (See Membership Report)

Slopeside: $ 75.00 (for Showcase band)

Zoom account: $ 16.30

Mailchimp for November:    $  31.95

                                Total: $ 876.79

[Note: Barb got charged $250 for using an unauthorized photo again. PicRights won’t take a check or a money order so David paid it out of our Paypal account. Barb reimbursed the checking account $250 for the one-time use of the SoundCloud logo.]

Checking Balance: $ 2,245.66 (as of 11/30/21)

Savings Balance: $ 1,003.30 (as of 11/30/21)

PayPal Balance: $ _ 974.79 (as of 12/05/21)

Grand Total: $ 4,223.75

D. Membership Report – Sheena:

Current Paid Members: 55 (30 individuals, 4 businesses, 12 bands, and 1 Supporter)

Renewed Members in November:

Supporter(s): None

Individual(s): None

Band(s): None

Business(es): None

New Members in November:

Supporter(s): None

Individual(s): Mike Abbass

Band(s): None

Business(es): None

Up for Renewal in December:

Supporter(s): None

Individual(s): None

Band(s): None

Business(es): None

Membership “Welcome Surveys”: Sheena reported that we received 1 survey in November.

4. Unfinished Business:

1. Bar Code requests: None. Johnnie commented that he thought we should be letting people know why they need a bar code. Sheena does include the information in her “Welcome Letter” but Johnnie had a point in that too many musicians do not understand the value of a bar code on their product.

1. Upcoming Programs:

a. December Holiday Dinner: Barb made reservations at Postino, 830 Colorado Blvd., Denver, for 6:30 p.m., Sunday, December 12^th. Everyone pays for their own dinner and drinks. Parking is available on the street or in the parking garage that is located between 8^th Place (between 8^th Avenue …) and 9^th Avenue. Entrance is on the east side of the building (back of the building).

b. Monday, January24, 2022: Via David, Alex suggested that it is the time for fairs and festivals to do their booking. Perhaps a program on how to get booked into such events might be prudent. Previous speaker Ian Tafoya has connections to Cinco de Mayo. Other festivals coming up in the Denver area would be the People’s Fair, Taste of Colorado, Five Points Jazz Festival, City Park Jazz, Juneteenth, and the UMS. The Program Committee will see if they can come up with a panel to speak to such events.

Also mentioned was The Grammys Award Show coming up on January 31^st. It would be nice to see if we can do a Grammy Watching Party again. David thought that we could all stay home but join in on a Zoom call in order to comment and to share our thoughts on the nominees and winners.

c. Monday, February 28, 2022: The Program Committee will work on this.

We discussed Marty Jones’ suggestion of ways to get venues to pay their bands. There seems to be no “standard” nor is there a “standard” of the amount of pay each band or member receives. This subject comes up regularly at general meetings but no one has come up with an idea. Sheena asked about a “union” of venues that we might be able to discuss this with but the only name that came to mind was NIVA – National Independent Venue Association – which was formed during the 2020 shutdown to help independent venues to get financial help to keep from closing.

3. Web Reports – David (as of 12/05/21):

1. Current Email Subscribers: COMBO has 2,446 subscribers which is down from the 2,469 reported at the 11/07/21 Board Meeting. As of the 11/26/21 newsletter, we had 15% opens and 4% click thrus. Barb passed around a sign-up sheet at the Nov. showcase which she will scan and send to David to glean new addresses.

2. Twitter Account Followers: COMBO has 7,638 followers which is up from 7,629 followers from the last report.

3. Google Analytics Report: In November 2021 there were 19,465 sessions, which is up 376% from November 2020 when we had 4,092 sessions. The most viewed article from 11/26-29/21 was on the death of Billy Hinsche, who was the keyboardist with Dino, Desi & Billy and then moved on to back The Beach Boys. Again, this boost of 15,000 sessions came from newsbreakapp.com.

4. Facebook Analytics – David: Page Views: 72, up 44%; Post Reach: 1,014, down by 23%; Post Engagement: 140, up 7%; Page Likes: 9, up 37%. Page Followers: 4, up 100%.

5. Linkedin – Sheena: 127 followers, 1 new follower in November.

Reminder – Our Facebook address is:

http://www.Facebook.com/ColoradoMusicBusinessOrganization

4. Songs on the COMBO Spotify Play List for November 2021: Barb did not have the time to pick 5 songs to feature for the month.

Playlists

5. What is a “Member”? We discussed our “Members Only” description. There are not only “paid” members but we have “honorary” members and “Lifetime” members as well, not to mention “Business Members”. Barb and David will each try to write up something as a description of what is considered a “Member [Only]” by February’s board meeting. We will also need this in time for the next Songwriting Contest to clarify who is eligible to enter and to enter with/without paying the fee. [This paragraph combines Item numbers 4, 10, and 11 from the Agenda.]

6. COMBO Members Only Video Uploads: Barb needs to give David the SD card for the Showcase video. David pointed out that we may not be able to upload the show due to the problem with copyright and YouTube’s rules which [we] encountered when David uploaded a video of Paul Iwancio playing – even though Paul was playing a song he wrote!

