Executive Director Report

[ChrisTrew.Com]

As requested, here is my report for the month of November before the December 3rd meeting.

The Past
Awards party - check
Flyering missions - check
New postcards - check
Wafflefest - check
Establish fund raising chair - check
Big Respect and Thank You's to Rachel, Val, Bearded Lamb, Julie L., Andy Crouch, and everyone who helped out with flyering missions, Wafflefest volunteering, etc.

The Present
Same Years Even Party
Kristin Firth, Andy Crouch, and myself have been in contact making sure that this event is going to be succesful.

The AIC Library
Kaci Beeler and I met and she will be making a proposal at the meeting.

That Other Paper
TOP is a new local, currently web-based publication created by ex-Travesty writers. Myself, Tami Nelson, and Jill Morris all contribute and as you may have guessed, they are all about the improv scene here. The more we support them, the more they will support us.
http://www.thatotherpaper.com [spread the word! bookmark it! read it!]

The Cage Match
The cage match currently does not have an owner, which I think is fine. I will host the cage match this Friday and starting next week, the host team will provide a cage match host. If you have questions on how to do this, just ask.

The Onion
If you don't know what The Onion is, it's a super-major national satirical publication. It's now being distributed in Austin which is great for the comedy scene. They have a local AV club that will feature local comedy events and they profile comedians all the time. I'm currently wiggling my way into their lives to try and get some nice connections for future sponsorships and features, etc. I've met with them once and am attending the fancy pants VIP party this Thursday night with the rest of ColdTowne, Asaf, and Jill Morris.

The Fund Raising Chair
Julie Lucas and I met to discuss raising the funds for the AIC. She has a lot of good ideas and is presenting a plan at the meeting this Sunday.

The Future
The New Austin Improv Website
Maybe this should be in the "present" section because it's an issue that needs to get solved asap. The truth, though, is that it is going to take a while. I think that the people who feel passionate about this and who have the skills to make it happen need to start getting together to make this happen. It seems to me that those people are: Bob A., Wes Bain, Roy J,, and Eric Heiberg. Fellas?

Summer Camp 07
Planning for Summer Camp 07 is happening early, like it should be. Val and Jessica have a firm grip on what needs to happen and are making sure that this is successful.

World Free Improv Day
Roy Janik and I met and discussed details for a world-wide event that won't take too much planning on our part and will be a great service to improv and make Austin shine a little brighter on the improv map. This July!

see.hear.speak.two
Festival Alert! Wesley Bain is executive producing this event along with help from the kittens in PGraph and the residents of ColdTowne. It will take place January 18-20.

Some General Concerns:
Workshop attendance is weak sauce. We need to make it strong sauce.
Andy and I decreased the number of workshops for the Fall series and it didn't work out. We are working on a new approach.

Hardly any troupes have contacted me to discuss any concerns they have. If this is because everything is fine, then good. If not, then not good. We can meet about whatever concerns you have, big or small. Just pull me aside and start whispering.

That goes for everyone. Talk to me about whatever.
See you at the meeting Sunday.

[Wesley]

Same question as last time. Not to be a stickler, but:

The goal of this interim position was less to take on specific projects than to define the role itself, the "executive" structure of the AIC, and how the two work together for the growth and benefit of the AIC--(to determine how much time the job requires weekly, how the Exec. Diretor deals with committee heads, how things get done when they aren't, etc).

What is the status of that?
Is there documentation for the next exec director?
Etc.

[Roy Janik]

Same question as last time. Not to be a stickler, but:

The goal of this interim position was less to take on specific projects than to define the role itself, the "executive" structure of the AIC, and how the two work together for the growth and benefit of the AIC--(to determine how much time the job requires weekly, how the Exec. Diretor deals with committee heads, how things get done when they aren't, etc).

What is the status of that?
Is there documentation for the next exec director?
Etc.

I'd argue that he's defined the role by taking on specific projects and working with AIC committee chairs, etc... How else is he supposed to determine these things or figure out how much time it takes? But yes, documentation would be welcome.

[York99]

Is there documentation for the next exec director?
Etc.

Isn't Chris' original post in this thread documentation? He has documented what he has done, what he is doing, and what is on the horizon.

PS: Kudos on the decision to create this position and kudos to Chris for the job he's done so far. It seems that more has gotten accomplished, decided upon, and scheduled with concrete dates in the past month than in the previous 6 months that I've been in Austin combined. I'm not saying that Chris has done ALL the work, but he's been a great General as well as a great Foot-Soldier.

[Wesley]

Agreed on all points.

However, when we started this we decided on a three month position instead of a year for the very reasons I mentioned--To define the job itself.

