December 2006 Committee reports to the Board

Finance Committee

Annie Courtney

The Finance Committee met on Dec 14.

Investments
Our socially responsible investments have performed well (as has the stock market overall.) We invested $200,000 in early autumn and we have seen an increase in value of over $5500 as of November 30.

We have finished paperwork to close down underperforming money market accounts at Asscociated Bank and will be moving the money to a higher earning money market at Anchor Bank.

We will consolidate our accounts at Heartland, closing down a small money market and moving those funds into another Heartland money market fund we maintain with higher interest rates. The committee also recommends transfering money from the Heartland savings account into the Money Market account on a monthly basis.

Audit
We reviewed the draft audit from Wegner. They found us to be financially sound. We will go over the audit in detail when the final version is submitted. The auditors recommend that we adopt a Conflict of Interest policy, a document destruction policy, and that we acquire a corporate credit card.

The committee recommends adoption of the following Conflict of Interest policy, which was the simpler of the two Wegner suggested.

Board of Directors Conflict of Interest Policy

I, ________________, a Director of Back Porch Radio, Inc./WORT-FM, affirm that, to the best of my knowledge, neither I, not any of my affiliates (hereinafter defined) have any financial or other personal interest, direct or indirect, that is incompatible with the proper discharge of my fiducuiary duties as a member of the Board of Directors of Back Porch Radio, Inc./WORT-FM or would tend to impair my independence, judgement or action in performance of my duites as Director, except as described below. I further affirm that, to the best of my knowledge, neither I nor any of my affiliates, is an officer or managing agent of any municipal, state, federal or private granting or contracting entity that provides or receives funds or other benefits to or from Back Porch Radio, Inc./WORT-FM , except as described below. As used herein, I understand the term "affiliate" to mean any relative, business or professional partner or associate, or other person or entity (including without limitation any corporation or partnership in which I have a personal or financial interest) with whom I have any significant relationship.


Financial Statements and Budget Adjustments
The committee reviewed several Financial Statements, with particular attention to the Budget vs Actual numbers. We are meeting or exceeding our income goals, and are within our expense projections. The Budget vs Actuals file is attached.

Discussion then followed on the budget adjustments that would be required if a proposal coming from the staff collective to increase staffing were accepted. As proposed, these staffing changes would raise the projected deficits to $25,000. Since more detailed conversation about the feasibility of increasing staffing will need to occur before a final decison is made, the draft revised budget reflecting those changes is attached. When the decision about staffing is fianlized, another draft will be submitted.

ENGINEERING:

Justin Richardson

Committee met 12/7/06

MCR UPGRADE (NEOTEK) STATUS
On hold for the moment, due to a series live shows scheduled in the Master Control Room.

PTFP GRANT DENIED
We received a letter from PTFP indicating that we will not get funded. So, we would need to find another source for funds for the two digital mixing boards, and the SAP (Second Audio Channel, aka ³WORT 2²) if we are to further explore those projects.

DIGITAL SIGNAL OUTAGE
Digital exciter crashed. Rebooted digital exciter with new software and it is working fine. The analog (regular) signal was not interrupted. Only a handful of people in Madison have digital radios, so probably no listeners noticed the digital outage.

WEBSTREAM REPORT
We have been reaching our 50-listener maximum on Fridays during Mel and Floyd. We don¹t come close to maxing out during the rest of the week, but the web listenership is growing in general. We may increase our number of streams by 10 or so at a time and keep an eye on it. If there becomes a need to double the number of streams we offer, we will consult with the budget committee.

BUILDING WIRING MAPPING
In progress . . .

POWER INCREASE APPLICATION STATUS
Still pending . . .

LAURA¹S JOB DESCRIPTION
We reviewed and edited a first draft of Laura¹s job description. Chief Engineer/Operator.

EQUIPMENT DATABASE PROJECT
Ongoing.

PROGRAMMING

Filed by Nathan Moore, facilitator for this month

The committee is hard at work on a number of projects, though there are no new program proposals on the table at the moment.

Arbitron report

Nathan delivered an oral report to accompany the lengthy text report of the composite Arbitron figures from the Spring Arbitron books, 2004-2006. Our top line data indicates that WORT has approximately 33,600 listeners per week, each one tuning in about 4.7 hours per week on average. There’s a trove of additional information in the report, and Nathan can give you a copy (and explain it) on request.

WORT2

The Programming Committee continues to discuss possible program grids for WORT2. Nathan drafted a long list of syndicated news and public affairs programs we could use for filler in the early days. Sybil drafted a list (based on an earlier committee discussion) of other ideas and programming strategies. Committee members have the homework project of thinking of specific draft versions of a program schedule.

