BQPA/PIONEERS
Barbershop Quartet Preservation Association
Fall Membership Meeting -
9/10/2015
The list of Departed Friends was read, noting especially that BQPA member Cal Revis, for years our eastern festival photographer, had passed away earlier this year. We noted also the passing of Gene Cokeroft, the tenor of the Suntones, and James Sabina, the tenor of Metropolis. A reverent version of The Old Songs was sung in remembrance. In addition, we mentioned that our long time member Emmett Bossing was not well, and we hoped that we could contact him in hospital later in the week. Chuck Guthrie had been taken ill earlier this Festival but was feeling much better, and plans were being made to contact him in his hospital room during our Saturday evening Parade. We also noted that Dr. Greg Lyne is laid up with COPD, and we asked for thoughts and prayers to be sent his way.
Jim Gallagher had provided the Treasurer’s Report to the Board, and it was presented by President Noble, indicating that BQPA/Pioneers remains solvent. The current balance in our accounts, after expenses of the Spring Festival but before the costs of the current Fall Festival, was $5402.56. The balance is lower than in the spring, due to the higher expenses in Tempe and the significantly smaller than expected total of donations at the spring event. Gallagher’s comments noted that our members have been donating an average of $10 per Festival, but that breaking even in Tempe requires on the order of $30 per person. There was some discussion of options, such as changing to a less expensive venue, asking for more generous donations, and making it clear that we fund our festivals exclusively via our donations. Noble noted that there had been a discussion of this issue with our membership via email within the month or so prior to the festival, and that changing our venue was not a preferred option as tallied from the responses received. The sense of the Board was that we should be bringing to the attention of our members that we need to fund our Festivals in a way which does not result in an excess of expenses over revenues. It was noted that it is intended to undertake Raymond Schwartzkopf’s suggestion of using something like a thermometer display at our registration table, to show where the state of our donations stands at any given point in time during a festival.
Actions taken since last festival included the following:
• Our Key Notes song list has been re-formatted as a full one-sided page, with a flier on the reverse side. These have been distributed at various barbershop events for some months. The file is now available on the BQPA website, so it can be duplicated by our members.
• Our big screen slides have been updated, and they have been displayed on the screens and the webcast at the BHS International. These ads have also appeared on-screen at the 2014 Mid-Atlantic District convention and at the Harmony Inc. International convention.
• President Noble has arranged for production of a BQPA banner, now displayed on one of the walls of our gathering room.
VP – West Milner gave a report on the 2015 and 2016 Tempe Festivals. He reported a very busy summer, as he had attempted to locate a replacement venue for next year and for following years’ gatherings. This was due to the proposals offered by Embassy Suites for 2016, which had doubled the rate for our meeting room to $600 a night. At the end of negotiations, Jim was able to sign a contract for the same meeting room rate as this year, with a $5 rise in the guest room rate to $119. Jim reported on two of the dozen or so venues he had investigated in or around Tempe. InSuites guest rooms would run about $85, with free breakfast, and they would offer a meeting room to accommodate 90 to 100 seats for $100 a night. However, a bikers’ group had already reserved all the guest rooms for 2016. Holiday Inn & Suites would offer guest rooms for $99, and a meeting room for $200 a night, to accommodate up to about 150 people, for our 2017 gathering. This facility does not offer an airport shuttle; it was noted that it might be possible to make arrangements with a vendor such as SuperShuttle. Milner will continue the search for a less expensive venue in the Tempe area, against the possibility of rates rising further at Embassy Suites. In the meantime, the dates for the 2016 Festival – at Embassy Suites – have been posted on our website: April 6–9, 2016.
VP-East Carroll reported that we have a very cordial ongoing relationship with the folks at the Hillside Best Western. Actual negotiations for the 2015 festival occupied Carroll and Schwartzkopf (Gerry’s Associate Chair) no more than about 10 minutes, segueing to pleasant general conversation. For this year, the guest room rate remains the same, and our meeting room continues to be provided gratis, making our eastern festival expenses significantly lower than for the western gathering. It was noted that Best Western no longer has the larger van they provided in past years, but Carroll indicated that other informal arrangements will be made for shuttling to and from a Saturday evening steakhouse meal. As usual, Gerry emphasized that tips to the servers in the breakfast area fuel our positive relationship, and he reminded all attendees to write to the Hillside Best Western to compliment their hospitality, which helps enormously in the negotiations for the next year’s festival.
