Board Meeting Minutes January 2023

MINUTES

Colorado Music Business Organization – Board of Directors Meeting

Sunday, January 8, 2023

A. Called to Order at 7:15 p.m.

B. Present: Barb Dye, David Barber, Annette Cannon, Tracey Chirhart, Jamie Krutz, Todd Caron

Absent: Maurice Avatar, Johnnie Johnson, Tony Molina, Clark Hagan

C. Approval of the Minutes of November, 2022: Todd moved, Tracey 2nd: Approved

D. Treasurer’s Report:

Income received:

Memberships (Paypal): $ 60.00 (November) (See Membership Report)

Memberships (Paypal): $ 30.00 (December) (See Membership Report)

Memberships (check): $ 30.00 (December) (See Membership Report)

Reimbursement (Barb): $ 25.00 (for dinner at Pietra’s)

Interest on Savings: $ .02(November/December 2022)

Total: $ 145.02

Expenses paid (Ck = check; PP = Paypal; BW = bank withdrawal, checking acct.):

Bank Fees for Nov. (BW): $ 2.00 (checking fees)

Bank Fees for Dec. (BW): $ 2.00 (checking fees)

Paypal fees (PP): $ 4.62(See David’s accounting below)

David Booker: $ 50.00 (to help with medical expenses)

Pietra’s (Holiday dinner): $ 67.99 (Appetizers + $6 tip)

Hartford: $ 502.00 (Liability insurance for one year)

USPS: $ 166.00 (post office box for one year)

Discover Card: $ 100.00 (Target cards to give away at Holiday Party)

Meta (PP): $ -0.00- (no Facebook ads for meeting)

GoDaddy: $ 20.17 (Renewal ColoradoMusic.com)

Brew Labs: $ 69.30 (Nov. 30, 2022) (Send Press Pro fees)

Zoom acct. (PP): $ 16.30 (Nov. 20, 2022)

Zoom acct. (PP): $ 16.30 (Dec. 20, 2022)

Google Workspace: $ 18.87 (Nov. 2022)

Google Workspace: $ 18.87 (Dec. 2022)

Mailchimp (PP):   $  33.00 (Nov. 29, 2022)

Mailchimp (PP):   $  33.00 (Dec. 29, 2022)

                                Total: $1, 122.42

Paypal Fees: (3 x $1.54) = $4.62 (for individual memberships) (No charge for check)

Checking Balance: $ 1,378.27 (as of 1/06/23)

Savings Balance: $ 1,153.84 (as of 1/06/23)

PayPal Balance: $ 524.39(as of 1/06/23)

Grand Total: $ 3,056.50

(Transferred $300 from Savings to Checking on 12/20/22 for PO overage fees + and to cover voice mail charges)

To be paid: American Voice Mail – $95; Application for 501(c)(3) – $875; still on want list – t-shirts.

E. Membership Reports:

Renewed Members in November:

Supporter(s): None

Individual: Willie Hammond (11/26)

Band: None

Business(es): None

Renewed Members in December:

Supporter(s): None

Individual: Ed Bisiar (check)

Band: None

Business(es): None

New Members in November:

Supporter: None

Individuals: Patrick Rooney (11/30)

Band: None

Business(es): None

New Members in December:

Supporter: None

Individuals: Devin Fry (12/15) (He’s in The Sharpist band!)

Band: None

Business(es): None

Up for Renewal in December:

Supporter: None

Individuals: None

Bands: None

Business(es): None

Up for Renewal in January:

Supporter: None

Individuals: None

Bands: None

Business(es): None

David sent out renewal reminder emails on 1/07/23.

Membership “Welcome Surveys”: 4 (Rooney, Hammond, Fry & Emery [7/22])

F. Unfinished Business:

1. Bar Code requests: None.

1. Upcoming Programs:

a. Monday, January 23rd – Meeting on Booking: Sandra Holman Watts (Live at Jack’s) and Mark Sundermeier (Oriental Theater) have confirmed. Working on more.

Todd tried to contact Geannette Murrietta, getting no response. She books Red Rocks; wanted to make sure she did booking for local bands for booking on the rocks.

Geannette.murrietta@denvergov.org Meeting will start at 7:30 instead of 7.

David stated he doesn’t like the term agent the way it’s being used. They aren’t booking agents — booking agents work for a booking agency and work to book tours, get paid a percentage of what artists gets paid. Talent buyers, like Mark Sundermeier, work for venues like the Oriental Theater. Sandra puts on her own shows, finds venues so she’s a promoter. Live Nation considers themselves talent buyers, said Barb.

b. Monday, February 27^th (the 20^th is Presidents Day): Shannon Bock on ‘Live Music’

c. Monday, March 27^th – Stephen from Flobots ?

d. April (weekend preferably) – Songwriters Showcase: Looking for place to hold Songwriters Showcase, need to find soon! Johnny mentioned Brewability. They contacted him to book some artists and they hadn’t heard of COMBO. It’s a restaurant/brewery, they have a system to plug in artist, stage, they do feed the artists and pay for their shows, and they have a 3 set show or similar. He wants to visit it physically.

