Minutes of NIETF Board Meeting  
02/17/08   

I.  Meeting was called to order at by JoBeth Cruz  

            Board members in attendance: JoBeth Cruz, Lisa Woodruff, Ruth Best, Stephanie Naumoff, Ken Mertens, Larry Hinken,   Ed Griffith, Anne Nichols, Darren Serhal, Angie Lowe, Justin Treasure and Sandy Hyde.  

II.  Consent Agenda 

            A motion was made to accept the submitted reports.  

            a)  Board Minutes from January – Motion made to approve the minutes. Motion seconded and approved.  

III.  Submitted Reports with Technical Difficulties  

            a) Treasurer’s Report. 

            b)     Outreach Report - Motion made to approve these reports. Motion seconded and approved. 

IV.  Non-Submitted Reports  

            a)    Musical Nominations Secretary’s Report - written report distributed.  

            b)    Play Nominations Secretary’s Report – (oral; per JoBeth Cruz)  

            c)   Development Report (oral) – Motion made to approve these reports. Motion seconded and approved. 

            d)  Marketing (per Ken Mertens) – No report, proposed survey on SimIndiana.com had been written by Becky Fox.    Ken reviewed it with the board; it was well received. 

V. Old Business  

            a)    Gala Sponsorship Invoices needed. 

            b)    SimIndiana Updates. 

                  1.  Photos  

                  2.  “Shared to Others Folder” VS “Shared to Me Folder” clarification 

                  3.  Naming Folders 

                  4.  Misc. Folders for Gala, Viewers, etc. 

                  5.  Documents Issues – Word VS Adobe 

                  6.  Calendar Features 

            c)     Resource Page - Database / Community form Profiles as Membership Perk? Darren & Ken will be looking into    Web applications for such a form. Stephanie will be looking at defining fields. Darren will get Becky (Marketing)    involved once a format is set.  

            d)  Website - Amazing Improvement! 

                  1. Guestbook - Question posted in regards to advertising in correspondence to audition dates. NIETF Bi-    laws state that advertising of ANY kind (via posters, news, website, etc) needs to be done a month      before auditions. There is nothing that states the advertising must be done on the NIETF website a      month before auditions.  

                  2.  Standards need to be set for Show Info. Darren will email theatres.  

            e)  Summer Event – Committee has compiled a collection of Venues & Caterers. The Committee will agree on three    favorites & email the board with in the next two weeks.  

            f) Question of Eligibility of Paid Participants – Tabled until next month. 

            g)  Board Calendar – Posted on SimIndiana. 

            h)  Gala Calendar – Posted on SimIndiana 

            i)  Investigating New Gala Caterer  

VI. New Business 

            a)  NIETF Board Vote – In the Event of a tie? 

                  1.  Discussion on possible proposals 

                  2.  Only option is to vote again 

            b)  Scholarship  

                  1. Changes (suggested by Legacy Correspondent Kim Bernstein) 

                        a.  Remove Social Security Numbers from Application 

                        b. Clean up verbiage 

                        c. Include most recent transcript with application  

                        d.  Move up deadline date to June 15th / Awards still public announcement 

                        e.  Board opted to proceed as recommended 

                  2.  Question to pose to Legacy – Do they promote to high schools? 

                  3.  Ed and Becky to team up on publicity for scholarship as Marketing & Outreach Chairs 

            c) Grant Writing Workshops  

                  1.  Board asked to discuss options with theatres; participants? 

                  2.  Legacy Foundation & Porter County possible workshops 

            d) Opening Number – requests from community members to write Gala Opening Number. Darren will post     announcement on webpage; Deadline for submissions April 20, 2008. 

            e)  Gala Award Tally System – Tabled until next month 

            f)  “You Tube” / Copyright Concern – Videotaping illegal; NIETF Liable? - Disclaimer to be written by JoBeth     Cruz & Justin Treasure to alleviate NIETF of any Videotaping Lawsuits. 

            g)  Evening of Gala – RE: Controversy on Dark Performance Night 

                  1.  History  

                        a.  Six Years ago – Gala moved from Sunday to Saturday evening.  

                        b.  Three Years ago - Each theatre personally spoken to by NIETF President. All theatres agreed      to go dark on Gala Evening.  

                  2.  Controversy – Theatre Presidential figures have since changed; some new Presidents are disinclined     to agree to the dark Gala evening.  

                  3.  Solution – Discussion tabled until proposition arises that will placate all theatres.  

            h)  Location of March Meeting – Genesius Theatre Guild 

            i)  Possibility of “PayPal” for tax free donations 

            j) Question on Webpage Passwords; answered by Darren Serhal and Ken Mertens. 

            k)  NIETF Member of the Month: To be decided and profile created by Marketing Chair, Becky Fox. 

            l)  Question posed on Viewer-Friendly calendars. Darren will work on a more organized / color-coded calendar.   

VII.  Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned by the President of the Board, JoBeth Cruz, at 8:42 PM. 

Respectfully submitted,

Stephanie A. Naumoff           

2008 NIETF Correspondence Secretary