Board Meeting Minutes May 2, 2021

MINUTES

Colorado Music Business Organization Board of Directors Meeting

Sunday, May 2, 2021 – 7:00 p.m.

1. Called to Order at 7:03 p.m.

Present: Alex Teitz, David Barber, Sheena Morgan, Johnnie Johnson, Barb Dye, Jamie Krutz, Tracey Chirhart

Absent: Angela Whaley, Annette Cannon (excused), Clark Hagan

Guests: T LoopS

2. Consideration and Approval of the Minutes of March 7, 2021: Johnnie Johnson so moved, Sheena Morgan seconded. Minutes approved.

Consideration and Approval of the Minutes of April 4, 2021: Johnnie Johnson so moved, Sheena Morgan seconded. Minutes approved.

T-Loop/Tony Molina: Introduction as possible Board Member – Produced Low-Fi Beat; Plays locally in Denver; Relocated from Anchorage, AK; Found out from FB. Digital music grow listener base. Instrumental. Background artist.

Joel Ashmore (Booths & Song Contest) – Passing on Board

3. Treasurer’s Report:

Income received:

Membership $ 240.00 (See Membership Report)

Interest on Savings: $ .01 (April, 2021)

Total: $ 240.01

Expenses paid:

Bank Fees for April: $ 2.00 (checking fees)

Paypal fees: $ 9.36 (See Membership Report)

Facebook ads for April: $ 0.00 (none)

Zoom account: $ 16.30

Mailchimp for March:    $  31.95

                                Total: $ 59.61

Checking Balance: $ 1,356.06 (as of 4/30/21)

Savings Balance: $ 1,003.23 (as of 4/30/21)

PayPal Balance: $ 349.22 (as of 5/01/21)

Grand Total: $ 2,708.51 Sub-Total: 2,359.29

4. Membership Report:

Current Paid Members: 35 (27 individual, 3 businesses, 5bands, and 0 Supporters)

Renewed Members in April: Steve Glotzer, Gary Manlove, Michelle Roderick

New Members April:

Supporter: None

Individual(s): Erik Nelson, Alex Rhodes, Dylan Parkin, Jose “J.J.” Fraser, Paul Iwancio

Band(s): (none)

Business: (none)

Up for Renewal in May: SYCDVK (Band)

Barb feels like we should not be asking for renewals from any musician who signed up in 2020 since they had all their shows cancelled and we could not help promote the musician/band. For instance, Kerry Pastine & her band signed up just before the shut down so Kerry really got nothing for her dues. Barb thinks we should send those people letters saying we have extended their memberships for one year (until the end of 2021) since they “got lost in the pandemic’s aftermath.”

Sheena is giving waiver to bands and businesses as stated above for free year of membership. Individual members are still sent renewal notices. This applies to individual members who didn’t renew from June-December, 2020 when notices weren’t being sent out.

Membership “Welcome Surveys”: Sheena reported that we received 7 surveys in April.

5. Unfinished Business:

1. 1. • 1. Bar code requests: None

1. 1. • 2. Upcoming Programs:

a. May 17, 2021: Songwriting Contest to start May 1^st – Rob Roper, Pro-judges Need artists & advertising. Paul Iwancio, Alex Rhodes, Deadly Alliance, Jim Atteberry DSE. Discussion of new changes to Songwriting Contest and what went live on May 1^st. Jaime will plan backup for Rob Roper who is getting his 2^nd COVID shot and may not be well.

b. June 2021: We usually did the Guitar Show and the Jazz Fest as outreach builders in June. Since the Jazz Fest was cancelled this year, and the Guitar Show has moved to September 12^th, do we want to go ahead with a Zoom meeting? Topic? Note that the meeting date will probably be Monday, June 21^st.

c. July 2021: Tabled until June board meeting.

