Wednesday May 28

Tonight is a board meeting. I've been working on my Executive report and usually what is just one page long has turned into almost twice as much. I was able to get web statistics for our website and we have about 100 views per day of people who spend time on our website. It is always challenging to keep the website up to date. I feel like I spend more and more time trying to do that on a regular basis with the photos, videos that are added and creating a new page for each show or class that is coming up. At the board meeting tonight we officially accept the nominating committee slate for next year. When we proposed 3 year terms to current board members ending in 2011 it was hard for me to think that 2011 was only 3 years away! We will do the wrap up for the Derby Party and the Lowertown festival fundraising events that happened in May. We are also trying to get a feel for how the current fiscal year will end and any final areas that need to be addressed before June 30.

Tonight we present our budget for the next fiscal year to the board for review. Presenting a budget sometimes is like doing a show. You have to believe that you can accomplish what the goals are but at the same time you get this queasy feeling in your stomach of all the things that could go wrong. Not only does the theatre organization depend on achieving the goals set out but people's jobs depend on it too. I know why the average life of an Executive Director in a non profit is generally 5-7 years. It is very hard to stop worrying all the time about the number of volunteers, the budget, the buildings, the staff, the board, and so much more. I am often reminded of the plate spinner. My job as the Executive Director is to keep a bunch of plates spinning and try not to let any fall. The wisdom I continually hope to gain is to know when to take a plate off a stick that shouldn't be kept spinning anymore. (Okay that's my soapbox for the day)

This afternoon as part of my community service I'm judging a talent show for Kindergarten through 2nd grade at Clark Elementary- April nominated me for this.

Tonight after the board meeting is rehearsal for Anything Goes. Fowler Black left the hospital this weekend after having both his gall bladder and appendix removed. I'm really hoping he will be back as soon as he is able. We need him! Jim Keeney and I are working on the cabin doors for the set for Anything Goes trying to decide if there is enough clearance for them to swing and clear the drape behind them or if we need to narrow the doors. Since the walls holding the doors have to swing into place it is really hard to keep the door spacing from expanding or collapsing and then the door won't close or open right. I'm meeting with the director to discuss some of the options which include what is called a sill iron at the bottom of the door (a metal strip about 1 " wide that connects one side of the bottom of the door frame to the other) or building a small step through wooden panel like they have in some ships to keep water flowing into the rooms. With both methods the actors have to be very aware of the bottom piece. The question would be is it less awkward to step over a big piece or a little piece. The little piece tends to make everyone trip because they forget it is there.

These questions and more will be answered later today when we have to make the decision and build the piece so we can move on! If you have any comments on this or any other post I would love to hear from you. Just click on the comment button at bottom of this post. I added a slide show to the top of this post.