Thursday, September 25, 2008

IBMA Membership Letter From Board Chair


I thought this email would be of interest to all Bluegrass enthusiasts. It is obvious the board has been very busy recently, and the new openness is greatly appreciated.

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED IBMA MEMBERSHIP?

John

To the IBMA Membership:
"As we prepare to attend the 2008 World of Bluegrass, I would like to share with the membership a brief list of some of the organizational accomplishments over the past few years. Many of you have helped us realize these accomplishments by your participation in the IBMA process. I would strongly encourage all IBMA members to attend the seminars, constituency meetings and the town hall meeting at WOB where ideas are both shared and generated. We are looking forward to another very successful and enjoyable event!
Here is an abbreviated list of some of our recent accomplishments and activities:

Created the Foundation for Bluegrass Music, a 501(c) 3 entity that can receive tax deductible donations (the IBMA can receive donations but they are not tax deductible) and can assist with funding special projects. The Bluegrass in the Schools program has been transferred from the IBMA to the Foundation and will be able to fund educational projects through the Foundation. The creation of such a foundation has been on the table for several years and we were quite pleased that we were able to bring this plan to fruition.

Organized an informal gathering of Nashville-area industry leaders to discuss current industry issues and to exchange ideas about possible future plans and initiatives; ASCAP donated meeting space for this gathering.
Appointed an Award Show Oversight Committee to work directly with show producers and staff.
Enlisted a third-party accounting firm to conduct an internal financial control review and offer recommendations. The review was positive and recommendations will be implemented in the near future.

Secured Directors & Officers insurance for the Board.

Appointed a Site Selection Committee to investigate options for the WOB after 2009; many cities were contacted, several submitted bids, and the Board reviewed all information provided by the committee to eventually decide to keep the event in Nashville for the next several years.

Organized the first-ever International Summit, which will be held at WOB on Tuesday and Wednesday. Industry leaders that include promoters, artists, media and association representatives from around the world were invited to participate in this event that will be facilitated by Fred Bartenstein, who facilitates our Board Strategic Planning meetings. We hope to find better ways to relate to and serve our non-US membership.

Met in April for our spring board meeting, facilitated by Fred Bartenstein, and created a new Strategic Plan that will guide us from the present through the year 2011.

After many years of being told it is virtually impossible to develop a health insurance plan for a geographically diverse organizational membership, we seem to have found a possible plan that will be available to members in certain states and will hopefully soon be available to the entire membership. Representatives of this plan will be at WOB to share information and offer possible health insurance opportunities for at least some of our membership.

Proposed awards criteria changes.

Marketing Committee new initiatives include hiring a publicist to promote WOB, inviting industry leaders to WOB and organizing a meeting of label leaders.

Re-activation of Simmons Research.

Special membership campaign in April 2008 netted 256 new professional members.

Leadership Bluegrass program continues its ongoing success.

Involvement with other music industry trades (Nashville Music Council, etc.).

Industry database and service updates and expansion.

Created the Association Newsletter by Board rep of that constituency.

Conducted survey of Event Producers by Board rep of that constituency.

Undergoing review of membership categories; studying Membership Committee recommendations.

We are excited about the growth of the organization and look forward to working towards accomplishing our objectives and goals as we face the challenges of the ever-changing world of bluegrass music."

All the best,
Greg Cahill, President and Board Chair

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