Minutes of July ATCA Ex-Com Conference Call July 7, 2015

Minutes of July ATCA Ex-Com Conference Call July 7, 2015

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Prepared by Barbara Bannon, ATCA Secretary:

Bill Hirschman called the meeting to order at 1:35 p.m. EDT.  The following Ex-Com members were present: Jonathan Abarbanel, Charles Giuliano, Brad Hathaway, Bill Hirschman, Wendy Rosenfield, Ed Rubin, and Martha Steketee. Barbara Bannon, ATCA secretary, Barry Gaines, ATCA administrator, Jay Handelman, ATCA Foundation president, and Mark Lowry, ATCA treasurer, were also present. Erin Keane was absent; Lou Harry joined briefly very late in the meeting.

Mark Lowry made a treasurer’s report. We currently have $19,899 in the bank. We need to determine how much we can spend at any given time and how much needs to be kept in reserve.

Barry Gaines reported on membership. We have 226 members, and more than half of them have paid their dues for this year. Barry also has two or three applications from prospective new members. Chris  Jones and Mischa Berson are helping to spread the word about ATCA at the O’Neill National Critics Institute.

Anne Siegel wants to send out a letter requesting member information for the new printed directory, and Barry needs to send a reminder letter to members who have not renewed their membership, so perhaps those letters can be combined and sent out soon. Anne and her committee will have to work with Leslie on setting up the Members Only section on the website.

Jeffrey Jenkins has sent a report on the International Committee. He is trying to keep us in touch with the IATC and its schedule of seminars and meetings.

Bill reported for Lou on the New Plays Committee. Lou has been polling the members of the committee to find out who is staying on it for the next year. He already has a few submissions for this year’s award.

Brad Hathaway also sent a report on the Professional Development Committee. The committee has set up three subcommittees to review mentoring, regional seminars, and continuing education for working critics.

Bill reported on the upcoming Philadelphia conference. Howard Shapiro is working on pinning down a hotel for the conference. A Courtyard by Marriott is very promising. The people seem very cooperative, and we can probably have many of our meetings right at the hotel. Howard has a contract that needs to be signed by July 15. Bill has circulated a copy, and everyone should read it, see if there are any problems, and let Bill know. Some of the things to consider are that we need to have WiFi in the conference room for meetings, and we should not have to have a specified minimum to spend for catering. Parking at the hotel is expensive, but the management has said they can suggest less expensive places in the neighborhood. This hotel is close to the Doubletree that we were originally considering and is much less expensive: $149 a night versus $199. Bill needs to get feedback from everyone by Friday.

Bill has talked to Sherry and Ira about a mini meeting in New York on either the first or second weekend in November. They have some good programming ideas. Once we agree to a date at Sardi’s for the brunch, we are locked in. Sardi’s is quite expensive; should we look for an alternative place to have the brunch? Or we can make the brunch optional again this year as we did last year. Maybe we should investigate the Players Club or the National Arts Club. Unfortunately, both of them are at Gramercy Park, which would not be convenient for the actors who need to make a matinee. The Friars Club is also in the Broadway area, and there is Café Un Deux Trois, although we probably cannot get a separate room there.

There was discussion about the revised code of conduct. Should it be a code of conduct for our members or try to consolidate a code of ethics for the profession. Or should there be two separate documents? The consensus seemed to be that the code of conduct should express the standards of our organization and the profession as a whole as we see it but focus on the ethical behavior and practices of our members. There was also discussion about whether to include something in the code about using nonoffensive language and how to define what that is. We will need to make a decision on this later. Brad said he would draft a request to the membership for input, and Bill will send out an e-blast. Bill said he will summarize our discussion for Victor Gluck, the chair of the Ethical Standards Committee, and will also involve Jonathan Mandell in the discussion.

We are supposed to be posting the minutes from Ex-Com meetings on the Members Only section of the website, but the logistics of how to do that are not clear. Brad, Wendy, and Barbara need to discuss how to do this with Leslie.

The business being concluded, Ed Rubin made a motion, seconded by Martha Steketee, to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously, and the meeting concluded at 2:36 EDT.

Respectfully submitted by Barbara Bannon, ATCA secretary

Addenda

The following motions were made and passed through e-mail.

On June 17, Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Erin Keane, to make some amendments to the May conference call minutes. The motion passed.

On June 17, Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Erin Keane, to approve that Barry Gaines renew the $10,000 CD that is coming due soon. The motion passed.

On June 17, Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Erin Keane, to authorize Barry Gaines to renew our webhosting contract for two years with Wild Apricot so that we can lock in the $25 per month rate and save money. The motion passed.

On June 17, Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Erin Keane, to authorize Barry Gaines to give contact information on ATCA members in their regions to requesting theaters so that they can request coverage. The motion passed.On July 17, Martha Steketee made a motion, seconded by Erin Keane, to authorize Bill Hirschman to sign the Courtyard by Marriott contract for the hotel for the ATCA Philadelphia conference in April 2016 as presented, reviewed, and adjusted. The motion passed.

