March 19th, 2015 - Meeting Notes

Chicks Meeting – March 19, 2015

Nicole, Angie, Tara, Gaea, Tonya, Anne, Malia, Laurel, Sharon

Checkins

General: Lots of projects

Financial Report:

$3,633.84 in Checking Acct.

Good news: The IRS has removed the penalties, but we do still have to pay the interest.

(owing 50% less).  The bill is still coming?  Unclear from their letter.

2014 taxes were filed, then refiled…

3 gigs booked for the year so far.

Blog Access checking…?

GENERAL NOTE on Communication: If you change the topic of an email thread, CHANGE THE SUBJECT LINE  (Twinkles)

Anne: Amazon Posse: email to chicks, mostly… friend owns gallery called Regla de Oro (golden rule in spanish) … having a fundraiser for breast cancer with superhero women… Would be fun if a bunch of us showed up, came and supported.  This Saturday at 5pm.

Project Updates

Poho: stilt teaching class.  It’s happening!   Maybe eventually a summer-long program.  Ages 12-16.

Business Cards: No idea

Pinup Calendar Review: Tonya: hasn’t done anything since right before xmas.  It will stay in T’s head unless someone else wants to push it forward.   There was never a meeting.  Can we do the calendar in another way?  There would need to be a proposal… T doesn’t have time.  Anne can sit with helping figure out what we want to say and putting it into a shape.  Also we have photography skills in the group (Laurel, Gaea)…. Had lots of ideas she’s really excited about.

Policy Question:  How long does a coordinator wait until they contact a backup stilter for a gig?

When we were doing voting members in January, decided not to accept new members.  This question arose. 

Anne: idea that can work:  Each gig is its own feel.  The Ordway is a huge organizing headache.  They want to know far in advance, lots of switching.  Different if you have 2 stilters only.  Good to schedule a backup ahead of time.  Let me know by (THIS DATE… )  Give it a grace period.  Sometimes gigs come with only 2 days notice, in which case go for whomever can do it…  Show in good faith to prioritize Chicks.

Gaea:  Send out one more email, with a  “Final Call”  Give it another day if you can.

There’s usually already a backup stilter.

Gaea:  Proposal A general policy that, when possible, coordinators to give two weeks to fill a gig, and a final call by email if that gig hasn’t been filled before opening up to outside stilters.  Coordinators will make a good faith effort to cast Chicks. 

Question: Can we propose something and pass it in the same meeting?  Clarify: What kinds of proposals can be voted on in the moment?  What is the standard?  For next month’s agenda.

Anne: Seconded. 

Passed with All (except Nicole who’d stepped out)…

New Projects:

Greenway Glow: Angie.  Tonya’s stuff is on porch.  Sharon, Laurel, Deb.  Lights for Nicole.  Sharon: there are extra things in a bag in her house.  No more lamay, but lots of fluffy bits.  (Pouf).  Event June 20, Proposal due by April 14.  Who’d like to be on a committee for that.  $500 max for budget.  Committee will meet for making the proposal.  5.5 miles relay down the Greenway.  Angie, Sharon, Gaea, Laurel. 

Next meeting isn’t until May, how would we proceed?  Vote on it now? 

We agree to put together a proposal for Greenway.

Later, make a separate proposal if we want to use money from the kitty (once we know how much we get and how many people want costumes.

Anne: Agree that we put in a proposal for the Greenway Glow.   Passed.

(Angie be the lead coordinator, and include herself in the budget.  10% of total budget.  (plus a costume).   

Mpls Convention Center:  Call to propose events, pop-ups, activities…. Mini-polis, a replica of downtown Mpls.  Animates it for one month.   Site: 87000 sqft: Indoors.  Event days need to be coordinated w other events.  Streetscape.  Can by modified for the performance.  Open to all MN residents.  Due by April 13.  $10,000.  Commission for each month.  Each group can do one day, a recurring thing, or everyday.  Participation: a few workshops… Tall people walking through a tiny city.  Stilt pants, but everyday person, “pedestrians”.  Workshops at hobt… $2000.  Teach people how to stilt.  A liability issue?  Fun to do something sculptural.  Moving sculpture from stilters.  We can also pay ourselves for rehearsals.  Teaching: could be something other than stilting.  Glowing costumes.  Glowing puppets?  Sculpture/Rehearsal: Costumes as buildings.  Living statues on stilts.  Since it a full month, we could divide it into 4…  July, August, Or Sept.  (we can choose a month).  One night, have glowing costumes, make a new set of costumes…  4 separate “Team Captains”?  Don’t let our money issues get in the way of paying ourselves?  Laurel: Alice in Wonderland thing…. Glowing mushrooms, flowers that talk…  “High Tea” ..  We can work hard for that 10,000, or 2 pieces for 5000,….  We don’t need to work so hard for the money… 4 projects or one project?

Where are people’s passions? Teaching? Performing.

Anne: not into teaching.  Rather perform.  (Teaches all day).

Laurel: Costumes that work with wind.

Residency idea: Brainstorm what those could be.

Little Mekong:

Need a longer convo with how do we deal with non-standard gigs? 

Money in it, budget was a mess.  Guidelines & perimeters, unclear who was actually going to do the gig?  Lots of work involved.  General confusion that it had a single director, or a collaborative effort between different people?

Trying to create some non-standard gig Guidelines…. For a proposal, to have clarity about that.

Future Meeting:  Learning that process right now.

Doodle Poll: Really good info came up.  Idea of “State of Chicks” Poll came up.  We’ve come far this past year.  Dealt with things we wanted to address.  A way to get time to respond with time to process.  Check in w ourselves.  Writing things down can be easier for some people.    Interested, but after performance season.

Action Items:

Get Blog Access: Ask Soozin to re-send?  She did on 3/15, but Laurel didn’t get it…  Need gmail account?  Tara can talk and ask to re-send it…  What is the Chicks on Sticks Gmail account?  Anne too is having trouble with gmail….  Laurel will ask Soozin.

Anne and Tonya will meet to work out a proposal about the calendar project.  

Angie, Gaea, Anne, Tara, Nicole, Laurel, Sharon:  Working on Proposals for Greenway, and Working on Proposals for Mpls Convention Ctr.

Gaea: May follow up on People’s Festival if they get the Phorn gig for teaching.

Next Meeting May 7

Anne: Location

Sharon: Chair

Gaea: Agenda-drafting

Next Play-Date:

April …. Do parade together.