November 11, 2020

Meeting started at 7:08 pm

Present: Sara Dean, Michael Hirsch, Kevin Brownstein, Dallas Carter, Doug Hughes, Dan Singletary, Jay Steele, Steve Sammonds, Ed Hunter, Jeffrey Henson, Sharon Peng, Raiña Parks

Start 7:04 pm

Welcome by Michael Hirsch

Agenda

  • Functional Update
    • Marketing & Social Media (Doug Hughes)
    • Facilities (Jeffrey Henson)
    • Tech (Dan Singletary)
  • Financial Update (CFO: Jen Maggio)
  • Committee Updates
    • Community, Inclusivity & Accountability (Nique Eagen; Kevin Brownstein)
    • Development & Fundraising (Dallas Carter; Kathy Switky)
    • Organizational Development (Jay Steele)
    • Vision & Planning (Michael Hirsch)
  • Executive Director Update (Sara Dean)

Actions

[Action] Ed will look at the hole the next time he’s in the theater as it was flooded due to a burst pipe.

[Action] Track the status of the payday loan that was supposed to be forgivable with Jen.

[Action] Think about how we can help with (eStudio) productions going forward. At what level can board members engage with eStudio.  This is what SBMT is right now. Each board member is encouraged to engage with at least two programs per month.

[Action] Expect to see a poll to sign up for a time to have individual board member discussions with Sara and Michael

Functional Update

  • Marketing & Social Media (Doug Hughes)

    • Great reach via Constant Contact, says Doug. Still working to determine why.
      • October Social Media Metrics
    • SBMT Facebook page
      • 1,613 likes (+1% m/m)
      • 1,710 followers (+1% m/m)
      • 3,918 check-ins  (+1% m/m)
    • eStudio Facebook group
      • 447 members (+6% m/m)
      • 390 active members (-1% m/m)
    • YouTube channel
      • 183 subscribers (+12% m/m)
    • Instagram
      • 638 followers (+2% m/m) 
    • Notes from Doug:
      • Dallas asked for a definition of “Facebook reach.” It is the number of unique people who see your content. This affects every other metric you can track: engagement, likes, comments, clicks, and negative feedback. There are different kinds of reach: post, page, organic, viral, and paid. Everything on Facebook boils down to reach.
      • Post reach and page reach, for example, are different and have different weight. Post reach is the number of people who see a specific post in their news feed. Page reach is the number of people who see any of your post content during a given period of time (daily, weekly, or monthly). These two reach metrics can be deceiving or confusing. If you don’t post very often, you may have a very high post reach, but a low page reach. If you post often (e.g., five times a day or more) you may have a low post reach, but a pretty high page reach.
      • Post and page reach both have three main subcategories: organic, viral and paid reach.
      • Organic reach is the reach Facebook gives you for free. It happens in the news feed when your fans see your updates. There are other possibilities, such as random users visiting your page, but these are insignificant compared to news feed views by fans.
      • Viral reach consists of the people who see your content because someone else created a story about it. For example, if a fan likes, comments on, or shares your post, their friends will see your post even if they aren’t fans of your page. The same is true if you’ve paid to reach larger audiences who may or may not already be your fans. If one of those targeted people creates a story, their friends will see it as well. Both are viral reach.
      • Paid reach is a subset of post reach and is pretty easy to track and report. You paid for it, so you know where it came from. If you pay to promote your posts, your post reach is going to be much bigger than your standard organic reach.

  • Facilities (Jeffrey Henson)

    • Not much going on at the studio. Jeff mostly supporting the graffiti that’s on the containers. Jeff has been covering up with gray paint. Will also work to put up barbed wire. Will need to clean up the detritus behind the waste bin.
    •  Studio is a little dusty, but no leaks.
    • New neighbor at the studio.
      • House remodeling company
      • Daytime business so shouldn’t conflict with rehearsals and creating noise
      • Warned business owners to keep doors closed at night due to homeless folks coming in to use the bathrooms.
    •  [Action] Michael is looking for folks to take a few shifts in the studio to help clean. Desires 3 people to sign up for an hour to help.
    • Ed mentioned that the Saratoga Theater had a flood. Water pipes broke and flooded the theater. Not sure of the state of the hole.
      • [Action] Ed will look at the hole the next time he’s in the theater.
      • Working with the city to understand how job can be spec’d to allow for spending per the budget allocated.  We need the electrical work to come to under $25K limit.
      • Concern is also that lack of a deadline w.r.t. getting this work done could result in the work not being completed by our first need date.

