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Day 1
Morning Session
Officer Reports
D. Angus - Sphinx Competition support continues. Strike Fund issue to be
addresses soon. Issue being explored involves making financial support
contingent on actual support of the strike effort.
M.Plaine - No 2001-2002 Directory. Whole new system being installed to help
produce the future directories. This new system will be similar to the current
system used to do the Wage/Scale charts.
S.Tretick - Delegates are responsible for forwarding the annual dues bill to
whomever is going to pay it.
M.Schweitzer - New digital camera is going to allow her more opportunity to
embarrass conference participants.
T.Hall - No nominations from the Nominating Committee. Candidates seeking
election will announce their own candidacies at their own time and in their own
way. Nominations from the floor were taken and are as follows:
Chair - Fred Sautter
President - S. Tretick
Secretary - L. Lewis
Treasure - S. Weber
Editor - M Schweitzer
Nominations open until Saturday
BREAK
Current legal council retained for another year at the pay rate of $36,000.00
for the year.
Formation of an Ad Hoc committee to study the Conductor Evaluation Program.
Committee will review the program and make recommendations regarding future
running of the program. Dave Angus will chair.
B.Buckley/Media Report - Recommendation of the Media Committee to extend the
current internet agreement to 2004. Advisory coming to rescind standing advisory
regarding simulcast internet broadcasts which may now be covered under the new
digital acts.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel
Librarian of Congress
Establishes payments for transmissions over the internet. Librarian of Congress
has some authority to affect specifics. When negotiating local radio deals, if
simulcasts are involved, include the phrase in the contract: "We do not
surrender any rights due under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act."
There was some discussion of Resolution #1 which deals with surveying member
orchestras about media issues but discussion was delayed until the afternoon
session.
END OF MORNING SESSION
Resume discussion of Resolution #1.
Main issue of Resolution #1 is how best to get a complete response to the media
survey that was mandated at last year's ICSOM conference. Discussion revolved
around whether it would be best to have every member of every orchestra fill out
the survey or whether it would be better to have each orchestra's player
committee fill the survey out, in consultation with the members of the
orchestra. The AFM wants as complete information as it can get to formulate as
comprehensive a plan for EMF negotiations as possible. The question is how best
to get that.
Amendment proposed to Resolution #1 that supports the "every musician filling
out a survey" viewpoint.
Amendment #1 failed. Resolution #1 passed.
BREAK
More nominations: Treasurer - Jan Gippo
Chair report - Internship committee made little progress. Chair attended a
Mellon Foundation meeting. Sphinx project continues. Financial database for
ICSOM just didn't get done, too many other concerns. Unity II planning
accomplished, some problems but no more than usual. TEMPO revitalization project
proceeding. Work hardening task force formed and proceeding. New language to be
presented.
New items - ASOL approached ICSOM about a joint effort for health care
initiative. Resolution pending. Phoenix situation addressed. Press blackout hurt
that situation. Attended AFM convention and presented award to Paul Judy.
Attended Salzberg Seminar on orchestra issues. Lot's of positive exchange with
orchestra managers from around the world. General feeling that orchestras do
have a long term future, if rough in the short term. American managers may be
the best but have much more to deal with. Government income a fool's paradise.
Endowment incomes tanking, causing whole new issues for even well funded
orchestras.
Media (EMF) meetings not well attended and nothing of substance got
accomplished. Meeting in Milwaukee positive but nothing concrete.
Basically, there was a lack of consensus on just about all issues. Some
allegations of foot-dragging. Tom Hemphill quit because of these issues.
Lot's of frustration over the lack of progress.
Concertworks program up and running as a 501C3 corporation. Equal
representation. Grant requests out for startup funds. No money yet but
proceeding.
DAY 2
Plenary Session
Introductions
Tom Lee - Pension fund having no trouble because of economic downturn, plenty of
cushion. Vesting arbitration won, figure remains at $1500.00 annual income to
qualify. Death benefit arbitration lost, death benefit now 100x the age 55
benefit. Unfortunate but you can't win them all.
PR concerns going to be addressed more aggressively now. This is where the fight
seems to be going now on all fronts. We need to all be on the AFM Email List.
This allows the AFM to mobilize us quickly when needed. We also need to prepare
to exert peer pressure on our friends in Seattle who are doing non-union
scoring. The AFM will let us know when they need
our help.
