Timeline and Responsibilities for GHOST Board Members and Committee Chairs
BOARD MEMBERS
President:
● Attends all Board meetings and develops meeting Agendas
● Oversees the running of GHOST, including keeping track of what is happening with each committee (especially with Advertising and Distribution) and making sure the finances are in the black
● Solicits artists to be board members or committee chairs, as needed
● Develops/manages annual GHOST budget (with rest of the board)
● Organizes and presides over board meetings and general member meetings, as needed, including putting together the agenda for all meetings (see schedule at bottom of sheet)
● Adds new artist members to the MailChimp Member mailing list – add Members Tag
● Communicates via email with members, including general information that everyone needs to know as well as one-on-one conversations as needed
● Maintains updated and current GHOST Google Drive folders (also ensures that Board members and Committee chairs have read and edit rights, but that the rest of the artists have only read rights)
● Monitors GHOpenStudioTour@gmail.com, and responds as necessary
● End of February: Scholarship applications due. Pick 5 (do a drawing from among deserving applicants) and send them their coupon code for $100
● March: Add new Social Media chair to our MetaBusiness management and delete any inactive names (see FB section on our Password document for instructions)
● April:
● Contact Hemleys Handy Cans in Gig Harbor (https://hemleyshandykan.com/ ) for emailed quote for 3 porta pottyies and arrange for drop-off date (on the Thursday afternoon BEFORE the tour) and pick-up date (on the Monday morning AFTER the tour) – Locations: South end: Dale McDaniels studio, Mid: Paulette Hoflin’s studio, Olalla: Beth Owen’s studio
● Late August: Call Hemleys and confirm drop-off date
● September, after tour:
o Email a survey to our tour artists asking for specific details about how the tour went this year. Summarize the information received back before our October General meeting
● October General Meeting: election of new board members
o After the meeting, give a copy of the meeting minutes approving the new board members to the new president and treasurer – they will need to take that to Harborstone Bank to transfer checking account (see Passwords and Bank Information document for details)
● November:
○ Notify the Washington Secretary of State (360) 725-0377 of a change in registered agent (name) and address (ie, change in President or Treasurer) or ByLaws
Vice President:
● Attends all Board meetings
● Steps in to run Board/Member meetings if the President is not available
Treasurer:
● Attends all Board meetings
● Manages the checking account and pays incoming bills
● Deposits sponsorship checks
● Keep track of income and expenses
● Provides updated financial reports for the Board at each Board and Member meeting, and uploads those reports into the correct online folder
● Early April: Filing and paying income tax form for previous year, and uploading that tax form into appropriate Google Drive folder, when it becomes available
● Early October: Submits final income/expense report to the Board
● October General Meeting:
o Outgoing Treasurer: Give the debit card, checkbook and financial files to new Treasurer
o Incoming Treasurer: After the meeting, give a copy of the meeting minutes approving the new treasurer – make appointment with Harborstone Bank to transfer checking account (see Passwords and Bank Information document for details) – take a copy of those minutes with you to that bank meeting
Secretary:
● Attends all Board meetings
● Types detailed minutes of the Board and Member meetings and submits them via email to the board for review/corrections
● Produces and sends GHOST Member and Public emails/newsletters via MailChimp, as needed
Member(s) at Large:
● Attends all Board meetings
● Be the liaison between the Board and artist members – they are the point of contact for members who have suggestions or questions for the Board
● Member(s) at Large are also expected to participate in another committee, unless there is no need for that due to large number of active artist volunteers
COMMITTEES:
New Artist Recruitment – year-round
● Visits galleries, local art festivals, etc, to recruit potential new artists – collects their information and send out email reminders to them in Nov, Dec and early January.
New Artist Applications - Nov through March
● November:
o Schedule due date/screening date for New Member Applications
o Update New Member Application date on website
● March:
o Inform New Artists if they were accepted and send them details about how to complete their GHOST contract
o Inform Board of list of accepted New Members
Website Design and Maintenance: November through March primarily
● Requires computer technical skills and working with a hired computer programer
● November: Update next year’s information on the website (due dates, etc)
● Jan - March: Help artists troubleshoot problems submitting their contracts, processes artist contracts as they come in (setting up image folders, studio image folder, studio assignments, etc)
● March: Update artist images and information on website, plus sponsorship and advertiser information. Update interactive studio tour map with links to artist websites and directions to studio. Work with graphic designer to update our printable brochure tour map.
Brochure and Poster committee: January through early June
● Requirement: at least one person on the committee (the design person) must have familiarity with a graphic design app
● March:
o Use Canva to design poster and brochure– include a QR code to website
● April 15:
o Make arrangements with the printer to print the brochures and posters – make sure the brochures/posters can be picked up by June 1 and given to the Distribution committee (plus extras for artists that want to offer them at their summer art festival booths or pass out at work, etc, and extras for our booth at the Summer Art Festival)
o Double-check arrangements to mail brochures to our existing snail mail list (be sure to add new addresses that have been entered in our website sign up area)
o We will be adding a link to download our brochure and map directly from the website
Distribution (brochures/posters): June through August
● March: Communicate with artists who will be distributing brochures/posters – identify the general location where they will be distributing and ask them to come up with at least 10-15 high visibility locations in that area – Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, Key Center, and in outlying areas like Tacoma, Olympia, Seattle, Bellevue, Mercer Isld, Bainbridge Isld , Port Townsend, Poulsbo and Bremerton. Restaurants, libraries, downtown storefronts, grocery stores, bookstores, art galleries.
● Early June: Brochure committee will deliver brochure/posters to your house and you put together distribution packets for your committee members – set aside some brochures/posters for the Summer Art Festival Booth (500?) and for individual artists to pick up (100?) – communicate with your committee members, with the Summer Art Festival Booth chair and with the other GHOST artists about when/where the brochures/posters can be picked up.