7. Ombudsman Program – Annette Cannon: Annette was absent. No report.

8. Meeting Space Ideas: Board & general meetings to continue on Zoom for the time being. We will need to find a space for live meetings. The Irish Snug worked well before that super well-attended general meeting in Feb. 2020 (on booking) (and before the COVID shutdown).

9. Promotion/Advertising: We did not run an ad for the Showcase. Although we had an attendance of around 40 people, we may have gained a few more from an ad.

10. Board Member Bios – Shanica: She uploaded bios of Barb, Annette, and David. The bios look really good. Barb saw all three on Facebook and we have received several “likes” for the information. Good job, Shanica!

11. COMBO Organization By-Laws:

ARTICLE VI

Standing and Special Committees

4. Proposed Clause: Individuals and/or Committees may present fund-raising events, such as a concert, using COMBO’s Not-for-Profit license but with the understanding that at least fifty percent of the profits will go to the general COMBO fund. The other fifty percent will remain with the individual and/or committee for their future use. This rule does not apply to other entities such as outside groups like Riot Fest or the Warped Tour whose agreements shall be on an event-to-event basis with the COMBO board.

Discussion and/or improvement suggestions: In the light of Tony’s showcase suggestion, we need to re-visit this Clause. Also, Barb remembered that a previous board member ran open mic nights where he collected “Tips for COMBO”. Unfortunately, he did not turn the money over to COMBO. This also needs to be addressed as long as we are re-writing this clause.

5. New Business:

1. Reaffirmation of Board Officer VP Annette Cannon: Annette absent. Will address at the January board meeting.

1. Use of “Unauthorized” Photos: Barb used the SoundCloud LOGO. SoundCloud is an English company. PicRights is strong-arming for foreign companies and does not abide by U.S. rules. So they hit “us” for the “use” fee which only allows us to use it one time.

1. New Server: David brought up that our current server is causing us some severe slowing problems, especially when it comes to uploading the newsletter each week. He has looked into HostMonster and InMotion but will continue to look. The board approved his spending extra money each month, in an amount to be around $10, to upgrade the server (plus whatever we pay now). We also need to get rights to the ColoradoMusic.org domain name from Morris Beegle. He inherited it indirectly from Scott Taylor (an early Board Member who registered the domain for COMA).

6. Reports

1. Program for Thursday, November 18^th, 2021 – Songwriters Showcase: Barb was able to connect with Paula Vrakas of the Roxy on Broadway. They set up a showcase for

Nov. 18^th from 7:00 until 9:00 p.m. She received RSVPs from Paul Iwancio, Karen Current, Mike Abbass, Michelle Roderick, Steve Son, and Ron “Arjay” Sharp. Each performer was to play 2 songs. Christopher Ryan was not able to attend but he gave permission for Paul to play Chris’ song, “A Little Bigger”. The Steve Son Trio and Slopeside offered to play the final few minutes. Per previous years, Barb offered to pay the closing band (Slopeside) so she gave them a check for $75. The venue collected “tips for the band” ($15) which Barb picked up.

A few board members (Johnnie Johnson, Tony Molina, and Annette Cannon) also got up and introduced themselves and the next performing artist. Tracey, Clark, Jamie, Sheena, Alex and Angela were unable to attend. David took a lot of photos for which Barb posted the link in the November 26^th newsletter. General attendance: Michelle Castillo (Steve Son Trio), Barb and Annette counted 39-40 (plus 8 or so sitting in the bar area). Ms. Vrakas said she would be happy to have us back!

Barb never thought that several of the new board members did not know about the format for the previous showcases where the board members took turns giving out “awards” in the form of certificates to local businesses who showed good customer service to musicians, and then the board member would announce the next winning songwriter. So the new board people were not aware that they would be asked to do that. Barb apologizes to those members who were taken aback by that. Barb did not have award certificates made up this year but we may want to consider them again in future years.

2. Book, Movie, and Featured Member(s) for November 2021: Peter Jones wrote an article for our October 28^th & November 4^th newsletters on the Denver Film Festival. Barb had to cancel the “Night at the Movies” as the theater canceled this movie in favor of people viewing it by streaming [low ticket sales?]. Barb had picked the movie Soy Cubana, a documentary that follows Vocal Vidas, an Afro-Cuban, all-woman a cappella group from Santiago de Cuba as the quartet makes its debut in the United States. The 2017 visit to Los Angeles comes to symbolize the larger relationship between two nations, close in proximity yet ideologically in different worlds, even as the promise of long-awaited diplomacy was seemingly taking shape. Unfortunately that didn’t last long.

3. Denver Balanced Breakfast: Meetings continue on Thursday afternoons by Zoom only and based out of San Francisco.

4. Denver Open Media: Nothing at this time. https://www.denveropenmedia.org/

5. Women’s Groups:

a. Women in Music:  No current meetings planned.

b. Womxn Crush Music: They are going to hold off until 2022 to do anything.

7. Items for Newsletters/Announcements:

8. Next General Meeting: Sunday, December 12^th at 6:30 p.m. Holiday Dinner at Postino, 830 Colorado Boulevard.

9. Next Board Meeting: Sunday, January 9^th (first Sunday is New Year’s Eve weekend), 6:50 p.m. on Zoom.

10. Meeting Adjourned at 8:04 p.m.

/s/ Barb Dye

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Barb Dye, President/Acting Secretary