Reporting.

So Sean is going to fill in for us today as president.

I don't know if all of you heard Rob Klein, who was the president has moved.

He moved to Connecticut.

Yep.

So he is out of the area.

Yep.

Went back to the uh went back to his homestamping grounds, I guess.

He is completed.

So we um we don't have anyone here for open comment period.

Um Abital, do you have any short report you'd like to anything, any words you'd like to share?

Words of wisdom.

Yes.

Uh one moment here.

Let me just pull up my um I just wanted to give a brief brief overview of how the season went.

Um we just I don't actually have the I do have the final numbers for sound school, but I may need to ping Mary for those.

Um so for the summer we reached getting the right thing.

Uh over 20,000 residents and visitors.

So 22,530, I think was our final count for the summer.

Um 2350 kids, uh, children and students over the summer.

Okay, and I believe 3,000 for sound school, which just concluded lap set two weeks ago.

Time is flowing.

Um so 31 events produced and 28 music ensembles presented.

Um, 70,000 in sponsorships received.

So our total audience um for the summer was up nine percent.

So that's across um Passport, Riverside, and Forward.

And kind of digging into that a little bit, uh, the average attendance per event for Riverside was up 12% from 2024.

And for Forward, it was up 28%, which is really significant.

Um, so we last year for 24, I believe the average attendance was around 500 per concert averaged out, and it was closer to 700 for this summer.

Uh we had a new attendance record.

So happy to say that for the second year in a row at Forward, our our forward attendance record um for this year's was for overall was 1,069 attendees for the Clay Fulton show at uh Cascade.

So it was raining.

Yeah, that was the three days.

It was raining and it was still in attendance records.

That one's really fun.

I know a bunch of you came.

Um people were dancing, they stayed in the rain.

I mean, some people left, of course, but uh parking lot was full, people kept coming and coming and coming.

Um I actually personally did not hear a lot of complaints about the weather or the parking, which was really um, I wasn't quite expecting that.

Um, I mean, obviously it was raining and the parking was a thing, but you know, those are and parking is something that this year we're really trying to address, um, working a lot with transit and other folks to see what we might be able to do or community partners to see if we can figure out maybe some nearby uh parking surface lot options with maybe churches or businesses that might not be open during those hours and might be willing to kind of sponsor um some space.

So definitely what we're seeing is that there is appetite for these events.

The community is really making it their own.

Um, and more many more people can fit in the park.

Really the constraint is parking um and folks comfortably getting to and from the events, and we we want to make sure that that is a uh a pleasant as pleasant an experience as possible.

So that's something we're really intentionally focusing on for 26.

Um, but yeah, so overall uh sound school this year we had two sound school residencies, and that is due to us changing the timing of the series.

So historically it's been a spring, um, very early spring series, late winter, early spring, kind of that February, March.

Um so we had that residency this year.

That was Tyco Arts Midwest.

They were wonderful, sold-out show at the chateau, received really well by the community, um, kids in schools and coming to that public concert.

So we also this year um switched to a fall residency, which that was the one that happened just two weeks ago.

And that was um Tubergen band.

So that was uh Mongolian, traditional Mongolian music, kind of a fusion with um modern elements.

They were amazing as well.

Um that was a very well-attended show at the chateau also.

So our second year using that venue.

Um yeah, it was super fun.

We all went to a bunch of the the residencies.

year um switched to a fall residency which that was the one that happened just two weeks ago and that was um tubergen band so that was uh Mongolian traditional Mongolian music kind of a fusion with um modern elements they were amazing as well um that was a very well attended show at the chateau also so our second year using that venue um yeah it was super fun we all went to a bunch of the the residencies um Paul is the he is the sound school person so he wants to say a few words in a moment but um that went really well from my perspective I feel like we're really kind of dialing things in and connecting well with the schools um so that that is going to be our new normal from here on out as we'll be doing this fall residency that seems to be easier for schools and and for us um and we'll circle back don't forget um passport sessions also went really well so that was that's a partnership with Thursdays downtown and uh SAC school age child care the summer programs so like I said we reached um you know hundreds of kids through that and members of the community so that was great we're also partnering uh planning to partner with RDA again for 2026 we're setting updates for them um so those will be posted on the website when they're confirmed uh and then as a uh kind of a highlight here so we are transitioning our fourth of July program so we did have uh fourth fest this year uh next year for 2026 we will not be doing the full fourth fest we are instead going to be supporting the fireworks for the city so that will be continuing but the concert portion kind of the fest portion of fourth fest is being sunset uh we have plans to partner with um a local media organization radio station of some sort to be a broadcast partner essentially to do some kind of uh um basically like a sound track to the fireworks so whatever shape that takes ideally maybe a mayor's message some kind of patriotic music something that's um and whatever shape that takes still will depend on the partner um but that will be the music portion and people can tune in wherever they are and witness the fireworks people can come to soldiers field which is it'll still be the same location as it has been in the past with fireworks but then folks who are um viewing around the city will be able to tune into that broadcast and uh and get the musical experience and and have a have a great connection that way so no food stuff like none of that happening no um so there will not be an actual on-site event there will probably be um some things like portables um but and of course like P and Fire and EMS and everyone will still be on site to kind of support the public safety aspect and the fireworks but there will not be like a city presence with um an event so this also does open up the possibility that other community partners could decide that they want to do something on those grounds and that is absolutely an option that would be something through like the special permit process for the city uh the community band will be doing a concert at Cascade sometime on the 4th of July so it's not um and we'll be kind of you know promoting that as a as a thing um but not producing that um so and that'll probably be earlier in the day so we may start to see kind of partners and folks around the city choosing to do elements of us of a public celebration which would be really neat um I've heard some interesting folks kind of pursuing that special permit process to do different types of activities and then you know leading up to the fireworks.

So yeah as we hear more about that we'll obviously be messaging that to you and the public it was just wasn't a good fit for that public music to do it or yeah so it was um so historically that was something that the department inherited um and it really is more of a city celebration rather than a music focused celebration and because our programmatic activity is so dense in the summer it's really challenging to support and grow that event um to be something like a city celebration and it's also really challenging for other departments because it's it's held on a holiday right and we're city so everyone obviously has that day off and it becomes a challenge with getting staff or people even in town you know it's not just overtime and all that um so hopefully this will be kind of a different shape where maybe community partners will be able to take some of this on but the there will be a music element and there will be the fireworks so that continuity will continue um that was a little redundant but you know what I mean.