Was this job to be a paid thing? How much time does it take? What are the roles and responsibilities of the position? How much do or should they have a direct hand in and how much do they leave to their committee heads and just check up on to make sure it is being done? Etc. Etc.

I am not knocking Chris who has done a bang up job and yes, he probably needs to do them to gauge such things. I'm just trying to make sure we don't (once again) set out on a specific course of action and become so blinded by side-results that we forget why we started down the path and what was the intent of our doing so. That is all.

I don't want to forget in the immediate gradification and specificity of 2006's success that we are also literally building an organization and trying to make it viable in the long-term. And to a director elected in 3 years a document saying "These are your clear roles and responsibilities and how the AIC is structured with regards to you" is far more important than a document saying "The guy in 2006 said WaffleFest happened."

[kbadr]

How do you manage to effectively use the reins when seated so high up? It's rather impressive.

[Jules]

Do we have an actual (not online) manual of minutes, mission, stuff like that? A procedures manual? I guess online would also be fine, but I like to have a physical back up. Is someone assigned to document procedures or is that up to each committee head?
Should there be some kind of brain dump retreat to compile these things?

Agreed on all points.


Was this job to be a paid thing? How much time does it take? What are the roles and responsibilities of the position? How much do or should they have a direct hand in and how much do they leave to their committee heads and just check up on to make sure it is being done? Etc. Etc.


I don't want to forget in the immediate gradification and specificity of 2006's success that we are also literally building an organization and trying to make it viable in the long-term. ."

[Jules]

I realize I'm probably being meddlesome here especially since I wasn't as involved in the genesis of AIC, but I bet that throughout all of the threads here, are a lot of answers to the questions.
It does look like there was a lot of work on the wiki, and minutes/agenda there for a while.
But what strikes me is, how organized/official/professional what have is the AIC wanting to become?
AIC is still in the forming stage to some extent, though there have been lots patterns and norms laid down. As the organization evolves does it move continually towards a consensus based collective or towards a more "traditional" non-profit business template. Is the leadership model determined, or is this three month phase a part of determining it?
And like I asked before, who's taking notes?

This is all extremely exciting and incredible to watch and be a part of, so I'm glad to lend an org/development approach if I'm needed. That's the other basic part of my "real" job.

[ChrisTrew.Com]

Wes, there will be definitely be documentation for the next executive director. That has not been forgotten or pushed aside. Expect an all out report, proposal, outline, etc at the January meeting that will blast us off in 2007.

[acrouch]

I'd like to hear more from wes as far as specific examples. What do you want Wes? Please respond in the form of a ridiculously long post that Chris can review and use to supplement whatever he's already doing as far as how and what he documents.

[deroosisonfire]

Do we have an actual (not online) manual of minutes, mission, stuff like that? A procedures manual? I guess online would also be fine, but I like to have a physical back up. Is someone assigned to document procedures or is that up to each committee head?
Should there be some kind of brain dump retreat to compile these things?

i lay awake at night dreaming of this document. it is happening.

[Jules]

Me too.

[Wesley]

I'd like to hear more from wes as far as specific examples. What do you want Wes? Please respond in the form of a ridiculously long post that Chris can review and use to supplement whatever he's already doing as far as how and what he documents.

Touche, sir. Touche.
It's just a job description like any company would have.
Things like: "To be an executive director of any value expect to put in x number of hours every week." This way they know what they are getting in for and we have a yardstick for judging whether or not they are doing the job expected of them.
When you apply for a job it says "a good candidate will have this much experience, these skill sets, and be expected to do this type of work in this way," not "the last guy to hold this position did these specific things."

I'm interested in the Exec Director's role in making things happen. How the things happened, not just that they did.
Again, a new executive director in 2009 will not be helped by knowing WaffleFest happened in 2006, but he would be helped by knowing what his or her role is in such festivals is and how he or she should go about making sure such a festival is promoted, organized, etc. to achieve maximum effectiveness.

That's all I got on this for now. If you'll remember, I asked this same question right after the speech for the job was given. My stance is the same as it has always been. I'm burnt out retreading the same turf.

I fully trust Trew will do this and will do it well. But I didn't see it in this report, so I am merely beating the drum lest the song be forgotten.

i lay awake at night dreaming of this document. it is happening.

That document will be a dream come true.

[Jules]

Well, we ought to have a little bitty retreat then. Hammer that shit out.

[arclight]

Do we have an actual (not online) manual of minutes, mission, stuff like that? A procedures manual? I guess online would also be fine, but I like to have a physical back up. Is someone assigned to document procedures or is that up to each committee head?
Should there be some kind of brain dump retreat to compile these things?

i lay awake at night dreaming of this document. it is happening.

I still have the binder of 501(c)(3) stuff, some of which is procedure-related. It would be good to get all this stuff together in one place.