STERLING PLAYMAKERS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Vice Chairman, Chris Gray called the Playmakers Board of Directors Meeting to order at 7:43 p.m.
Board Members Present
Kathy Bleutge
Kim Fry
Rick Dulik
Maria Bissex
Joe Campanella
Barbara Gillen
Chris Gray
Mark Humphrey
Don O’Brien
Annie Scanlon
Steve Schrader
Guests Present
Lora Buckman
Emilie Pugh
Josh Stricklin
Nick Wilt
Board Members Absent
Bill Fry
Angela Hepola
Agenda Adjustments
No adjustments were made to the agenda.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Secretary’s Report
The July 2014 Board of Directors Meeting minutes were presented, accepted and will be filed as presented.
Treasurer’s Report/Volunteer Hours
The Checking Account had a balance of $26,711.83 as of 08/04/2014. The Building Fund had a balance of
$10,512.80 as of 07/31/2014. Kim distributed the Checking Account and Building Fund Registers and the
Certificate of Deposit Register. The bank statement was passed around. The Board hours were collected.
The breakdown was as follows:
Check Book Balance (08/04/2014)
Building Fund (07/31/2014)
Certificates of Deposit (08/01/2014)
Box Office Cash
$26,711.83
$10,512.80
$34,419.70
$ 200.00
$71,844.33
Kim paid $817 for the Director and Officers Insurance. She received a check for $250 from Tall Oaks for the
performance of On That Note.
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Volunteer Hours
Chris distributed the Board Volunteer Hours report for 2013/2014. He asked the Board to review the report and
let him know if there are any changes. These hours will be included in the Playmakers 2014 Tax Return. The
tax return is due on September 15.
Correspondence
1. Check from Tall Oak for the performance of On That Note.
2. Letter from Lawyer George Biondi reminding the Board of the Annual Meeting.
3. Thank you from XXXXX for Costume Rental.
PRODUCTION/ACTIVITIES REPORTS
Children’s Summer Day Camp – Peter Pan Jr.
Kathy said it was a fantastic, exhausting experience. The camp was three and a half weeks. She said she
received a lot of compliments regarding the show. She said the kids really liked working with the swords. The
Board might think about doing a Sword Fight Class for that age group. The profit from the camp is estimated to
be $8,000-$8,500.
Anything Goes
There were nice comments from the audience. They said the set and costumes were amazing. The show
received three standing ovations on Sunday.
Once Upon a Mattress
Auditions will be held on September 5th and 6th. Kathy said Rodgers and Hammerstein must approve the design
for the show’s t-shirt. They also require two shirts for their archives. Kathy will send them two shirts. She said
they will use Empty Pit for the music. They have been working with Empty Pit and it has been going fine. The
music CDs are coming soon. Kathy said they need good singers and actors. She said it is a fun show. The age
of the cast will be 15 and above.
Holiday Happenings
Joe submitted Lora Buckman as Producer for Holiday Happenings. Rick Dulik will be the Tech Director.
Auditions will be held on September 26 and 27.
A motion was made and seconded to approve Lora Buckman as Producer for Holiday Happenings.
Motion passed
The budget was submitted for the show. The show for the scouts will be open to the public. There will be four
shows plus maybe one travelling show. Joe said the show would be light on props, costume and makeup.
A motion was made and seconded to accept the budget as presented for Holiday Happenings.
Motion passed.
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Directors Workshop
The workshop will be held on September 20 from 12:00 until 6:00 or 7:00. Kathy said she needs a firm time
slot so that she can book the school. Joe will need information for the Newsletter by Thursday or by latest on
Friday. The cost is $50 per person.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Community Center Liaison
Nick reported that the following events were planned at the Community Center:
1. Yard Sale – August 9 and September 13
2. Improv Academy
3. Pirate Moonbounce - September 11 – 10:00 – 11:30 - $6/child
Membership
The deadline to submit items for the Newsletter is Friday.
Drop-in Dinner
The August drop-in dinner will be held on August 28. The August drop-in dinner was scheduled to be held at
the Del Marva Restaurant in Cascades. The restaurant is temporarily closed. The dinner will be moved. Joe is
looking at moving the dinner to Cracker Barrel Restaurant.
Summer Picnic
Barbara presented the budget for the summer picnic. The expenses were budgeted for the $400. The Board
approved spending $500 for the picnic. The picnic will be held on August 23 at the Gazebo at the Sterling
Community Center.
A motion was made and seconded to approve the budget for the summer picnic as presented.
Motion passed.
IT
Steve said the website will be updated. The Playmakers currently uses hostmysite. Host Blue is another
website provider. He distributed a handout comparing website providers. Blue Host has excellent technical
support. There will be an additional cost for a new domain name with Blue Host. Two domain names will be
used, Sterlingplaymakers.com and Sterlingplaymakers.org. The extension .com or .org will allow individuals to
get to the Sterling Playmakers website. Both domain names will be paid for. Blue Host is simple to use and
support and site backup software is available. The cost for Blue Host for a 5-year period would be $536.91 and
the cost for hostmysite would be $1,473.90.