And you said the sunset production company is going to be handling the music no I'm saying for sunsetting the program got it.

Sorry very fast.

But yeah so I don't know kind of if other people are going to step up to do something this summer but we'll find out but that's a big change for the department um and that allows us to really prioritize the rest of our activity and trying to put all of our resources toward making sure that those are supported so but yeah and with that I will just um kick it over to you Paul really quickly if you want to give everyone an update because Sound School is fresh.

But yeah, with that, I will just um kick it over to you, Paul, really quickly if you want to give everyone an update because Sound School is fresh.

So those that don't know, Sound School is a week-long program.

Uh we bring a group to town and perform in public schools Monday through Friday and do a concert in the evening.

Um we did nine schools Monday through Friday with Toburgan band.

Um it's like doing nine pop-up concerts and one week.

It's a more physical work.

Um, but it went really well.

Um we only offer it to RSD 535, the Rochester public elementary schools now.

That's a change in the last three years.

Um being Southeast Minnesota wide, plus doing libraries in the evening.

So we do a school, two schools in the library, so three performances a day towns five.

So by the end of the week, really I'm doing a full concert.

It was um it was challenging, but now it's it's stripped back a little bit, but it went very well.

Um that didn't see them or doesn't familiar with the Mongolian singing style.

It's quite mesmerizing, very different from what we hear on the radio or you know, most people are um have exposure to.

And so the kids instantly as soon as I opened it, as soon as I started singing, it's just these wide eyes.

Um, and they're trying to do it themselves, right?

Anyway, it was great.

Um the move to November worked just fine.

We got in like a week before the snow hit.

So that was great.

Um, there was one thing I was concerned about, but it all worked out.

So the schools were happy with the change.

Um we run into list chance of crashing with exams is one of the things.

Um statewide this thing happens in the spring, and it's a moving target.

And the last couple of years it's been a problem.

Um we have a new home in November.

That's great.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Of course.

Um, I just want to say um thank you to all the board members who completed the survey.

Um feedback is how we find out things that are going wrong, things that are going right.

Uh, so it's really important that we get feedback from you people, from the board, from the people that you talk to.

Um, that's why we do the surveys in both the forward concerts and the riverside concerts.

Um we just want to know how it's going, what went wrong, uh, what people liked, uh, so that we can continue to improve.

Um, one of the things that I noticed from this past survey cycle is that we added a function of what in the question of what brought you here, it's always been headliner, headliner, headliner.

This year, the whole package, uh, the art stop at Forward, uh, the family activities at Riverside has really brought up uh the recognition, and people are really noticing that it's not just a concert anymore.

Uh the food vendors, and we haven't had food vendors for that long at Riverside, uh, anything more than what the Civic Center provided.

So we're really trying to expand the experience side of the series, both forward and riverside passport at RD at Thursdays Downtown is kind of a uh anomaly.

It's just kind of parked right into that whole festivity feeling.

So they've got that covered for us.

But uh yeah, we um we appreciate everything that you can, you know, if you hear from people, uh, we'd love to hear about it.

Um will be setting up short meetings with board members, probably mid-January to late January.

Um earliest um time frame uh so that she can talk to you one-on-one and uh we'll go from there.

Um the other thing is this is our last meeting for 2025.

Uh 2026, we will be uh electing new executive committee members.

Uh we will need a president, a vice president, and a secretary slash treasurer.

None of the positions are um time consuming.

The the president leads the meetings.

Whoever is going to take that responsibility, take ownership for the meetings.

And we will still put out the agendas.

We can set meeting topics together.

So it's you're not out there on your own.

The other thing is the times.

Typically we have Tuesdays scheduled in room 104.

Today was a little bit different because there's so many meetings going on for some reason in December.

But Tuesdays, if uh 4 p.m.

works, we can stick with that.

If you want a different time for schedules, 4 p.m.

seems to work for the majority of people.

We may still put out a survey.

So we skip June, July, August, and we do one in October, but we do January, March, and May, I think is what it is.

March, April, May, every other month.

Then we skip the busy season where we're all attending the concerts and busy with all of that, and then back for a recap in October.

In October this year, we had some staff conflicts.

So that's why we're meeting in December.

First uh chance we could get.

But uh if there's anything with that, we'll send out schedules.

We'll send out times for the whole year.

If you're interested in uh one of the three executive positions, let me know.

Um we will be voting on that in January.

And no threat, but we won't be leaving until we have an executive meeting.

Uh I probably shouldn't say that.

You probably won't come.

Um that's all I have.

Um questions?

Sean, I have two questions.

How was the new um stage this year?

Um it was great.

Yeah, it was a state running curve.

But um, so the first show we used it for was forward series, the first three shows in there.

Um, and I'm pretty happy to say that for the time we ended with the last board show, which was the 11th 12th performance using the stage.

We had shaved over an hour of load out time.

So we're getting more present and just giving it together and knowing what needed to be done.

Yeah, yes.

Is it sturdier?

Because it looks sturdier.

Um it doesn't look like it's going to, you know, when the wind blows.

Yeah, that's right.

The Showmobile, which is the other um stage, which is literally a mobile sound show.

Um, but so you have X like a sale when you hit the wind coming from the wrong direction.

That's unwell to happen with this one because it just blows your own through it.

Yeah.

So yeah, you can hang more things from it, so you can put on a bigger show.

Um and the one the one tolerances is significantly higher in the smoke space.

So it's more complicated to sit up.

And number two, um, I started that you're requesting bands for uh warm-ups.

So will we get a chance to help to listen to those again this year?

Like to absolutely.

Okay, absolutely.

Um the call for opening bands uh just went out yesterday.

Uh we had 32 this morning as I checked.

So yeah, it's going well.

If anyone wants to be involved in reviewing the bands and selecting last year, we had help me out here.

Really 300 or now you also we do something we did go through iterating how it worked, or we're gonna do this process.

Yeah, yeah.

There are some fans that take priority over others.

Um so yes, we we don't give you everyone.

Um you can have everyone if you want.

