NIBGA Board meeting April 19, 2015

Northern Indiana Bluegrass Assoc. board meeting 

South West Conservation Club, Bluffton Rd., Ft. Wayne, Indiana

Our Mission: The purpose of this organization shall be to educate the public to, and promote
the awareness of, Bluegrass and Old Time Country Music.

Pres. Jim Winger called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m.

Roll call: Officers present are:                        Board directors:
  President - Jim Winger                                      TJ Collins
  Vice-President - Joe Steiner                             Pam Keiper
  Secretary - Barbara Collins                               Paul Saurborn
  Treasurer - Linda Winger

Others present: Chris Steiner - Workshop and Taxi Chair; Sandra Carnes - Past Vice-President ; Jeanette Young - Vendor chair & Merchandise/Membership table; Greg & Brenda Aldrich - Co Gate Captains; Leslie Ellis - Co Gate Captain; Dave Keiper - Grounds/Maintainance

• Secretary Barbara Collins: The March minutes were emailed to all on March 22, 2015.   Paul Saurborn motioned to accept. TJ Collins seconded. All say yes. Motion carried.
• Treasurer Linda Winger: The March financials were emailed to all on April 13, 2015. Linda reviewed the financials with the board. The totals are as of 3/31/15. All bills are paid as of now.  Joe Steiner motioned to accept. Paul Saurborn seconded. All say yes. Motion carried.

INFORMATION ITEMS

• eBay ad - Chris Steiner gave a update. She is working on the ads. All needs to be posted within 2 weeks.
• S15 Video by Dave Crabill - Dave Crabill has offered to video record the Spring 2015 NIBGA Festival. He has permission from most of the bands that will be performing May 21 - 24. Also he will video campground jamming, camping, plus many other activities going on that 4-day week end. The board has agreed to this. Dave will give the NIBGA a copy. These may be available for purchase later. 
• Security during the festival. The schedule will be as in the past for Thursday 5/21, Friday 5/22 & Saturday  5/23. 
• The Tents & Stage Floor will be installed on Wednesday 5/20. It was purposed and agreed to put steps on both sides of the stage. Chris Vogie will be stage manager. 
• WAWK - A 59 second radio ad-Video MP3 made by Dave Crabill will be played on the air. 
• Vendor Update: Jeanette Young - Vendor chair:  
• Mexican Burritos, Tacos, etc., 
• Soup, Chicken & Rice, Chicken Strips, 
• Buffalo burgers, 
• Hawaiian & Volcano brats, 
• a wide variety of burgers and sandwiches, French fries, Ribbon fries, Pulled Pork sliders, Fried pickles, Pickles on a stick, 
• Lemon Shake-ups, 
• Kettle corn, 
• Shaved Ice, Cotton candy, Ice Cream, 
• Mini donuts and Funnel Cakes. 
• Concession trailer will serve biscuits and gravy and other breakfast items and will open at 8:00 a.m.. 
• Avilla Masons @ the Lions Building will serve food and sell ICE. 
• A new restaurant will be serving at the stand by the Floral Hall. They are a Church group. 
• Merchandise will include craft items, jewelry & scarves, handmade Jewelry, kids's toys & novelties, and wood craft items. 
• Jeanette will fire wood for sale from the wood vendor at her camp. 
• Planned arrival dates at Kendallville fairgrounds for the officers and captains:  
• Jim & Linda W.  5/12:  
• Joe & Chris S. 5/15:  
• TJ & Barb C. 5/14:  
• Pam & Dave K. - early week:   
• Paul S. 5/14:  
• Jim M. 5/14:  
• Greg & Brenda A. - Not sure:  
• Leslie E. - in and out but back by Friday 5/22: 
• Dave S. ?:  Jan M. - ?.  R. & C. Bacon ?  Tonia - Later in the week. 
• Tim Addis was notified that the contract between the Fairboard and NIBGA needs to be discussed and renewed soon. Jim W. also addressed a list of items that need to be taken care of at the Kendallville Fairgrounds before the festival. 
• Cheri Franz will be cleaning the restrooms as usual. There are a couple of 'back ups' just in case. 
• WAWK placemat  15,000 to be distributed ; Bluegrass sponsorship is renewed. 
• Jim W. and Joe S. will go to WAWK on Tuesday May 19th @ 9:20 a.m. to talk about the upcoming festival events.  "Behind the Mic". 

