Minutes of March 2008 Meeting
March 16, 2008

The March Meeting of I.B.M. Ring 362 was held at the Friars' Bakehouse in Bangor, Maine, on March 16, 2008, at 3:00 pm. The theme of the meeting was Oriental Magic. Please see the Ring Report for details of the performances.

There was a raffle of a copy of The Book of Mystery by Howard Thurston. The raffle raised $22 for the Ring's Lecture Endowment. Brother Don Paul won the raffle.

Danny Baker called the meeting to order. He cited a set of simplified Rules of Order that have been made available as a PDF on the Ring's web site, which were adopted as the Rules of Order for the meeting.

The agenda for the meeting had been made available in advance, and Danny Baker called for the adoption of the agenda, which was approved without amendment.

The minutes for the February meeting were approved without amendment.

In the absence of the Treasurer, the Secretary presented the Treasurer's Report. The cost of the President's Banquet was $550.90, with $433.00 taken in from guests (not counting the raffle), for a net cost to the Ring of $117.90. The Board had voted by email to to charge this to the $400 discretionary fund budgeted for 2008. Other recent expenses include paying domain name registration and web hosting fees for the Ring's website through March 2010. The bank balance is $1729.42, with $344.00 in petty cash for a total of $2073.42. The Ring funds include a total of $452.17 in endowments: Ring Name Plaque Endowment ($140), Elliott Endowment ($86.44), Chung Ling Soo Endowment ($67.17), Max Malini Endowment ($60), and Lecture Endowment ($162). These totals do not include funds received at the meeting (raffle proceeds, payments for dues, and payment for website ads).

In Old Business, Danny Baker called for Ring members to pay Ring dues for 2008, set at $10. Danny had sent postcards to members who had not paid their dues, resulting in several payments. Members were reminded that failure to pay dues by April 1 would result in being dropped as a Ring member. Members dropped would need to pay a $10 reinstatement fee to be reinstated as members.

In Old Business, there was a call for meeting themes for 2008. We will be having Theme Leaders for themed meetings. The themes have been selected through member input; October 2008, January 2009, and February 2009 were announced as still open. Danny Baker offered to lead the theme of The Oldest Trick in the Book for the October 2008 meeting. There was also a call for members to present Teaching Tables.

In Old Business, the Ring Name Raffle was held. Wes Booth, Carroll Chapman, Steve Cornish, Stan Davis, Alan Drew, Geoffrey Miller, Dayton Salisbury, Angelique Steelgrave, Markus Almodarr Steelgrave, Paul Szauter, and Woody Woodward had sent in tickets by mail; Danny Baker, Matt Bennage, Brother Don Paul, and Gary Jewell submitted tickets in person. No one purchased extra tickets. Geoffrey Miller drew the winning ticket, Wes Booth's ticket for the Bob Nixon Ring.

In Old Business, a drawing was held for the order of placement of ads on the Hire a Magician page. The names were drawn in the following order: Phil Smith, Wes Booth, Danny Baker, Alan Drew, Dr. Wilson, Professor Miller. Carroll Chapman's payment had not been received at the time of the meeting, so his name was not included in the drawing.

In Old Business, Danny Baker reminded members that the April meeting would be in Rumford, Maine's Capital of Magic, featuring not only the Elliott Card Challenge, but also a lecture by Tom Craven, who will be competing in the Elliott Card Challenge. The Elliott Card Challenge will begin at 1:00 pm at the Hotel Harris. The lecture will be at 3:30 at 49 Franklin Street. Admission to the lecture will be $10, with no distinction made between Ring members or nonmembers. Contest Official Paul Szauter and local host Scot Grassette have started working on publicity.

In New Business, Geoffrey Miller, General Show Chair for the All-Star Magical Revue, reported that he had sent a written proposal to the Board members of the Criterion Theatre and Arts Center (CTAC). In the proposal, the Ring's proposed fees use the CTAC rental rate schedule, posted on their website. The Ring additionally proposes that the stage be clean and free of extraneous equipment, and that the Ring will be selling concessions.

General Show Chair Geoffrey Miller repeated his call for Ring members to offer their performances for the All-Star Magical Revue.

In New Business, the Max Malini Parlor Magic Contest is scheduled for May 18 at All Souls Congregational Church. Matt Bennage will be the Contest Official. Dr. Wilson offered to warm up the crowd by performing his flea circus, removing himself for the competition. Danny Baker appointed Paul Szauter as chair of the Publicity and Ticket Sales Committee. Matt Bennage was charged with enforcing the time limit, and Danny offered his cue lights to assist performers in keeping track of time. Members were encouraged to contact Matt Bennage with suggestions for judges.

In New Business, Wes Booth spoke on the need for formal critiques of magic performances. In the ensuing discussion, members agreed that performers competing in contests or performing in public shows should expect their performances to be videotaped. These videos will be archived by the Ring and made available to members upon request. A motion was made to make copies of videos of contests and public shows from the Ring archives available to members at cost. The motion passed.

In New Business, Ring members responded to Anthony Leone's proposal to stage a public performance at Peake's Auditorium in Bangor to benefit Project Graduation. The proposed date, the first weekend in May, was judged to be too soon. The Ring offered to stage the Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition at Peake's Auditorium as a benefit for Project Graduation on September 6.

In New Business, Danny Baker announced the Tri-Club Magic Auction in the Portsmouth Masonic Hall in Portsmouth, NH, on April 13.

With no further business, a motion was made to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously.