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MINUTES DRAFT
AS220 Board of Directors Meeting 2000/01/18

Members present:

Dennis diBattista, Robert O. Jones, Mary Ann Hewitt-Howe, Steve Durkee, Munir Mohammed, David Henry, Norma Anderson, Stuart Giannini, Jon Ozbek, Erminio Pinque, Michael Simon, Jim Pfeiffer, Manny Vales

Members absent:

Laura Travis, Alan Addison, Bob Arellano, Venus Jones, Keith Munslow, John Scott, Jan Swearer, Shelly Weeden, Richard Welch

Staff present:

Bert Crenca, Lizzie Araujo, Shawn Wallace, Geoff Griffin, Joelle

Guest present:

Jeff Wadowick

The Secretary arrived late to find the Chair absent but en-route. Pending his arrival:

(4) AS220 Staff Report

Lizzie Araujo gave the members a brief on the Fools Ball. Oskar & Laurie Eustis, Amy van Nostrand & Tim Daly, and Michael & Libby Corrente have all agreed to serve as honorary co-chairs, which pleases and impresses the board no end. Lizzie distributed a schedule of preparations and a list of prospective sponsors and table hosts (see copies attached), and asked the board to help solicit anyone that they might know on the list, or contribute other suggestions. The Chair arrived.

(1) Call to Order

Dennis diBattista called the meeting to order and presided.

(2) Old Business

The Secretary apologized for failing to draft and mail the minutes of the December meeting. He invited motions for approval of the minutes of the meetings of 1999/10/12 and 1999/11/09, which had been mailed too late to have reached everyone prior to their respective successive meetings, but which everyone should have received by now. Several members stated that they had never seen draft minutes for October or November.

Approval of minutes was therefore tabled until the Secretary prepares and mails again a package of all draft minutes not yet approved to all members.

Jeff Wadowick gave a brief summary of the findings of the auditors' report. The auditors found no problems and have issued an unqualified report. Assets of $945,000 and obligations of $699,000 are up from last year's figures of $917,000 and $671,000, respectively,

(3) Committee Reports

A Capital Campaign Committee

Geoff Griffin reported that he, Bert, and Joelle have been presenting the draft documents for the Capital Campaign to fundraising experts and AS220 friends, among them Dr. Joe Chazen, Pat McLoughlin, Planning Director John Palmieri, RISCA Director Randy Rosenbaum, Faye Saunders, Diana Johnson, Providence Foundation Director Dan Baudouin, fundraiser Barbara Dickinson, Katherine Valvoda of Brown University Development, Norma Anderson, Kim D'Oliviera, Pat & Terry Moran, and Buff Chace. All have made helpful comments and suggestions for improving the materials.

A wide-ranging board discussion ensued, too detailed to transcribe here. The salient points being:

Manny pressed for the immediate preparation at the meeting of a timetable for campaign goals and milestones, but other members and staff felt that this step was premature until additional input has been received on some issues, such as the best time to announce initiation of the campaign, and whether a feasibility study should be commissioned to figure out what we can expect to raise.

The board generally agreed that the campaign must have a particular and distinctive "look" and "tone," without actually specifying what those might be. Members recognized that anything too "funky" might be ill-received by the corporate and public sectors, while anything too "corporate-respectable" could be repellent to the artistic community. The board also agreed that there needs to be a carefully honed strategy for setting and reaching goals and approaching prospective donors.

Bert spoke fervently to a couple of issues: So-called "feasibility" is irrelevant; if we don't meet our goals, the organization will not surviveľnever mind advance. Also, there is a need, and opportunity, to take this endeavor to a national and international audience.

(4) More Staff Report

Martina & Company are staging a benefit event for AS220 in April.

The Muse Union has received $21,000 support from the Corporation for National Service.

(5) Adjournment

On a motion by Steve Durkee, seconded by David Henry, the board unanimously

VOTED to adjourn the meeting.

Recorded and submitted by
Robert Owen Jones, Secretary