  • Tech (Dan Singletary)

    • Used OvationTix for 3 separate events.
      • One was for Dracula. We got approximately $4.78 per ticket registration donation.
      • Used for Vinh’s Audition workshop.
      • Also used for James Iglehart interview.
        • Set up as “pay-what-you-can.”
        • Made on average $3.75 per ticket. Got 25% more revenue per ticket by setting up free tickets and then asking for donations.
    • OvationTix charges us $1.28 fee per ticket
    • Should be careful of sending email to folks who aren’t interested in an event as once someone opts out from Constant Contact, they will not receive any emails from us.
    • Seeing some bugs in the system which have been reported back to OvationTix. Concern that we lost some of our mail subscribers during the transition from Vendini to OvationTix
    • Diane processed our first phone-based OvationTix donation today.

Financial Update (CFO: Jen Maggio)

  • Jen couldn’t make this meeting tonight.
  • We have about $160K in cash reserves so we are in decent shape.
  • Update on rehearsal space (studio):
    • We asked landlord to continue at 50% rent forgiveness and they countered at 25% rent forgiveness.
    • This is very favorable for us and allows the group to help out the owners. This is a big savings even if only used as storage.
    • Lease is up Feb 2024.
  • [Action] Track the status of the payday loan that was supposed to be forgivable with Jen.

Committee Updates

  • Community, Inclusivity & Accountability (Kevin Brownstein)

    • Nique had to resign from the board for personal reasons. We thank her for her service on the board.
    • Goal of SBMT is to become reflective of the community we serve.
      • Updated language of our policies to be more inclusive.
        • Code of conduct – plan to create a universal agreement, then another with compensation details for impacted individuals.
        • Non-Harassment Policy:
          • Changed verbiage to “included but not limited to.”
          • Updated pronouns.
          • Discussed how harassment issues should be addressed and have also shared that any board member can be contacted if there is some concern about working through the Production Manager or Stage Manager.
      • Focus of the next committee meeting will be to create a mission statement for this group.

    • Casting & Accountability

      • Dracula metrics:
        • Total Submissions: 81  BIPOC/ Mixed Submissions: 37 (47%) Known Non-Binary: 3 (>1%).
        • Callbacks:  57 submissions (71%)  BIPOC/ Mixed:  28 (49%). Known Non-Binary: 3 (>1%).
        • Final Cast: 18 cast members  BIPOC/ Mixed:  11 (61%)  Non-Binary: 2 (>1%).
      • “Dracula” (i.e. Aly Suleman) has decided to join the CIA Committee based on experience with our production.
    • Other Immediate Goals
      • Review immediate practices for casting & staffing.
      • Opportunities for online Co-Productions (i.e. African American Shakespeare Company).
    • Long Range Goals
      • Develop formal policies. Make sure inclusion is in the Non-Harassment Policy.  What are the repercussions for exclusionary behavior?  Clear Statement for contracts and code of conduct agreements. DONE
      • Develop opportunities for Co-Productions around Bay Area (in person) and beyond (online).
    • Positive feedback: CMT has updated its policies and gotten rid of the “Gypsy Robe” and replaced it with the “Legacy Robe” monniker. This is in direct response to the actions of SBMT.
    • Dallas questioned if the board votes on the policy updates. Sara says that the board will get the opportunity to review those documents. Current status of documents is in-work and not ready for review.

  • Development & Fundraising (Dallas Carter; Kathy Switky)

    • Been busy 🙂
    • Minimum goal: $5K/month – 100%. 
    • Red Curtain Goal: $9K/month – 78% reached, 22% to go (down from 83% in Sept. due to OvationTix transfer).
      • Flatlines the balance in the bank – fully covers overhead.
    • Sustaining Donors breakdown:
      • September: 45% signed up for monthly, median is $20.
      • September: 55% one-time donors, median is $100.
      • OvationTix Transfer: Had 89 monthly, now 64. Lost approx $200/month in donations.  Continuing communication with lapsed donors. 
      • October: 64 signed up for monthly, median is $20.
      • October: 112 one-time donors, median is $75.
    • Program Donations: Dracula $740  Iglehart: $55.
    • Program Income:  Audition Workshop: $450.
    • Nov/Dec Development & Fundraising.
      • Year- End Donation Drive
        • Mailing sent on Nov 10th to 993 potential donors.
        • GOAL = $25,000.
        • Biggest and best mailing we’ve done yet!
        • Great use of the funds that the board allocated to bring Clay Buck on board.
      • Possible Fundraising Events
        • Paint Night, Cocktail & Cabaret Night, Beer, BBQ & Broadway, Drive-in Cabaret Night/ Event in Saratoga, Bingo Nights.
      • Small/ Medium Business asks – [Action] Anyone who can come help with this effort would be greatly appreciated.
      • Kama Belloni has joined the team to help write thank you letters.

  • Organizational Development (Jay Steele)

    • eStudio Feedback Survey:
      • Totals participants: 140.
      • Key Findings:
        • 42% of respondents had not attended an event. 
          • Most said they felt informed. About one quarter said they were not. 
          • They showed little interest in most program offerings except Broadway by the Decade. 
          • Other responses show that most of these people are waiting for live theater performances to return.
        • Of those attending, the frequency of attendance correlated strongly to participation, with SBMT performers attending the most events.
        • PROMOTION/COMMUNICATION
          • Advertise more; reemphasize that eStudio programs are free.
          • Better explanation of eStudio and program descriptions.
          • Engage general audience members to increase their attendance.
        • PROGRAMMING
          • More music; singing with more than just piano accompaniment.
          • Quality over quantity; more familiar play choices; better rehearsed.
          • Highest interest expressed for Cabarets and Readers’ Theatre.
          • More POC both on and off camera.
        • FORMAT TECHNICAL
          • Broadcast at different times – need to push that most events are available in the archives.
          • Standard TV streaming, make it easier to use.
          • Ensure high video and audio quality.
        • For outdoor performances, highest interest in outdoor venue with provided seating for a reasonable admission fee.
        • How can we find a way to provide our content to patrons remotely? When we return to live theatre, we need a way to continue to engage this group. If we’re not able to share live content, we should consider continuing to provide some content to them via our eStudio outreach.
        • Sharon notes: 
          • I think more specific demographics would be good for future surveys.
          • I imagine that a lot of people who are wanting “traditional” material are those in a demographic who would feel the growing pains of the times.
        • Dave suggested creating an FAQ to answer questions regarding how to set-up to view our eStudio offerings.
        • Sara has started to live stream to YouTube as well. May be overwhelming to folks given the sheer number of ways that people can view content. Dan volunteered to help Sara with OBS to help with broadcasting to multiple platforms.

  • Vision & Planning (Michael Hirsch)