3. Web Reports – David (as of 5/02/21):

1. Current Email Subscribers: COMBO has 2,526 subscribers which is down from the 2,542 reported at the 4/04/21 Board Meeting. As of the 4/29/21 newsletter, we had 16% opens and 3% click thrus. Most viewed article was on Announcement of the COMBO Songwriting Contest

2. Twitter Account Followers: COMBO has 7,693 followers which is down from 7,694 followers as of the 4/04/21 report.

3. Facebook Account Activity: COMBO has a total 1523“likes” which is up from 1,512 “likes” as of the 4/04/21 report. [This figure can only go “up” as it is an accumulative report from the time the page was opened.]

4. Google Analytics Report: In April 2021 there were 3116 sessions, which is down 18% from April 2020 when we had _3788 sessions.

There was an unusually low dip in traffic from 4/18-4/20 – not sure why

Spike on April 9 at 10:00 AM, 331 new users, unclear where they came from or why, but they didn’t look at anything beyond the home page

The most read article in April was the old DittyTV article from February 2018.

e. Facebook Analytics – David Barber: Page Views (73) down 44_%; Post Reach (932) down by 77%; Post Engagement (138) down 77%; Page Likes (12) down 55%. Page Followers: (12) down _56% .

Reminder – Our Facebook address is:

http://www.Facebook.com/ColoradoMusicBusinessOrganization

 

5. Songs on the COMBO Spotify Play List for May 2021: David Barber

● Paul Iwancio – See How We Roll Now

● Harry Tuft, New Golden Ring – Few Days

● A Paper Corner – I Don’t Know

● Alex Rhodes – Makes Some Heat

● Rob Roper – Chair on the Moon

T-Loop wants to make a list to promote Colorado artists. Paid advertising. Make a benefit for members

 

6. COMBO YouTube Channel Uploads – David: Angela has not sent Chuck Morris meeting.

7. Ombudsman Program – Annette Cannon: Annette absent.

8. Meeting Space Ideas: On hold for the time being. We might want to discuss holding meetings live starting in September. However, Barb is happy that we are able to bring in people from further distances with the Zoom meetings. Any way we can combine both? i.e., live feed from a venue so that our members from Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Longmont, Fort Collins can still “attend?”

9. Designation for Funds: Approval of Zoom Account. See “New Business”

10. Purchase of Promotional Merchandise Items: Nothing.

11. Promotion/Advertising: None.

12. Girls & Science Expo: They went to a “virtual” format this year. Anna Frick & Christine McFarland, GRAMMY still very interested.

13. Posting on Facebook: Sheena posted articles on…

New Film: “Sisters with Transistors” tells untold story of female electronic music pioneers

https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.forbes.com/sites/joanneshurvell/2021/04/22/new-film-sisters-with-transistors-tells-untold-story-of-female-electronic-music-pioneers/amp/?fbclid=IwAR0ytcJ1sEFJMdehdXA7rkAqhUhwuP1QXiIrO3zr4hmS8RH-542G02-QhL0

Why Bands Are Disappearing: Young People Aren’t Excited By Them

https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/music/2021/mar/18/why-bands-are-disappearing-young-people-arent-excited-by-them?fbclid=IwAR0hXLSAwvzjX36mv34BgTb6LbT0Xybwanrp0MiwtbCGyatX2qjELDhAbTg\

The Major Label NFT Strategy Will Focus on Long-Term Revenue

https://www-billboard-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.billboard.com/amp/articles/business/tech/9552980/major-label-nft-strategy-long-term-revenue/?fbclid=IwAR24x9DBbaomhH7ANSAEH9hSto5hFsmxdokUjd3expHBMjA0TuuZIRNQ0ts

Inside the Dirty Business of Songwriting

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/dirty-business-hit-songwriting-1234946090/?fbclid=IwAR35x_ZcLHhQslcyZIcN85u8QqYq1Ii8No0M4lXKiXGkEm-ebdqFMR0sM6U

Maybe put on COMBO articles/links on website for more traffic.

