MINUTES
Colorado Music Business Organization – Board of Directors Meeting
Sunday, June 4, 2023 – 7:00 p.m.
A. Called to Order at 7:00 p.m.
B. Present: Barb Dye, David Barber, Annette Cannon, Todd Caron, Tracey Chirhart, Tamera Duran, Johnnie Johnson,
Absent: Jamie Krutz, Tony Molina, Clark Hagan (Maurice Avatar on leave-of-absence) Guest: Nick Summers (absent)
C. Approval of the Minutes of April 2, 2023 and May 7, 2023: Both approved. D. Treasurer’s Report:
Income received:
Memberships (PP); $ 110.00 (May – Paypal) (See Membership Report) Membership (Ck): $ 30.00 (May; Steven Morrow)
Interest on Savings: $ .03 (May 2023)
Total: $ 140.03
Expenses paid (Ck = check; PP = Paypal; BW = bank withdrawal, checking acct.): Bank Fees for April (BW): $ 2.00 (checking fees)
Barb Dye – reimbursement: $ 40.09 (for parking & lunch at The Auditorium) Davy Allard (Ck): $ 50.00 (gift to cover medical expenses)
Paypal fees (PP): $ 5.81 (See David’s accounting below)
Meta (PP): $ 0.00 (no Facebook ads for meeting)
Google Workspace (PP): $ 18.87 (May 1, 2023)
Zoom acct. (PP): $ 17.40 (May 17, 2023)
Dropbox (upgrade) (PP): $ 199.00 (May 30, 2023)
GoDaddy (PP): $ 21.16 (Domain renewal – .org)
Mailchimp (PP): $ 35.10 (May 31, 2023)
Total: $ 389.43
Paypal Fees: (1x$1.19=$1.19) + (3x$1.54=$4.62) + (0x$2.41=$0) + (0x$3.81=$0)=$5.81
Checking Balance: $1,577.73 (as of 5/30/23)
Savings Balance: $ 754.00 (as of 5/30/23)
PayPal Balance: $ 374.08 (as of 6/01/23)
Grand Total: $ 2,705.81
To be paid: 501(c)(3) – $875; T-shirts; est. cost $700. GoDaddy; $20.99 – domain renewal for CO Music For Teachers (Comfort) on 6/14/23.
E. Membership Reports:
Renewed Members in May:
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Supporter(s): None
Individual: None
Band: None
Business(es): None
New Members in May:
Supporter: Patricia Badwound
Individuals: Mark Gillick, Robert Leja, Norma Pfaff, Steven Morrow
Band: None
Business(es): None
At this point in time, we stopped for a discussion on what constitutes “New Members” and “Renewed Members.” David felt that if a member had not renewed by the end of their year, they now became “new” members. Barb thought that regardless of when they renewed, they were “Renewed Members.” The board was split on the definition so Barb decided she would just go with David’s definition. However, in the long-term records she has, she will continue to make the note that the member “renewed” and the date.
Up for Renewal in June:
Supporter: Danielle Hicks
Individuals: Jeremy Dion, John Riger, Steve Son Wilson, Teresa Lynne, James Middleton, Lynn Patrick, Todd Caron (board member)
Bands: None
Business(es):
At this point in time, David asked about the “Lifetime Membership” status for board members. Barb said that when she started, former president Guy Erricksen stated that people who served on the board would not be asked to pay dues in exchange for their time of service. He said that rule was passed down to him by Russ Greene (also a former president). David mentioned that some people had served on the board for only a short time but were now bestowed with “Lifetime” membership. We decided that, if the person served for one year, then they would get LM. Barb will write up a clause to be approved by the board so that we have that in the Minutes for future reference. (We caught Todd before he paid his renewal dues).
Membership Surveys Received: 3 (M. Gillick, R. Leja, L. Selle)
F. Unfinished Business:
1. Upcoming Programs:
a. EVENT: Sat. June 10th – Youth on Record Block Party: Barb contacted Brian Coates at Music-Go-Round in Aurora, Duane Evarts of the Guitar Show, Mark McElwain at Soundtown, and Anne Blonston at AirShow Mastering and they are going to provide some swag for us to put in the bags. Barb will stuff 50 bags for the COMBO crew to pass out at the Block Party.
