Sheldon, Iowa – The Crossroads Pavilion Board met in regular session Wednesday, April 11th at 6:00 p.m. in the Sherwood Boardroom at the Crossroads Pavilion Event Center. Present were Brittany Behrendsen, Sean Hutchison, Kevin Cain, Marv Van Riesen, Pete Hamill, Lora Vande Brake, Tom Eggers, Rob Roozeboom, Peter Wagner, and Tricia Meendering.
The calendar of confirmed bookings was the first item of old business discussed. Dates are filling in quickly, and open dates can be viewed on the Pavilion’s website. Ladies Night Out was a new event added by the Sheldon Chamber & Development Corporation to coincide with their annual Ladies Day Out, and was met with great success and generated a lot of positive feedback.
Upon invitation, Bob Kirshbaum of the Pearson Lakes Art Center attended this month’s meeting to share his insight and thoughts on ways the two event centers may be able to collaborate in the future. A few key points he shared about their booking process at PLAC included having all shows fully sponsored by donors prior to the event, and really getting to know the donors they work with. Individuals often step forward and offer to sponsor a specific type of show, and, if that’s something that will draw the community into the center, it is pursued. Kirshbaum shared that they book many of their shows to take place on a weekday, generally Thursday, because the behind the scenes costs associated with the event are typically much lower. He stated that the PLAC would be happy to work with the Crossroads Pavilion in the future to share bookings that would be mutually-beneficial to both event centers.
Pete Hamill reported on behalf of the Special Entertainment Committee and presented a rough draft of a contract to book the Killer Vees for a concert on September 14th. The group is very popular in the twin cities area and perform a Neil Diamond tribute. The cost would be $15K – $17K and sponsors have already stepped forward at $2,500 each to cover part of the expense, but more sponsors are still being sought. A motion was passed for Hamill to confirm the booking and submit a deposit, and he and Hutchison will meet to refine the details of the contract. The Pavilion is coming up on its first anniversary, and it was agreed that this would be a great way to celebrate.
In regards to the Friends of the Pavilion, discussion revolved around what financial and volunteer memberships might look like. Hamill has been working on finding someone to chair the Friends of the Pavilion but hasn’t had quite the response he’d hoped for. Eggers asked if there was one step that the board could take to get things started, and Wagner said he would get the 501C3 set up and paid for so the Pavilion can accept donations as an entity separate from the city.
In addition, the date for the Accessibilities Expo has been set for May 4th, 2019, due to the fact that every weekend this fall is already completely booked. Wagner also shared with the board that he has been approached by a corporate sponsor who wants to host an evening featuring craft beer companies on a Thursday this coming October.
New business included an update on hiring a full-time event manager. Behrendsen thanked the board for supporting her during Wednesday morning’s city council meeting and seeing the need to fill this position at the Pavilion. A job description will be advertised shortly via many outlets and will remain open until the right candidate has been found.
Hutchison sent out evaluation forms for each board member to fill out, due back by April 23rd, for Behrendsen’s annual review. The responses will be compiled no later than May 3rd and reviewed by the board before the actual review, which will be given by Hutchison, Cain, Van Riesen, and Vande Brake.
In other business, Behrendsen said she was approached about the possibility of a key being given to the Sheldon prom committee so they can come and go during set up on Friday. The board said they were not going to allow that, but Van Riesen volunteered to be available to grant access on Friday to those who need it after hours. The next regular meeting of the Board is set for Wednesday, May 9th, 2018, and will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the Sherwood Boardroom at the Crossroads Pavilion Event Center.