14. Board Member Bio’s – David & Sheena: Was anything done on Lee? Bio was internal to COMBO. Wanted to check on what can be released. We can run a bio thru Avis Bagby, Lee’s sister, for approval. Waiting for Annette as next bio.

15: Storage for COMBO Stuff: Fine where it is now (Barb’s & Mark’s basements). No problem until we start doing shows again, etc.

16. COMBO Organization By-Laws: We’ve approved changes to the first four sections. Barb read the following into the Minutes of March 3, 2021, per Roberts’ Rules of Order requirements. Tabling Article V until June with note. Dave – if ever unable to attend a meeting, you can assign your votes (“proxy”) to another board member. Can make a quorum that way. This was shown to be of value at the April board meeting.

ARTICLE V

Meetings of Members (General Meetings)

1. Regular meetings of the members of the corporation shall be held from time to time as shall be determined by the Board of Directors and notice thereof shall be given to members of the corporation at least three (3) days in advance by telephone call or e-mail message, or via such other procedure approved by the Board. Special meetings of members may be called by the Board upon similar notice.

2. The annual meeting shall be held in the fall of each year or at such other time as shall be fixed by the Board of Directors, for the purpose of the transaction of such business as may come before the meeting. Except as may be otherwise provided in these Bylaws or decided by the Directors, one-tenth of the members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business in any meeting of the corporation. A majority of the quorum is necessary for member action of items put before the members by the Board of Directors.

This clause asks for “one-tenth of the members” at an annual meeting which, to the best of Barb’s knowledge, has never been held. At this point in time, we technically have only FOUR members that equal one-tenth. We pretty much have been tending to ALL business of the organization during the Board meetings. Barb proposes that we delete the part of the clause after the words “decided by the Directors” altogether.

3. The Board of Directors may designate any place, either within or without the State of Colorado, as the place of meeting for any regular or annual meeting or for any special meeting called by the Board of Directors. Add in language about Zoom or other media??

4. Members may vote in person or by proxy executed in writing by the member or by his duly authorized attorney in fact. Such proxy shall be filed with the secretary of the corporation before or at the time the vote is made, unless otherwise provided in the proxy. Each person who has been issued a membership card, regardless of the type of membership (i.e., individual, band, business, etc.) is entitled to one vote.

We may want to delete this clause as it really no longer applies since meetings are now held virtually so it does not matter where the member is at the time of the meeting. Also, since we are no longer issuing membership cards, this sentence no longer applies either. #4 should be amended to include e-mail.

Paid members include people given memberships. Members in good standing would also include current and previous board members.

18. California Law on Gig Workers: No update.

19. Re-opening of Bars, Clubs & Theaters: Gradually re-opening with gradient seating.

20. Songwriting Contest for 2021: Started May 1^st. JUDGES? Send Barb your nominee! Tony Shawcross from Denver Open Media volunteered as did another DJ from KGNU. Sheena talked to Doug Bohm to be a judge. Wants details.

21. Vintage Voltage Expo / Guitar Show / Antique Radio Collectors Show: To be held at the Delta by Marriott at 120^th & I-25 on Sunday, September 12^th. At this time, Barb plans to have a COMBO booth there. She hopes to work out a deal to trade a booth for advertising. The VVE (Dana Cain) is a paid member of COMBO. Duane Evarts with the Guitar Show was a member – we might want to send him a renewal reminder. Question: Is Dana still a member? Dana’s membership expired in 2019. Send Barb current membership list. Jamie will helping Barb with the booth at the event.

6. New Business:

a. Ways to Honor Lee Bagby: Barb was wondering if we could set up a simple paragraph at the top of the Board Members page saying something like “COMBO would like to remember its dearly loved board members Barb Dunmall (served from 2006-2010) and Daryl “Lee” Bagby (served from 2018-2021) who worked tirelessly to help all musicians out with the business of music.” David added to the website.

Barb did a “want ad” and got two potential names – Joel Ashmore and T Loop, both of whom she invited to attend this meeting.