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b. Monday, June 26th: Illegal Pete’s Schmoozer, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. No program; just a get-together at Illegal Pete’s on Race & Colfax. Parking lot on the north side.
c. Tuesday, July 18th: At Odde’s. Nick volunteered Odde’s. He will ask Chris to run the Happy Hour a little longer to accommodate work hours.
d. August: Taking August off. We will hold a board meeting on Sunday, August 6th and this is so that we can set/confirm September’s meeting and speakers.
e. Monday, September 18th : Suggestions: Suzi Humbert approached us at the VVE and said she would love to speak on “Management & Support Services”. She currently manages James Robinson, a classical guitarist – www.James-Robinson.com She also provides social media program entries. Barb asked Marty Jones if he would give a talk and he agreed. Marty recently helped Tony set up an Open Mic at the north Dry Dock. Marty has been involved in the CO music scene for years and might have been on the COMA board. He has had many projects including a television show. Barb also asked Emily Ferguson from Westword if she would consider speaking and she said “Yes”, too! Barb also reminded the Program Committee that Rick Roberts and Richie Furay from “Firefall” and “Buffalo Springfield” were available to speak.
Program Committee’s next meeting: Probably not until the end of August. 2. Web & Social Media Reports – David Barber (as of 6/01/23):
a. Current Email Subscribers: COMBO has 2,405 subscribers down from the 2,420 reported at the May meeting. As of the 5/25/23 newsletter, we had 26% opens and 6% click thrus. Meeting reminder email: 28% opened it but only 2% clicked through.
b. Twitter Account Followers: COMBO has 7,434 followers, down 15 followers from the last report of 7,449. We are back to auto-posting to Twitter as of the May 11th newsletter. We were down for a couple of weeks.
c. LinkedIn: 172 followers = up from 168. Tracey has posted about the Songwriting Contest. Thank you, Tracey!
d. Google Analytics: In May 2023 there were 4,599 sessions, down 7% from May 2022 when we had 4,949 sessions. May spikes: None.
The most read post this month was
/xxxtentacion-killers-sentenced-to-life-in-prison/ – 274 views
e. Facebook Analytics: Reach: 2,776; Post Engagement: 131; New Likes: 2; New page followers: 4.
Reminder – Our Facebook address is:
http://www.Facebook.com/ColoradoMusicBusinessOrganization
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3. Ombudsman Program – Annette Cannon: Nothing at this time.
4. Promotion/Advertising: Tamera’s idea: With pandemic over, new music venues are opening and maybe we can have a booth at them to connect with COMBO.
5. Open Mic Night with Tony: Tony reported that his Open Mic was a success with between 35-40 attendees. He had solo performers to a full band participate. The Dry Dock manager set the next date as June 25th. The Dry Dock Brewery North is at 2801 Tower Road, Aurora, CO 80011, 303-400-5606. Tony asked for signs and a banner to be posted. One of the signs should be something that will direct QR code scanners to be able to donate to COMBO. Barb asked Tony to call her to discuss. COMBO has a long, vertical banner that Tony can use if there is a place to hang it.
6. Event Spaces: Barb reported that the Irish Snug had been sold. 7. Team up with another non-profit to hold a joint event: Tabled
8. Pursue the exchange of website links: Barb suggested this to The Tank, the recording studio in Rangely, CO and Jim added our logo. Now we need to add theirs! Tabled
9. Pursue offering our liquor licenses out? Tim Bovenzi of Local Sounds Online and Celebrity Sidekick Promotions is setting up a festival, possibly at May Farms in Bennett (site of the first Riot Fest which turned into an absolute mess). Barb let him know that we might be able to help his group out with a liquor license. Tim and his team have been stalled on this. We previously applied for a liquor license for Riot Fest. We should not have any problems with it getting approved. However, we want to make sure that the event promoters are providing insurance and how much they are willing to “donate” to us for the license. Barb said that Tim has called and left messages three more times but she has not heard further from him.
10. Other Fund-Raiser Ideas: Gordon Close has a good sized back room but he moved so Barb will have to check it out. Benefit Concert: need someone who will draw. Hazel Miller, Ryan Chrys, etc., that will bring the crowds and sell out. Tabled
11. New Board Members: Nick Summers (drummer, soundman at Odde’s, and college music business major) attended last month’s board meeting as well as the general event. We voted Tamera in last month! Since Nick was absent, no more was discussed.