Um we're definitely we that and that's a thing that's been a kind of an ongoing is how do we make this process transparent and manageable and how do we make it uh not overwhelming to bring other people in because yeah, it's it's um a diverse perspective is is hugely appreciated, but yeah, 300 um applicants can be a lot.

Uh so yeah, you will hear more from us about that.

We absolutely value your intro.

Absolutely, and we'll give you some guidelines.

Um unfortunately it's it we're not asking you what bands you like.

Um we're asking you what bands you think would fit, uh why people would come out for them.

Um have they performed in the area?

Are they well known?

Are they not known?

Do they sound so horrible that you threw them off after five seconds or you wanted to buy all their CDs?

So um it's not about us.

Uh it's about the it's about the audience.

Um, but yeah, uh deadline is February 6th.

So at our January meeting, um, we can probably get a count and I can get you all of the information that you need.

Um we do not anticipate having those selections.

We say April 1st.

Um because we want to match them with headliners, right?

Um, and we if we have headliners at that time or genres that we're looking for, we'll give you those so you can make appropriate matches as well.

But yes, absolutely.

Absolutely.

We would love to help.

I'm just looking at the form right now.

I mean an easy way to probably bet a lot of these bands would be having them like give their PRO registration because if they're not registered with the performance rights organization, what's the point of having them perform?

Oh, we don't we don't we don't um that's not one of our qualifications.

Okay.

Um yeah, so the um the openers we um we prioritize kind of local and regional bands, so a lot of them are or can be smaller uh groups.

So it's um, and that's why that's one of the reasons why it this tends to be a laborious process, right?

Because there are so many folks who fall into that category, and we do want to have a space for them to be um to have a platform, but it does mean that you know sometimes you're navigating really hard to kind of access videos or things like that.

So we've we've tried to streamline the process to say, look, we we need proof of life, we call it we need some kind of a live video.

It can be your grandma on her cell phone, right?

Whatever.

We just we want to see you physically doing something that we can hear.

Um but like but not even anything like that scares people when they're like, well, I don't have a video, like or they'll give us something that's super old because that was the polished thing they did, or it was a professional recording studio.

It's like, no, no, no.

We we want to see you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What you can do, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Um my friends TikTok page.

Yeah, no, it's like we need we need a video.

We need a video that is representative of what we might expect if you were on stage.

Um, so we've we've been um we've tried different ways of positioning that of making the form really easy to understand and of really underscoring like this is a requirement for consideration.

So uh that hopefully is helping over the years, but um, but yeah, we we don't want to, it's a fine line, right?

We don't want someone who might be uh more emerging to feel like oh yeah, this isn't for me.

No, yeah.

So and we do require live recordings.

Um we don't want it, yeah, we don't want it polished.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, sometimes we get these really beautiful, you know, like we've gotten some electronica type stuff where it's it's all fully recorded, it's all electronic, but we have no idea what that would translate to on stage.

Either the sound or the stage presence, and both are really important.

So it's the dude with turntables usually or something.

Yeah, maybe like we don't know.

We would we we would be happy to see, like he could set up a tripod and record himself and we would know.

But um but historically you've only booked band acts, right?

Not like individual performance artists like.

Um booked DJs, yeah, yeah.

Um we've done solo individual bands, you know, in the Charlie Paul is a band, or was he just he was solo?

He was he was the headliner.

Yeah, yeah.

So we've done with an intro, like yeah, they can talk.

Yeah, yeah.

Who does the um county fair?

That's there's a DJ at the Umstead County fair last year.

Are you aware of them?

You know, uh is it a Ventist?

I don't know.

No, it's it's oh I don't think it is.

But anyways, yeah, they have a trailer that her enables nice setup, you know, at Olmsted.

I probably like that it came to mind when you mentioned it.

Yeah.

Obviously, they've been performing around.

I'm sure there's video of them putting on their engagement.

Right.

How are the headliners determined?

So the headliners are determined.

Um, so that is a kind of a department level decision.

We're always happy to have suggestions, but basically it's it's kind of an alchemy.

So it's we have a big long list of folks that we have identified for various reasons.

People have brought them to us.

We've got a list running for the last 20 years.

Um, and then we go to agents and kind of say, okay, who can we afford?

Um, because that's a big piece of it.

So it's it's who is routing, so who's traveling around, and we might be able to have them for a more affordable rate because they're nearby.

Um and then you know, once you start to get pieces of that, then we start to get a little more strategic about okay.

So we've got you know, two all-male bands.

Okay, maybe we need you know, some more diversity here with gender or with ethnicity or with sound or with texture.

So we kind of have some anchor points, and then we try to go within there, trying to keep everything balanced as best we can.

Um, but it's a moving target, it's a moving target until basically May.

Um, I know everyone always wants to know, hey, when are the bands booked?

And sometimes we get a three booked, and you know, the last two take a long time, sometimes they all take a long time, sometimes we think we've got something really balanced, and then someone drops out, we have to kind of scrap it.

Um, so it's an ongoing kind of department level conversation um from here until hopefully no later than April.

Um, but yeah, but we're always open to suggestions if you're talking to people in the community and they say, Yeah, you know, I would really love to see I I only come out for country or gee, I really, you know, I love bluegrass.

Um that's why we're trying to do more surveying and the annual survey as well to kind of understand what is it that's resonating with folks.

Um we try to approach it from a really diverse perspective, but it's really what the community wants.

I mean, I always say if the community only wanted bluegrass and we had some way of knowing that, then we would only do bluegrass.

Um, it's really what folks are wanting and and resonating with, which is why we're so diverse.

Is there a way to actually I've had feedback about this part of the survey that the um genres needs to be expanded or at least have some sort of um field where somebody could put in I can't remember if or or a different genre because um it's like oh, but I would like Indian folk, I don't know, but uh that's just an example just made up, but yeah, something like that because I can't remember what's on the survey, but there was sort of like oh, blues isn't on there or something like that.

Yeah, and and that was um, you know, we did hear some feedback like that too, and so that's something we can adjust for next year.

Basically this, and this is something we're constantly debating as well.

Like, what do you what do you call things and what genres do you think?

And and that's what you've seen in some of our marketing when we say because we like to attach a genre to a group when we're trying to promote it, and even that's like, well, what do you call them blues?

