January 17, 2021

Meeting started at 2:05 pm EST  

Attendees: 

Board of Directors in Attendance: 

Cuban

Lady S 

Sarah Timmons

Eddie V 

Dorian 

Zach 

Executive Board in Attendance: 

Sarita

Shadow 

Henzbo 

Community Members in Attendance: 33

AGENDA:

• Welcome from President Sarita and Introduction of Meeting Moderator and Co-Vice President, Cuban 

• Shared personal SF experience and what SF means to her 

• Goal of new leadership is to provide more of a wraparound, year-round experience instead of just focusing on a once of year festival 

• COVID-19 taught us that we need to be present and there for our community of poets, poetry lovers, and supporters 

• Reiterated that SF is intended to be a safe space 

• Introduction of CO-VP, Cuban 

• Set the agenda by Cuban and setting intention of Town Hall by Cuban 

• Committee Updates (Note: If interested in getting involved in committees, email info@southernfriedpoetryslam.org)

• Henzbo- Events

• Announced Upcoming Events: Shared remaining January 2021 events and roll outs including Haikuesday! (Weekly haiku related content), Poet of the Month roll out, Rooftop Rhythms x Southern Fried Poetry Open Mic Collab event (Jan 22), Quarterly Virtual Haiku Battles, and others. 

• An email/newsletter will be sent out regularly regarding event updates and how SMs can be involved.

• Check website for more updates.

• Not all events are slam related events but also open mics, workshops, townhalls, etc.. 

1. 1. 1. Henzbo- Fundraising and Membership
         1. Stressed benefit of $20/year membership perks (free entry to events and contests, access to paid opportunities, etc…)
         2. Goal is to extend membership outside of poets as well to the extended poetry community of lovers and supporters
         3. 1st membership drive in February 2021
         4. Sarita shared how easy it is to pay membership by sharing the process of paying membership dues on Southern Fried website 
         5. All board members also pay membership fees and no board members are paid so funds raised go directly to improving our community and infrastructure 
            1. Board members have pledged to pay their membership fees as well
      2. Shadow- Marketing
         1. Shadow gave updates on new website design and roll out
            1. More formalized approach in to redesigning and rebranding of website
         2. Introduction of committee members- Paul D, Henzbo, Asia-Creative Director, Art, Dennis Amadeus (Flyer design and merchandising, Steph Love (Website rebuilding) 
         3. Goal is to make website cleaner, faster, more responsive to mobile apps, improve layout of navigation
            1. Got rid of old plugins and pages that weren’t needed
         4. Plan is to roll out new website within next week 
      3. Sarah- Finances 
         1. Gave general financial updates. Financial details can be accessed per request to info@southernfriedpoetryslam.com
         2. We are in the black (net positive) due to grants and new membership 
      4. Eddie Vega- Tournament Committee 
         1. Working on archiving with Kirk and Jerry 
         2. Calling for more assistance with archival process 
         3. More developments from tournament committee leading up to festival 
      5. Zach- Safety Committee
         1. Call out for assistance and new members 
         2. Safety is paramount due to many issues happening around the world 
         3. Creating sober spaces- for any events (especially in person) for people who don’t want to drink alcohol or do drugs. Not just a room but programming for sober people to feel welcomed and supported 
         4. Increasing accessibility and safety from LGBTQIA+ 
            1. Using inclusive and appropriate language for MC Schpeel, for example, and for all correspondence
         5. Creating a list of safety priorities. Please bring all concerns. Trying to codify what believes to Safety community
         6. Creating a streamlined process for safety concerns and issues which may arise
         7. Want more members which represent a broad and diverse spectrum of committee 
         8. Cuban- Safety also includes mediation and conflict resolution. Cuban is mediation appointee currently 
      6. Sarita- Health and Wellness
         1. Interested in programming that will providing access to resources (i.e. Recipe of the Month, financial literacy, meditation and mindfulness with Isis Pettway (resident social worker/therapist) 
         2. More mindfulness and physical fitness sessions 
         3. Plans for suicide prevention events 
         4. Also requesting additional members 
      7. Siren- Access and Disability 
         1. Looking to help the community to be more inclusive and accessible online and offline 
         2. Focused on training hosts to make their venues more accessible and ADA compliant for poetry community 
            1. Want us to follow the social model so that people can have similar experience instead of medical model where we try to cure people 
         3. Call out for interested parties to join access and disability 

• Open Floor for Comments/Suggestions Note: The following are questions from text chat of the Zoom meeting. To see who asked questions, check recording. 

Question: When do committees meet?

Answer: No set times as ideal schedules for committee members once they join 

Question: What is the poet of the month criteria? 

Answer: Need to be a paid, and registered member for $20

Question: Is tournament virtual or in-person? 

Answer: We want the alternate plan ready before we officially announce the next steps on the tournament. We hope to have festival announcement by March 1, 2021. 

Question: What does the contingency plan for the tournament look like? 

Answer: Potentially a hybrid virtual festival which may include Zoom based competitions and also use the avatar/virtual festival from 2020 festival for side bouts, workshops, etc… Concerns of accessibility as the avatar world is only for people with laptops. Comment: Kyla- Recommended Zoom slams in which each city does in person slams where risks are mitigated that are broadcasted. 

Question: Is the meeting recorded?

Answer: Meeting is recorded. Minutes and meeting recording will be shared on the SF website. 

Comment: Kyla- Past city hosts should focus more on poet experience. For example, host hotels are too expensive and not feasible. Hotels with kitchenettes will help poets save money. Catered food would help poets with food accessibility. Maybe add on a fee for registration to access catered food (optional). AirBnB may be a better option. Festival needs to be more accessibile. Comment: Cuban- We are focused on improving poet experience. Grants and funding will help with that. Also, if we partnered with non-profits and organizations we can get food given freely. In one past SF, there was no water or water fountains for performers at a finals venue. There’s a lot that needs to be improved and we will do that. For housing, we can partner with AirBnB community for group rates. 

Comment: El’Ja- Wants to make sure events are planning outside of slam such as virtual workshops and other projects like Wounded Warrior (military vets) may attended events and help with judging and attendance issues that sometimes plague the festival on Day 1 

Meeting ended at 3:12pm EST