Spring 2008 COCA Meeting Minutes

COCA Meeting Minutes for Spring 2008 semester. Meeting minutes for Spring 2008 were taken by co-chair Jay Cassano

April 17, 2008
Present: Alex Vara, Jay Cassano, Wes Ringel, Ben Nazzaro

Proposals:


 * Jamie Freidberg and Adam Zucker


 * Sudan Lecturer
 * Approved Total $500, as requested


 * Local Foods Initiative


 * Spring Jam local foods feast
 * Approved Total $1000, as requested

Movie Night:


 * Need to do publicity. Divided up postering tasks. Jay will create a facebook event.

Spring Jam:


 * Finalized band line-up
 * Need to produce and distribute schedules
 * Need a crew of COCA volunteers available to staff Spring Jam
 * Email Special Programs updated floor plan

To-do list:


 * Consider permanent purchase of a tent for events.

April 10, 2008
Present: Alex Vara, Jay Cassano, Wes Ringel

Proposals:


 * Jamie Freidberg and Adam Zucker


 * Reggae Revolution
 * Approved Total $1520, as requested


 * Sexperts:


 * A Dialogue on Alternative Sexualities
 * Approved Total $600, as requested


 * Sisters:


 * The Olympic Torch and the Role of Media
 * Approved Total $200, -$200 because of food limit of $4 per person


 * Local Foods Initiative&amp; Greenhouse:


 * Keith McHenry
 * Denied; COCA cannot fit this event in as part of Spring Jam, but would gladly approve the speaker's honorarium for another date

Spring Jam:


 * Wes will put in PhysPlant work orders
 * Picked bands for Spring Jam
 * Coordinated logistics for student groups that wish to participate in Spring Jam.
 * Kamil dropped off Dead Prez's rider
 * Need to secure NABs and extra water for frozen drink machine

April 3, 2008
Present: Jay Cassano (arrived late), Alex Vara, Joanna Price, Raff Kenney, Wes Ringel

Proposals:


 * HUA


 * Marx in Soho
 * Jerry Levy needs the full $3200 to come perform.
 * Additional $1200 Approved, bringing total for this even to $3200
 * Michael Albert
 * Michael Albert is asking for $3000
 * Approved Total $1500
 * Because of the other funding for HUA this semester and general budget constraints, COCA is unable to fund the full $3000. COCA encourages HUA to pursue funding from other offices on campus


 * Greenhouse


 * Save The Greenhouse event
 * $527.10 Approved Total, as requested


 * AMC (on behalf of Jamie Friedberg and Adam Zucker)


 * Save Darfur benefit concert
 * Deferred, until more information is provided


 * SJP


 * Lecture
 * $1232 Approved Total, as requested

Spring Jam:


 * Decided to make dunking booth a benefit for the Greenhouse


 * Jay and the Greenhouse group will find people to fill the dunking booth (1-6pm)


 * We want as many student groups as possible to participate in Spring Jam


 * Jay will email the Hampsigners list to encourage student groups to be a part of Spring Jam


 * Need to secure a water supply for dunking booth, slip n slide, and the frozen drink machine


 * Joanna will contact Sodexho and Physplant


 * Need to go over Hampshire band demos sometime in the near future
 * Food and NABs during the daytime:


 * Watermelon
 * Potato Rolls
 * Cookies &amp; Brownies
 * Fruit, Veggies, and Hummus/Dip
 * Chips &amp; Salsa
 * Water &amp; Lemonade


 * Theatrix:


 * We would like to place a $4000 cap on Theatrix's cost.
 * Can we get a two stage set up for $4000?
 * Need technical riders from headliners

New Leaf/Omen Statement:


 * Jay will draft statement, the content of which was approved at this meeting. No need for further discussion in COCA.