Would you call them Americana?

Like we duke it out.

Um, but we didn't want it to be this just giant long list.

Yeah, so maybe the solution is to say and fill in one, and they can fill in whatever they want.

I mean, and feel like they're they're getting their point across.

The problem with that is when you put in another category, they put in um unrealistic artists or genres.

They will um put in opera, they'll put in oh, yeah, you know, they'll put in things that just will not resonate in the park, um, outdoors.

Um they'll put in artists.

We used to ask you, Dennis, you remember the long one page of artist names, and in the other category, they would put an artist that was listed in the category.

Because I never read through because they never read through the the list of 25 names.

Now we have to go through those surveys and we have to sort them and summarize them as to what genres are floating to the top.

If we have other categories that are not filling the genres that we know that audiences appear to, you know, they come out for um then it it kind of messies the water.

Do we have to pay out to like the blanket licenses for these performances at all?

Because that would definitely put like a roadblock as far as which genres you can actually host.

We have all the licenses have no restriction on genres.

But they but they do like the MLC and Harry Box.

So they have a very strict pro right pool of genres that they're allowed to pull from.

And so like I would say whatever their list is then that could be the list that you guys can I don't know it.

We have been fighting with licensed music licenses.

And the last one we had which is the global rights license is probably the most extensive there's not an artist that we could not find on their license that they cover.

So and that be through the MLC then I'm guessing the mechanical licensing collective no this is through global rights direct license we directly license with that organization.

Okay.

So that is um that is helpful feedback because yeah I think the the point is we want people to feel like they can give us the information but we also need to be able to type digest it and we don't want to give people I think and perhaps we're overly sensitive to not wanting to give people a sense of um input and then if we don't respond to it that it's like well I told you I wanted you know klezmer music like where is it?

So I think there's a way we can approach that in the surveys and so I don't know so we'll we'll think about that a little more I mean I do too it just it can't that was the first thing came about classic lady.

Classic music lady or or we can also have the caveat and you know without making it too wordy you know letting people know that we're asking specifically about music that you think would work well in these outdoor settings because that's something also that I find myself talking to people about I mean I am not denying the importance of you know things like organ music or opera or whatnot and sometimes that works in an outdoor space but these particular events um are so suited right to those types of things.

I mean I don't think an opera would even be qualified because that that's a completely different set of licenses that would be under this one I just looked these guys up there they're gonna have very specific terms because it's different from like the MLC from CMG.

So the license that you got from global music rights is going to be specific to their catalog.

And we do have another category yeah we have we have we carry several different uh so we in the music genres there is another category that people can fill in yeah we and we get and that is um neighborhood server pardon me for the neighborhood survey well I'm looking at the riverside surveys they should be the same so it should be the same look into that because that is something you know and it's it's a good touch point for engagement too to like have a conversation with people um and I always say hey if we had more budget I mean I'd I'd love to do all the things like let's do opera in the park but um but yeah so that's is that typically the biggest roadblock is the budget to afford the artists that would be first on the list no it's uh it's from a production standpoint and a staffing standpoint so because we're doing 20 how many events how many different I think we do I think we do 17 events in the summer and that's not including like you know the school outreach is separately from the the public performances for passport um that's a lot to produce and so with three staff members yeah um that gets to be a lot spherical you guys do you have a writer like a writer form for the production that you're capable of providing uh don't have a form but um when people ask are we giving some information up front but more so for River Sort than for forward that that would because a lot of these bigger name artists have writers very specific as to what they require to in order to perform and that could weed out a lot well we always get a road from when we have to look at a before we book someone yeah that's what you mean yeah without having to purchase new equipment though.

Oh we have oh no no we we rent equipment to to meet their needs depending on what they are yeah okay yeah that's a part of our contracting process um so so yeah so it's it's just a lot of moving pieces and then of course you know our events something like an opera in the park or something but that has different needs um than what we typically support so um and there are other folks in the community doing that work as well so it's kind of a where can we partner versus you know we don't want to be stepping on toes and we implemented resources but um always happy to hear ideas and see how that might come to fruition but yeah I think the the 17 events keep us keep us hopping summer yeah we have the debate the bluegrass americana blues jazz yeah yeah we really are not wont for finding bluegrass americana bands in Rochester no there's no you could throw a rock a little on music and then something like country you know you say country and five different people have five different interpretations and there are things that are country flavor but are we talking about hot country are we talking

park or something but that has different needs um than what we typically use support so um and there are other folks in the community doing that work as well so it's kind of a where can we partner versus you know we don't want to be stepping on toes and we implemented resources but um always happy to hear ideas and see how that might come to fruition but yeah i think the the 17 events keep us keep us hopping summer yeah we the debate the bluegrass americana blues jazz yeah yeah maybe some American we really are not wont for finding bluegrass americana bands in rochester no no there's no you could throw a rock a little funk music and then something like country you know you say country and five different people have five different interpretations and there are things that are country flavor but are we talking about hot country are we talking so yeah we try to really pull ourselves out of those weeds because we would go very deep into them um but yeah I know it's you're trying to box things that just don't want to be boxed and you can't do everything in one season right there's hopefully longevity you know you get around to it over a number of years you'll get around to it.

And there are there are certain artists like that too where it's like oh that didn't work out for this year.

Maybe next year and we just keep going back and like hey are they touring now or the touring now don't forget about us.

So yeah so suggestions and ideas are always always welcome but we're always trying to balance balance it.

Was it that was booked with us somebody was booked I can't remember the band name I know I wish I could but they were not very big and then they blew up oh sure and it happened to be like normally the the the entity the organization could never afford them at their current rate because they booked them right at the right time it just came to you know reality where it was like this huge deal and I can't remember when that was we've had a few we've had Margot price yeah yeah right yeah we yeah a few of the country yeah a couple of the guys I don't remember their names and a guide real deep there was oh Eric Costany.

No Eric Pasle Eric Pasley or the other one other one too um a country because country tends to be that space yeah um who did we have a couple years ago that young girl oh Brittany Spencer no is it a paid no paid page something I want to say sort of a P very's gonna look in her record right was it a peri page or something?

She was very she was amazing.