A motion was made and seconded to approve spending $342.17 start up cost for Blue Host Web Hosting.
Motion passed.
Square Procedure
Steve distributed procedures on how to use the Square. The Square had a good trial during Anything Goes.
There were a couple of issues. All users must have an account, password and an authorization to accept
payments. There is a possibility of fraud. The Board may want to establish a policy of no refunds. The Board
has to decide how a customer gets a receipt. Customers who have gone to the website to purchase tickets and
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the online Paypal purchase was closed have said they thought the show was sold out. A notice needs to be put
on the website when online purchase of tickets is closed the tickets are available at the door.
Technical
Rick said Empty Pit works well. There is a catch. It requires upload on an iPad. This allows for higher sound
quality. A package consisting of an iPad Mini and an audio box would cost approximately $1,000.
A motion was made and seconded to approve spending $1,500 to purchase iPad, an audio interface box and
appropriate apps.
Motion passed.
Season Development
Kathy dropped off the contracts at Sterling Middle School to book the school for Once Upon A Mattress,
Holiday Happenings and the Director’s Workshop. She will drop off the contracts for the other shows as soon
as the school is in session and the teachers are back. Mr. Martinez is the new Principal at Sterling Middle
School. Annie reported that she did the inventory of the Library. She will send the list to Steve.
Publicity
No report was given.
Outreach
Maria reported that there has been a steady flow costume rentals. She charged $10 per costume. Maria
reminded the Board that schools do not pay to borrow costumes.
Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce Breakfast
No one will be attending the breakfast in August.
SterlingFest
Preparations for the event are underway. SterlingFest will be held on October 11 from 11:00 until 5:00.
Sterling Swordplayers
Steve reported that they are starting to rehearse on Sundays. They have four new members. Two of the new
members are young.
On That Note Cabaret
Lora presented the budget for On That Note cabaret. The cost of the tickets is $10 with a minimum of 35
people. The venues have a maximum of 40 people. They have two bookings on November 5 and December 6.
They are available for other performances. The approval of the budget was tabled. Lora will come to the next
Board meeting with an updated budget. The venues want to put write ups on their sites to market the shows.
A motion was made and seconded to spend up to $25 for promotional cards for On That Note.
Motion passed.
Ways and Means
Chris said they should receive the notice in September regarding the Tax Exempt status for the Playmakers.
Donations Subcommittee
Thank You letters have been sent to the donors.
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Nominating Committee
Five people have submitted their write-ups. They are Terry DiMurro, Steve Schraeder, Kim Fry, Mark
Humphrey and Annie Scanlon. The elections will be held at the Annual meeting on September 2.
OLD BUSINESS
Loudoun Arts Center
Josh Stricklin talked to the Board about the new Loudoun Arts Center. He thanked the Board for allowing him
to tell them about the Loudoun Arts Center. He saw Anything Goes and was very impressed. Phase I of the
facility is almost complete. There would be classes in dance, theater, music and visual arts. There are large
studio spaces and music lesson space. Rick asked about the audio capabilities of the facility. Steve said that the
Swordplayers were always looking for places to rehearse. Josh said the facility would be an option for rehearsal
space for the Swordplayers. Josh distributed his business card and a handout for information about the Loudoun
Arts Center.
Season Brochure
The draft Season Brochure was distributed to the Board for review. The Board proposed the following changes:
1. Add Directors
2. The pictures need to be near the write ups of each play
3. The title is wrong for the Bad Girls of Literature
The Board is asked to send any comments to Angela.
Intercom System Proposal
Rick said that he will work on the proposal with Bill Fry once he finishes with doing sound for Anything Goes.
Music Licensing/ASCAP and BMI
Chris will work on the music licensing. Rick will forward contact information to Chris.
NEW BUSINESS
Incident Report Form Approval
This was tabled.
Macy’s Shop for a Cause Charity Fundraiser
The Board decided that the Playmakers would not participate in this event this year. The Ways and Means
committee will look into participating in this event next year.
Potomac Green Murder/Budget
Lora reported that Potomac Green wanted to do a murder mystery on December 6th. The Playmakers are triple
booked with events on December 6. Potomac Green had already advertised the show.
A motion was made and seconded to cancel the performance of the murder mystery at Potomac Green on
December 6.
Motion passed.
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A motion was made and seconded to work with Potomac Green to come up with an alternative date for the
murder mystery and if no agreement is made the show would be cancelled.
Motioned passed.
Chris and Lora will contact Potomac Green.
Annual Meeting Minutes
The Annual Meeting will be held on September 2 at 7:30 at the Sterling Community Center. The to-do list for
the Annual Meeting was distributed to the Board. The Board members signed up to take responsibility for the
items on the list. A draft agenda was distributed to the Board. The Board reviewed and made changes to the
draft agenda.
ADJOURNMENT
The Board Meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m.
The Annual Membership Meeting is on Tuesday, September 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the Sterling Community Center.
The next Board Meeting is on Tuesday, September 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Sterling Community Center.
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