WFHB FireHouse Broadcasting

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING AGENDA
BLOOMINGTON COMMUNITY RADIO, INC.
MARCH 26, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Hooker Room, City Hall, 201 N. Morton St., Bloomington, IN

I. CALL TO ORDER / ATTENDANCE OF BOARD MEMBERS
The meeting was called to order by President Mark Need a 7:07pm
Present: Mark Need, Shaun McDermott, Carolyn VandeWiele, Kirby Thompson, Suzette Weakley,
Marc Tschida, Pam Raider, Matt Pierce
Absent: Mike McAfee
Guests: Emily Jackson, Joe Estivill

II. STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS, UPDATES:
Due to expected time constraints, there were no standing committee reports given

III. DISCUSSION OF BOARD NOMINATIONS FOR 2010 ELECTIONS:
The nominating committee questionnaires for Board Candidates were previously circulated to the members
of the Board for their information.

Emily Jackson introduced herself as a candidate. Emily was nominated by Brian Kearney and said that she
has looked at documentation involved and said that she wouldn't have committed to the nomination unless
she felt she was ready for the challenge and planned to do the work.
Emily was on the Board of Bloomington Community Radio, Inc. in the late '80s during the strategic planning
process before the station went on the air. She moved away from Bloomington for 18 years and then came
back to town in 2005. She started back at the station by doing some production work with Syndicated Programs,
producing promos and preparing them for air which she does every Wednesday. She now also programs the
Friday Morning Music Mix I every two weeks.
She said that she loves radio and feels that it is an important media outlet with a lot of potential to realize;
in particular she feels that the local news and public affairs programming is really important - local information
and local community involvement strengthens local democracy.
She has previous non-profit experience, particularly in supportive programs for people with disabilities
including jobs at Boston College and with Best Buddies (a group that follows Kennedy model which is
primarily based on fund-raising, sometimes even to the detriment of their program focus and mission).
She learned a lot about fund-raising, event planning and budgeting (don't ever spend a dime if you can help it).
She also worked at MIT for some time.

The Board discussed the mechanisms for adding people to the slate.
There are three ways a candidate may be added.
1. The Nominating Committee can put forward up to two names for each position available
2. The membership can add nominees by petition to the Board signed by at least ten valid participating members
3. The Board can add up to one additional name for each seat to be filled.

The current Nominating Committee is composed of Pam Raider and Suzette Weakley. As Secretary of the Board
Carolyn VandeWiele is the titular head of the committee but because she is running for re-election she is providing
guidance to the committee but has recused herself from active participation.
The Nominating Committee submitted the following candidates to the Board for the 2010 election: Joe Estivill,
Emily Jackson, Shaun McDermott, Marc Tschida and Carolyn VandeWiele. Members up for re-election and
guests withdrew and the members of the Nominating Committee and Board discussed the candidates. At the
end of the discussion the Nominating Committee elected to put forward all 5 candidates. The Committee will
prepare a statement for the participating membership to that effect as well as outlining the process for adding
additional names by petition and this will posted at the station and to Spot-Online.

IV. GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORT - Will Murphy
a.) Digital Campaign we raised $41,892 from 96 contributors; the campaign officially ended on March 15th
but there may be a few more donations yet to come. The official goal to meet the CPB requirements
was $28,000 but there are a few extra costs that were not a part of the actual grant. This will allow us
to pay the additional engineering fees with the balance, perhaps, going towards acquisition of a digital
board but that has yet to be determined. Will plans to send out "thank yous" by end of next week.

b.) Fund Drive
The Renewal Campaign for the Spring Fund Drive has started with 314 pieces sent out last Friday. Will is
not sure that everyone is on the list because he continues to have some problems with the the software.
To date, 28 renewals have been returned for a total of $2568 and this will be counted toward the overall
fund drive goal of $35,000. Spring Fund Drive runs from April 16 through the 25th.
Will met with Kelly Walker and set up program goals and are working on setting up premiums.
There will be a number of allied events during the Fund Drive. On the Thursday prior (04/15) we will be the
beneficiary of the Nick's Third Thursday Non-Profit Fundraiser. Natalie Cabanaw has offered to do this for
every fund drive from now on. On April 18th, Rogue Wave is at the Bluebird and we will be offering some
premiums with them, possibly including dinner with the band. There is an event at The Muddy Boots Cafe
on 04/17 with The Steven Thomas Band - so we will have a Brown County event and there is a Live show
at Rhinos on 04/24 with Youth Radio (+/- broadcasting). We are also working on arranging events with some
of the other restaurants in town where a portion of the proceeds for the night would be donated.

c.) Other Business
The Biannual FCC ownership report went to the legal firm in D.C. and has been filed.