March 27, 2008
Present: Jay Cassano, Alex Vara, Alex Reese, Joanna Price

Proposals:


 * Jorie Sapir


 * Future of Israeli-Palestinian Relations
 * $1905 Approved Total, as requested


 * Queer Community Alliance


 * Christina Handhart
 * Denied;Previously approved in Drag Ball funding.


 * Counselor Advocates


 * Depression Speak-out
 * $250 Approved Total, as requested


 * HUA


 * Marx in Soho
 * $2000 Approved Total, as requested
 * -$1200 due to budget constraints; will give more money if needed to bring performer


 * AMC


 * Concert
 * $475 Approved Total, as requested

Movie Night:


 * Will cost $1400 to rent the screen from KEC Party Rentals


 * KEC needs three dedicated circuits to run the screen or we need to pay an extra $150 to rent two portable generators


 * Will cost extra (TBD) to rent a film and get licensing from Swank Motion Pictures


 * Edit: Swank is charging $200 plus shipping


 * Details:


 * "Breakfast At Tiffany's" is the film we will show
 * April 19th is the date of the showing
 * Approx 7:30pm (immediately after dusk) is the time
 * The location is on the Greenwich Lawn

Spring Jam:


 * Theatrix:


 * Need technical riders from headliners
 * Need to decide on one or two stage set up


 * KEC:


 * Food Rentals:
 * Popcorn Machine
 * Frozen Drink Machine
 * Sno Cone Machine
 * Popcorn Machine
 * Ride Rentals:
 * Dunking Booth
 * Two Lane Slip n Slide
 * Adrenaline Rush II Obstacle Course
 * Pedestal Joust


 * Sodexho:


 * Dinner 5-7
 * marcyandpeggy@hotmail.com for sodexho catering
 * We need to have snacks and non-alcoholic beverages available all times that beer is being served


 * R&amp;P:


 * Need to write up a contract with Nate

March 13, 2008
Present: Alex Vara, Shane Foster, Jay Cassano, Alex Reese, Joanna Price

Proposals:


 * Counselor Advocates


 * Self-Love Day
 * $200 Approved Total, as requested


 * Creative Music Collective


 * Peter Blasser, Layne Garrett, Crystalline Roses
 * $783 Approved Total, as requested


 * Ashtanga Yoga Society


 * Petri Raisanen
 * $300 Approved Total
 * -$20 because they have met the limit for a new group.

Spring Jam:


 * Liquor:


 * Need to fill out a PO to R&amp;P for the permit
 * Want the beer garden open from 3-9pm, check with Pub Safety if they object to that
 * Tell Nathan at R&amp;P that we want to do all local beer this year. Our first two choices are Berkshire Brewing Company &amp; Opa-Opa. (Wes will do this)


 * Tents:


 * Tent for beer garden: 40'x40'
 * Tent for food: 40'x60'
 * Tent for music: 40'x80'
 * Contact Creedon


 * Rides &amp; Concessions:


 * People will think about the rides from KEC that they want and we will decide next meeting
 * Would like to get: popcorn machine, snow cones, and cotton candy


 * Sound:


 * Contact Theatrix (Jay)


 * Bands:


 * Put up magic board slide saying how to get your band to play at Spring Jam
 * Stuff mailboxes with slips


 * Discussed an arrangement with the Hip Hop Collective (Kamil) to bring Dead Prez as the main headliner for Spring Jam.


 * COCA will give another $2500 to Hip Hop Collective for the Triggering Change Conference
 * COCA needs a contract that says that we will have Dead Prez perform at Spring Jam (10:30 or 11pm to midnight on April 26th) for the contributions from COCA and Hip Hop Collective to triggering change
 * COCA needs to be able to look over this contract before transferring the $2500
 * Email activist signers to participate in the Triggering Change Conference once their logistics are confirmed

New Event Idea:


 * "Movie on the Lawn"


 * We could show a film outdoors one evening/night on a drive-in movie style screen
 * Contact KEC to organize event
 * Need to publicize
 * Need to choose a movie. It was suggested that a "classic" movie such as Casablanca or Breakfast at Tiffany's would be best

