Bruce Ridge, Brian Rood, Laura Ross, Paul Gunther, Cathy Payne, Meredith Snow,
(Michael Moore & Matt Comerford were delayed; Richard Levine – not available)
AFM Convention – there was a brief discussion about the convention. Paul expressed his gratitude that Robert Levine was blogging live from the convention; Paul said his orchestra members appreciated the postings that appeared on Orchestra-L as well. Brian spoke about ICSOM's testimony before the Joint Law and Finance Committee. Bruce and Brian found little reason to speak on the convention floor because ICSOM delegates had followed up on the Call to Action and had spoken to their locals prior to the convention about recommendations #2 and 24.
Bruce spoke about the second emergency resolution #1, the only financial action that passed on the last day. He spoke about ICSOM's concerns that the symphonic exclusion referenced in the bylaw change would apply to all symphonic work, including SRLA. In a sidebar discussion as floor discussion was occurring, Anne Mayerson, Trish Polach, and Ray Hair assured the ICSOM officers in attendance at the convention that the IEB would define symphonic agreements in such a way as to exclude all symphonic recording from any type of payment. This new bylaw change deletes the special payments/film fund assessment and institutes a specific dues amount that will be designated by the IEB and EMSD oversight committee and that will be ratified by all musicians that make more than $2,500 in recording wages.
Cathy thanked Bruce and all the board members for their hard work and attendance at the convention. Brian said many delegates and local officers at the convention reached out to all the ICSOM representatives, and especially Bruce.
ICSOM Conference issues
- attorney presentations – Bruce is waiting for the topic submissions from one more attorney and then he will ask the board for their recommendations.
- SSD presentations – there was a lunch meeting with Chris Durham at the convention with Bruce, Brian, Laura, Michael, Matt and Meredith in attendance. Bruce is still waiting to hear back from Chris regarding our inquiry about what Rochelle Skolnick had planned to speak about (and if she would attend), and details about the rest of the SSD presentation. Everyone was shocked when Chris said that SSD works without a budget. Brian mentioned we had received a breakdown of symphonic work dues earlier that day. SSD received 36% of the symphonic work dues, and an additional 33% of the president's office expense was also attributed to SSD (the same applies to EMSD).
- bylaws – Mike Okun continues his work on the bylaws. Laura is planning to send the final conference mailing, which will include the proposed bylaw changes, no later than July 20.
- other – there were a few questions about the order of the conference agenda and it was confirmed that alternate delegates may also attend the town meetings.
Orchestra update: Detroit – this negotiation is likely to be contentious and difficult. A PR campaign is underway. There was a brief mention of the July 5, 2010 Time Magazine article about the DSO.
[Matt joined the call toward the end of the discussion]
FIM (International Federation of Musicians) – there is a possibility of a second conference, this time in Amsterdam (March 7-9, 2011).
Bruce closed the call with his thanks to the board for being so professional and such hard workers; he said it has been a pleasure to work with everyone. Brian spoke for everyone when he said the rest of the board could not have done anything without Bruce's leadership. Matt said he was very impressed by Brian and Bruce's committee testimony and hearing Bruce's speech at the convention – it was a great moment for him.
Scheduling of next call: it will most likely be scheduled via e-mail during the week of July 26.