1. Call to Order.
   
   The General Meeting of the Albuquerque Theatre Guild membership was convened at the Box Performance Space by ATG President Hugh Witemeyer who called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m. On behalf of the ATG, he thanked The Box Performance Space for allowing us to use its facilities for our gathering.
   
   
2. Reports.
   
   Standing Committees and Circles reported on their achievements in 2008-09 and their plans for 2009-10. Each committee stated its need for additional volunteers to share its work.
   
   
   • Buzz Committee.  Chair Linda López McAlister reported on the Committee’s 2008-2009 accomplishments including publication of two issues (12,000 copies) of our brochure; selection of web redesign and PR firm for the McCune Grant project; publicizing of member theatres’ events in monthly press releases to the media, events calendars, etc.; holding a press conference in the Mayor’s office to award Youth Theatre Scholarships; creation of 10,000 rack cards being distributed statewide by Fun and Games, Inc.; getting an ATG page on the NM Tourism Department’s website; getting 44 free on-air spots on KUNM to publicize the Guild and its new website in February and March; getting a “Theatre” page added to the ACVB’s Concierge Handbook; establishing ATG Facebook and Twitter pages; providing information on ATG theatres to the author of “The Insiders Guide to Albuquerque”; organizing an ATG booth at the 2009 Albuquerque PrideFest; placing monthly ads in the Arts Alive! co-op advertising section of the Albuquerque Journal; and arranging a free ATG ad in the NM Jazz Workshop summer program.
     
     
   • Unity Committee.  Claudia Mathes thanked all those ATG members who worked on or with the Unity Committee in its various efforts during the past year.  These included the first General Auditions, the costume/props sharing initiative; the Holiday party, props and stage management workshops and the recent “The Taste of Theatre” celebration.  This year’s General Auditions, including musical theatre auditions will take place on June 13 and 14 at the N4th Theatre.
     
     
   • Individual Member Meeting.  Virginia Ludvik reported on the meeting of Individual Members and some of the various ideas and suggestions that emerged, including increasing youth involvement in ATG, more workshops.  They also expressed the desire for additional networking initiatives beyond the website. Individual members also suggested an additional member benefit of making dress rehearsals or a last-minute rush option open to members.
     
     
   • Web Committee.  Jeremy Gwinn reported that the new website has been up and running since mid-February and that if anyone needs assistance they should contact .  He invited feedback and suggestions of ways to improve the website in the future.
     
     
   • Membership Committee.  Hugh Witemeyer reported for the Membership Committee that as of this date we have 29 Member Theatres and 166 Individual Members of the Guild.  The Committee is hoping to expand member benefits for the coming year.  The dues level will remain the same ($30 and $15 for full-time students) with the possibility of a three year renewal for $90.  The Committee will recommend to the Board that a new membership category be established for “allied members” which are theatrical rental venues but not themselves producers of theatrical works such as Popejoy, the Kimo, South Broadway Cultural Center.  He announced that requests for organizational member renewals will be sent out this week.
     
     
   • Playwrights’ Circle.  Mark Dunn announced that it’s the first anniversary of the Circle and he thanked ATG for acknowledging playwrights.  The Circle now has fifteen members, all of whom must be individual members of the Guild, and they are meeting regularly.  The Circle has initiated a play reading series, the third of which is to be held this afternoon at the Albuquerque Little Theatre at 3:30 p.m.; admission is free.  Each playwright arranges his own reading.
     
     
   • Directors’ Circle.  The Chair of the Director’s Circle was unable to be present to report, but the Circle has had two meetings so far.  At the last one representatives of various theatres were present to give information on how they select shows and directors.
     
     
   • Youth Theatre Circle.  Since this Circle is presently without a Chair, Hugh Witemeyer made a request for someone to volunteer to head up this group.  This year it established a scholarship program and six $100 scholarships were awarded for tuition to extra-curricular theatre programs sponsored by four of seven eligible ATG groups.  The scholarship selection committee was composed of Erin Hulse, Ramona King, and Myrna Smyer.  The scholarships were awarded at a press conference in Mayor Chavez’ office in May and winners will be attending programs sponsored by: East Mountain Center for Theatre, New Mexico Young Actors, The Box, and The Growing Stage.

    

3. Election of Individual Member Board Representatives.

   An election was held for 2 Individual Member Representatives to serve on the ATG Board of Directors for a two-year term.  The candidates were: Claudia Mathes, Preston Mendenhall, Val Scott, Ernie Sturdevant, Catherine Hughes, and Georgia Ahearn.  [Note: the results were announced via email after the meeting:  Claudia Mathes and Preston Mendenhall were elected, with Val Scott and Georgia Athearn the runners up who will serve as alternates].. These elected representatives will serve until June, 2011. Virginia Ludvik and Ray Orley will continue to serve until June, 2010.  All of the candidates who accepted nominations and stood as candidates for election received warm thank from the membership.

4. Open Discussion.

   Hugh Witemeyer opened the floor to discussion from the floor about ATG and, in particular, about the need that’s becoming apparent for a restructuring of its organizational and governance structure.  Various ideas and options were discussed and the issue will continue to be explored at the June 6 Board Meeting to be held at the Adobe Theatre at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 6th.

5. Adjournment. 

   The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Linda López McAlister, Secretary