12. Marty Jones Suggestion for a Fund-Raiser: Tabled
Here’s a link to the digital compilation of my beer songs I use for fund/awareness raising: https://martyjones.bandcamp.com/
I donate 100% of the sales bucks to a cause for a given month and promote the cause and the campaign. You would tout it to your email list and fans to build the fundraising success of it. (My fans already have this music.)
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I’ll send you the Bandcamp report at the end of the month to confirm the dough. Would this be helpful for COMBO? ~ Marty
13. Country Jam, Mack, Colorado: Barb was able to book 6 Western Slope songwriters for the Songwriters Rounds at the Country Jam in Mack (Grand Junction), CO on June 22, 23, & 24: Kevin Danzig (also a winner in COMBO’s songwriting contest), Tracey Egolf, Cole Campbell & his wife LeAnn Coffey, Sean Moon, and Lyndsey Olish.
14. Sunnyside Music Festival, Sept. 9th: Annette wants us to participate in this: The Sunnyside Music Fest has blossomed into a 5,000+ person music festival that raised $15,000 for local youth music programs in 2021. Tabled until July meeting.
This one-of-a-kind FREE event is a day of world-class Denver bands, artisans, craft beer, food, kids’ activities, and community. The event is located in Chaffee Park, 44th & Tejon, Denver, and goes from 12:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
There will be a large diversity of options for food, ice cream, and beverages.
Sunnyside Music Fest is put on by a board of fun-loving neighbors, volunteering their time. This inclusive, free event is sustained by generous donations from local sponsors and beer sales (so please don’t bring your own).
https://www.facebook.com/SunnysideMusicFestival – Sept. 9th
15. Songwriting Contest: Our annual fundraiser started May 1st. We paid the upgraded one-year fee for Dropbox on May 30th. We may want to decide whether or not we want to do it for next year. For example, we took in $140 this month for membership dues but we are then $59 in the hole for the Dropbox fee. David will look for a cheaper option.
16. (Nothing more)
G. New Business
1. (No new business)
H. Reports
1. May 22nd Meeting: Guest speaker Stephen Brackett of The Flobots, Youth on Record, UMS, and more. Very good speaker and he shared a lot of information. Jamie hosted, and David moderated the questions. One of the attendees was “out of order”. Barb left him a voice mail to discuss that and other issues but he never returned her call. We had 19 attendees: Board members Barb, David, Jamie, Annette, Tamera, Johnnie, Todd, Tony, Clark, and “intern” Nick, speaker Stephen, and guests DJ Woogie Fresh, Dean McCall, Hank, Allen Colvin, Saam Golgoon, Andre Simmons, Joel, and Willie Hammod.
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2. Alex Teitz’s Report on the Sober Sessions, 5/13/23: I just came back from the Phoenix/Music Minds Matter Sober Sessions. Everyone was there! Jami Duffy for Youth on Record, photographer Nikki Rae, Emily Irwin and many others. I was shocked how many music people I knew were there. I spoke with Robert from Colorado Sound. I was wearing my COMA shirt and he could tell me that he knew about the May 22nd meeting. He may even Zoom in because he’s been playing telephone tag with Stephen. Over 125 people RSVP’ed and I think most showed up.
The event was put on because The Phoenix and Music Minds Matter received a Denver Music Advancement grant for $10,000. This is the first of 2 Sober Sessions they are doing. The next is in August. Ironically all of the musicians were sober, too, and Spencer hosted a podcast for them to talk about being sober in the industry. ~ Alex
https://www.westword.com/music/phoenix-music-minds-matter-sober-sessions concert-series-16808533
Barb will update the Press Release on the Sober Sessions and will repost in the July 27th Newsletter.
3. Movie Night With Barb: The Sie Film Center set the Blood, Sweat & Tears doc for Mother’s Day, May 14th which Barb was not able to attend. She hopes to find it somewhere else.
4. Book of the Month: None
I. Next COMBO Event: Monday, June 26th– Schmoozer at Illegal Pete’s at 6:00 p.m. J. Next Board Meeting: 7:00 p.m., Sunday, July 9, 2023. Tracey may be calling in from afar! K. Next Program Committee Meeting: TBD
L. Adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
/s/ Barb Dye
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Barb Dye, President