● Early August: Distribute brochures and posters
Social Media: Year-round
● Requirement: members should either be familiar with Canva or have the computer skills necessary to learn Canva. The chair should also be comfortable with or be willing to learn how to manage the posts on social media. If videos are desired, one member must have the computer skills necessary for that.
● December - February: Call To New Artists posts once a month
● Early May: Start posting on social media and increasing in frequency as it gets closer to the tour – use our Canva account to design social media posts
o General GHOST posts/videos showing working artists in their studios – “Save the Date”
o Individual artist postcards
o QR code to sign up to receive a mailed brochure
o Recognition of our sponsors – individual posts for sponsors $500 or over, group sponsor recognition for $300 donors
● Early August through start of the tour: use the GHOST debit card to set up paid ads on some of the social media posts, to spread the word further to outlying areas (based on approved budget)
● Sept 15 through end of tour: Daily posts
● End of September: End of tour post
Sponsorships (and Paid Ads): Year-round
● Starting November:
o Assign specific businesses to be targeted by specific committee members
o Solicit sponsorships from businesses, including collecting their logo to use in our advertising
o Solicit advertisements from hotels, restaurants, breweries/wineries for our website “Make It a Weekend” page/social media posts
● Inform Board of progress at regular intervals
Grants: Feb/March and November
● Feb or early March: Applies for City of Gig Harbor Creative Endeavor grant
● November: Sends City of Gig Harbor the required post-tour report
Signs for Artist Studios: March through October
● Store the signs when not in use
● March general meeting: Find out how many signs each artist needs, plus how many additional metal H stakes, arrows, numbers and rider pins
● Before March 14: Submit budget request for new artist studio signs to board
● April (after board meeting approves budget):
o Order new artist studio signs
o Our on-line sign printer for the artist studio signs is: Super Cheap Signs (SuperCheapSigns.com)
● July:
o Schedule a half day work party to repair, assemble and bundle signs by artist
● August General meeting: Distribute studio signs to artists
● September, just prior to tour: If any studio cancels, put up “Studio Tour Canceled” signs including one at entrance to Raft Island and one at Fox Island (if all studios in those locations cancel)
● October:
o Collect artist studio signs at General meeting
o Assess the returned signs for needed repairs, etc.
Banners: January and September
● Store the banners when not in use
● Early January: Reserve the dates for hanging the big banner over Harborview Drive and arrange for insurance
● Early September:
○ Put up the banners around Gig Harbor area
○ Deliver the big banner with carabiners to City Hall then pick it up after the tour is over
● After the tour is over: pick up the banners, including the big one at the City Hall
Signs for General Advertising: January through September
● Store the signs when not in use
● Early January: Research which areas will need city permits
● Between March 2 and March 14 (after committee signups are completed) : Submit budget request for estimate for the larger general advertising signs. This will depends on how many people signed up to distribute signs for this committee (if areas didn’t get a volunteer, then we don’t advertise in those areas)
● April (after board meeting approves budget):
o Order new general advertising signs, as needed
o Arrange for sign permits for signs placed in public areas (if needed)
● Early August:
o Put the permits on the back of signs
o Install general advertising signs and banners in areas of high visibility in Gig Harbor and Port Orchard (Key Peninsula?). Arrange for sign permits for these.
o If we get enough committee members, install general advertising signs in outlying areas like Tacoma, Olympia, Seattle, Bellevue, Mercer Isld, Bainbridge Isld , Port Townsend, Poulsbo and Bremerton. Also signs near ferry terminals (Seattle, Port Orchard and Bremerton)– may need sign permits
● Late September, after the tour is over
o Collect general advertising signs
o Assess the returned signs for needed repairs, etc.
Mailing list/Mail Chimp: May through October
● Requirement: members must be familiar with using Mail Chimp, or have the computer skills to learn how to use it
● Early March:
o Add all new artists to our MailChimp (including first and last names) and add a Members Tag to each one.
o Email artists asking if they have email mailing lists they would like to receive info about the tour
o Make sure that the postal mailing list that we have is the same as what the printer has
o Use Mail Chimp to send newsletter about the tour. Include a link to sign up for a mailed brochure
● Mid-July: Use Mail Chimp to send newsletter about the tour. You can use Canva as a design resource since we have a Canva account.
● Mid-August: Use Mail Chimp to send newsletter about the tour. You can use Canva as a design resource since we have a Canva account.
● Early September:
o Use Mail Chimp to send email to our client list with electronic version of the brochure
● Early October:
o Email artists asking if they have email mailing lists they would like to receive info about the tour
Advertising/Publicity: March through September)
● Before March 14: Meet with board to discuss advertising ideas, priorities and budget
● April: Start making arrangements for the various ads, including asking other artists for help designing the ads – contact the ad agencies and handle all the transactions related to the ads. Although other artists may be designing the ads, it is the Advertising Chair’s responsibility to follow-through with all the arrangements with the advertising agency, not the responsibility of the artist that designed the ad.
● August: Put out a news release to News Tribune and Gig Harbor Now about tour
GHOST Information Booth at PAL Summer Art Festival (3 day event): April and July
● April:
○ Make arrangements for free GHOST informational booth – contact Robin Avni, robinavni@msn.com
○ Plan booth: need 10’x 10’ white canopy with sides, posters, brochures, email and snail mail sign-ups – borrow the booth and supplies from GHOST members
○ Order banner for booth (Gig Harbor Open Studio Tour, with hand logo)
● July: Set up booth and man it daily for the duration of the festival: answer questions, distribute brochures, collect newsletter sign-ups.