Minutes of June 2009 Meeting
June 14, 2009

The June Meeting of I.B.M. Ring 362 was held at Dino's Pizza in Brewer, Maine, on June 14, 2009, at 3:00 pm. The theme of the meeting was Gaffs & Gimmicks. Please see the Ring Report for details. The Ring's first auction was held, with 15% of most sales and 100% of some being donated to the Ring's General Fund. The auction raised $125.

In the absence of President Geoffrey Miller, Vice President Gary Jewell 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 the President called for the adoption of the agenda, which was approved without amendment.

The minutes for the March meeting were approved without amendment.

Treasurer Randy Von Smith presented the Treasurer's Report. The bank balance was $2112.45 and there was $250.00 in petty cash for a total of $2362.45. Members voted to approve the Treasurer's Report.

In Old Business, Vice President Gary Jewell called for new meeting themes and Teaching Tables for 2009. The current calendar has themes through September. Dr. Wilson's Teaching Table on Wagers is scheduled for July. Professor Miller's Teaching Table on Costume and Character is scheduled for August. The September meeting will be the Nate Leipzig Close-up Contest with Geoffrey Miller as the Contest Official.

In Old Business, the Vice President reported the results of the Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition. Danny Baker took First Place and won the People's Choice Award; Professor Miller and Wes Booth tied for Second Place.

The Secretary reported the results from a survey placed on the People's Choice Ballot for the Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition. The survey asked audience members how they had heard of the show. Most people who filled out ballots did not respond. The summary of the responses was: Newspaper (5), Flyers in Bar Harbor (2), Facebook (2), Flyers in Bucksport (1), Alamo website (1), MySpace (1), Word of mouth (4). The Secretary concluded that there is no single publicity medium that is best, and that all available methods must be used for each event.

For the Chung Ling Soo Stage Magic Competition, the gate was $420 vs. theater rent of $250. This supports what was learned from the December 2008 show, The Magic of Christmas, that the Alamo Theatre is a good venue, where is easy to make theater rent from a show. The Secretary reported a motion from the Board to direct $70 of show income to the Chung Ling Soo endowment, supported by the Board by a vote of four to two. Members voted to approve the motion.

In Old Business, Dr. Wilson reported on the upcoming magic classes that are part of Summer Festival of the Arts (SFOA). Copies of the book and DVD set to be supplied to students, Joshua Jay's Magic - The Complete Course, were made available to members at cost ($10). Each of the 24 students, and the two assistants, in the class will receive the book and DVD, as well as the DVD produced by Brian Rodgers featuring Ring member performances from the March 2009 and April 2009 Ring meetings. The total cost of the books and DVDs is $260 + $135 or $395. The Ring had budgeted $100 for SFOA magic class. Randy Von Smith moved that Ring members be encouraged to donate funds to support this activity, and suggested that the Board match donations dollar for dollar from the General Fund. The motion passed.

In Old Business, Brother Don Paul reported that Thistles Restaurant had agreed to host the Nate Leipzig Close-Up Magic Contest on Sunday, September 20. Brother Don suggested that the previously agreed time of 3:00 pm was a bit early, and suggested a later start time, perhaps 4:00 pm. Gary Jewell suggested leaving this to the Contest Official's judgement.

Brother Don proposed amending the rules of the Nate Leipzig Close-Up Magic Contest to restrict participation to six contestants. In order to give everyone a fair chance for consideration, he proposed that everyone indicating an interest in competing by the time of the Ring meeting in the prior month (August 2009 in this instance) have their names chosen at random until all names are drawn. The first six contestants drawn would be allowed to compete. In the event of one or more cancellations, the Contest Official would move down the list until there were six contestants. As Brother Don had devised the rules for this contest, he agreed to work with the Secretary to amend the rules.

In New Business, Brother Don proposed All Souls Congregational Church as the venue for the Max Malini Parlor Magic Contest, and the Isaac Farrar Mansion as an alternative. Brother Don proposed looking into the availablility of either venue for the date of the October Ring meeting (October 18).

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