    • We did a whole lot last month! Go team!
    • Breadth of content being offered is allowing us to figure out what works well and why in our current climate given Covid and very limited in person meeting opportunities.
    • eStudio Metrics:
      • Readers’ Theaters and South Bay Cabaret have remained high in viewership and most well “attended.”
      • Metrics went down as expected but have gone up as Facebook has increased metrics provided to us regarding viewership and engagement. 
      • We’re seeing a pretty consistent live audience.
      • Dracula and Center Stage with the Orchestra came in 1st and 2nd in viewership.
    • eStudio Offerings (Oct – Dec)
      • Sep 26 through Oct 4 – Online Encore: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder
      • Oct 5 – A Muse Event: Name That Show Tune with Anthony Howard-Erevia
      • Oct 8 – “Concert” for Saratoga Retirement Community (Will Rogers, California Suite)
      • Oct 9 – Behind the Curtain: Actress Spotlight with NaTasha Yvette Williams
      • Oct 12 – Broadway by the Decade: Underappreciated Gems with Ron Susek
      • Oct 13 – Panel Discussion: Mental Wellness: It’s Better Together
      • Oct 16 – South Bay Cabaret: Joe Kelly and Orchestra
      • Oct 17 – Performance Workshop: Jazz Dance with Michael Saenz
      • Oct 20 – Performance Workshop: Beyond the Book – Building Your Audition Rep with Vinh Nguyen
      • Oct 24 – Cinema Spotlight: The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
      • Oct 27 – Behind the Curtain: Discussion with Susan Bernfield / New Georges Theater
      • Oct 30 through Oct 31 – Readers’ Theatre: Dracula
      • Nov 5 – Performance Workshop: Auditioning
      • Nov 10 – Behind the Curtain: Actor Spotlight with James Iglehart
      • Nov 12 – Behind the Curtain: Costume Panel
      • Nov 14 – Performance Workshop: Tap Dance
      • Nov 16 – Broadway by the Decade: History of the 1970’s with Heather Kenyon
      • Nov 21 – Performance Workshop: Jazz Dance with Michael Saenz
      • Nov 23 – A Muse Event: Musical Theatre Trivia Night with Walter Mayes
      • Nov 29 – South Bay Cabaret: Songs of Moxie & Heart
      • Dec 2 – Behind the Curtain: Musicals Reimagined: Director Panel
      • Dec 5 – Cinema Spotlight: Swing Parade of 1946
      • Dec 7 – Broadway by the Decade: Underappreciated Musical Gems with Ron Susek 
      • Dec 12 – Performance Workshop: Tap Dance with Francesca Cipponeri
      • Dec 15 – South Bay Cabaret: SBMT Mommas
      • Dec 19 – Performance Workshop: Jazz Dance wirth Michael Saenz
      • Dec 19 – Readers’ Theater:  I am a Camera by John van Druten
      • Dec 20 – Cinema Spotlight: TBD
    • [Action] Think about how we can help with these productions going forward. At what level can board members engage with eStudio.  This is what SBMT is right now. Encouraged to engage with at least 2 programs per month.

Executive Director Update (Sara Dean)

  • Focus:
    • Nov/ Dec & 2021 planning
      • Scholarships offered to folks who have an issue paying for Vinh’s workshop. 3 scholarships provided.
    • OvationTix switchover
    • Donation Drive and Development organization
    • Relationship building: Press release, SVS, Lyric, local companies, Saratoga & Chamber of Commerce.
      • Discussion tomorrow to determine how we can better engage with the community. Will seek to answer the question of if any of our offerings could be broadcast on the Saratoga TV channel, KSAR.
    • Will do a co-production with Silicon Valley Shakespeare in February.
    • Giving Tuesday – working with a group that would allow us to pool fundraising with area theater groups to collectively gather funds for theater events that can be shared.
    • Motion: Jay motioned that Sara can award scholarship awards as she deems fit. 
      • Passed unanimously by the board.
    • Looking for additional instructors to run workshops
  • Board expectations vs. Exec. Director responsibilities
    • Individual board member meetings
      • Michael would like to have meetings with individual members to discuss personal goals and how he and Sara can help us achieve those goals.
      • [Action] Expect to see a poll to sign up for a time to have discussions.
  • Replacing board member: 
    • Should we consider folks on the short list?
    • Think about individuals that we may want to reach out to.
    • Will only need approval from the board on name to put forward.
    • Board feels that this should be handled as transparently as possible.
    • Suggestion that we should spend a little bit more time figuring out what skill sets would be additive to the board and pursue folks who fit the bill. Maybe this could be added to the board retreat.
  • Board retreat:
    • Options:
      • Meet via Zoom.
      • Meet at Saratoga Civic Theater,, socially distanced
        • Suggestion that folks could get tested a week ahead of the meeting.
    • Possible Dates:
      • Nov 14 & 15, 21 & 22, 28 & 29, 5 & 6.
      • Will vote via Doodle poll.
    • Topics include:
      • Additive to the board.
      • Feedback on vision Sara has presented.

Meeting adjourned 9:35 pm.