Minutes of May ATCA Ex-Com Conference Call May 14, 2015

Minutes of May ATCA Ex-Com Conference Call May 14, 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: Charles Giuliano, Lou Harry, Brad Hathaway, Bill Hirschman, Wendy Rosenfield, Ed Rubin, and Martha Steketee. Barbara Bannon, ATCA secretary, Barry Gaines, ATCA administrator, and Mark Lowry, ATCA treasurer were also present. Jonathan Abarbanel and Erin Keane were absent.

Barbara had distributed the minutes from the April teleconference call ahead of time. Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Martha Steketee, to accept the minutes as amended. The motion passed unanimously.

Barry reported on membership. We currently have 227 members; 1 of them is a new member. Barry said the current bank balance is $15,367.90.

Bill reported that the ad-hoc committee to determine how electronic voting—as approved in the recent bylaws revision—will be handled has been formed. The members are Jay Handelman, Rick Pender, Robert Sokol, Jonathan Abarbanel, and Scott Bennett. Jay has agreed to be the chair. They will come up with a solid proposal about the logistics within two months and submit that proposal to the Ex-Com for approval. Since this is just a protocol issue, it doesn’t have to be voted on by the entire membership.

There was discussion about the printed directory. A number of people have made the point that we definitely need a new one. Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Charles Giuliano, that a new directory of the entire membership be printed and distributed. A copy will also be posted on the website. The motion passed unanimously.

Anne Siegel, the chair of the Membership Services Committee, is contacting her members to organize them to get the directory under way. She plans to have online meetings with them. Bill has asked her committee to define membership criteria for ATCA to attract new members to the organization. Her committee will develop a proposal for criteria for membership within the next three months.

Bill has been accumulating the names of people who would like to serve on various committees. He will pass those names on to the committee chairs, and the chairs will contact them to verify their involvement. Bill reviewed the ATCA committees and chairs.

International Committee; Jeffrey Eric Jenkins is the chair.

Finance Committee; Mark Lowry is the chair.

New Plays Committee; Lou Harry is the chair

Primus Prize Committee; Barbara Bannon is the chair

Conference Committee; Wendy Rosenfield is the chair of the Philadelphia conference.

Membership Services Committee; Anne Siegel is the chair.

Communications Committee; Chris Rawson is the chair.

Regional Tony Award Committee; Chris Jones is the chair.

Professional Development Committee; Brad Hathaway is the chair.

Ethical Standards Committee; Victor Gluck is the chair.

Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Ed Rubin, to accept all the chairs of the ATCA committees. The motion passed unanimously.

Barbara made a report on the Primus Prize Committee, which is just starting its work this year. The submission deadline was April 30. There are 39 applications, an increase possibly due to allowing electronic submissions this year. Three of the applicants submitted paper copies; the rest submitted electronically. The members of the committee—besides Barbara—are Julie York Coppens, Marianne Evett, Kerry Reid, Lynn Rosen, and Herb Simpson. Herb is receiving and reading paper copies of the portfolios and plays; the rest of the committee are reading electronic copies. Barry is circulating all the copies. The committee will announce the winner sometime this summer.

Lou reported on the New Plays Committee. He has canvassed the 17 current members, and most of them want to stay on the committee. There are 4 or 5 new people who want to join. He is in favor of expanding the committee to accommodate members who want to join. About 4 of his members want to read paper copies of the plays.

Bill updated everyone on next year’s conference in Philadelphia. Howard Shapiro is meeting with Visit Philadelphia and the theaters. They want us to come up with a series of dates for the conference that are workable. The theaters have the best offerings in February, but this is not the best time to visit Philadelphia because of the unpredictable weather. However, hotel rates go up in the spring. The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for August, so our meeting can’t be too close to that.

There was discussion about the conference dates. Charles suggested that mid-March might be much better than February. Wendy pointed out that we have held our mini meeting in Denver in February. Brad said the important thing is to go when the theater is good, but Wendy said this is not a factor; the theater schedule is consistently good. Bill said he would discuss the Ex-Com’s concern about a February date with Howard; if Howard thinks that date is best, we can go with it.

Bill reported that Robert Sokol is already working on a conference in San Francisco. Brad will help organize that.

Ed said that Simon Saltzman’s wife has died. We should send condolences and post the information on the website. Ed said he would take care of that.

There was discussion about the website. We need to find a way to get into the members-only area more easily. We should also add things that will attract new members and provide more services for our current members. We can post a list of New York press agents and places to stay in the members-only area. Bill said he would send out an e-blast soliciting information about places to stay in New York City. Members who have stayed in New York can offer suggestions. Also members can suggest restaurants in the theater district. This kind of information will be very helpful.

Bill said we should meet again in June after the Tony Awards. He will contact everyone for the best time.

The business being concluded, Martha Steketee made a motion, seconded by Ed Rubin, to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously, and the meeting ended at 2:30 p.m. EDT.

