[Rfu-station] Re: [RFU] RFU General Meeting

[Mike Lehman]

I will be at another meeting before the RFU meeting and may be late in 
arriving. However, I do have these agenda items.

Brianne, a new member, sewed curtains so that we can finish the 
silkscreen studio darkroom. These will be installed soon, then we will 
announce a training session for silkscreening. If someone wants to 
propose a new design for the RFU t-shirts and anything else we can print 
on, start working on the art work. I think we have the old design still 
on a silkscreen, so it will be easy to do more of the "classic" ones.

As I mentioned in a recent email, here is our difficult financial 
situation. We have about $2441.27 in our account. Here's what the budget 
looks like for the rest of the year:
 $2441.27 in account
-1205.00   planned expenses we need to cover until Jan. 1, 2008
 -$150.00  dedicated to future streaming expenses
$1086.27 what's left to buy a new tower

We also have $1633.33 that is in a fund dedicated to audio production 
gear, i.e. portable recorders, an audio workstation for the production 
room, or similar expenses. This equipment will be purcahsed and 
maintained by RFU, but must also be available for audio production use 
by any IMC member. These funds came from the old IMC Radio group, which 
earned them through their work in years past. If someone want to propose 
a budget to get this stuff, please do. I can be consulted if there are 
any questions.

A few people have signed up for the RFU-Finance list. We needs lots of 
help from everyone on this -- or else! To sign up for the RFU-Finance 
list, go to:
http://lists.ucimc.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/rfu-finance
If we're going to get a fundraising drive going, then it is necessary 
for the RFU Finance group to meet, set up a plan, and then put it into 
action. Dan has started planning IMCfest in support of our needs, but we 
need much more than that to raise the funds we need for the tower, 
studio equipment we need, and to pay for streaming.

I am working with the help of Dan and others on a grant proposal for 
funding the permanent tower to the Community Foundation of East Central 
Illinois. It is due at noon on Friday, August 31, next week. Dan is 
getting me some contacts for pricing. We will be applying for $4500 in 
funds. We have about $1000 on hand, another $1000 pledge, and will need 
to need to raise a total of at least $4500 as matching funds for this 
project ASAP.

Please be aware that we will NOT know whether we will be awarded these 
funds until the end of November, that there is no guarantee that we will 
get any of these funds and that, even if we are awarded funding from the 
CFECI, we may not be given the full amount. So don't count these fish 
before they are caught. The best plan is to get cracking on some serious 
fundraising.

Heck, every show should make at least one pitch for funds, so that is 
the first thing that the RFU Finance group needs to write. We also need 
a similar announcement recorded and placed into the Automation machine. 
Plus we need lots of ideas and work to make fundraising happen. Heck, I 
HATE fundraising, but I managed to raise the $15000 or so that it took 
to get the station started, with just a little helpm from others. What 
have you done lately to keep us on the air or even improve the station? 
Heck, heck, heck, we gotta do this or we run out of money halfway 
through next year, even if we don't buy anything!

Dan is working on the IMCfest, scheduled for Nov. 9-11, just before our 
second birthday. This will raise _some_ of the funds, but we need to 
think of it as a _conclusion_ of a hardworking fundraising campaign for 
the tower.

For those of you who haven't been to a meeting recently, remember that 
somewhat regular attendance at station meetings of various kinds is an 
obligation of membership. BTW, I want to ask Membership to consider 
going through the meeting attendance sheets to identify those who 
haven't been fulfilling this obligation. The station is already in a bit 
of jeopardy, because we've done almost no fundraising since the station 
started. Don't put your show's slot in jeopardy by failed to attend 
meetings. The basic requirement is to have at least one member of your 
programming group attend at least 50% of station meetings. The stations 
only functions when people show up to help do the work, including 
attending meetings. If you've been frustrated by some aspects of the 
station, like old equipment, crappy reception in west Champaign, or lack 
of a comfortable chairs in the studio, well, guess what? Start actively 
participating in meetings and these problems will go away.

Finally, there will be a meeting soon of the Membership group to get 
things in general at the station working better. One crucial task is 
coming up with a replacement for me as station manager. I gotta be 
moving on, but I will be able to help you, along with many others. So 
consider volunteering for station manager.

Thanks for reading this closely, discussing it at Tuesday's meeting, and 
doing soemthing about it, which is the most important point I'm trying 
to make.
Mike Lehman

Raymond Morales wrote:
> There will be a General RFU Meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, August 21, 2007 
> @ 8pm in the IMC family room in the basement. Please send all agenda 
> items to the list NOT to me.
>
> -Ray
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> RFU at lists.chambana.net
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>