INS is undermining our job security by allowing foreign orchestras to come here
and displace union musicians from recording jobs here in the US. Tom predicts
that this will extend to all facets of our workplace soon. TEMPO will be crucial
in this fight.
Charles Olton, ASOL - League's efforts to help composers and conductors.
Music Alive - Helps composers get performances of new works. ASOL believes new
music needs to succeed. Actively supporting this program. Cited examples of
Swoboda/Helena Symphony and Golychov(sp?)/LA Phil.
Conductors in the US have little or no opportunity to advance themselves and
their craft. ASOL believes Toscanini model is inappropriate for today's
environment. Aspen Academy helps off-podium conduct as well as on-podium.
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra program, instituted last month, combines young
conductors working with NJSO on new music with the composer in attendance.
Mentoring approach also employed involving musicians and this started much good
discussion. Similar project coming up in LA.
David Jandrisch - Canadian report
Elizabeth Whitlock - Canadian report
Florence Nelson - 9/11 and stock market crash have severely hurt all orchestras.
Consolidation of industries (recording, etc.) also a problem. EMF has occupied
the rest of her time. Search goes on for a large scale health care setup that
will be wider in scope than local. This year's questions? We must get our
members to read the EMF report and then fill out the survey. Possible dues
increase to accommodate larger issues and fund actions on those.
Janice Galassi - Don't take what we have for granted. Hard work produced it.
9/11 and economic downturn have really hurt all orchestras. Some orchestras in
trouble even before those events. SSD staff is good. Negotiators Chris Durham
and Nathan Kahn. Three newly organized orchestras. Also requests from others for
help in organizing. Debbie Newmark doing lots of work helping orchestras with
recording issues. Presentations to younger (college) musicians, done before they
enter the field, is helping to avoid misunderstandings and bad decisions these
new workers might make.
Laura Brownell - AFM/SSD Canada
Karen Schnackenberg - Major Orchestras Librarians Association
Librarian input to the final product is valuable. No longer just a frivolous
position, now a chosen profession with serious demands. MOLA is trying to
develop improvements on all fronts of the music process. Librarians should be in
the collective bargaining unit.
END OF SESSION
EMF Report -Handout distributed consisting of the Fact Report on the state of
the symphonic recording industry and the survey which we (the FPO Orchestra
Committee) will be expected to explain, and facilitate the completion thereof.
The EMF and its functions to date are an outgrowth of the media negotiations 3
back (the one before the last one). In that negotiation, the recording companies
pitted symphonic musicians against recording musicians (RMA).
The way the recording companies accomplished this was by using us to hold the
RMA contract hostage. They gave us the ultimatum that if we didn't sign a deal
with them that contained concessions, they would refuse to negotiate with the
RMA at all. This action drew the RMA and us together instead and forced us to
work together. Discussions in the last negotiation led to the formation of the
current EMF and, after expansions of the committee and the scope of technologies
they would explore, we ended up where we are today.
There was some discussion about the information presented but nothing concrete
to report. Some details, some clarifications but nothing unusual.
There was considerable discussion about the format of the survey and the Fact
Report, discussion about how the EMF functioned, and about the recording
industry in general. In essence, the EMF is depending on the results of the
survey to give them a clear indication of what direction the membership want
them to take the current negotiations.
END OF SESSION
New nominations -
President - Brian Rood
Secretary - Laura Ross
Town Meeting -
Basically this was one large, long complaint session over issues on the
governing board of ICSOM. We, as an organization, have some huge governance
issues to contend with in the short term. For example, this last year saw a
mostly dysfunctional governing board and executive committee. Both bodies had
instances where communication was inconsistent, issues were only discussed by
certain factions and power struggles abounded. Ultimately, this kept either
entity from functioning as it should and there were issues raised that were not
dealt with.