Respectfully submitted 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: Charles Giuliano, Lou Harry, Brad Hathaway, Bill Hirschman, Wendy Rosenfield, Ed Rubin, and Martha Steketee. Barbara Bannon, ATCA secretary, Barry Gaines, ATCA administrator, and Mark Lowry, ATCA treasurer were also present. Jonathan Abarbanel and Erin Keane were absent.

Barbara had distributed the minutes from the April teleconference call ahead of time. Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Martha Steketee, to accept the minutes as amended. The motion passed unanimously.

Barry reported on membership. We currently have 227 members; 1 of them is a new member. Barry said the current bank balance is $15,367.90.

Bill reported that the ad-hoc committee to determine how electronic voting—as approved in the recent bylaws revision—will be handled has been formed. The members are Jay Handelman, Rick Pender, Robert Sokol, Jonathan Abarbanel, and Scott Bennett. Jay has agreed to be the chair. They will come up with a solid proposal about the logistics within two months and submit that proposal to the Ex-Com for approval. Since this is just a protocol issue, it doesn’t have to be voted on by the entire membership.

There was discussion about the printed directory. A number of people have made the point that we definitely need a new one. Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Charles Giuliano, that a new directory of the entire membership be printed and distributed. A copy will also be posted on the website. The motion passed unanimously.

Anne Siegel, the chair of the Membership Services Committee, is contacting her members to organize them to get the directory under way. She plans to have online meetings with them. Bill has asked her committee to define membership criteria for ATCA to attract new members to the organization. Her committee will develop a proposal for criteria for membership within the next three months.

Bill has been accumulating the names of people who would like to serve on various committees. He will pass those names on to the committee chairs, and the chairs will contact them to verify their involvement. Bill reviewed the ATCA committees and chairs.

International Committee; Jeffrey Eric Jenkins is the chair.

Finance Committee; Mark Lowry is the chair.

New Plays Committee; Lou Harry is the chair

Primus Prize Committee; Barbara Bannon is the chair

Conference Committee; Wendy Rosenfield is the chair of the Philadelphia conference.

Membership Services Committee; Anne Siegel is the chair.

Communications Committee; Chris Rawson is the chair.

Regional Tony Award Committee; Chris Jones is the chair.

Professional Development Committee; Brad Hathaway is the chair.

Ethical Standards Committee; Victor Gluck is the chair.

Brad Hathaway made a motion, seconded by Ed Rubin, to accept all the chairs of the ATCA committees. The motion passed unanimously.

Barbara made a report on the Primus Prize Committee, which is just starting its work this year. The submission deadline was April 30. There are 39 applications, an increase possibly due to allowing electronic submissions this year. Three of the applicants submitted paper copies; the rest submitted electronically. The members of the committee—besides Barbara—are Julie York Coppens, Marianne Evett, Kerry Reid, Lynn Rosen, and Herb Simpson. Herb is receiving and reading paper copies of the portfolios and plays; the rest of the committee are reading electronic copies. Barry is circulating all the copies. The committee will announce the winner sometime this summer.

Lou reported on the New Plays Committee. He has canvassed the 17 current members, and most of them want to stay on the committee. There are 4 or 5 new people who want to join. He is in favor of expanding the committee to accommodate members who want to join. About 4 of his members want to read paper copies of the plays.

Bill updated everyone on next year’s conference in Philadelphia. Howard Shapiro is meeting with Visit Philadelphia and the theaters. They want us to come up with a series of dates for the conference that are workable. The theaters have the best offerings in February, but this is not the best time to visit Philadelphia because of the unpredictable weather. However, hotel rates go up in the spring. The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for August, so our meeting can’t be too close to that.

There was discussion about the conference dates. Charles suggested that mid-March might be much better than February. Wendy pointed out that we have held our mini meeting in Denver in February. Brad said the important thing is to go when the theater is good, but Wendy said this is not a factor; the theater schedule is consistently good. Bill said he would discuss the Ex-Com’s concern about a February date with Howard; if Howard thinks that date is best, we can go with it.

Bill reported that Robert Sokol is already working on a conference in San Francisco. Brad will help organize that.

Ed said that Simon Saltzman’s wife has died. We should send condolences and post the information on the website. Ed said he would take care of that.

There was discussion about the website. We need to find a way to get into the members-only area more easily. We should also add things that will attract new members and provide more services for our current members. We can post a list of New York press agents and places to stay in the members-only area. Bill said he would send out an e-blast soliciting information about places to stay in New York City. Members who have stayed in New York can offer suggestions. Also members can suggest restaurants in the theater district. This kind of information will be very helpful.

Bill said we should meet again in June after the Tony Awards. He will contact everyone for the best time.

The business being concluded, Martha Steketee made a motion, seconded by Ed Rubin, to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously, and the meeting ended at 2:30 p.m. EDT.

Respectfully submitted by Barbara Bannon, ATCA secretary.