MINUTES of ACTV Board of Directors Meeting

Date: Thursday, November 9, 2006

 

Call to Order:

The meeting convened at 7:35 PM, Isaac BenEzra presiding.

 

Board Members present: Isaac BenEzra, Lacey Johnston, Ernie Urvater, Paulette Brooks, Josna Rege, Alan Root, Anna Carter, Mary Paris, Dennis Steiner

 

Board Members absent: Jean Haggerty

 

Quorum status: This constitutes a quorum of the Board.

 

Others Present: Jim MacAllister

 

Approval of Minutes, October Board Meeting

The Draft Minutes of the October Board Meeting were presented to the board for amendment and approval.

MOTION:

A motion was made and seconded to:

Approve the draft minutes of the October Board Meeting as amended.

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Treasurer’s Report (see attached report)

MOTION

A motion was made and seconded to:

Accept the September Treasurer’s Report, subject to audit.

The motion passed unanimously.

 

President’s Report  (including Contract Negotiations Report)

—President BenEzra welcomed new member Lacey Johnston, who was elected to the Board at ACTV’s Annual Meeting on October 24th, 2006.

—The committees are getting going; we have named convenors to each committee from the Board, and must now get more members active on committees.

—ACTV needs some volunteers. There are about 4 hours of critical time when the staff needs help to cover the phones and the front desk. There are different approaches for getting this coverage, but thanks to Jean Haggerty’s suggestion to contact a Senior hiring program in Northampton, we already have one interview set up. Additionally Ms. Haggerty is working on volunteer help from residents of the Clark or Ann Whalen House.

—The board has been a continuing part of the ongoing contract review. The final contract was submitted to the Town on November 8th for its final review. Today we want the board to approve this revised document.

 

Review and discussion of contract negotiations (Executive Session)

Following the Executive Session,

MOTION

A motion was made and seconded to accept ACTV’s contract document as amended.

The motion passed unanimously.

ACTV has forwarded the document to the Town for their review.

 

IED’s Report, October 2006 (see attached report)                                                      

—After Mr. MacAllister’s presentation, the Board discussed the problem of the large number of outstanding program proposals, representing programs that remain uncompleted for a long period of time. Ms. Rege renewed an earlier Board request that the ACTV staff do more follow-up on these proposals in order to help their producers get them on the air. Ms. Paris noted that mentorship was her preferred approach, and that it was important not to police producers. Ms. Johnston echoed the latter point. Ms. Rege said that producers needed support to get their programs on the air, and recalled a time in ACTV’s history when ACTV paid a part-time youth coordinator who helped a group of youth producers get a regular show on the air every week.

        

Committees

Outreach Committee Report:                                                                   

Ernie Urvater reported for both the Outreach and Fundraising Committees.

—As part of a recent fundraising effort, Mr. Urvater has submitted a small grant proposal to the Amherst Club.

—The Outreach Committee has been developing a new look for ACTV. This is not a new logo, but a fresh look for the old one. Mr. Urvater circulated an image and slogan for Board feedback, and requested that the Board approve $200 to pay a professional designer to execute it. Some discussion ensued about the image, the message, and the timing of the initiative. Ms, Rege asked whether additional expenditures could be expected to follow if the $200 was approved, and Mr. Urvater replied that T-shirts would then be printed with the logo on them.

 

MOTION

A motion was made and seconded to authorize $200 to develop the design for a new ACTV T-shirt.

The motion passed 5-1, with 1 abstention.

 

Program Manager Search Committee Report:                                          

—Isaac BenEzra reported that the Search Committee needs to reconvene to reach consensus on its recommendations and present them to the Board. Jean Haggerty has pneumonia, but there should be a meeting in the next week. Once the committee has reached agreement on its recommendations, a special board meeting may have to be called to deal with hiring a new Program Manager.

 

New Business

—A Retreat for the Board and the IED was set for Saturday, December 2nd, in the Common Room at Ann Whalen House. Ms. Haggerty is willing to host this event, whose primary purpose is to clarify the role of the Board and our relationship with our IED, and to strengthen our relationships with each other and the larger community. Mr. BenEzra said that he would invite a member of the Amherst Select Board to speak to us on the role and functioning of a non-profit Board. Refreshments will be served, and Board members will be notified of further details.

                                                                                   

—A link to the National Conference for Media Reform will be posted on the ACTV website.

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Josna Rege

Clerk, ACTV Board of Directors