Agenda Final

Town of Ridgefield- Ridgefield Arts Council Meeting                       

November 6, 2024 at 7:00 PM

In-Person Attendees: Town Hall Small Conference Room 400 Main Street, Ridgefield, Connecticut

Those Attending Virtually: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3625596884?omn=84770649006 Meeting ID: 362 559 6884 One tap mobile • +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdshP7aqyl

Minutes taken by Danielle Roth                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Present (in-person): Colleen Cash, Nick Catino, Joe Collin, Jennifer Dineen, Mike McNamara, Danielle Roth                                                                                                                                                                                Present (virtually): Pamme Jones, Raje Kaur Excused: Tracey Bryggman, Joshua Fischer, Amy Casey                                                                                                                                                                                    Guests: Matt Haynos (in-person), Peter Timpano (virtually), Renee Brown-Cheng (in-person; arrived at 7:15pm)                                                                                                                                                                                 

MEETING TO ORDER Mike made a motion to call the meeting to order. Joe seconded. The meeting was called to order at 7:05pm.                                                                                                                                   MINUTES ● Pamme made a motion to approve the October 2024 Special Meeting Minutes. Jennifer seconded. Joe abstained. All else approved.                                                                                                     TREASURER’S REPORT ● There is a two-week processing time for donations. Treasurer will update the council at our next meeting with any donations received from the scholarship fundraiser. All else is up to date. Old Business Fall Scholarship Fundraiser Update 2 ● The fundraiser was extremely successful. The council raised $1713.25 for the RAC scholarship. ● The council discussed ways to improve the fundraisers in the future including better messaging for donations, guest bartender shifts, how to generate more buzz for the scholarship, as well as how to optimize donations at other events we run.             

Master Calendar Discussion ● The council discussed overlap of various non-profit organization events in town and whether the RAC can help to share information. ● Colleen made a motion to identify a list of additional nonprofit organizations and give those organizations access to our master calendar to allow them to add their important dates in an effort to share/provide event information (the council will not be responsible for facilitating date overlap in any way). Pamme seconded. Joe opposed. All else approved.

BTS Discussion ● The council was briefed on the BTS discussion that was had at the recent Fall EDR as well as the feedback received from the BTS survey that was circulated. ● The council discussed ways to rebrand the “Behind the Scenes” event. A formal brainstorm will be had at the December meeting.

Group Updates as needed Banners ● The council discussed the banner guidelines and organization adherence to them as well as banner program requests. The council will have a formal discussion on any changes to Banner submissions, guidelines, and participating organizations for 2026 at a meeting in the new year. Arts Column ● This month’s column has been submitted and will be printed.

New Business Ridgefield Chamber membership ● The council reviewed the Ridgefield Chamber annual membership fee and benefits. 3 ● Joe made a motion to renew the RAC’s Ridgefield Chamber membership. Colleen seconded. All approved. Budget Brainstorm ● The Co-Chairs briefed the council on the action plan to formulate our budget request. Co-Chairs will speak with stakeholders/community partners to help inform the RAC’s budget request for the next fiscal year and will circulate a budget request draft to council members for review before our December meeting.

ADJOURNMENT ● The meeting was adjourned at 8:22pm following a motion made by Dani and seconded by Mike. All approved.

The next meeting will be 12/4/2024 at 7pm.