Yeah she was real young yeah are you Ariana Avriana oh there you go and she the the girls little girls showed up literally little girls yeah like elementary pre-T and it was so amazing she was so good with them so good.

So that's really got really all is like who is going to draw different groups of people in the city so you know the people who want to see Avery Anna may not be the people that want to see who stank.

Yeah right and that's okay right you know because people will come to what they come to and they will get to experience a show that feels like it's for them.

Yeah um and country is that that funny space where that's where you're having a conversation with the agents and we also talk to local radio stations to say hey who are you hearing who are have you heard of this person do you play them do you think that they would be popular here because that space changes in a heartbeat um and so if we can get someone and and they're also very expensive.

You're doing on an artist by artist basis right why why would you do it like on a label basis then we don't deal with labels at all.

Okay.

Yeah we just deal with agents management okay I have one more question how how are donations this this year this summer like I don't know the buckets I don't have that info Mary does somewhere.

Well they rose slightly but I can get you um I just went exact yeah absolutely I can get you details um the funny thing about donations uh in the park is it's closely related to the number of volunteers that we get to show up to pass the buckets around um if we only have two or three in a crowd of five thousand um they're just it's just too hard to cover the entire thing because you have to you have to go you know you have to go once and they see you and then they go oh yeah and then you have to come back because they're not quite ready for it you have to be not afraid to wait.

Yeah they dig it out make the eye contact and you are out there you you gave it a you really wanna yeah yeah on one isn't it it's hard it's to acclimate to get yourself comfortable looking at people you know holding out the buckets you don't it's low pressure yeah we don't we don't force them to give any money it's all cash though yes well no it's not people to stay our code yeah yeah yeah it's for PayPal and we'll take a check yeah yeah yeah and that's great so we use that as a proxy to kind of say okay this is the community showing investment in this um we don't have an individual giving like a grant or anything like that yeah so we we don't do um I think historically the annual fund do an annual fund drive we don't do that anymore but having the individual contributions from the events is when I go to the state arts board or other grant funders to say you know here

Yeah.

Yeah.

And that's great.

So we use that as a proxy to kind of say, okay, this is the community showing investment in this.

Um, we don't have an individual giving like a grant or anything like that.

Yeah.

So we we don't do um, I think historically the annual fund due and annual fund drive.

We don't do that anymore.

But having the individual contributions from the events is when I go to the state arts board or other grant funders to say, you know, here's how we're showing that the community values this, you know, people are choosing to give these contributions at the events.

Um, and that is impactful for the state arts board.

Do you have that granularity and that kind of data where you can kind of say we had I don't know 10,000 people at I don't know, the Hoovistank concert, and we like can you correlate like the attendance or like how invested the public saw okay, yeah.

So we calculate per um event how many attendance as best we can, which we're now doing um using three different counters in different positions in the park.

So we feel like they're much more accurate numbers now.

Um so we have a crowd count, we have the um contribution amount, and we do actually break it down to say like, yep, it was an average of 50 cents per attendee.

Um, and then we kind of track that over time, right?

That's how we just generally kind of like the more people there are like the more donations, or just kind of nope.

That's interesting.

Um, so it does it does vary depending on um we've seen it's the crowd, right?

So it depends on kind of the artist, it depends on a lot of different things, and we can't say for certain why that is.

We can we can speculate better.

Um, but I would say it seems to be more um artist and kind of crowd demographic dependent than than crowd size.

Yeah, and you could just have those artists then that you do choose, submit their analytics and you can cross-reference those.

Like because they'll have those, they'll have all that, like their audience analytics that they're building up.

Yeah, and it's it's dependent on you know who in this community is coming to see to see those folks here, right?

Yeah, um, and who's coming from kind of neighboring communities and things as well.

Yeah, you're gonna get more money from folks that are in their 50s plus rather than the the pre-teen right you know, and yeah, we and this is bad.

Yes, yeah, yeah.

For ever since I've been here uh for the riverside concerts uh in Mayo Park, we get approximately 25 cents per person.

For forward, it's 50 to 60, sometimes 75 cents per person.

So it's substantially more um for whatever reason.

And I don't know if it's per if parks would be different.

That'll be something we could start to track now that we've had a few years neighborhoods, so different parts of show.

But everyone is welcome at all the parts, so people travel.

Yeah, I find the age demographic at the neighborhood shows are different compared, you know, depending on what park it is.

Yeah, they're going to their has more families, right?

Oh, White Oaks has uh all family.

I mean, there's so many families that come there.

But um, the neighborhood would have the neighborhood ones would have more donations because everybody would be able to get there's not as many people, yes.

All the volunteers if you have three people in a neighborhood concert compared to three river fronts, right?

Yeah, yeah.

And so and but it's it's interesting too because we'll kind of see trends over time because collecting contributions at forward is relatively new as well.

So is surveying it forward.

So this is the second year we did it, so it's a new audience behavior.

So we're still like it's like we can kind of see the shape of things, but it's like we don't quite have the data yet.

But um, but I do think that all of what we're seeing about kind of these averages also points to the fact that the community is really really taking ownership of these forward concerts, right?

Um, which is wonderful and exactly what we hoped had happened.

So we're really pleased with that.

And the contributions are just kind of reinforcing that interpretation.

People are tuning up earlier and earlier.

Yeah, that's another data point, right?

So see these streams.

They're there, and yeah, I mean, they're supposed to know what what portion of the donations are coming from, like the QR codes versus cash.

Sure.

Yes, we we are I can't tell you that right offhand, but we do track them, I believe.

We don't get a lot of QR code donations.

No, it's mostly cash, it's mostly cash.

I would say 80 to 90 percent cash.

Okay, yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Um, you know, you can count probably on two fingers how many how many people scan the QR code now on any given night, it could be more right.

Right.

Um, a younger crowd will have more QR code donations than cash.

And this year we had some um some technical difficulties with our QR codes.

That one that we did not have a functioning QR code at the Huba Stank show.

And that was just that was due to some some technical things on the on the back end.

So some things were skewed a little bit, things happen.

Oh, I thought we got that corrected.

I don't think we did we get that corrected.

I will say having those cards with the QR code helped a lot because people would take that, you know, because it takes a second, and you know, sometimes when you're wondering, something we started last year, right?

Yeah, and really static signs.