Our MOU with CATS for telecast of CATSWeek expired officially on Dec. 31 and no one really noticed.
They have paid us once since the expiration but won't pay us again until it is updated. The Library Board
meets on 4/14; Will doesn't think there are obstacles to it's being renewed.

There are two grants deadlines coming up:
Marc Tschida is working on an application for the IAC, funds are not designated yet.
Will Murphy is working on an application with BCAC to fund our next show at BCT on 6/19.
We currently hold an IAC grant of $1500, which was reduced by the Governor to $1200 for the
Nat Audio Theatre effort.

Pam Raider asked about the success of the last Variety show - Will said that there was a breakdown in
the message - initially it was designed as a fund raising mechanism towards the Digital Campaign.
Then it became a marketing event and we gave away a lot of tickets but as a fund raiser it was a bust.
We sold 91 tickets for $910 - costs were about $700 for the venue and $1000 for talent. We did get a lot
of good reviews, and we should get some fo those people back for the next event as paying attendees.
We also received $300-400 in donations.
Pam Raider suggested that since seats are available, we consider giving high end donors two free tickets
to an upcoming show as a "Thank You" for their donations.

Points to some fundamental flaws in our overall marketing strategies. We need to decide up front how
we want an event to go... marketing or fundraising mission... and work thorough it based on the mission.
We need to look at best business practices - looking at the ratio of effort and talent in a event vs what
it generates in dollars, is this the best way to expend our efforts. Need to work with event creators up
front to make sure that costs are covered in the design of the event and that tickets get sold to cover our
costs.
Marc Tshcida pointed out that these shows were never designed to go to the BCT - they were designed
to be staged at the Waldron where (at the time) the rent was free or much reduced. We should consider
staging them on a different day when rent is cheaper, would the crowd come on a Sunday afternoon?
Are there alternative sites? MCLP auditorium - couldn't charge admission. Local high school auditoriums
are not viable options, among other issues we would be required to use students as tech people at
$30 per hour.

We need better promotion and write up in the local arts places that people go to to decide what events
they are attending. Look at the demographics of attendees and do a better job of marketing to them;
f.i. working with activity directors at local retirement homes, getting students involved and marketing to
their parents and friends. And do follow up at the events to ensure that attendees know that this is
community radio that needs to be supported by the community: f.i. create special posters for retirement
communities that highlight Golden Age Radio. Look at targeting special groups who are represented on
WFHB, not only for events, but also for fund drive and other development efforts.

Overall we need to focus on ways to market the station = we don't market ourselves well at all.
Kirby Thompson - we need to figure out a way to market ourselves in many different ways - the
Marketing Committee has not been effective to date

V. TREASURER'S REPORT: Station Financials
We remain positive in terms of income over expense to the tune of a few $1000 at this time. Shaun said
that he cannot give us exact figures at this time because they continue to find bookkeeping errors as they
review the figures. There are some significant issues with how book keeping has been done; for example
our past payables bookkeeping has been messy - vendor balances and statements don't match our records.
We are cash postive, we have cash in the bank, the general picture is correct but the actual figures are
inaccurate to a tolerance that he is very uncomfortable with. Shaun feels that we need to give significant
consideration to reviewing the quality of performance in our bookkeeping efforts; not only for the accuracy
of our accounts and management purposes, but also because of upcoming audit needs in conjunction with
our CPB Grant and other fiscal considerations; this is especially important as we are dependent on the
CPB grants to stay financially sound. Shaun and Will will talk with CPB about what the actual requirements
and standards are for the upcoming audit, if there is financial help available, and other details.

Will and Shaun met with a local acounting firm about starting the process of the audit as well as providing
us some bookkeeping support - Shaun said that he felt that this was something that could not be entrusted
to a volunteer and was well worth paying for. Will said that the fact that our fiscal year does not coincide
with most business fiscal years may be an advantage in that CPAs may be more available when we
need their services.
Shaun feels it will be about another two months before we have an accurate picture of our Financial Status
and can start getting regular written financial statements; this includes segregating out moneys that aren't
operating expenses and getting a better picture of our income and expenses. He expects to have an
interim budget sooner but won't be completely accurate.
Shaun wants to ensure that we get a clean fiscal report as we move into the new fiscal year; previous years
will be more difficult because so many payables extend into past years.

VI. UPDATE ON WALDRON FACILITIES STATUS:
Because this discussion was both politically and legally sensitive, the Board went into closed session at
this time.

VII. NEW BUSINESS
a.) Purchase of HD Radios for Premiums and Thank Yous for the Digital Campaign.
Will Murphy presented a quote for the purchase of 25 Hybrid Digital Radios at $34@ to be used as
Thank Yous for donations to the Digital Campaign. The total quote amounts to $850.
A motion to allow Will to purchase HD radios and was seconded and passed unanimously

VI. ADJOURN
The motion was made to adjourn, seconded and passed unanimously
The meeting adjourned at 9:14pm