What do we want new board members to bring to the table? Are there skills we’re lacking? Interest in different genres of music not represented. Biz end of music. Can “show up.” Passion to learn. We’re open to people under 30. Being a Board Member can give you a number of volunteer opportunities. Barb has deliberately tried to stay away from “interest in music genre” as that contributed to the previous organizations “blowing up” (caused “fracturing”). She has tried to recruit from a pool of people who knew something about the various phases of the “business” of music – which usually leaves the under 30 crowd out because they are NOT interested in the “business” end of the industry unless it is something they need – like how to book their bands!

Discussion on possibility of COMBO Interns? Maybe work in conjunction with Chuck Morris or Storm Gloor for accreditation? What criteria is COMBO looking for? Angela Whaley joined as an intern. Want Angela’s input. A possible catch: will intern earn college credit? How will intern be accredited and evaluated? Sheena Morgan did intern evaluation work in Boston. Maybe Chuck & Storm could oversee. Chris Daniels. Andy Guerrero. Jamie Community College. (More discussion for May).

What job duties could intern do: Articles for COMBO Members Page, Playlists, etc… (Please add to May agenda) We had an intern catalog and organize the 1,000+ CDs we had but that all got lost when we packed up and moved out of the office space. Angela did Membership duties which, at that time, included assigning a membership number and mailing out the membership cards. Maybe something by September. Would Johnnie have need for an intern? Johnnie about to vacation in Russia. Johnnie Linkedin contact from artists. Masterlist of duties for an intern.

Hi team I have to put my son to sleep now and that can take a while. I loved meeting you all and would really like to help out I have some ideas not just with Spotify but other things to benefit members as well. Thanks for having me – Tony of TLooP 310.889.4673 www.tloopartist.com

b. Goals – David & Sheena: Originally wanted to present before Board before COVID hit. David presented ideas for COMBO goals based upon list drawn up before COVID. He has also been tracking general meeting data so we can track our progress. Leave for June meeting.

• COMBO Membership Model 2020 Goals

• Increased membership 10% (40 members. stretch goal 50)

• Increased member engagement

• Increased member retainment 10% 20%

• Increased event attendance 25% – Dave has spreadsheet collecting data

2018 – 8 meetings – 23.125 people/meeting – Songwriting Contest biggest attendance. Xmas party lowest attendance. Guitar Show no meeting. No data from that. Mark & Barb may have data. Guitar Shows had attendance of around 300 people consistently. COMBO’s sign-up sheets garnered around 50 people each time. Those names were simply entered into the e-mail list with the hope that some of those would eventually join as paid members.

2019 – 8 meetings – 25.875 people per meeting . Booking Tony Mason – 56 people, Randy Rixon – 7 people. Songwriting contest – 64

2020 – 8 meetings – 23.5 people per meeting. Feb Tony Mason – 62 people.

2021 – 3 meetings – 30 people or more would be a big increase – 35 Chuck Morris, 40 Artist Mgmt, 24 at Grammys Our Grammy parties at the SIE film center had a max attendance of 62 (in the theater) and a low of 27 (in “the lounge”).

Would be good to see graph of data. Repeat vs unique people. Intern could help us there. Is there is student membership? Student Membership: We had them sign up as a “Supporter”. Meeting minutes has data, Jamie will chart data.

• A higher percentage of on-time dues payment 100% (with notices and plan for future automation) Sheena automating would get rid of admin work, give more time to be proactive. Money for software. Can’t afford.

• High revenue growth, bring in more $$ than we spend. We haven’t pushed for people to rejoin because of COVID. As recovery happens can push.

If we formalize, standardize, and commit to a set of procedures, you will end up with disorganization, no way of measuring progress and no way of scaling growth.