Yeah, we have little business cards that we hand out now, and that's because we have interns uh that we are able to use and we had a dedicated music intern who was fabulous, yeah.

And she did uh she made little cards for each of the series, and it was easy to hand out, it's very low key.

Give, don't give.

Here's our card.

Uh schedule on it.

Right.

So it's a dual recommendation piece.

Do you have unique codes for each forward?

Uh with the same QR code.

It is the same QR code, yeah.

So we have a we have a contribution page that is um accessible from the website, but it's that same lantern.

It's the same.

Okay.

Do you have tracking pickles going through that?

That would be a great way to do that.

We we do for some of our some of our QR codes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, so I don't know if we do for that one specifically.

Um, but that'd be a great way to get your audience analytics, like you know, really solidified without having to add anything else to it.

It's just like embedded within it.

Or you could look at dates when the came through that would have made with the concert itself because the concerts are running on the same date.

So and that's how we we typically will check that.

And we usually do like on Monday uh for a riverside show or probably a Thursday or Friday, Mary sits down and kind of closes out the show by doing all of that.

A lot of easier.

Well, I get I actually get sent a receipt.

Yeah.

Uh then so yeah, I know the next day, I know even later that night how many people have donated via QR code.

Yeah, and most of the time it's a regular customer.

Right.

Someone that's been going to our concerts, someone we know, someone like Deb.

Uh, who you know, we they come and talk to us.

Right.

You know, they're they're they're the regulars.

The regulars, yeah.

Oh, the reason why I asked if it was the same code for everyone could put it on like the the lower skirting of the stage where it's just always their big, and then people even from sitting with a cell phone can still get it, you know.

Like it's constantly looking at them like, hey, this is yeah, just a reminder.

I don't know if we want to muddy up the skirting or if that's been ordered and then don't bother spending.

I do like the lawn sign ones that you have all of them.

All through the park.

There's 20 signs outside of our which we're we're condensing, so that's a lot for staff to set up and tear down.

So one of the things that we are, and and we'll bring this to you later, but we're exploring um looking at kind of uh our digital footprint and kind of do we consolidate some of our things into a digital place and direct people there, um, and then use some of our large sandwich boards to just say like, hey, go to the centralized place and you can donate there, you can get cart there, you can get all those things because what's tricky, the sandwich boards are are they uh lawn signs are great, but they're all the same similar size, and so when it's like, oh yeah, scan that QR code.

Well, there are two different QR codes, and it's kind of tricky for people.

So we're trying to think about how do we have that balance of pointing people to a centralized location, um, and also making sure people like know where to get the cards or know where to get.

Um, so that's something we're also working uh through for next year.

Actually, Dennis's idea is good because if it's on near the stage, people might actually go near the stage, and then there might be uh they might have the need to dance or something.

Right.

Um because they're up closer to the music and then like got it, and then they were like Paul's like, not one more piece of thing.

Does that have right, right?

Well, if it was already part of this, like something that you're already having there, but again, if you ever have to have them remade, then yeah, but the technology could be different than QR codes could be away in the past by the time you have to order a new skirt or something out of it.

Which makes those parents I know, right?

Right, you have dynamic QR codes too, so like fortunately we are able to change perfect, yeah, where it directs too because otherwise, oh my goodness, Chris.

We have enough trouble managing the QR codes we have.

part of the like something that you're already having there but again if you ever have to have them remade then yeah but the technology could be different than QR codes could be away of the past by the time you have to order a new skirt or something I don't know which makes the parent I know right right we have dynamic QR codes too so like fortunately we are able to change perfect yeah where it directs too because otherwise oh my goodness gracious we have enough trouble yeah managing the QR codes we have um but we ran we ran a campaign where we had like seven different ones for different that it was yeah it's it's it it became a lot easier just to look at the dates and and just manually go in instead of having to set up all the different QR codes and the coding you know it's just yeah it's just easier low tech sometimes works well tech always works best yeah I think everything on a spreadsheet right yeah then that's why you can see we're doing that return to like posters postcards trying to because not everyone is on social media not everyone is reading in a newsletter not everyone you know wants an email so we're we're also trying to beef up some of our on the ground but that's labor intensive right so we have to have help getting posters up and postcards out um so yeah but but things like that have been going really well as far as community response and partner response once we have the API repository set up that's gonna change everything because I think once you have everything bundled through that you'll not only be able to track audience like demographics and their taste but everything else that you already are like I'm just for the small portion that use it.

Yeah yeah but that's why we have so many different sources right um to to get two people and get their information.

Chris you had a question uh yeah just um you were touching on like physical promo and I the the um timelines might not line up at a time like community education uh gets their newsletter thingy out uh like the bookings but the dates for the concerts probably are or will be solidified by then but I wonder if they could include that because I would think that uh entities in town that send something to every resident if that's one of them RPUs plugged in uh they are very um that's actually a good idea they have a lot of yeah they don't have a lot of space in there um monthly thing but and so yeah and then something else like for physical locations uh and this is just a thought I mean could be out of the realm of of of resources but it it's getting less expensive all the time but there's placer AI where you could select the data and the location then you can see for the past year where everybody that came yeah at and then we tried Placer AI did our events are the well especially for the forward perfect yeah there's not enough activity to get a daily daily count they go weekly now mayo park did yeah but you can't it it's it's very squishy you can't get the time right you you and this is where I said you might have resources might not be there financially because there is a level to that that gets more granular and more specific but you have to be a company that uses it and it's invested so I know of a particular company that's the third that uses that AI it's it goes Walmart it goes every phones and then it goes this company that's a media company so they they do enough where they get access to data and and and and features that it costs a little bit to do.

And what I noticed was it was really geared towards retail yeah because they want to know where they're coming from where they're and where they're going afterwards.

Right and so yeah restaurants either path of travel so I yeah I used to think of it as okay yeah not that I sold billboards but everybody coming to your place 80% come from this neighborhood into that so I know where to send mailers and I know where to put billboards you know or you can get that just like have setting up a free Wi-Fi service and just it ping them.

Yeah ping their devices laser was tricky too because um one of the things we were finding that was surprising because we wanted to use Placer to kind of verify our crowd counts right because we don't have turn styles we don't have tickets so we have to count that's really tricky I'm actually lower status.