Bill Hirschman called the meeting to order at 1:35 p.m. EDT.  The following Ex-Com members were present: Jonathan Abarbanel, Charles Giuliano, Brad Hathaway, Bill Hirschman, Wendy Rosenfield, Ed Rubin, and Martha Steketee. Barbara Bannon, ATCA secretary, Barry Gaines, ATCA administrator, Jay Handelman, ATCA Foundation president, and Mark Lowry, ATCA treasurer, were also present. Erin Keane was absent; Lou Harry joined briefly very late in the meeting.

Mark Lowry made a treasurer’s report. We currently have $19,899 in the bank. We need to determine how much we can spend at any given time and how much needs to be kept in reserve.

Barry Gaines reported on membership. We have 226 members, and more than half of them have paid their dues for this year. Barry also has two or three applications from prospective new members. Chris  Jones and Mischa Berson are helping to spread the word about ATCA at the O’Neill National Critics Institute.

Anne Siegel wants to send out a letter requesting member information for the new printed directory, and Barry needs to send a reminder letter to members who have not renewed their membership, so perhaps those letters can be combined and sent out soon. Anne and her committee will have to work with Leslie on setting up the Members Only section on the website.

Jeffrey Jenkins has sent a report on the International Committee. He is trying to keep us in touch with the IATC and its schedule of seminars and meetings.

Bill reported for Lou on the New Plays Committee. Lou has been polling the members of the committee to find out who is staying on it for the next year. He already has a few submissions for this year’s award.

Brad Hathaway also sent a report on the Professional Development Committee. The committee has set up three subcommittees to review mentoring, regional seminars, and continuing education for working critics.

Bill reported on the upcoming Philadelphia conference. Howard Shapiro is working on pinning down a hotel for the conference. A Courtyard by Marriott is very promising. The people seem very cooperative, and we can probably have many of our meetings right at the hotel. Howard has a contract that needs to be signed by July 15. Bill has circulated a copy, and everyone should read it, see if there are any problems, and let Bill know. Some of the things to consider are that we need to have WiFi in the conference room for meetings, and we should not have to have a specified minimum to spend for catering. Parking at the hotel is expensive, but the management has said they can suggest less expensive places in the neighborhood. This hotel is close to the Doubletree that we were originally considering and is much less expensive: $149 a night versus $199. Bill needs to get feedback from everyone by Friday.

Bill has talked to Sherry and Ira about a mini meeting in New York on either the first or second weekend in November. They have some good programming ideas. Once we agree to a date at Sardi’s for the brunch, we are locked in. Sardi’s is quite expensive; should we look for an alternative place to have the brunch? Or we can make the brunch optional again this year as we did last year. Maybe we should investigate the Players Club or the National Arts Club. Unfortunately, both of them are at Gramercy Park, which would not be convenient for the actors who need to make a matinee. The Friars Club is also in the Broadway area, and there is Café Un Deux Trois, although we probably cannot get a separate room there.

There was discussion about the revised code of conduct. Should it be a code of conduct for our members or try to consolidate a code of ethics for the profession. Or should there be two separate documents? The consensus seemed to be that the code of conduct should express the standards of our organization and the profession as a whole as we see it but focus on the ethical behavior and practices of our members. There was also discussion about whether to include something in the code about using nonoffensive language and how to define what that is. We will need to make a decision on this later. Brad said he would draft a request to the membership for input, and Bill will send out an e-blast. Bill said he will summarize our discussion for Victor Gluck, the chair of the Ethical Standards Committee, and will also involve Jonathan Mandell in the discussion.

We are supposed to be posting the minutes from Ex-Com meetings on the Members Only section of the website, but the logistics of how to do that are not clear. Brad, Wendy, and Barbara need to discuss how to do this with Leslie.

The business being concluded, Ed Rubin made a motion, seconded by Martha Steketee, to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously, and the meeting concluded at 2:36 EDT.

Respectfully submitted by Barbara Bannon, ATCA secretary

Addenda

The following motions were made and passed through e-mail.

On June 17, Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Erin Keane, to make some amendments to the May conference call minutes. The motion passed.

On June 17, Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Erin Keane, to approve that Barry Gaines renew the $10,000 CD that is coming due soon. The motion passed.

On June 17, Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Erin Keane, to authorize Barry Gaines to renew our webhosting contract for two years with Wild Apricot so that we can lock in the $25 per month rate and save money. The motion passed.

On June 17, Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Erin Keane, to authorize Barry Gaines to give contact information on ATCA members in their regions to requesting theaters so that they can request coverage. The motion passed.On July 17, Martha Steketee made a motion, seconded by Erin Keane, to authorize Bill Hirschman to sign the Courtyard by Marriott contract for the hotel for the ATCA Philadelphia conference in April 2016 as presented, reviewed, and adjusted. The motion passed.