Gated Content for Members Only: Discounts, Select Events, Articles, Merch – Give value to members (Revisit for June – new goals and how to measure)

c. What are NFTs (Non-fungible tokens)? – Jamie: Jamie will try to explain this new “form of currency” in 20 words or less that is relevant to the arts! Work of art attached to blockchain and unique. NF is unique. Copies are unique. Signed baseball card. First edition of a book. Value whether believe it matters. Can influence market. Money laundering under blockchain. What if there were a way to make digital art unique for value to artists? Discussion brought up examples of blockchain but also weighed heavily on “buyer beware.”

Michael St James – blockchain to track publishing (Dave)

Bitcoin sets limited number. Amount of energy staggering to get one – algorithms. Environmental impacts

Jamie – Pyramid scheme. People getting in early.

d. Zoom Account: Due to Zoom offering a “special discount” to people who signed up by April 30^th, we decided to do an on-line vote to get our own account. Eight of the ten board members voted “Yes” (with Johnnie and Angela not voting, probably due to them missing the e-mail!) So David set up the account which will cost us $16.30 per month for [a year?] The Zoom URL is:

https://zoom.us/j/3704029140?pwd=MHVkUkFWejhibzdHdG9VNUQ0WXV6Zz09

[Barb thinks these numbers are relative to Angela’s account and can be deleted…]

Meeting ID: 370 402 9140
Passcode: COMBO
One tap mobile
+12532158782,,3704029140#,,,,*470011# US (Tacoma)
+13462487799,,3704029140#,,,,*470011# US (Houston)

Dial by your location
        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
        +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
Passcode: 470011

e. Songwriting Contest Entry form:

https://www.coloradomusic.org/songwriting-contest/

It will go live to world on Sat May 1

Musician friend in Montrose. Write them to sign up to newsletter. Outreach to other organizations. Working on building e-mail list.

July facebooks ads to get people into contest.

7. Reports

1. Book, Movie, and Featured Member(s) for March 2021: Book: None; Movie: None

[Due to Barb Dye’s illness and subsequential surgery, these fell by the wayside].

2. April 26, 2021: Barb Dye will present a management workshop – free to members, fee to non-members $10.This was postponed due to Barb’s illness. The Program Committee decided to do a “Happy Hour” instead. Although the attendance was low (3 members), the discussion was lively and varied.

3. Storm Gloor’s Virtual Class: Barb did first 2 classes. Gloor got a grant. Senior students choose a subject and discussed it. Jaime left. Tracey left.

4. Colorado Springs Meeting: Tabled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

5. Denver Balanced Breakfast: Anyone attend their Summit? On Clubhouse now. Restricts viewers not on Apple.

6. Denver Open Media:

https://www.denveropenmedia.org/

 

7. Mental Wellness Discussion Group Meeting – Angela Whaley’s report: The group is meeting on the 1^st & 3^rd Mondays of the month. The group is open to the public and everyone is invited to attend. 6-7 pm via Zoom. May is mental wellness group. Good to share info on newsletter.

8. Women’s Groups

a. She.E.O.:

b. Womxn Crush Music:

c. Setting the Stage with Julie Gellar: Julie announced that her family has decided to stay in Israel for another year.

d. Mountain Mamas Music:

e. Women in Music in Denver:

f. Soundgirls:

9. Colorado Music Network (on Facebook):

10. Denver Musicians Network:

11: Youth on Record:

Is there any way to do anything with Illegal Pete’s for COMBO? They did donate bags for the Jazz Fest in 2019 for people to take home literature in.

Can we hold a meeting there? NO!!! Both locations are way too busy and they have no “private” spaces. We might consider just a “Happy Hour” during the summer months.

Discount for members? No membership cards. CODA. Soundtown. What other discounts do members receive?

12: Amp the Cause:

8. Items for Newsletters/Announcements:

9. Next General Meeting: Monday, May 17, 2021 7:00 – 9:00 pm – Zoom!

10. Next Board Meeting: Sunday, June 6 , 2021 | 7:00 p.m. Zoom.

11. Meeting Adjourned at 8:35p.m.

/s/ Alex Teitz

___________________________________

Alex Teitz, Secretary