For example, the hiring of the current director of SSD (Janice Galassi) is
mandated by AFM bylaws to take place after the consultation and approval of the
major player conferences. The player conferences did come to a consensus and
submit a unified list of names for consideration. AFM president Tom Lee chose a
person who was not on that list. Further, AFM bylaws also mandate that there be
a steering committee charged with the oversight of SSD. Said committee should
meet at least once per year. It has not met at all in the past year. Despite the
fact that some opinions are that the SSD is not running well, nothing has been
done to pursue the inappropriate hiring of the current director of SSD or done
to initiate a convening of the steering
committee. Most of this discord has been manifested in the EMF discussions and
issues. These divisive issues have polarized both sides and, with no positive
working relationship, both began pursuing their own agendas and the shooting
began. Added to that is the possible interference by the AFM in the EMF
negotiations. There are some who believe that the AFM is purposely
trying to stall the process until they can get an ICSOM governing board that
will do what they want, something the current governing board will not do. If
this is true, as alleged, this is a SERIOUS problem that could cause a
separation of ICSOM from the AFM. To avoid this, it is
crucial that ICSOM get its house in order. We must be prepared to deal with the
power struggle to come. Re-establishing ICSOM's place in the power structure
with the AFM will be a difficult task after all the time that ICSOM has allowed
the AFM to allegedly violate bylaws regarding ICSOM issues, like the SSD
situation. (See Tom Lee's comments on Day 4 regarding these issues)
DAY 3
Plenary Session - Artistic Decisions: Who decides what?
The study of the effectiveness of organizations' artistic decision policies was
based on three criteria:
Task completion
Evolution of organization
Advancement of the individuals
Best group ended up being a string quartet because they were collaborative in
nature and clearly the best in all three categories.
What is artistic leadership?
How does Europe handle these issues versus the US? Europe is more free to
express desires and affect change in the organization. Not traditional union
situation. Conductors are more colleagues than boss. Not "music police"
situation.
We must be careful not to cross over into the hiring/firing of musicians. Legal
issues will bother the union if we do.
Artistic Quality Ad Hoc Committee - This is a committee in Dayton that allows
review of the past season's artistic issues. This includes review of the
conductor's performance and allows for musicians to anonymously submit their
views. Committee made up of two musicians, chairman of the board, and eight
knowledgeable board members. This gives a forum for all constituencies to air
their opinions about artistic issues.
Is the traditional model of music director leadership under a period of
evolution? Many signs point to this. Perhaps the traditional role is no longer
the best one.
In european orchestras, despite the control musicians have in hiring and firing
conductors, musicians don't second guess artistic decisions in real time. This
seems to be avoided because the musicians hire conductors who take positions the
musicians are in favor of.
This is not really a viable system for the US because of the role of management
in the hiring and firing of musicians. In fact, european musicians are reticent
to even talk about how they handle these issues in their orchestras. Still, the
style of this kind of relationship could be adapted somewhat for american
orchestras.
We should be examining some sort of bi-directional review system for our staff.
This type of review allows the individual to explain how things he did could
have been better and what roadblocks are in the way. This type of review is the
trend in the industry.
The opera and symphony worlds are completely different in how they handle
artistic decisions. Traditionally in opera, there is a general manager who is
the final authority on all matters, even artistic. In symphonies, that authority
usually rests with the music director. Musician input and involvement should be
a part of the process but not necessarily invested with ultimate authority.
The relationship between the music director and his boss in american orchestras
is almost nonexistent. This prevents regular evaluations of the conductor's
performance and the correction of problems when identified. Most managers are
intimidated to sit a music director down and demand that they change things
about how they do their job.
At this point in the discussion, I presented to the panel our situation in the
FPO. I left the panel with two important questions: How do we convince the board
that the continued existence of the Artistic Oversight Committee is a good idea?
How de we convince the board that having the AOC continue will not hamper their
efforts to find a new music director. Esteemed President of the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra Association, Henry Fogel, agreed to intercede on our behalf and work
with our management to get the board to understand that the AOC is a good idea
and that it should continue.
Musician morale makes a difference in the quality of performance on-stage.
Involving musicians in the decision process invests them to the cause and will
keep them engaged in following the outcome. By the same token, musicians should
stay right out of the role of initiating the hiring or firing of musicians.
Any principal player coaching or collegial intervention must be done with an eye
toward long term relationships. Conductors want input from principal players but
shouldn't abuse that information or base their decisions solely on such input.
We should always try to solve problems
amicably, without getting to the stages of dismissal or demotion. Such an
approach works better than the rancorous dismissal procedure and also preserves
player morale.
The Orpheus model involves principal players getting together and making
artistic decisions beforehand because they don't have a conductor. This isn't
practical for american orchestras but aspects of that approach could be used
here. Making certain decisions (as a section) prior to the first rehearsals
could be very effective and positive.
Plenary session - Orchestras in Trouble
How did you recognize there was a problem?
St.Louis - Full financial audit from Bauers revealed the problem.
Toronto - Series of concessions led to crunch. Resultant strike produced better
contract and statements of change but nothing done.