Program Review Process

The committee has been seeking volunteer feedback on its Program Review process (based in self-review). We reviewed the comments and are trying to move forward, incorporating all the suggestions we can. This month, our homework is to work on process questions – how the reviews will be used, who will see them, what will be done with them, etc.

PC Members leaving

Ryan Parks announced that after approximately seven years on the committee, this was his last meeting. Nathan said that he’ll probably make the January meeting, but then will be leaving.

New PC Members arriving

The Programming Committee received the committee application of Tonya Brito, read it over, met with Tonya, and voted to approve her as the newest PC member. She’ll have to miss the January meeting, but will start on the PC in February.

The next meeting is set for Wednesday, January 10 at 6pm. Alex Gillis will be the facilitator.

Personnel

Kathie Beckett

The Personnel Committee met with Norm to go over his yearly personnel evaluation and review. We will present the results to the board Wednesday evening in closed session. Last year the Personnel Committee asked Norm to locate and update all part time staff job descriptions; there is only one more to finalize.

The next evaluation will be Glenn's.

The Personnel Committee also discussed updating the WORT Policy Manual.

WORT Policy Manual Updates - Background

The WORT Bylaws specify that the Policy Manual is to be updated "by the WORT Board". Unfortunately, this task often slips past the Board (and the staff). The current policy manual is woefully out of date and last year the Board set up an ad hoc policy committee to track down all the Policies enacted by the Board since the last update in 1997. The committee completed its mission & is in the process of printing the policies for inclusion in the Manual.

December Board Action Item:

The ad hoc policy committee members suggest the following addition to the Policy Manual: The job of actually printing the policies enacted by the Board and updating the WORT Policy Manual after each meeting is assigned to the Board Secretary whose job it already is to report policy language additions and changes as part of the monthly Board minutes.

PROM (Public Relations Outreach and Marketing; formerly MCOC)

Peter Lipton

The PROM committee met on Dec 12 at 5:30-7:30.

Present were Glenn Mitroff, Lynn Pophal, Ken Pritchard (a new member), Peter Lipton.

Despite the small attendance the meeting was a lively one.

1. Nathan presented a written and oral summary of the most recent Arbitron report. WORT has about 35,000 listeners (defined as turning in WORT at all) and at any one time there are on average 900 listeners. This led to discussion on how listenership might be increased.

A major issue was, that of the Arbitron-defined ‘loyal’ listeners the listening time was much smaller for WORT loyal listeners than for of WERN loyal listeners (about half). WE DISCUSSED INCREASING CROSS-PROGRAM PROMOTIONS. We felt that advertising coming programs, both within-genre and cross-genre could be increased a good deal and that this might help. This would require coordination between PROM and staff.

Another major issue was the slow decline in listenership from 1 p.m. onwards, as opposed to the usual profile which has an evening peak. We had no specific action proposal for this.

Another issue was the very low percentage of young listeners (below 25). THE PROM COMMITTEE IS NOW WORKING, ALONG WITH THE NEWS DEPARTMENT, TO REACH THE COLLEGE STUDENTS. There were no specific proposals for high school and younger.

2. Lynn presented a set of (beautiful!) posters/flyers that she and her co-worker Laura, who is a graphics designer, had designed to promote different music genres. These had been reviewed by Glenn and others who had provided input into the final product. Several of these were nearly complete and two-three more are planned for completion in the near future. These got us pretty excited and the plan is to launch these at or around the annual meeting. We discussed distribution issues and Ken, who has a great deal of editing experience, offered to help in the production process.

Laura and Lynn have also designed targeted bookmarks promoting WORT, which are also very zippy, and are slated to be distributed by Room of One’s Own and Rainbow book stores.

3. Glenn presented the idea of preparing and distributing pocket calendars of WORT programming and had several samples from other stations. This seemed very promising to all of us. The plan is also to make more bumper stickers as we are nearly out.

4. Alas, no progress had been made by Peter and Trini on organizing further presentations to community organizations.

Space: The final Frontier (Ad HOC Long Range Space Planning Committee)

Justin Richardson

Committee met 11/30/2007

We will eventually need to know the worth of our current buildings. WORT volunteer Stuart Utley offered to do a commercial assessment on our building. Until then, as a reference point, the lawyers’ office across the street has been assessed at $932,000. However, they have more land, one story, and parking.

To satisfy our curiosity, Terry O. will ask our neighbor is he has thought about selling his house.