March 7, 2008
This meeting was exclusively for beginning to plan Spring Jam logistics


 * Food:


 * We want to have lunch served from 1-4pm on the lawn and the all-community dinner in the RCC from 5-7pm
 * We should talk to food student groups to see if they would like to provide some food
 * Need to schedule a meeting with Doug (from Sodexho) to discuss food arrangements


 * We want student groups to contribute to Spring Jam however they can


 * Email the Hampsigners list to see what student groups would be interested in participating in Spring Jam
 * Post the same announcement to HC announcements as well


 * Music:


 * All band contacts will go directly through COCA - no one other than COCA should be booking artists for Spring Jam. Other individuals or groups can of course contact bands, but the decision rests with COCA. This is to avoid confusion and accidental booking. It also streamlines the payment process for performers.
 * Hampshire bands will contact Alex Vara (atv07) if they are interested in playing. The info needed from a Hampshire band is as follows:
 * Names of band members
 * Contact info for ALL band members and a specified primary contact
 * A Demo CD placed in COCA's box in the SDCL with a note attached stating that it is for Spring Jam
 * Hampshire band deadline for submissions: March 28th


 * Spring Jam Schedule:


 * Set-up: 12pm-1pm
 * Sodexho will set up the all-community lunch outside in food tent
 * Theatrix will set up the stages and sound equipment in the music tent
 * Creedon will set up the tents prior to 12pm
 * Daytime events: 1-6pm
 * Beer Garden will be open, run by R&amp;P liquors
 * Hampshire bands will be performing in the music tent
 * All-community dinner: 5-7 in the RCC
 * Set-up: 8-9pm
 * Theatrix sets up the stages and equipment for the night performance
 * Nighttime: 9pm-Midnight
 * Off-campus bands/"Headliners" perform


 * To-do:


 * Set up a meeting with Doug
 * Set up a meeting with Josiah and Kelley
 * Post to HC Announcements and Hampsigners about participating in Spring Jam
 * Post to HC Announcements about what Hampshire bands need to do to play Spring Jam
 * Call R&amp;P to discuss Beer Garden and getting local beer

March 6, 2008
Present: Jay Cassano, Shane Foster, Alex Vara, Brian Van Slyke, Alex Reese, Wes Ringel, Joanna Price, Ben Nazzaro

Proposals:


 * Greenhouse


 * Saturday Brunch
 * $652 Approved Total, as requested
 * Other events will be resubmitted with more detail.


 * UPZ


 * Breaking the Silence
 * $375 Approved Total; (-95 for advertising costs)
 * In the Land of Settlers
 * $385 Approved Total, as requested


 * AMC


 * Concert
 * Funding not necessary; funding is already in the account because a previously funded similar event was cancalled.


 * Zine Collective


 * Political Prisoner Support
 * $875 Approved Total, as requested


 * New Leaf/WARF


 * Liberation Ecology Workshop
 * Additional funding rejected; has already been funded through the SAF via New Leaf


 * HALA


 * End Primate Testing Tabling
 * Deferred; more information needed.


 * Hip Hop Collective


 * Multiple events; total semester event budget
 * Kamil came in and resolved the issues we had from last week
 * $4526 Approved Total, bringing the full semester total to $11000 with last week's funding


 * TSA/CLPP


 * CLPP Conference entertainment
 * Jackson came in to discuss the proposal with us.
 * Because CLPP is an office funded by Hampshire College, COCA is uncomfortable funding this event through the SAF. However, more funding is needed and this is an important community event.
 * $2500 Approved Total, to be used however the CLPP entertainment committee sees fit
 * COCA urges the CLPP entertainment committee to seek additional funding from the President's Office, the SDCL, and the separate house offices.

