The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival

Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday, March 13, 2014

IN ATTENDANCE: Paul Domalakes, Lesley Fallon (phone), Casey Gallagher, Joel Gilley, Judith Harris, Beverly Kuhar, Linda Lapos, Joan Miller Moran, Patrick Mulcahy, Kathleen Kund Nolan, June Schlueter, Fr. Gerry Schubert, Susan Sefcik, Ron Sheppard, Doug Smillie, Bob Snyder.

EXCUSED: Lona Farr, Jo-Ann S. Kelly, Peter Krajsa, Tom Lubben, Blake Marles, Patricia Mullin, Jerry Noll, Will Neuert, Barry Pell, Christine Perrucci, Dennis Razze, David Rothrock, John Russo, and Ruth Spira.

STAFF: Jill Arington

I. Opening Prayer

A. Father Schubert led the prayer to open the meeting.

II. Approval of Minutes from January Meeting

A. Judith Harris made a motion to approve the January minutes and Ronald Sheppard seconded.

III. Secretary’s Welcome

A. Kathleen Kund Nolan welcomed everyone to the meeting and welcomed new board member, Lesley Fallon.

IV. Committee Reports

A. Executive Committee- Casey Gallagher reporting on behalf of John Russo

1. The Executive Committee met on February 27th. Ronald Sheppard attended to discuss the audit with the committee and Doug Smillie attended to give an update on the Committee on Directors’ activities.

2. The audit was clean and unqualified. John Russo thanked Ron as head of the Audit Committee and commended the PSF staff on their diligence and hard work in preparation for the audit. Non-board member Robyn Randolph was approved by John Russo as an external member of the Festival’s Audit Committee.

3. The committee also discussed the impact of the reorganization of the Institutional Advancement Committee. Non-board members appointed to lead committee initiatives may be evaluated for future board membership if they meet the full set of attributes of a PSF board member.

B. Campaign Committee- Patrick Mulcahy reporting

1. The next meeting of the Campaign Committee will be April 9th. The committee is working towards their goal from the January meeting to double in size. Judith Harris has successfully brought two new members to the committee: Bob Brown and Carol Henn. The committee is still working on other prospects and chair prospects.

2. Patrick thanked Linda Lapos and Kathleen Kund Nolan for their leadership gifts.

C. Committee on Directors- Douglas Smillie reporting

1. The committee met on January 19th and is not currently discussing any specific prospects.

2. Board Orientation #2: Mondays in March is moving forward.

D. Strategic Planning Committee- Patrick Mulcahy reporting

1. The committee will begin working on the next strategic plan this year.

E. Audit Committee- Ronald Sheppard reporting

1. The audit occurred mid-November and the committee received a draft on January 22nd. The Audit Committee met on February 21st to review the audit, which was clean and unqualified. No issues related to accountability were brought forward by the auditors.

2. Bob Snyder led the board through the audit, including discussion of the Festival’s decreased endowment spending rate.

F. Gala Committee- Joel Gilley reporting

1. The décor, auction, auction party, and sales teams of the Gala Committee are all in motion for the 2014 Gala.

2. As of the board meeting, 22 tables representing at least 184 people were committed. Invitations will be mailed on April 1st. The goal is to net $100,000+ this year. To reach the goal, board members will have to fill more than 1 table or secure more sponsors. The auction will be moved out of the dining space of the University Center and into the conference area. The main entrance will now be the doors closer to the conference rooms.

G. Institutional Advancement Committee- Joel Gilley reporting

1. As discussed at previous meetings, the Institutional Advancement Committee will now be organized around several initiatives, led by a director and assistant director. The 2014 initiatives include:

a. Growing the Shakespeare Society.

b. Emphasis on cultivation events, including the “Tap a Donor” program.

c. Increasing sponsorships for the gala and season, especially corporate.

2. Moving forward, the Committee plans to focus on a Foundation Board event to connect with other boards in the Lehigh Valley, and a fall development event to capitalize on the positive feelings of completing a successful season.

3. Joel also encouraged a mindset and an orientation toward action consistent with the notion of “the Board at its Best”

4. The Gala Auction Party, a feeder event to fuel excitement and collect auction prizes for the Gala, will be held on April 6th at the home of Dennis and Lisa Razze.

V. Guild Update- Bev Kuhar reporting

A. The Guild Board met on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven new members were voted onto the board at the meeting increasing the size of the board to a full 25 members.

B. The guild has been made aware of the opportunity to volunteer at the Society of the Arts 2014 Show House as representatives of PSF.

C. The Bard’s Birthday Party will be celebrated on Tuesday, April 22nd.

D. PSF volunteers will once again man a table at Act 1’s spring musical production to promote the Festival and recruit new volunteers.

E. The guild will be organizing a blood drive in conjunction with Macbeth.

F. On May 15th, PSF will be participating in Apollo Grill’s Therapeutic Thursdays celebrity bartender fundraiser.

VI. Administrative Update- Casey Gallagher reporting

A. The first mailing of season brochures has gone out, and 65,000 copies will have been mailed. The Quill will go out in early April and the website has been updated with the 2014 season information.

B. Tina Slak, the PSF’s new marketing and management associate, has successfully secured $20,000 in ad revenue towards the $32,000 goal. Group sales are also $7-8,000 above previous years. She will be attending a two day bus tour convention in Valley Forge as part of her group sales efforts.

C. Casey Gallagher attended the 2014 Shakespeare Theater Association Conference in Stratford, Canada, and received numerous compliments about the excellent execution of the 2013 conference hosted by PSF.

D. PSF had a surplus of $73,000 in 2013, in large part due to receiving the Payne Grant ($50,000), a highly successful Gala, and a sold-out Raffle.

E. The Shakespeare Competition will be held on Saturday, March 15th, after taking a one year hiatus while PSF hosted the Shakespeare Theatre Association Conference.

VII. Mission Moment- Casting

A. Patrick shared insights on the Festival’s casting process and offered an update on the design process discussed at the last board meeting.

VIII. New Business

A. There was no new business.

IX. Adjournment

A. Father Schubert made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Linda Lapos seconded.

B. The meeting was adjourned at 8:56pm.