Start: 7 PM
End: 9 PM

Board Members In Attendance: Michael Hirsch, Dan Singletary, Ann Lucena, Andy Switky, LaShonda Eagels

Ex Officio: Walter Mayes (Artistic Director), Ian Fullmer (Director of Development), Doug Hughes (Marketing)

Absent: Braden Taylor, Nicole Tung, Josh Limasa

 

Summary of Action Items

ACTION: For Joshua, LaShonda, Andy, and Ray: go to southbaymt.com/about -> leadership, and look at bios and headshots…send to Doug.

ACTION: Michael to follow up with WVLO on next season’s calendar.

ACTION: Michael to follow up on committees with board members.

ACTION: Braden & Michael will work on the date for the offsite; Andy and Michael will work on content.

ACTION: Dan will investigate recruiting volunteers through Apple.  Lashonda is doing the same for Kaiser; will send something to the Board.

Updates

  • Mission Statement
    •  4-5 years old and touched up during Covid lockdown.  
    • Will revisit again during the board offsite
  • We’ll set a date for the offsite in the coming weeks.  
  • Look at the “key roles” matrix at our offsite and see if changes need to be made.
  •  In 2025, committee meetings will be set for every other month opposite the months Board meetings take place.
  • Core values – heart, community, quality, and growth.

Committee Breakdown:

  • Development & Fundraising
    • grant writer
    • legacy donations / stock brokerage account
    • events and concerts
  • Organizational Development 
    • mentorship / partnership with local colleges, etc.
    • diminishing overhead
    • update bylaws 
  • Vision & Planning 
    • dramaturgy
    • second stage
    • experience packages
  • Discussed having a Finance and Budgeting committee.
    • This committee will deal with budget, leases, and other expenses.
  • Outreach
    • youth programming
    • strategic partnerships
    • city ambassador

BOARD CHAIR UPDATES

PRESIDENT:

  • Discussed Board Chair updates, including:
    • Expanding the Board (four new board members in 2025 – Lashonda, Andy, Ray, Joshua)
    • Looking for 2-4 additional members
  • Hiring staff – production, tech, and Executive Director
  • Balancing the budget, with a goal of a March vote for the ‘25-’26 year
    • Michael will have it as Org Dev or another committee
  • SVCreates roundtable coming up 2/11 and 4/1
  • Saratoga Civic Theater Scheduling took place 1/14 at 4pm
  • Leases:  
    • set shop is $4k/month, 
      • 1 year lease ends 5/31/2025; looking around to reduce costs, but things are more expensive and the spaces are more than we need.  Michael has spoken to other companies about sharing space, but it hasn’t borne fruit.
  • Rehearsal space – $2310/mo 
    • 1 year lease ends 1/31/2025

CTO: 

CFO:

Marketing:

Cross-promotion with several local theater groups, promotion of our upcoming shows in local publications.

Development and Fundraising

  • Annual year end appeal has generated over $20k in donations so far (not including January)
  • We are 35% of our annual goal in fundraising as of end of December 24.
  • Working on sponsorship outreach for Brigadoon.
  • Submitted several large grant applications in the last two months.
  • Working on the Titanic fundraiser program and event planning.

Organizational Development: 

AD:

  •  Urinetown prep is going exceptionally smoothly
  • Broadway By The Decade is getting promoted 
    • May have gotten to the point where it will sell out 
  • Titanic has a cast of 45 and an orchestra of 21
  •  Brigadoon is getting cast shortly
    • Do we need a production manager?  
  • Planning on a Christmas concert
    • Probably a matinee and an evening show.  
  • Concert in April TBD

*Minutes recorded by Andy Switky