Spring Jam:


 * Immediate to-do list:


 * Local Beer (from last week's meeting minutes; Joanna)
 * Email David Wagner at the admissions office with date of Spring Jam to coordinate with accepted students day (Wes)
 * Need to finalize our schedule in order to file an ERF


 * Notes:


 * We have decided to go through Theatrix, rather than media services.
 * Need to coordinate with Doug from Sodexho about the all-community dinner the night of Spring Jam.


 * Spring Jam only meeting tomorrow, March 7th at 7pm in the Community Council office.

Resource Working Group:


 * Joanna is heading it up and will arrange a meeting and preliminary ideas soon.

February 28, 2008
Present: Alex Vara, Jay Cassano, Shane Foster, Brian Van Slyke, Alex Reese, Ben Nazzaro, Wes Ringel, Joanna Price

Proposals:


 * Hip Hop Collective


 * Five Different Events
 * We had some questions about the proposal regarding honorarium amounts and repeat artists throughout the semester. Deferred until next week.
 * However, because some events are up coming soon, we decided to approve the first two so that the Hip Hop Collective has some money to work with for now.
 * Kamil will come to COCA next week to discuss the proposals.
 * $6474 Approved Total


 * QCA


 * Drag Ball []
 * $5602 Approved Total


 * Circus Folk Unite


 * Student Circus Resurgence Conference
 * Tara Jacob came in on behalf of Circus
 * $5623.50 Approved Total
 * with the stipulation that we will receive receipts after the event to ensure that funding matched expenses; we also expect to receive some money back from off-campus registration fees.


 * TSA


 * CLPP Conference entertainment
 * Will re-review at next week's meeting.


 * Alex Torpey and Jorie Sapir


 * Two students who are not part of a recognized student group want to bring a speaker to campus. We need to develop a policy on whether to and how to fund students "at-large" (not affiliated with any student group). Proposal deferred until the development of such a policy.


 * Jewish Student Union


 * Deferred to FiCom: not an event.

Spring Jam: Local Foods Initiative wants us to look into purchasing beer from local breweries for the beer garden this year. This is the list of recommended local breweries that we need to look into:


 * People's Pint
 * Berkshire Brewing Co.
 * Paper City Brewing
 * Opa-Opa Brewing

Community Council Party


 * Deferred to next week due to lack of time in meeting. Alex R. and Jay have been working on it outside of meeting time.

Internal COCA business:


 * COCA now has a functioning email address: coca@hampshire.edu. It will be checked by COCA officers.
 * Resource List. COCA wants to put together a list of resources to help student groups be more successful in planning events. It was decided to form a working group to take this on. Joanna volunteered to head up the working group.
 * Joanna Price wishes to join COCA. This was her first meeting attended; two more meetings and she will be a voting member of COCA.
 * We should also develop a list of events that recur every year.

Miscellaneous things to deal with:


 * Bands are technically prohibited from selling merchandise on campus when they play shows here.
 * We mail performers/speakers their check weeks after they complete their contract. They should be paid immediately after services rendered. This is a problem with the business office bureaucracy.
 * Pub Safety expenses are very high and we have no control over how much they charge us. During events, they are effectively the employees of the student body (being paid by the SAF), however, they are employees who determine when they are hired and how much they are paid. In addition, there are the issues of discrepancy between the cost of hiring student event monitors and what student monitors are actually paid.
 * Need to create a "how to write a good event proposal" section on Hampedia
 * Need to work out our filing system.

