Alchemy Board of Directors Meeting Sunday, June 24, 20126:30 p.m.Attending members:Trevor RegisterSarah GriffinAge GinsburgRebecca ReaDawn FluryAttending Burning Man Regional Contacts:Tunna KeroseneJim TaflingerOld Business:Who has account access and who should have access to the Alchemy accounts? Rebecca Rea is currently on all three accounts as is Age Ginsburg. This is currently non-negotiable, as Rebecca was responsible for the creation of the three accounts and all the accounts are linked in the banks system. Rebecca has stated that she believes the current situation is fine and wants to avoid adding other people and potential confusion to the accounts bookkeeping. Trevor has raised the issue that having only two people on the accounts, who in this case, live in the same house and frequently attend the same events such as this past weekend’s Serendipity Festival may potentially cause issues in the future in the event that neither person can be contacted in case of banking emergency. Rebecca states that the Event Leads having proper card set up for each event in the future will prevent this situation from occurring. As an example: Sarah had to purchase several items for the Art Fundraiser out-of-pocket because of a problem with an incorrect PIN number on her card. In this case, there was nothing that either Rebecca or Age could have done about the situation even if called. Sarah states that she would prefer to go to a bookkeeper system that places another individual in control of the accounts in case of emergency. Our current system leaves Rebecca on all three accounts, as she was the one to open them. Age, as our CFO and board member, also remains on the accounts; in the event the CFO changes after this year’s elections that person will be placed of the accounts. Rebecca also states that the person named as cardholder on any card can call the bank, using the 800 number on the back of the card, if there are any problems with the card ( demagnetized strip, PIN questions, etc.). At Age’s suggestion, we have agreed that a finance section should be added to future board meeting so that the entire board can track purchasing, payments and the general state of the Alchemy accounts. All current Alchemy ELT’s have proper cards at the moment. As a board, we are considering the merits of acquiring an additional card for miscellaneous expenses. Rebecca will check to see if doing so will result in any additional fees.Status of finding an official bookkeeper for the Alchemy finances. Sarah has received recommendations from Karrin about a possible bookkeeper but has not received anything from Jessica yet. Sarah had also committed to procuring more recommendations and presenting them to the board as she gets them.Insurance Coverage Rebecca states that the Fundraiser has insurance and that she will deal with the insurance issues for the rest of the year and report back any relevant information. Our insurance fee structure has changed since last year and increased. Our current insurance broker is looking for a better deal. The board also notes that potential work weekends will not be coveed by insurance until this matter is resolved.Money Owed:Get us checks Hippies! Troy - $500 for trailer Jonathon - $39.60 (airfare overage) Trevor - $39.60 (airfare overage) Rebecca -$39.60 (airfare overage)Euphoria Report: This year event was largely drama free! No major ranger issues reported. We are currently awaiting Lee’s final report. Team Lead reports are not yet in but we expect them to be complete by the next meeting of the board. Sarah would like to send out a survey to the Team Leads, in the interest of getting as much feedback as possible. Sarah has offered to create the survey and forward it to the board before sending it out to the Team Leads. The board is also creating a listing of the current and past volunteers, what they have volunteered for and any problems with their performance.Art Fundraiser Report from Trevor Trevor states that the event was a success. The artist had their funding money by 2 a.m. and we had cleared the building by 2:38 a.m.21 projects were submitted for the event.The sum total for the minimums of the projects was $14,500The sum total for the maximums was $27,500Six projects were at least minimally funded with fund matching: The Lighthouse The Yurt Circus Combustus The Fire Garden The Power Bright 5,000 Watch Our City GrowTwo projects were maximally funded with fund matching:The Power Bright 5,000Watch Our City GrowThe combined income from the bar, ballets and auction was $3770 The board spent $1700 on the FundraiserChelsea Darling, was present and raised these suggestions for the board. In the future she would like to see the Fundraiser be held earlier in the year so as to not conflict with other weekend events. This would also give artists more time to build larger projects. She also believes that perhaps artists seeking funding should be given the option to lower the minimum amount they are willing to accept to bring their work to the event, in the event they do not get their original minimum amount.Age proposes that next year we attempt to hold the Fundraiser on the Vernal Equinox, March 6th, if possible, as an overnight event.Trevor will have his event report on the Fundraiser at the end of July and will also write a detailed SOP for the event to be used by future Event Leads.It has been decided that there will also be an online fundraiser for those who are interested and who were not fully funded by the event. Online fundraiser artists will return the dollars given to them if they do not make their minimum online. This is a serious point of contention for the board members.In hearing that moneys were distributed to artist who did not meet their minimum, Age points out that giving funds to those who did not make their minimum is not in keeping with our previous procedures and is not allowing the community to choice the art that they feel deserves to be funded.Sarah states that the online auction is also an arm of the Burner community and that our previously agreed upon fund matching will cover a certain amount of the funding.Trevor states that he feels there is no current standard model for the fundraiser.Sarah states that we have previously committed to an online fundraiser model.Rebecca points out that there is no guarantee that an online fundraiser will be successful and that we cannot promise these artists that it will raise their minimum needed to fund their projects. We as a board cannot commit to raising money for these artists. Rebecca also points out that this decision to hand money over to these artists was made on the fly, without the approval or input of three of the five board members.Age and Rebecca both agree that the fact funds were distributed to artist who did not meet there minimum is a violation of previous policy, and believe that the money should have been held until the entire board could discuss the matter and agree on a plan of action. Age states, we now need to create a procedure for the collection of the funds that have been distributed that might not be bringing art to Alchemy. We do not need the community and artists asking were the money went if this proposed art does not come to the event. Trevor states that he believes we should extend the amount of matching funds to cover the online fundraiser as well. This is approved by all board members. Trevor states that the online fundraising will be headed up by Patrick. This is also approved by all board members. Discussion now begins on where the money from the online fundraiser will go. Rebecca favors a Kick-Starter like set up (not Kick-Starter, only similar). This would have us moving away from Paypal and getting our own “swipe” though our bank. Note: This cannot be done until after Alchemy because we are currently in mid-ticket sales. Trevor will talk to Patrick about the full online fundraiser set, with the money taken in going to the Alchemy account. This should be the easiest way to track the money and which project it is intended for. Trevor believes that a month to a month and a half will be enough time for the online fundraiser. Rebecca also wanted all involved artists to know that they will need to raise as much money for themselves as possible in this amount of time.Action ItemsSarah – put minutes up on websiteSarah – bookkeeper recommendationsSarah – Create a survey to acquire feedback from the Euphoria Team LeadsRebecca – money owedRebecca – additional charges for additional cards?Troy – money owedTrevor – money owedJonathon – money owed? – Creation of an SOP for the proper distribution of fund from Art FundraiserItems Currently on the Agenda for July MeetingJuly Meeting currently scheduled for July 15th, at Rebecca & Age’s house.Rebecca will facilitate.Decomp report from Cory & Justin (they will be attending the meeting to get a rough budget)RCs – What can we do for you?Items Currently on the Agenda for August MeetingArt Fundraiser Team - ProposalCreate a Decomp SOP to be used for future events