OLD BUSINESS 

• Vice-Pres/Band Chairman Joe Steiner reviewed the band lineups. All contraacts are signed. 
• Some will be arriving in buses or RVs. There was a review of the band budget. 
• It was noted that Dennis Narker shared many good ideas with the board on ways to attract more attendance to the festivals. All have read this list. Pres Jim Winger suggested we review the list. 
• Linda Winger passed a list of names of those to be allocated a Golf Cart at the festival. 
• It was reviewed and accepted to be correct.
• Long discussion on credit/debit card machine use at the Merchandise/Membership table. Maybe will do. Will review possibilities. Possibly only will use at the Mds/Mbship table. 

NEW BUSINESS

• Festival fliers are printed & mailed. *Note* There is one (1) error.  Open Highway will NOT be playing at the Fall 2015 NNIBGA festival.
• Facebook and Google ads need created and scheduled. 
• Merchandise status: Jim and Linda will be going to the 'Shirt Shop' on Tuesday 4/21 to look at the colors and styles available and choose for the 2015 festival merchandise. 
• Summer Newsletter mailing schedule:
• May - Jim & Linda Winger
•  June 21 - Barbara Collins
•  July 19 - Paul Saurborn
• August 16 - Joe & Chris Steiner
• Sept 20 - Pam Keiper
• Pres. JIm W. & Joe S/ need to be prepared to negotiate a new contract between the Noble County Fairboard and Northern Indiana Bluegrass Association at the festival in May. 
• Workshop List: Chris Steiner:  1-1/2 hr. 
• Workshops. Kids Corner at 10:00 a.m. Saturday 5/23. 
• Intermediate Jam with the Bilby's and Friends at noon (both in the Mini Barn). 
• Beginning Guitar, Mountain Dulcimer, Bluegrass Banjo for beginners, Clawhammer/Frailing Banjo for beginners, and Old Time Dancing. More details are in the May newsletter. 
• Friday 5/22 Square Dancing in the Log Cabin in the evening. Time to be announced later. 
• There will be 50/50 drawings. Pam Keiper in charge. 
• Paul Saurborn motined to adjourn. TJ Collins seconded. Pres. JIm Winger called the meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
• Everyone is advised to charge their club radios, discharge and then recharge. Checking to be sure they work. 
• Festival organizational meeting Sunday May 17, 2015 after the Carry-In Dinner  Noon/1:00p.m. 

Next Winter Meeting is October 18, 2015
Secretary - Barbara Collins.

March 15, 2015 NIBGA board meeting

  March 15, 2015

Northern Indiana Bluegrass Association Orientation Meeting at South West Conservation Club, Bluffton Road, Fort Wayne, Indiana

• The meeting was called to order by  President Jim Winger at  12:50 p.m.

•    Officers present are:                            Board Directors:

     Vice President - Joe Steiner                     Paul Saurborn
     Secretary - Barbara Collins                      Pam Keiper - via phone conference call.
     Treasurer - Linda Winger
 Others present are: Past Vice President - Sandra Carnes; Christine Steiner - Festival workshop Chair & Taxi Chair;  Jeanette Young - Vendor Chair & Merchandise/Membership table. Brenda & Greg Aldrich - Co Gate Captains; Jim Miller - Co Gate Captain; Joe Wyandt (past board director).

• Secretary's report - Barbara Collins emailed the February 15th minutes to all on February 22, 2015.  Paul Saurborn motioned to accept. Joe Steiner seconded. All say yes. Motion carried.
• Treasurer's report - Linda Winger emailed February financials to all on 3/11/2015. Financials were reviewed and discussed. T J Collins motined to accept. Paul Saurborn seconded. All say yes. Motion carried.

 INFORMATION ITEMS

• Grants: George Miller contacted Jim Winger and said, "I have spent time on their website (gov/arts). While the application deadline is not until March 13, applicants were required to submit letters of intent to apply by January 9. So we missed jumping through that hoop. Good to keep in mind for next year though."  George has been working on finding grant possibilities for NIBGA. 