February 23, 2008
Present: Jay Cassano, Alex Reese

Proposals Reviewed:


 * AMC


 * Comedy Night, Neil Hamburger
 * Honorarium: $600
 * Attendance: 50
 * Security: $150
 * Sound: $150
 * Advertising: $3
 * Approved Total: $903


 * Black History Month Committee:


 * Sound $150 (-50)
 * Ad: $5 (-45)
 * Honorarium: $0 (-100: The SAF cannot pay Hampshire students)
 * Approved Total: $355


 * Counselor Advocates


 * Andrea's Voice: $800 approved
 * T-shirt Event: $150 approved
 * Sexual Assault speak out: $40 approved
 * Depression speak out: $40 approved


 * Figure 8


 * Show: $110 approved (-35 for advertising)
 * Workshop: $105 approved (-15 for advertising)


 * HALA


 * Vivisection: $825 approved

February 21, 2008
Present: Shane Foster, Jay Cassano, Andi Kristinsdottir, Ben Nazarro, Alex Vara, Wes Ringel (second meeting attended)

Proposals Reviewed:


 * Jackson came on behalf of TSA to request an additional $4000 for additional performers for the CLPP conference. This was deferred because we needed a more detailed itemized list of where the $4000 will be going; we cannot allocate a blanket $4000.
 * QCA


 * Drag Ball - April 11: approved for $5440 [deferred temporarily due to confusion in different versions of the proposal. Will review at next meeting.]


 * Sisters


 * SPA NIGHT - April 18: approved for $150 ($20 less than requested because they exceed max food budget)


 * Sisters (on behalf of FISH):


 * Celebrating Diversity at Hampshire - approved for $600
 * International Film Festival - approved for $383


 * UMOJA (on behalf of James Baldwin Scholars):


 * Bowling Night - approved for $200
 * James Baldwin Reunion / End of the Year Celebration - not approved because of high cost of food (need more details in order to override set maximum of $4 per person of food
 * Sponsored SOURCE events - not approved due to lack of detail. Need some specifics of these events.
 * Contact: don06, far06, jlk06 to follow up


 * UMOJA:


 * Sengthening the Source Community Workshop: approved for $330


 * Mixed Heritage (on behalf of PASA):


 * Intersectionalism Film Series: approved for $449
 * Tribute to Benazir Bhutto: approved for $493


 * Greenhouse Student Endowment Proposal:


 * Tentatively Approved. This is an unorthodox expenditure of the SAF for which there is no precedent. We will approve it, but there is no way we can actually guarantee that the funds will be disbursed. Will defer to FiCom on Monday.


 * RAICES:


 * all events approved for total of $1540


 * COCA/AMC/New Leaf:


 * Evan Greer workshop and concert - approved for $1125

Internal COCA business:


 * Organization meeting tomorrow at 3pm.
 * Signer meeting for Spring Jam logistics with Josiah tentatively scheduled for Tuesday the 26th at 9am.

February 7, 2008
Present: Shane, Jay, Alex Vara, Ben, Wes (first meeting attended)

Proposals:


 * Outing Club and Climbers Coalition proposal received; Marissa Baker-Wagner and Sophie DeHainaut attended to represent the student groups. Contact Marissa at mb06 for follow-ups. []
 * Circus Folk Unite, represented by Tara Jacobs, presented their proposal for the Circus Conference the last week of March. Contact circusfolkunite(at)gmail[dot]com for follow-ups. []
 * We tabled all proposals until we have a budget from FiCom and money in our account.

COCA's to-do list:


 * Organize all our information and create a good filing and archiving system.
 * Write by-laws
 * Start planning Spring Jam. COCA signers will arrange a meeting with Josiah in the near future to start working on logistics.
 * Create an email address coca(at)hampshire[dot]edu for receiving electronic proposals.

Internal COCA business:


 * Raff Kenney stepped down from being Chair this semester. Jay Cassano, the previous non-chair signer, was nominated to take Raff's position. 3 in favor, 1 abstention. Jay Cassano is now COCA's other co-chair.
 * To fill the open signer spot from Raff stepping down, Alexandra Vara was nominated to be COCA's third signer. 3 in favor, 1 abstention. Alexandra Vara is now COCA's third signer.
 * Wes Ringel attended his first COCA meeting and wants to join COCA. Two more attended meetings and he will be a voting COCA member.