Right.

Um I bet I know yeah so the crowd counts we were finding placers crowd counts were 20% less than our manual head count and which our demographic is so diverse and it's a lot of families children.

It's only counting cell phones.

Yep.

So we were like wow that is not we can't say like hey this is plus or minus 20% right it was just like and that was bearing out across multiple so it was kind of like oof yeah yeah what are we counts children for like you can count children it only counts cell phones.

No we we head count yeah children yes yes and they're attendees manually you can count children like as part of it.

just like and that was bearing out across multiple so it was kind of like oof yeah you know what are we looking for like you can count children it only counts cell phones no we we head count yeah children yes yes and they're attendees manually you count you can count children like as part of it okay I didn't part of the community they're they're there we count everyone into the digital tracking stuff yeah yeah when we are counting attendees yes major major demographic in the city we should be serving with our yes yeah because it it tells us I mean we don't separate the number of children that um as opposed to the number of adults right there it's just one big odd um but doing this tools and then we count children versus adults but yeah because it's it's a representation of the community but we were finding that because these are such family friendly events and because a lot of older folks tend to you know one person in the group will bring a phone not both of them um so it was really skewing our numbers and so with not getting some of the granular detail plus having counts that looked really low right what's going on what's going on we figured it out but um yeah we tried that expensive that is that would be one we even tried even with the digital surveys that we've gone to um we'll have the older 50 and older people come up and they'll say oh I left my cell phone at home oh yeah you know so it it is a it is a big issue um we always find at least one or two cell phones in the park or oh no that's true this is a concert people don't want to bring anything of value yeah and they shouldn't no you still have the the laptops to do the surveys yes okay so if they yeah oh absolutely okay and that's how we know is people will come up and they'll say we'll say you know you can also scan the QR code if you don't want to wait in line and they'll say oh I don't have my phone with me.

You know and so it's anecdotal but that with the place or data kind of yeah and if you're already doing that and if that's working then with the tablet we had uh like last year we had two interns actually on the other side of the table helping people fill them out um because there is a learning curve with yeah with the tablets and the touch screens so yeah um we try to make it as easy as possible yeah yeah because that was a big shift as well what was that last two years ago we switched two years ago yeah so from paper for a very long time people will sometimes occasionally ask but most people have adopted it just fine um and it's saved a ton of labor on the back end because Mary was typing all of that into Excel.

Oh my goodness yeah I was tallying each question because there's no other way to do it right and it was just you there is no other way you could do it exhausted yeah and uh so much easier now I mean and occasionally we even get someone asking for the old survey of the artists so people remember yeah and it's it changes hard yeah yeah it is and I I think that comes down to like well I and I was thinking this too what why forward might be seem to have a little more return on investment because it is something new and it's I think people have traditionally become so accustomed to the Riverside Mayo Park being free that they think of it as oh it's free and it's just provided but I think forward because it's going out communities and the parts people feel like oh I should probably invest a little in this because it's it's new and it seems like it's my neighborhood property.

It's my yeah it's like you know there are there's like a community yeah you know there's the food there the art stuff all of that um and so that is another thing also that we are going to continue for this next year um is the art stop and kind of figuring out how to because that was so successful and we really you know believe very strongly in that component um so that's another piece you will see coming back um we're really excited about that I think yeah I think just Rochester in general has always been used to getting things for free here and then they go up we'll pay 50 to 100 for the ticket an hour and a half away and right expect it to be free here and you know it's like come on right here well we know that forward is mostly locals because of the time you know the 530 to eight makes a big difference I mean we've gotten some people from the surrounding communities sure if it's an artist they want to see um but it really is for the community and people visiting like you know people who are here for treatment during the week is also really nice because it's it's getting to show them a different part of the city a different experience um you know something that's a break from some of the medical experiences that are having you know so it's it's it's great to hear that Rochester has parks we have oh we've got parks yes uh did mayo do any internal communication about the concert training either with employees or patients or do they just look on community calendar kind of things they so mayo is uh a sponsor of forward so they are the the sponsor of forward um and that has been something that we've been trying over the the years to kind of get more into the ecosystem um there does seem to be kind of a a new perspective on perhaps kind of doing more internal communications regarding forward uh I'm I'm cautiously optimistic that with like the ERT coming online that there might be an opportunity to kind of use um the the transit as a way yep so that's something I've been working with uh we're trying to leverage internal channels with other departments but also with partners like Mayo um because this isn't truly advertising right because it's a free they're free community things and if Mayo's a sponsor you know I think that that might give us some leeway.

Uh I'm I'm cautiously optimistic that with like BRT coming online that there might be an opportunity to kind of use um the the transit as a way.

Yep.

So that's something I've been working with.

Um we're trying to leverage internal channels with other departments, but also with partners like Mayo.

Um because this isn't truly advertising, right?

Because it's a free they're free community things, and if Mayo's a sponsor, you know, I think that that might give us some leeway.

Yeah, and because I know at least I mean, I'm uh partners that follow the medical.

My wife's been that's why we're we moved here trailing space.

Uh she did med school here, now she's in anesthesia, and we you know, I'm pretty plugged in community, so we know about these things, and so we'll go, but a lot of the people in either in her department or program they just don't, and that's I mean that's that's something we know that's a facet of Rochester in general.

Yeah, um and I know DMC does a lot of their communications and stuff, but I wonder like is Mayo internally community being just being like these are free city events, and I think the concerts are great, like the great wedge because it I mean anecdotally, they're always talking about how there's nothing to do in Rochester.

But there is that plenty to do.

Um I know DMC does a good job of of uh promoting the stuff, but I don't know that Mayo actually I would think it would only really push things they were sponsors of because then it gets to be well, why did he pick this and not ours?

Well and forwards.

Yep.

And that's where I've I'm trying to approach them about, you know, you do sponsor forward.

Um, and you know, we and we know that there's this connection right between holistic well-being, health, right, and these concerts and yes, residents and people newer to the community or not new to the community.

I mean, this is the this is a benefit to them as well.

Um, and Mayo showing their employees that we're supporting the community.

So I am optimistic that we can work with them to do some more of that.

What I have found when I've reached out in the past is that it's really kind of it's it's department by department.

