SBMT Board Minutes

November 10, 2021

Started 7:05pm

Board Members Present: Michael Hirsch, Dan Singletary, Barbara Heninger, Jay Steele, Steve Sammonds, Doug Hughes, Tipu Purkayastha, Aly Suleman, Jennifer Maggio, Raiña Parks, Doy Charnsupharindr

Not Present: Ed Hunter, Sharon Peng

Other members present: Sara Dean (ED), Jeffrey Henson (Facilities), Doug Hughes (Marketing)

See:

Slide deck shared by Michael Hirsch

Marketing report from Doug Hughes

ð  Please note highlights of activities that Board can take, below. ?

DISCUSSION

Marketing report from Doug (see his report). Issue with printer for the Company postcards. Didn’t meet the date needed for delivery. 

Looking into photographers for Company. Found one who has a studio space. Considering another photographer as well. 

Made updates to the website. Removed Shout! Info and replaced with Company info. 

Facilities: Lots of theater companies calling (from 2 years ago) to return props including Bridges of Madison County on November 20th. 

New roof is wonderful. No leaks in the set shop.

Technology: Projectors are here! Due to weight of the projects, CTO would like to get cages so that projectors can be mounted and left in place. Cages aren’t cheap but less than 10% of purchase price.

Lighting project at Saratoga Theater is happening next month! Will require removal of all existing lighting and equipment. Will also need to clean up lighting booth and the Hole. Teams of people needed to take down old lights and rig up new lights. Old lights: still need to determine where they are going. Some of light fixtures may have asbestos on them and need to be handled and disposed of appropriately. Wouldn’t hurt to offer old lights for free instead of disposing only. 

Box Office: Worked with Development team on patron reports for donation drive.

Jeffrey is handling issue with Blankets used for sound dampening which need to be treated with fire retardant. Fire Marshall has directed that we treat the blankets, labeled appropriately, and hang up instead of attached to the wall. Also any fabric that is hung on the stage has to be fire retardant and laundered accordingly.

Hanging of projectors is planned to coincide with hanging of new lights. Would be ready for use on Company but no plan to do so. First use may be with WVLO production and we are currently working on rental agreement.

Financial: Responsibilities for budget will be transferred to Braden Taylor (SBMT CFO before Jen) who plans to take over from Jen (who needs to roll off) by the end of the year.

Executive Director Updates: Updated projected ticket sales based on what we learned from SHOUT which came in at less than half of what was predicted. Doubling in the staffing allowed us to minimize salaries. Also paid a reduced theater rent.

Made decision to cut Tacos and Tunes fundraiser this year due to current climate and health concerns.

Motion made by Steve to approve the expense of protective cages for projectors at cost of $3800. Quorum of board members was met and Motion passed with unanimous vote by board members present.

Staffing: Laura Millar started November 1st. Working on several projects including eStudio productions.

Grants received. Reference slide deck linked above.

Other Agenda Items:

ð  Board members: If you can, please attend first Company rehearsal on Monday, November 15th at 7:00pm at the rehearsal studio

Board retreat: Set for December 11th from 10:00am – 5:00pm. Still need to set location.

Committee Chairs: Successful in filling all positions

Donor notes for year-end fundraiser completed and sent out.

Production conflict resolution process and post mortems processes have been updated.

ED performance review given on 11/10. Excellent feedback provided. Thank you Sara!

Community, Inclusivity, & Accountability:

Chairs: Sharon Peng, Aly Suleman, and Doy Charnsupharindr

Meeting held on 10/21/2021

Discussed SBMT being called out for body diversity based on the headshots in Company. CIA determined that this was not an issue for that production and will monitor these issues going forward. No plan to codify in process at this point.

Looking to solidify plans to engage with ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter inclusion in our productions.

Discussion about whether or not we would also pursue sensory friendly productions. Was shared that SBMT has produced sensory friendly productions in the past and can mobilize to do so as deemed appropriate based on the show. Will consider putting a framework in place to handle those productions (as identified by Sara).

Idea of instituting an Ombudsperson to actively serve as a liaison between management and the production team. 

Would also like to acknowledge that the productions are being held on Ohlone land and place in our programs going forward. Sara to provide verbiage to Doug.

Development and Fundraising: No meeting since last time. 

ð  Board members: Looking for more board members to be part of this committee. Is primarily focused on thanking our donors more so than raising funds.

Should plan on having 60th anniversary gala fundraising. Aligns with goal to raise $60K

Kathy did an amazing job of taking over and running with the End of the year Drive.

Organization and Development: Chaired by Jay and Tipu. 

Looking to get approval of drafted organizational process for Board/ED authority and issues escalation tonight.

Michael makes a motion that we will operate as a board as outlined in the documents reviewed. Motion passed unanimously by all board members present.

The approved process addresses the CIA group’s suggestion regarding an Ombudsperson. The Board discussed whether a new role was needed, but agreed, based on the process proposal, that another role was not necessary.

Post- “Shout!” Survey Feedback: 

Cast and Crew Feedback: Overall production experience was very positive. However, feedback was the most contentious when it came to staff feedback based on Steve’s history of reviewing this type of data. This represented only 2 of 30 comments received.

Patron Survey Feedback: Seeking data on why SBMT patrons did not return to the theater to see “Shout!”. 16% response rate for data. 37% not comfortable in the current Covid environment. About half of respondents are currently comfortable with coming to our shows right now.

Vision & Planning: Ed and Steve have both said that they are interested in this committee. 

ð  Board members: Next meeting is November 22, 2021 @ 7:30pm. Consider attending if you are available.

eStudio: Ryan Sammonds will appear in South Bay Cabaret, streaming on November 16th.

Non-board members were released at 9:19pm

Open session Adjourned at 9:19pm.

Respectfully submitted November 11, 2021

Updated per input …