OLD BUSINESS

• Jim Winger was told that the board agreed to not use COX Media Promotional Company for advertising. Jim then notified Cox Media. 
• Band Hiring update - Joe Steiner; Joe shared the list of bands he has hired and ones still under consideration or waiting to confirm. There was discussion on bands and Joe will be continuing to work on the line up.  The band schedule will be finalized and discussed again at the April meeting. 
• Chris Steiner discussed the Ebay usage and the hits. She reports there were at least 340 hits. Chris will continue to watch Ebay and report. Chris will try using the Sellers Account on Amazon. Jim Winger explained how and why it is a good way to do on line purchases. Use the NIBGA Amazon site and receive refunds. 
• Scholarships - Barbara Collins reports no Scholarship activity as of now. Linda Winger - Treasurer, has sent the $1,000 2015 Scholarship to Suzuki music school in Fort Wayne, IN
• Jim Winger ask the officers to review the suggestions that Dennis Narker sent to the board. Dennis submitted several good suggestions that could be possibilities to increase local attendance to the NIBGA festivals at the Noble County Fairgrounds. 

NEW BUSINESS

• Vendor Chairman - Jeanette Young gave update on vendors for the spring festival. The food stand that Bonnie used to run will be a Full Service Food Stand run by a Kendallville Church. Other vendors so far are Children's Toys, Mexican Food Stand, Ice Cream Stand, Maison's  (Lion's) Food Stand. Jeanette is in contact with several other vendors and trying to get more.
• Joe Steiner - Nursing Home Band. The band that will be performing at the Avilla Nursing Home during the Spring festival will be Trinity River. A band for the fall has not been scheduled yet.
• Festival fliers need printed and mailed. 
• Facebook and Google ads need created and scheduled. 
• Stage Manager; Due to Gloria's health, Bill Merrill will not be chairman for the festival stage announcers. Chris Vogie has offered to be the Stage Manager. All say yes. 
• Music Workshops for Spring and Fall. Christine Steiner reports. Chris suggested splitting up the workshops by having 6 for Spring and 6 for Fall. She suggest eliminating the mini workshops and go to more advanced workshops. Cost would be $300 paid to teachers/directors plus  week end festival tickets. The board agreed to the suggestion.
  Chris recommends:
  Spring::: Bluegrass Jam (Bilby's), Guitar, Bluegrass Banjo, Claw hammer Banjo, Mountain Dulcimer, Dancing )to be finalized yet).
  
  Fall::: Guitar, Bluegrass Banjo, Claw hammer Banjo, Dancing (to be finalized yet), and others "To Be Announced". (Working on Mandolin and Fiddle). Christine Steiner will put information on the workshops in the April newsletter.
  
  On Friday and/or Saturday evenings there will be a open jam at the stage area after the last band performance.  (This will replace the BUG)

• Merchandise at the festivals. Jeanette Young and Louise Mclouth will be co-chair for the Merchandise and Membership tables for 2015. 
• Jim Winger shared a copy of the Backstage Country Style newspaper now being published by Dave Crabill due to the passing of long time owner and publisher Jim Egoff. Jim E. was a long time supporter of Northern Indiana Bluegrass Association. 
• TABLE:  Confirm list of how many Golf Carts we need for festival and who will be needing use of them. 
• There was discussion on possibilities of setting up for pre-buy festival passes. The board will work on a system of setting up but do not have details in place yet. 
• There was also discussion on possibility of starting use of credit/debit card machine at the Merchandise/Membership table during the festivals. Chris will look into details of what is needed to use SQUARE. Possibily extend to the gate if it works out well.
  (Later it was decided that it is not practical for use at the gate at this time. Many would not know how to do or have the phone to use it with. Also it would hold up the line at the gate considerably when there is a heavy traffic flow.) 
• Paul Saurborn motioned to adjourn. T J Collins seconded. President Jim Winger adjourned the meeting at 2:15 p.m.

The next meeting of Northern Indiana Bluegrass Association will be April 19, 2015.
    * This will be the last meeting for this winter.*

Secretary - Barbara D. Collins