Malik starts the meeting with the topic of the AES convention in NYC and how we as BAES can make our presence known. Malik will try to schedule a time to meet with Angela Piva. Dereck brings up other people such as "Willy Green" NYC section officer, who could be a good contact for us at conventions. Would be good to connect via instagram.
We briefly discuss how different sections and connections within the broader audio community are siloed and how we can bridge those gaps.
We want to get our presence known and get more crossover with the NYC section and get the invite to certain panels/events/etc. Dereck brings up from past experience how MA based companies often have tables or events at the convention, but they are not always posted widely.
Malik will be our representative for BAES this year in NY, so we are going to keep our eyes and ears open for different events and parties he could attend/people to link with. Malik brings up having a focus on marketing/sponsorship deals, inviting folks to Boston to work with us. Derek recommends seeking the interest of newer or west coast companies who might not have an easy-in to communities in the east coast such as Boston.
We touch briefly on Grant Opportunities / Mass Cultural Council. Malik had a meeting with Exec Director, Michael Bobbitt a couple months ago. Dereck discusses how our grant application should be very focused and we should make it an agenda point to figure out what that focus is. Boston Cultural Council is not currently accepting applications but we could utilize other cities for a grant application such as Cambridge or Somerville.
Dan brings up how we could propose using the funds for hosting an event with a panel or speakers. Grant money will not cover food/drinks and other accommodations for events outside of venue costs, personnel, etc. Grant writer could be something we seek out to the rest of the Boston AES members for support with.
Dereck updates on funds: $716 currently in BAES bank account.
We plan to get some specific guidelines or documentation on how funds allocated to the AES section are allowed to be used. Would grants, for example, be able to ethically fund a section officer to travel to events?
Update on eventbrite Q Division networking night =97 out of 100 RSVP slots reserved.
We talk about having a graphic ready when the night sells out to post on social media. We also bring up needing to check registration at the door so as to not crowd the room.
Dan touches on sponsorships for the events for food and drinks. Derek says we could reach out to Izotope or another audio company to ask for a few hundred dollars in exchange for having a representation and branding there. Local business like a pizza place is also worth reaching out to.
We shift over to discussing committee members and their role in the section. Dan expresses wanting to select committee members based on their specific roles, who need to come to meetings and will be published on social media. We decide it will not be an open call and we should invite people directly. We agree to expand the committee in the effort to try and represent the audio community by race/gender/etc. Next meeting will be in october and we will definitely use this meeting to invite these potential committee members.
As we wind down we schedule next meeting October 4th 7pm.