We will make an appointment to look at Harold Langhammer’s building behind St. Raphael’s Church (roughly between Henry and Main and W. Washington). We’ll try to do this between December 18-22.

We are planning a whiteboard session on January 20, at which an outside facilitator will help us formulate what our ideal space needs might be, if we could have anything we wanted. Board, staff, and any other stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Terry O. suggested we do a feasibility study on a capital campaign to see what we could reasonably expect if we were to launch a capital campaign.

CURRENT SPACE UTILIZATION

Justin will share the process that UW uses to analyze current space, to see if we can borrow some of this to analyze our current building.

Citizen’s Advisory Board (CAB)

Glenn Mitroff

The CAB did not meet since the last Board meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 16th at 6:30pm. This is the CAB Annual Meeting at which members indicate whether or not they would like to be appointed by the Board for an additional one year term.

Affiliate Report : Dane County Administrators of Volunteer Services

11/27/06

DCAVS bid farewell to President Rachel O’Leary who moved to New York in August. Vice President Glenn Mitroff stepped in as Interim President for the remainder of 2006. At the DCAVS November meeting, the membership elected the following officers for 2007: President, Glenn Mitroff (WORT 89.9 FM Community Radio); Vice President, Elaine Creager (Dane County CASA); Treasurer, Kadie Labadie (Meriter Retirement Services); Sylvia Engel (RSVP of Dane Co.)

DCAVS had robust attendance at our 2006 lunch/program series hosted on alternate months. Topics included: Community Reflections: Creating Diversity in Volunteer Programs; Developing a Career Ladder for Volunteers; Do’s and Don’ts of Grant Writing; Learn to Relax. A March snowstorm prompted us to cancel the program: Marketing Your Volunteer Opportunity to a Target Audience.

In September, DCAVS and the United Way Volunteer Center co-hosted a half day conference with the theme: "Beyond the Basics: Integrating Your Volunteer Program into Your Agency’s Mission." Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz provided the keynote address, highlighting the importance of volunteerism in Madison and Dane County and the vital role of volunteer managers in contributing to the quality of life in our communities.

On November 1st, DCAVS and the United Way Volunteer Center co-hosted our first annual celebration of International Volunteer Managers’ Appreciation Day. A proclamation by Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle was presented by Johnnie Smith of the Wisconsin Emergency Management Office. (Proclamation is attached)

From January to June 2007, DCAVS and the United Way Volunteer Center will be hosting a volunteer management training series consisting of six half day sessions including: Understanding Volunteering; Plan for Success; Recruiting & Placing Volunteers; Orienting & Training Volunteers; Supervising Volunteers; Continuous Program Improvement. Participants may register for individual sessions or the entire series. For information contact Kathy Martinson (608) 246-4356 or kathym@uwdc.org

DCAVS projects for 2007 include a new web site and brochure.

Submitted by Glenn Mitroff, Interim President

Proclamation

WHEREAS, Our nation was founded upon a spirit of volunteerism and the talents and energies of volunteers continues to be one of our countries greatest resources; and

WHEREAS, Wisconsin is greatly enriched by the generous contributions of volunteers as evidenced by our high national ranking for our rate of volunteering being the highest in the Midwest; and

WHEREAS. Over 3,000 non-profit agencies in Dane County alone rely on volunteers to provide many needed services to keep our communities thriving; and

WHEREAS, Dane County Administrators of Volunteer Services, DCAVS, provides opportunities for professional development, education, and support for volunteer managers; and

WHEREAS, Volunteer Managers are the dedicated people behind the volunteers; and

WHERAS, They work extremely hard to market programs, causes and the needs of our community to people who want to make a difference by volunteering. Volunteer Managers dedicate large amounts of time to recruit, screen, educate, support, recognize and retain the volunteers who give of their time.

WHEREAS, It is fitting for all citizens to join in this celebration of our rich volunteer heritage and to give special recognition to Volunteer Managers because of their immeasurable contributions to the profession, to improving peoples’ lives, and to strengthening our communities in Wisconsin.

NOW, therefore, I, Jim Doyle, Governor of the State of Wisconsin, do hereby proclaim November 1, 2006 to be Professional Volunteer Managers Appreciation Day.

ELECTIONS: see Norm’s report

FUNDRAISING: no report: next meeting January 4

EVENTS: No report: next meeting January 8

EXECUTIVE: No report

REGULATORY COMPLIANCE: No report

BYLAWS: No report

Sister Station Radio Project Ad Hoc Committee: No report