June Noble gave the Registrar’s report, which included some attendance numbers and averages. At the Spring Festival, the total signed-in membership was 71, including 4 new members. The Friday “house” was at least 55 (the count having been taken after Bill Freck was taken ill.) The Saturday “house” was 95. Our average total attendance for the past 10 festivals was just over 101. (Frank Fliszar reports that our total membership numbers 324, not including any new members signed up this festival.) June again requested that everyone register, emphasizing that it’s the only way we know members were here, and we need that information to use in planning for future festivals. She also mentioned the merchandize available at the registration table: self-adhesive paper SPEBSQSA and BQPA labels, as well as embroidered BQPA patches.
The Communications and PR report was given by Noble since the committee members were not in attendance. As mentioned previously, big-screen ads have appeared at BHS International, and last year at the Harmony, Inc. International and the Mid-Atlantic District conventions. The Key Notes song list is now printed on the reverse side of the BQPA Flyer, which is customized for each upcoming festival, and these have been placed at a number of barbershop events by various BQPA members. Press releases have gone to various barbershop bulletins, and announcements and articles have been seen in some of those bulletins, including the BHS LiveWire. We have established a Facebook “Page” (outward-facing) in addition to our Facebook “Group” (inward-facing, requiring a subscription.) Better methods to spread the information on our Page need to be discovered, but the easiest methods for pushing this info “out there” are to share the page and to post to the Page one’s happy experiences at a festival. Earlier this year, snail-mail was sent to members not on our Google Group, to encourage them to join that Group. As a result, we added on the order of 50 additional members of the Google Group, so our mass emails should get to more of our interested folks.
President Noble cited Membership Records Chair Frank Fliszar for the enormous amount of work on the Membership database over the past year, resulting in enhanced reporting and significantly simplified festival registration. There was some discussion about adding member photos to the database, and providing limited membership information, e.g. name and photo, on our website. Fliszar indicated he could accept photos whenever a member has one available, and that he will begin storing the pictures in the database when he has arranged for their inclusion. He and Webmaster Milner will discuss how to display photos on the website.
Noble also cited Milner for the mostly invisible but pivotally important upgrades applied to our website, to facilitate almost instantaneous display of our data, especially on mobile devices which are heavily used by younger members and prospects. This corrects the unacceptably slow display of most of our text-oriented pages. A number of links have been established this year from our website to such things as Paul Olguin’s masterful Harmony University session on woodshedding, and Robbie Neal’s YouTube “channel” which permits access to more than 90 classic quartet songs recorded over the years by Tom Neal and his son Robbie.
Noble reported that we have been contacted by Tom Neal, who informed us that Jack Baird’s archive of early barbershop quartet recordings has gone off-line at the BHS. Neal is suggesting that BQPA/Pioneers acquire and host the archive. Neal and Noble have been in contact with Eddie Holt at BHS who says that they do intend to re-establish the link to the archive as soon as it can be arranged, but nothing concrete has transpired. Schwartzkopf has suggested that technical details might permit linking the archive to our current website. Milner has indicated that size estimates might make this feasible. Jim Richards expressed personal interest in this topic and wished to be kept “in the loop.” Noble will continue to discuss with Holt at BHS to further explore the feasibility of such a transfer.
Gerry Carroll will be organizing an informal dinner registration for Stacey’s steakhouse on Saturday evening, and asked to be informed if members wish to participate. He requested that members assist in organizing carpools for the dinner. Milner asked if members would be interested in a banquet offered by Embassy Suites at spring festivals. Reaction was mixed, with some in favor and others quite skeptical of the quality of hotel banquets, relative to the typical price. No decision was taken… Carroll asked if there was sentiment for changing the dates for the Chicago festival – there was little or none.
Noble asked for assistance in striking the registration table and the sound system at the conclusion of the Saturday evening Parade. Offers were made and accepted.
Carroll emphasized that we have missed our founder, Tom Neal, at recent festivals, and requested members to remember to invite him to future festivals. A comment from the floor requested the Board to consider adding elements to our format to encourage beginners and first-timers to participate. Responses, including one from Pat Lanphier, suggested that we already attempt to attract people who are oriented towards quartet singing, and that even first-timers at our festivals tend to be invited to sing with whomever is available. Will Winder raised the point that he (and perhaps others) would be disappointed if we moved the spring festivals from the Embassy Suites in Tempe, and he (and they) would be willing to contribute a bit more to support our continuing at that venue. There was general agreement. Frank Fabian says our festivals are worth at least $20.00 to $30.00 to him.
Jack Martin does not agree with requiring a registration fee, or even recommending a $20.00 donation, but reminds us that the donation bucket is right there on the registration table, and we can always add a little more to finance our festival expenses. Meeting was adjourned at about 11:00, with the singing of Keep America Singing.