So it's kind of like, okay, contact this person with anesthesia, this person with you know cardiac, this person with you know, um, which we don't actually have the staff to do that, we're not able to effectively follow up on that as much.

Um, we are trying to make some staffing adjustments for 2026 and they have some more capacity in that area.

Um, but yeah, that's so if you know of contact at Mayo departments, I should start a list.

Is that is that I was gonna say, is that something that maybe the board could could assist with, or is there a line that we want firewall of?

It's weird that there's not something like community relations or um marketing or something like that that's a goal, they used to have a newsletter, a paper newsletter that they would mail to all of their employees.

That's right.

Yep.

And we always they always put our events in there.

Then when they went digital, for some reason the the format changed and um don't it's their IP.

I don't know if they even do they even have a newsletter or anything that goes out.

We don't get anything.

You don't get any, so it must be something like maybe a website you go to or because they still operate like a swamp.

Yeah, and I'm sure there's like an in they I know they have an intranet um that there's some employee resource things on that, like I know they've got like kind of like a Craigslist thing, but I don't know how much people are going on that.

And I'm sure the newsletter was you know so expensive to mail to the every employee that yeah, going digital would just seem the logical choice.

Yeah.

If you were to do that though, you would want to contact Zach Ritten.

He's the one in charge of their IT department.

Yeah, so the um so the sense that I get from talking to folks is that a lot of the like we're talking to the new residents, it's that there's a particular like head of the new residents and it's a rotating basis.

So you also need to reach out to someone, like I can't reach out to them now in the fall because they haven't been like elected for the people who are going to be able to contact folks for the summer.

So it's kind of like there are multiple uh moving pieces there.

And I say they have oftentimes uh contacted us for postcards, posters, whatever for the newcomer backs.

Um usually unfortunately it's before we have everything ready because it's in that time where we're still getting things done.

Um is it beyond is it not reasonable to have kind of an evergreen just general kind of statement of the state of the state of the state?

Well, we now we now do like save the date part.

Um but they're more interested in specific performing, yeah.

But that um, yeah, we are kind of beefing up.

We didn't really have a catalog of things like that.

So now we have things that are more like um for a sponsor or partner, like what are the series, you know, introducing folks to them.

Uh we do have the save the dates now, which um, you know, you could go to our website from there.

So we do have some things now that we can probably leverage more effectively.

Um, because yeah, it that that's the thing is we don't want to lose those opportunities that come across on our plate.

Um, but yeah, I think it's gonna any ideas of how to kind of crack that nut would be great.

Um, they segregated for a reason.

Like their mail is top notch when it comes to intellectual properties and their servers.

I mean, literally, it's just it's all compartmentalized.

And so you'd have to literally go for to each department server if you wanted to like do an email blast to everyone.

And I don't see them.

Well, just Rochester in general.

It's really like you've started to do or someone does uh music for the month, you know.

Yes, yeah, Rochester local.

We we partner with them to do and like I think that's awesome.

Here's the music for December, right?

But you it's so hard.

Like, yeah, oh, what's happening, you know, at the Nobios and what's over here and Redwood.

I mean, there's really a lot of opportunities, yeah, but nothing's happening in Rochester.

Right.

It's actually there's so much that it's almost like we detect it.

Like seriously, because yep, we'll be like, Why do you you always know things?

I'm like, well, I read them, I know where to I follow this or yeah, and then that that's slowly spreads.

I mean, that's the reason why partnering with Rochester Local has been so effective is because they are truck the trusted source for a lot of folks for kind of one stop shopping.

Okay, what's going on?

You know, especially uh the largest demographic in this city is young families, right?

Um and and young adults, you know, not as I can say young adults in their 30s, I guess.

Not young adults.

Um not the reading level.

Right.

30 35 ish, you know, millennials.

Um, yep, millennials.

And so it's like, you know, once if those are the folks who are going to like a Rochester local, you know, they're seeing that, but we also want to get people on either side.

And right.

But yeah, Rochester Local's been very effective in tapping into that um those groups of of people.

Which is by the rebranded from Rochester mom to Rochester Local because it was like people who did have kids.

Oh wow, I remember that.

Yeah, so that's that's how that started.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What about that women's business magazine?

Is it women?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I actually won't do our board too.

So I like that magazine actually.

Actually, yeah, I grab one of those every time I have to ban it.

Well, the good thing but she's changing the name because it was Rochester women and she'd be changing it or something.

Because she real, I I don't know if she will.

She talked about realizing that just as many men are reading.

Yeah, genres or yeah, all different looking actually.

Yeah, okay.

So I don't know what to do with that, but she's aware.

Um also get down.

Yeah, yeah.

My um meters already up, and I'm sure that the parking lot.

Oh, it's after five.

Yeah.

Oh, in the parking lot here.

Yeah.

Oh, it's okay.

Oh, it's free after five.

That sounds like that's the DMC that the that's the DMC model.

Rochester, free after five.

I mean, it's everything's free.

Yeah.

Okay.

Everything's free downtown.

So what's what's parking one?

What's coming up?

I'm trying to read it.

Are you going to send emails asking about us about times for the next meetings?

We will be giving you an email about next year, times and dates.

Um, and then scheduling.

Uh, so brief one-on-one, everyone will just kind of um basically kind of similar things in the survey, you know, kind of what are you hoping to do?

What are suggestions you have, questions?

Um, you know, I think we've sent out an updated board packet last year.

Okay, so we can we can send another one if it needs any updates or something like that.

We will have an update because there will be a new board list.

I don't know if you that was included.

In September.

Okay.

Yeah, so we'll make sure.

And if you don't have it, let me know.

Is it yeah, it's just a matter of actually probably finding the email.

Yeah, but yeah, so we can send the board packet.

And then our next meeting will be at the end of January.

Um if everything works way, right?

Um this has been great.

This is great.

Yeah, so any any questions or suggestions or things that you would want clarification on or are interested in, just let us know.

We're always happy to answer questions and hear feedback.

But I do need a motion to adjourn.

Oh, yes.

Motion to adjourn.

Seconded.

There you go.

Are they gonna vote?

Aye.

Aye.

I shouldn't I shouldn't jump in with a remote rules.

I don't know what I'm talking about.

I'll say aye.

Yeah, yeah, I think we'll say they're the anyone.