Chicks On Sticks Meeting Notes 8/30/11

Chicks on Sticks Meeting
8/30/11
Notes by: Deb Ervin

Present: Tara, Deb, Sharon, Nicole, Becca, Shelley, Sooz, Tonya, Malia

Agenda:

1. Check In
2. Next Meeting
3. Committee Reports (Treasurer report, discussion on committees, blog site, marketing)
4. Upcoming Gigs
5. Proposals
6. New Members
7. Spring Board Update / Visioning breakout

Proposals and Decisions:

• Proposal : to have a standing monthly meeting day. Vote : all in favor. (See Next Meeting.)
• Proposal : to have Soozin invite Kristen - a candidate Soozin brought to our attention - to the next meeting in September with the understanding that we’re just getting to know each other, and that it’s going to be awhile until we’re ready to take on new members. Vote: all in favor. (See New Members.)

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Meeting Start: 7:36pm  Meeting End: 9:07pm

Meeting Notes:

1. Check in

• Tara: happy to be in a colorful organization like Chicks On Sticks (COS)
• Deb : Really good unveiling on Sunday. Really positive thing and paranoid thing.
• Sharon : happy for growth of COS, seems like less stressful organization this year because we’re doing a better job. Life is good. School started. Paranoid fantasy: not enough time to fulfill promised obligations.
• Nicole: Wild week of life - work is busy for next month. Just moved into new apartment solo style. Hard, good, dynamic summer. In transition. Appreciated COS constant force. Paranoid next meeting won’t be for awhile.
• Becca : appreciation for magic of universe and COS. Malia ran into me by luck and invited me to come and I’m glad. Wants to be involved more.
• Shelley : appreciates COS and the constancy. Have watched members grow and feels mushy mushy. Not interested in paranoid fantasies, although last year was horseshit. Has a new nurse she likes.
• Sooz : impressed with turnout at meeting. Asking Gods to help her channel career path in right direction. Learning to let go of things that aren’t serving her. Loves camaraderie of the group. Paranoid - less about COS and more about Barebones. Not doing that this year. Making room for new opportunities. NOTE: GIVE DEB ADMIN CAPABILITY TO ADD NOTES TO BLOG.
• Tonya: Excited for first gig since pregnancy. Excited and paranoid about it. Tara and Deb offered to have a stilting date to prep for. Baby is 21 months old. Very exciting time. Also excited for new creative pursuits. Just had big high school reunion. Excited for more gigs before next pregnancy.
• Malia : big accomplishment of the  year - making her cd! Order one today!!! Graduated in spring - the cd was related (was her final project). Starting her own human arts practice. Immersed in painting… Have decided to back out of puppeteering (in terms of her own artistic expression and volunteer time). Really happy with the decision, even though it’s a big one, and an  unexpected one.

2. Next meeting

• Deb’s proposal : that we determine a standing meeting on a certain date of each month.
• Discussion:
•     Nicole: sounds like a lot of meetings.
•     Sharon:  would like it especially if a meeting agenda could be sent out ahead of time.
•     Soozin: knowing ahead of time would make it easier to plan for it.
•     Shelley : do we need regular meetings in winter? Or could we make some stilting meetings?
•     Tara : I think there’s enough stuff to do - and regularity would make them easier.
•     Deb: : we could always cancel if it didn’t seem like there would be a need.
•     Sooz : We could always make it committee meeting time if there isn’t quorum. 
•     Malia : Idea - what if we make even months for business and odd months for fun?
•     Shelley : Can we still have the option to switch purpose (from business to fun) if we want to?
•     Sharon : Or make sure at least the first ten minutes of  “fun” meetings are for business instead?
•     Tonya : Yeah!
•     Sharon : Can we keep the first ten sacred for business, then?
•     Malia : If we make note taking and updating the blog with the notes from those ten minutes a priority.
•     Soozin : Summing up proposal: meetings once per month. Alternate business and pleasure. First ten minutes at fun meetings are always dedicated to business.
•     Deb : So… What if we did the last Tuesday of every month? It seemed like general availability for group tended towards weekday evenings.
•     Group : not possible to determine right this second. Perhaps need to determine via e-communication.
•     Deb : I volunteer to email the group and figure out the optimal day for a monthly standing meeting (including next meeting - for September, which will be a “Fun” meeting.)
•     Vote on proposal to have a standing day for monthly meetings: All in favor.

3. Committee reports:

• Discussions on committees, the blog site, and marketing were tabled due to time.
• Treasurer Report (by Sharon):
•     $2,010 balance in the bank currently.
•     The tax place won’t talk to Sharon because we’re a non profit.
•     Special requests: Sharon needs Contractors to CC Sharon on final details so no one (chiefly her) is surprised at payout time. Also, pleas give Sharon one full week before asking about getting paid.
•     Question: What do we do we do about people who haven’t paid dues? There are sort of still two processes in place. This needs to go on the agenda for next time - along with the fee setup. SPECIAL NOTE: MONEY FROM EACH GIG SHOULD GO TO SHARON, TOO.