San Jose - Perennially in trouble. Carrying deficit, future budgets projected
with built in deficits. Some mismanagement by doing nothing until too late. No
meetings, just announcement of no more cash. Institution gone very quickly.
Structural deficits (designed into the budget) are dangerous and can lead to
denial of real problems.
Standardized analysis of orchestras in all financial conditions may yield signs
to predict future fortunes of orchestras.
What can musicians do to help spot problems?
St. Louis - Didn't open contract but engaged musicians into "on sight oversight"
in all aspects of the institution. This also promoted musicians looking at
budget projections and spotting unrealistic projections. Those musicians
participating had to learn how to read financial reports. St. Louis subsidized
musicians training to learn these skills.
Toronto - Not really a collegial relationship in the institution. Crisis changed
relationship with board and management. Restructuring of the board. CEO actually
attending orchestra committee meetings. Musicians sitting on the financial audit
committee.
San Jose - Knew something wrong but no real recourse. Weak board. Kept hiring
executives that couldn't perform effectively. Musicians need to evaluate the
board members and keep a handle on the successes. Most effective way to affect
change on the board is to make allies among strong board members. These
alliances could then be used to help remove bad board members.
Issue is leadership versus power. Leadership means committing to hiring the best
people for jobs. Power means hiring inferiors and then being dictatorial.
Musicians need to make their views known to boards and managements, in such a
way as to let them make changes and then take credit for it. Getting first class
administrators is a crucial first step.
What issues affected board leadership longevity?
St. Louis - Lots of turnover because of burnout. Executive director much more
turnover. Still looking for ways to retain the best folks.
San Jose - Not much turnover. New board members need to be mentored in how to
function effectively on the board. SJSO had lots of incompetence on their board
because of lack of training for new members.
Toronto - Lack of good leadership on the board. No requirements for membership.
A strong functional board is crucial to successful institutions.
St. Louis - Making steps to normalize relations between board and musicians.
Also required lots of creative thinking that defied traditional models. A change
in the traditional models, like the 52 week season, were necessary for success.
Toronto - Decline of government money precipitated budget problems in canadian
orchestras.
Lots of orchestras with troubles on the horizon. NY Phil., Baltimore, others.
We should consider pressing the AFM to fund an annual financial review for all
ICSOM orchestras. Moneys available from work dues, would cost approx.
$250,000.00 per year. This information would allow us to predict financial
problems and, perhaps, avoid them.
END SESSION
Music and Wellness -
We must change our mindset to be more relevant to our audiences. This leads to
using music as a sort of therapy in rough times. Once you understand this, tell
your friends about how it helped you. Also, the exposure of the process may lead
to more ticket sales in the community.
CHECK INTERESTING CLAUSE IN PITTSBURGH'S CONTRACT THAT GIVES PLAYERS AN EXTRA
WEEK OF VACATION IF THEY DO EIGHT "COMMUNITY SERVICE" SERVICES IN A SEASON
This also works for yourself. Try playing music when you're ill or depressed and
see what effect it has on you. Different pieces might have different effects.
You can also choose pieces that are relevant to you personally. Religious,
familial, cultural, etc.
DAY 4
Breakout Session - How to read a Bauers audit.
Be sure to check the disclaimer and verify that the accounting method used is
the accrual method.
Some endowment restrictions are bogus legally. These funds may be used if
necessary. The only legitimate restriction is donor restriction, which appears
as Permanently Restricted Funds.
All states have legislation that allows a board to irrevocably restrict any
funds it has access to.
Watch for any line item that supports activities outside the main purpose of the
organization. Minnesota and St. Louis are perfect examples. Things like outreach
programs are hurting Canadian orchestras and the donors are forcing them to do
these events anyway.
Analysis of figures from at least ten years can be a good indicator of actual
trends. Any deviations need to be explainable. If not, serious problems may
exist. Especially where graphs are concerned, look for flat lines or slowly
rising curves.
Working Capital - Current Asset minus Current Liability. This should be a
positive number.
Current Ratio - Current Assets divided by Current Liability. This means for
every dollar you owe, you have so much asset to pay it.
Quick Ratio - Cash plus Receivables plus Short Term Investments, divided by
Liabilities.
Debt Ratio - Total Debt divided by Total Assets. Should be as low a number as
possible. This number gives a long term view of the picture.
Cash Interval - Amount of days, in cash, the business can continue operations.