Barb will visit Brewability and Mountain Taphouse. Taphouse good for an open mic but not showcase. No lights, no real sound system, kind of like Irish Snug.

Running around 70 people and don’t know date yet said Barb, need venue first.

Aiming for April, third Monday or so said David. Weekend date said Barb, 4 Fridays, 5 Sat. and 5 Sun. get a weekend. Monday the 24^th would be normal or the 17^th. If we find a place, then propose date, something better for us than a Monday night. Some places closed on Monday like the Roxy, so aim for weekend first.

Jamie has to contact Shannon &, Steven for March. He said his neighbor is in a touring metal band having some success is willing to be on panel about touring. They just toured the southeast opening for big name acts.

Barb said do touring around Sep/Oct to set up for next year. Or Jan. of next year.

Jamie will ask what topics are good.

Shannon Bock: Jamie saw at Colorado Recording Studios event as headliner. Gave presentation on local music experience, booking for AEG, booking festivals… lives in TN now and is willing to Zoom in with us and participate for Feb.

The Program Committee meets next on Zoom Tuesday Jan. 17^th at 7:30pm.

3. Web & Social Media Reports – David Barber (as of 01/08/23):

We’ll skip the reports for November; these are for December 2022.

1. Current Email Subscribers: COMBO has 2401 subscribers, downfrom the 2,419 reported at the Nov meeting. As of the 12/28/22 newsletter, we had 27% opens and 4% click thrus.

2. Twitter Account Followers: COMBO has 7,519 followers which is down from the last report of 7,596.

c. Facebook Analytics: (Dec. only) Reach: 861, down 14.2%; Page Views: 22, down 40%; New Likes: 6, down 25%!

Reminder – Our Facebook address is:

http://www.Facebook.com/ColoradoMusicBusinessOrganization

d. LinkedIn: 164followers up from 161.

e. Google Analytics Report: In Dec. 2022 there were 4,836 sessions, which is down 27% from Dec. 2021 when we had 6,632 sessions. The most viewed article in Dec. (1319 views) was on Dec. 30^th about Susan Kittredge and fiddle handed to her in bar in Nashville and what an amazing fiddle player she is. Her daughter sent a note saying “thanks for posting”. They were thrilled that the article reached all the way to Colorado!

4. Ombudsman Program – Annette Cannon: David Booker sent a “Thank you” note via Facebook for the $50. In Nov Annette mentioned Lynn Patrick and Kate Ormsbee.

5. Promotion/Advertising: Barb passed out guitar picks at the Holiday Dinner and to The Australian Bee Gees in Las Vegas! Corrected Nov. minutes for David to go to Startups and Music. David stated that basically it’s an org that people who are in the tech field and at a startup company that want to network but some are music lovers and so they found a startup to fund bands so they network once a month at # 38^th and they get a band or two to play during networking but it’s loud and fun, it’s different way to network. David found out as he knows the organizer and they now send COMBO emails.

6. Open Mic Night with Tony: Tony was absent.

7. Event Spaces: Pietra’s good place for event? Not sure on that, was a bit chaotic.

G. New Business

1. Ideas to attract new members:

1.  The welcoming night with DSE. Haven’t pursued as their working on Ventura, CA.
2.  Perhaps team up with another non-profit and hold an event together? Speak with Johnny for ideas.
3.  Pursue the exchange of website links: Might be waste of time.
4.  Pursue some discounts with entertainment attorneys for joining? Want attorneys or people to join? Annette stated: to get people to join as a benefit, need attorney, first counsel free as bonus. Barb: list as benefit for business for attorneys, may have more to offer members.
5.  Re-evaluate how info is put on social media? Annette reexplains: a lot of people look for invites but not everyone sees the post early…sometimes day of or day later. David said that wrong location has been posted in past, so if somebody wants to post an event they can go for it but doesn’t want to do it. Annette can’t commit to it now, just need someone to create invites and events. Reach out to unknown people to bring in new people, friends of friends, etc. Need a board member to focus on social media, Tony? Do invite and then music groups. Agreed to not run an ad for the next event, members should see info anyway. Speakers can advertise as well to get people to attend and help us reach a new audience.
6.  Small fee for entry into live events that have a speaker, etc.? Worry about when we find a place
7.  Consider raising the cost of dues?  Dues started out a lot more and people weren’t joining so they were lowered. David said don’t raise.
8.  Pursue offering our liquor license out more? Have to find someone first. Barb thought about contacting Peter Orr
9.  Pursue getting a regular meeting spot for live events? Working on it.
10.  Pursue the ‘listening sessions’ again for a fee? Talked about doing music reviews, do get requests but unfortunately when agreed upon no one pursued it. Could be listed as a benefit, suggested Annette. David stated that song contest is rough enough, not all members are that good and it’s difficult to do at times. Hard to give positive feedback all the time. Will give this some more thought for now but a board member could listen to a song for a fee.
11.  Have networking parties/gatherings quarterly? Go back to live meetings then don’t need, just emphasize.
12.  Connect up with the new venues and new owners of old venues….do some partnerships? Annette thinks connect with a venue that offers if you go into a live event get discount on entry or ticket, half cover charge if COMBO member, any kind of marketing with venue would be beneficial to both parties.
13.  Maybe host a karaoke night for a venue? Could be fun.
14.  Have some voting and win something?
15.  Get a calendar promoted out for the year and market it. Little late for this year, but next year maybe. Have a full calendar of events and send it out to members listing all events, bands, info. But it’s hard to book far out due to unforeseen circumstances, 3 months seems to work best, but could have general topics instead and that creates more flexibility, members can check website for details.
16.  Can we hold a different type of contest also (in addition to the songwriting contest?) Would love to come up with a contest to raise money with less hassle and someone to manage. Tried guitar raffle no luck. Annette will see what she can come up with.