4. Upcoming gigs

• Banfill Locke is on Sunday, Sept. 11 : Tonya / Deb are stilting (organized by Anne)
• Plymouth on Parade is Saturday Sept. 24th : Deb / Tara are stilting (organized by Anne)
• Sunday, Sept. 4th Labor Day Memorial in Minnetonka from 6-7:30pm. Sooz/Nicole are stilting (organized by Sooz)
• Maple Grove Art Fair on Saturday, September 17th and 18th. : They want one Art Fairy. Organized by Sooz.
• Potential gig through the website: Girls Scouts are doing something at the Convention Center in spring 2012. Brought up by Soozin. It was requested that we move this to committee discussions - although we ran out of time - to be discussed at the next business meeting, then.
• Another potential gig Sooz posed to the group: Kids Ghoul Trail - something with artistic potential - at the Arboretum. Not a lot of money, but could get bigger in it’s second year. The date is tough because of conflict with the Halloween Show:  Sat. Oct 29th from 1-5pm. They’re doing 7 installations ending with a maze - could one be a stilting thing?  Interested parties in making it happen: Shelley, Sharon, Deb, Tara (especially in costumes, or earlier shift if we break it down), Becca, possibly Tonya.
• Sunday October 9th from 2-3:30pm. Art Start. Harriest Island. Needs two stilters - Tara can be one (organized by Sooz?)
• For slots that appear open - please contacted the indicated organizer.

5. Proposals

• This was done as we progressed through other agenda items.

6. New members (are there any candidates?):

• Discussion Notes:
•     Shelley: Thought there was confusion about actual decision made regarding process for this?…
•     Tonya: We covered this extensively over several undocumented meetings.
•     Sooz: Last time we talked there was a proposal that Martha and Deb. They‘re both in now - Martha couldn‘t come because she was busy tonight, and Deb is here now for her first meeting. Recap: We decided to leave it at those two for now. Also - not have newbies go to gigs solo. (Although Deb did to the Hamline gig as an exception because it was a last minute request; but she wasn’t a total newbie, either.)
•     Malia : That’s a good rule to keep - having new members paired for the first six months.
•     Deb : loves feeling protected by doing gigs w/ older members. There’s always something funny.
•     Becca : likes idea of having a six month period where you’ll work w/ another person for sure.
•     Malia : So: New chick possibilities?
•     Soozin : Kristen from ???… Mark and Sooz have both worked with her and taught her.
•     Group / Tonya : we’ve always sort of been ok with people joining us for free on gigs.
•     Malia : PROPOSAL: invite her to the next meeting in September. It will be social.
•     Tara: do we need more people? How many gigs are there? Do we need more stilters to meet the demand?
•     Sooz : I second that question.
•     Tara: Can we discuss this more at the next business meeting - whether to take on new members, and how?
•     Deb : I second that, but I’d still be ok with inviting Kristen to next social meeting.
•     Tara : As long as we’re clear things are muddy, and that by inviting her to the meeting we aren’t saying she’s a Chick.
•     Tonya : ….and that it’s going to takes time for us to figure things out internally before we can make that decision…
•     Proposal : to invite Kristen to the next meeting in September with the understanding that we’re just getting to know each other, and that it’s going to be awhile until we’re ready to take on new members. Vote: all in favor.

7. Spring board and Visioning :

• Sharon : I can’t remember what we (Amy and I) did when we went to Springboard. But someone said we should try and imagine what we want to look like in five years. That stuck with me.
• Tonya : Shall we all take one minute for visioning the next five years? Let’s go!
• Malia : wants COS to reclaim feminist, self-empowering feeling. State Fair felt great and empowering. She is also fighting internal passion for both staying small, and growing.
• Tara : love thrill of teaching. Children, women, etc. Also love building, and teaching people how to do that. Love performance mode - not just parade, but a show or a piece. Real art from scratch - music, theme, costumes, etc.
• Deb : Would like to grow the organization and planning parts of COS so we can all focus on the art and the fun.
• Sharon : Possibly 12-15 members. Not only gig oriented - also using funds to do shows, maybe annually. Would love to be “like a club” - with a balance between social and professional components (like monthly meetings). Would also like to see us volunteering or contributing to a charity we feel collectively passionate about (like Powderhorn).
• Nicole : Wants to do more youth work - moms and daughters. Would like to build - and get more commissions for shows. Wants to make more costumes - thrifty ways - as a group. Would also like to do more service - free performance, gift certificates, etc.
• Becca : Likes idea of longer creative projects.
• Shelley : Nicole’s ideas resonate with me. Love the empowerment idea. Supports the magic and impulsiveness. Wants to spend more time making costumes. Also supports not being so gig oriented - let’s do it for fun! Not always money.
• Sooz : Love getting paid. Wants to keep making money for it - we should be supported. Loves performing. In five years… Wants to do a character workshop. Maybe John Ferguson? Something we could bring out to gigs so they feel more like performance to us.
• Tonya : Wants to see us continuing to be paid. But sees value in less gig-oriented opportunities. So, wants to see us doing more creative work.
• NEXT TIME WE REVISIT : The next business meeting is October, but  when we revisit these goals we want to delve deep and take our time. So let’s save this for the business meeting after that, which would be December.