Defensive Interval - Amount of days, using only quick assets, that operations
can continue.
Days Receivables Outstanding - Average time to collect receivables. This number
should be as low as possible because the longer a receivable isn't collected,
the less likely it is you will collect it.
END OF SESSION
Final ICSOM Session Convened -
Final Slate of Nominees:
Chair - Jan Gippo, Fred Sautter
Pres. - Brian Rood, S. Tretick
Sec. - Lucinda Lewis, Laura Ross
Treas. - Scott Weber
Editor - Marsha Schweitzer
CLOSED SESSION - (limited to ICSOM delegates, and AFM members Tom Lee, Florence
Nelson, Janice Galassi, and Debbie Newmark)
Tom Lee - Wants to address some of the comments made during the conference
regarding AFM interference in ICSOM's functioning and the negotiations in the
EMF. Current chair Levine was informed of the hiring process of the new SSD
director (Galassi) and he didn't object. Levine made it clear that ICSOM had a
preference among the candidates but didn't object to Lee's different hiring
procedure. Lee also asserted that the SSD steering committee hasn't met, to his
knowledge, in the last three years. This is significant because two of the
allegations made in the closed "town hall" meeting earlier in the conference
were that the AFM violated their bylaws in the hiring of the current SSD
director and that the steering committee is supposed to meet more often than it
currently is.
EMF has been far and away the most divisive and emotional issue ever seen by the
AFM. The AFM felt the EMF members were not unbiased. The AFM reasserts its
policy that issues can and will be discussed with AFM members and that the AFM
will continue to field phone calls from members wishing to discuss the issues.
Some EMF members aren't happy about such conversations, thinking that the
passage of information during a negotiation may not be in the best interest of
the process.
The key is that we must not be divided. Just like this conference, unity must be
our focus. Lee encouraged that members should bring issues that they have to the
AFM right away rather than letting problems fester.
F. Nelson - AFM won't meddle in internal ICSOM affairs. Frustrations over EMF
need to be confined to caucus. Her door is always open.
Levine - These types of closed sessions are necessary. Not bringing issues in a
timely manner is a function of not knowing what the delegates think between
conferences. A more liquid exchange of information between conferences might
defuse these types of debates which often are ignited by misunderstandings.
Levine believes the EMF is our best shot at a truly representative body for our
media related negotiations. The SSD candidate lists were presented to the AFM
(this was the consensus of which candidates were favored for the newly hired
director of the SSD, as decided by the chairs of ICSOM, OCSM, & ROPA) and the
AFM hired someone other than the recommended candidate. ICSOM told the AFM that
they would do their best to make things work with the new director.
END OF CLOSED SESSION
Resolutions -
Resolutions 2-7 passed unanimously. These resolutions include a study of health
care issues, a study of the effects of aging on musicians, the formation of a
pool of shared financial audits from all member orchestras, increases in the
honoraria for ICSOM officers, and ICSOM bylaws revisions.
Resolution 8 was tabled indefinitely. It involved instituting term limits for
ICSOM Governing Board members.
Resolutions 9-15 passed unanimously except for resolution 11, which passed but
with some dissenters. These resolutions dealt with honoring ICSOM's founding
members (some of whom were at the 2002 conference), honoring ICSOM's first
chairman (George Zazofsky) with some sort of permanent memorial (TBD),
reasserting ICSOM's position regarding the hiring of future SSD directors,
submitting legislation to the 2003 AFM conference that establishes the inclusion
of a rank and file symphonic musician among the trustees of the AFM-EP (Pension
fund), honoring Robert Grossman (Philadelphia Orchestra) for his brewing
talents, establishing a new financial network to assist ICSOM member orchestras,
and authorizing the ICSOM Governing Board to find any member orchestras willing
to host the 2003 conference and, if none are found by mid October, that said
conference will be held in Vail, Colorado.
Resolution 16 was unanimously defeated. It dealt with forcing the ICSOM chair to
produce a yearly report of every single business dealing, meeting,
correspondence, and phone call at each duly convened meeting of ICSOM.
Resolution 17 was withdrawn.
[For a complete listing of every resolution (and the exact wording of same)
please see me.]
BREAK
Candidates made their statements
Election & Results:
Chair - Jan Gippo
President - Brian Rood
Secretary - Laura Ross
Treasurer - Scott Weber
Editor - Marsha Schweitzer
END OF CONFERENCE
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