ABA Committee Reports
By-Laws
At the January business meeting, Rich Kopels presented a proposed change to the by-laws that would eliminate “Associate memberships” for dance clubs. This required amending the wording in Article 3 section 2 - to read any “non-dance clubs.” Associate clubs would be given two years to meet the requirements to convert from Associate membership to a Regular ABA membership. After discussion amongst the directors, Rich withdrew the By-Law amendment to change the Standing Rules instead.
Standing Rules – There were three Standing Rule issues discussed at the January meeting.
The first involved changing the publication date of the Newsletter to one month later. The dates would be March, June, September, and December.
This change for moving the newsletter dates was approved.
The second issue dealt with who could be an Associate member of the ABA. Doug Brown presented the motion to amend the Standing Rules change to read as follows:
“A dance club which was an associate member on Jan 13, 2007, and any dance club which joins the ABA as an Associate Member on or after January 13, 2007 shall have 2 years to qualify for and become a Regular dance club member. A club choosing not to become a Regular Member shall not be permitted to renew after the 2-year period and any reapplication by a club that was previously an Associate member must be as a Regular member.”
This change was approved.
The third change defined what benefits a regular member club would be entitled to over and above the benefits of Associate membership. Doug presented the motion that defined the difference in benefits and it reads as follows:
*Only Regular Member Clubs are entitled to:
 | Receive advertising of club sponsored events on the ABA web site and in the ABA newsletter. |
| Are permitted to vote on any ABA business |
| May hold an office |
| Receive the protection of music licensing |
This change to define the benefits for Regular Members was approved.
Hall of Fame
At the January business meeting, Gary Chaney reported he was very pleased with the Hall of Fame choices this past year, with Millie and George Woods were inducted in St. Louis, and Larry Fournier was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cincinnati.
Gary displayed an example of an excellent application and urged everyone to fill out all information fully. He encouraged each club to nominate a member and to make an extra effort to make their presentation showcase their nominee.
He requested that the chairman of the Hall of Fame be granted a free room and tickets to the ABA event where the inductions are to take place. Gary indicated that an amount up to $250 is included in the Hall of Fame budget to reimburse the chairman for the expenses occurred to attend the Hall of Fame Induction if she is not provided with a free room and event ticket.
Membership
In 2006 – Northeast Social Dance Club became a Regular Member.
SE Georgia and Shag Atlanta became Associate Members.
Several clubs inquired about membership and were sent packets including Hilton Head and Daytona Beach Boppers. We are waiting to hear from these clubs.
ABA Website
The web site has received up to 100,000 hits and when he received information on club events, they were added within 2 minutes.
All major changes to the web are to come through the President of the ABA.
ABA Newsletter
The ABA continues to send 36 printed copies of the newsletter to individual clubs, directors, and Hall of Fame members.
At the January business meeting, Jim Laux encouraged each club to commit to contributing at least one article to the newsletter a year or contribute to the “Topic of the Quarter” for discussion.
Music Licensing
I spoke with a gentleman from SESAC who is in the process of organizing information for music licensing to fit the ABA’s needs. This gentleman was quite informed. He lives in Nashville and has attended Music City’s annual event. You just never know who’s amongst us.
He did verify that if a club’s event is in an establishment already covered by ASCAP/SESAC/BMI, then it does not need separate coverage. If, however, the facility is not covered, then coverage must be secured for any one time event.
ABA Financial Report for 2006
| Beginning Balance | $17,932 | |||
| Income | Expense | |||
| Member Dues - New | 400 | Business Meeting | 488 | |
| Member Dues - Renewal | 2,850 | ABA Web Page | 78 | |
| Conventions | 1,444 | Postage/Copies/Office Supplies | 253 | |
| ABA Cruise | 7,000 | Newsletter | 269 | |
| Music Licensing | 409 | Hospitality - ABA Conv & Music City | 1,250 | |
| Misc Income | 108 | ABA Hall of Fame | 688 | |
| Director Expenses | 0 | |||
| Music Licensing | 839 | |||
| President Expenses | 299 | |||
| Donations | 0 | |||
| Misc Expenses | 367 | |||
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| Total Income | 12,211 | Total Expenses | 4,531 | |
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| Ending Balance | $25,612 | |||
| Income Vs. Expenses | 7,680 | |||