3. Mail: USPS – The cost went up to $166 per year which is way too much considering the amount of mail we receive. We don’t want to use a board member’s home address but how ‘bout if we ask one of our lawyers if we can use his business address? Because our corporation report needed to be filed, Todd Myers, our lawyer, asked for a home address as POB addresses are not allowed. So Barb gave him hers. She also asked Todd if there would be a chance that we could have our mail switched over to his office address since we only get around 10-12 pieces of mail a year and most of that is junk mail. He said that since he is the “agent of service”, we cannot use his address. He suggested that we ask Steve Replin – which would be better because Steve’s office is in the Cherry Creek area. Todd’s office is way out west – think JeffCo Fairgrounds.

4. Booth at The Auditorium Event: The event is to be held at the Buell Public Media Center at 2101 Arapahoe on Wed. Feb. 1^st & Th, Feb. 2^nd. Barb has asked to have a booth there and could use come assistance if anyone is available. She does not know what the parking situation is but will try to drive by to find out. Registration/booth is by donation. I suggest that we write a check for $50. Vote: Yes.

1The Auditorium Music Business Conference 2023 will be held at the Buell Public Media Center. Bryánne Mitchell and Ontoneyo Gonzales, co-founders of Color Coded Music revealed Jan. 5^th . The Buell Public Media Center, which first opened in July 2020, is a 93,000-square-foot building that houses Rocky Mountain PBS, KUVO JAZZ and THE DROP 104.7. The Auditorium is the newest music business conference in Colorado that brings musicians together with business owners in the independent music industry to learn new strategies and build valuable relationships. Created by Color Coded Music, the music arm of Color Coded Media Group, The Auditorium attracts business owners of Colorado’s music industry (musicians/bands, publishers, radio stations, venue owners, consultants, media, and more) from across the Southwest.

5. Booth at the Vintage Voltage Expo/Guitar Show: We will get one free booth there in exchange for advertising. Since the tables are only 6’ long, Barb has asked for another (which we will pay for). This is to be held on Sunday, March 26^th from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. (Our general meeting event is set for the next night, Monday, March 27^th). Helpers needed!

6. February Board Meeting: Normally the board meeting would be scheduled for Sunday, February 5^th . However, that is Barb’s birthday. Would it be o.k. to schedule the board meeting for Monday, Feb. 6^th? Discussion: Changed to Feb. 6^th.

H. Reports

1. Sunday, November 13^th – Songwriters Showcase:

We agreed to postpone the Songwriters Showcase until April as a lead-in to next summer’s songwriting contest. In the meantime, we still need a place to hold it.

2. Holiday Dinner: Annette secured Pietra’s Restaurant on 44^th for a Holiday Pizza Party. We were to have the back room but a bigger, confirmed crowd was put in. We did end up with 22 attendees, including all board members except Maurice & Johnnie: Barb, David, Annette, Todd, Tracey, Clark, Jamie, and Tony, and Bill & Christine Emery (new member from Colorado Springs), Laurie Dameron, Rod Tanaka, Mark C. Paullin, Annette’s guest Tamera Duran, Eddie Bishiar & his guest John Greenhut, Tracey’s guests her daughters and her mom, Steve Son, Tom Sowee, and Saam Golgoon. COMBO purchased appetizer plates for each table to be nibbled on until our dinners arrived. Annette put together a couple of games and we had prizes including gift cards to Target in the amounts of $50 (Tracey), $25 (Mark), and $25 (Rod). Annette had also made up 20 bags of cookies as door prizes – exactly the right amount!!! Thank you, Annette, for taking your valuable time to make such a fun evening for us!

3. Movie Night With Barb: Barb suggested the new documentary on Whitney Houston.

4. Book of the Month: Barb suggested books on Fat Joe and Chuck Berry.

5. Women in Music: No report.

6. Sound Girls: No report.

7. Music Minds Matter – Angela Whaley: No report.

Are we expecting reports? Doesn’t appear that way so will drop.

I. Next COMBO Event: Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. — Meeting on Booking via Zoom.

J. Next Board Meeting: Sunday, February 6^th at 7:30 p.m. Sign in time 7:20 p.m. via Zoom.

K. Next Program Committee Meeting: Jan. 17^th at 7:30pm

L. Adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

/s/ Tracey Chirhart

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Tracey Chirhart, Secretary