AUD – Minutes of May 22, 2014

The Auditorium Restoration Committee met on Thursday, May 22, 2014, at the New Bedford Public Schools Administration Building on County Street.

Meeting started at 6:35 p.m.

Mike Shea welcomed everyone. Due to many new members, everyone introduced themselves.

Mike Shea talked about the selection of the Officers for the New Bedford Alumni Association. The following names were approved by the board and were submitted to the state for The Articles of Organization: President – Mike Shea, Vice-President – Mike Josefek, Secretary – Estelle Keches, and Treasurer – Alan Zexter. Through Attorney Eric Jaikes, all the paperwork has been sent to the state and we are waiting for their approval.

Craig Dutra from the Community Foundation told Mike Shea that the board has approved our Association to be fiscal partner with the Foundation. At the time of this meeting, the final paperwork had not been completed, but that should happen soon.

Guests Speakers – Jim Phillips from WBSM and Curt Brown from the Standard Times. Mike Shea introduced both of them and they each talked about how we can use the media to help get our message out to others. Some of their suggestions were:

               To create a Speakers Bureau – have a select group of graduates talk about what the auditorium meant to them.

               Use all the media available – Cable TV, Standard Times, WBSM and the other radio stations, and to move out of the New Bedford Area – use the Providence Stations. Follow up with Ed Camara from Cable Access to put together a short clip about the auditorium.

               Pictures of the auditorium – have pictures available to show people to get your point across - especially with the cable companies in the different cities and towns.

               Need grants – find a grant writer – someone who knows where to look for the grant possibilities. Check to see if the auditorium falls under the “Historic Preservation” status.

               Get people into the auditorium to see what you want to do. Can something happen with partnering with AHA night?  

               Publicize milestones.

               Use the social media – have a website, Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, etc.

               Look for auditorium pictures from old yearbooks, past publications (ex. Spinaker, Standard Times)

The committee would like to thank Jim and Curt for their time and knowledge in this area.

Mike Josefek talked about the importance of having an Ice Breaker for the Kick Off for our fundraising to be held in the auditorium. We would need a city waiver to have alcohol at this event. Mike also suggested looking into having the New Bedford Jazz Band play that night. Other committee members suggested to have some alumni play – people like John Harrison, Steve Brennen, and Ken Richards.

Updates from the subgroups:

     Construction – Mike Josefek passed out a handout with some figures on quotes that he received for staging, painting, and cleaning and seat restoration. Mike also had an estimate for plaster repair.  Thank you Mike for your research in this area.

     Fundraising – We are at the point now where this has to be a top priority. It is on our June 26^th agenda.

     Grants – Another priority for this committee. Mike Shea will reach out to some people that may be able to help us with this. If any committee member has a background in grants, or is willing to lead this area, please let me know.

     Public Relations – Now that Jim Phillips and Curt Brown have given the committee some great ideas, we will move forward in this area.

     New Bedford Alumni Association – Priscilla Wade mentioned to everyone that we are now on Facebook and she will be meeting with someone in the near future to create a web site. Priscilla also handed out a sample New Bedford Alumni Membership Form. Discussions on this form included; the amount to have for membership dues, categories for various donations, and where to send the checks to. Mike Josefek suggested that we should not refuse someone to be a member if they could not afford the donation fee. All present committee members were asked to review the form and come back to next month’s meeting with suggestions on the above topics and also with other suggestions.

The meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.

NEXT MEETINGS – JUNE 26, 2014      JULY 24, 2014

Submitted by:

Mike Shea