In attendance:

Scott MacPherson, E.D.
Jennifer Myszkowski, President
Carey Baker, Vice President
Ismary Santiago
Jayne Melendez (remote)
Daniel O’Sullivan, Acting Treasurer
Gloria Caballero
Denis Luzuriaga, Clerk
Mike Hines (remote)
Carolyn Rogers-Harris

Not attending:

None

6:30 p.m.: Call to order

Acceptance of prior meeting minutes – November 16, 2023.

• Motion: Carey
• Second: Gloria
• Vote: Unanimous, motion carries.

Public comment period
(no members of the public were in attendance)

Director’s Report

P and L

Balance Sheet

• Marketing duties have moved from Alfonso Santaniello to a Holyoke Media staffer.
• During the explanation of the line item in the budget pertaining to electrical contracting, Carey Baker inquired about what plan Holyoke Media has in place to back up digital content in case of “catastrophic loss”.
• Draft 2024 Budget

• • Motion to accept 2024 Budget: Daniel
  • Second: Denis
  • Vote: Unanimous, motion carries.
• Contract Comments
  • Scott gave us a detailed run-through of the document which he will present to the mayor tomorrow (December 22, 2023).
  • Gloria inquired about the status of captioning for programming. It is in our budget. Scott mentioned that even the City Council is generally in favor of this service.

Old Business

• Cable Contract Renewal Update

Standing items

• Membership update
• Personnel check-in
• Marketing update
• Organizational development plan
• Diversity statement update
  • Scott will forward all the materials for this early in the new year.
• Latest anti-racism consultant actions
• Metro E Circuit update
  • If all goes to plan, after January 15, 2023 Holyoke Media will no longer be paying for the Metro E Circuit.
    Update on strategic initiatives
• Ticketing – recouping funds
  • No updates
• Check in on sign repair
  • Not done yet.
• Establishment of youth advisory committee
  • No progress yet.
• Next steps re: replacing BoxCast for video hosting
  • In progress.
• Staff person to manage the event space
• Replacing Gloria on the Board (when she takes office) – Jennifer
  • Jennifer has some ideas on potential candidates. A person has expressed interest. We will get an update at the next meeting. This is Gloria’s last meeting as board member as she will begin her term as an elected member of the School Committee.

New business

• How do we decide what art gets hung around the organization
  • We had a vigorous discussion about all the possibilities including an “art committee” as well as consulting with outside organizations.
• Report back on meeting with individual staff members
  • Jennifer met with all the staff members. Generally there is satisfaction among the staffers. There is concern about the work-load for some.

Task review and due dates

• Board seat document will be sent out by Jennifer.

Action items:

• Scott: Usage stats by next meeting
• Scott: Youth advisory board with Iohann

Motion to adjourn

• Motion: Gloria
• Second: Second
• Vote: Unanimous, the Board of Directors meeting is adjourned

Adjourn 8:09 pm.