ARTC Standard Operating Procedures

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Standard Operating Procedures for the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company

8/17/07 Draft

SOPs in PDF format
Addendum in PDF format

1. The operations of the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company shall be governed by its bylaws.
2. As noted in Article I, Paragraph c of the bylaws, membership shall be contingent upon the payment of a registration fee.
   1. This fee shall be set at $5, payable to the Secretary, who shall then turn over the monies to the Treasurer.
   2. Membership is for one calendar year.
   3. Registration shall be deemed expired when in arrears for over 60 days, however for the purposes of this organization, membership durations shall be retroactive to the first day of each calendar year, regardless of when the fee is paid.
3. Budgets
   1. As required by Article VIII of the bylaws, all expenditures must be approved by both the President and the Treasurer, with the following exception. Expenses that fall at or below the amount of $50US can be approved by either the President OR the Treasurer.
   2. To allow for the smooth functioning of the organization, projects shall have budgets.
      1. Projects that involve live or studio production shall be submitted to the Vice President for approval. The budget shall accompany the project details and will be passed along to the President and Treasurer. Approval of the budget shall be a prerequisite to approval of the project.
      2. Projects that do not involve live or studio production (ie marketing materials, packaging, etc) shall be submitted directly to the Treasurer for consideration and approval by the Treasurer and President. These budgets should be submitted no later than 30 days prior to the money needing to be spent, however if money can be saved by having the budget approved faster then this requirement can be waived by the President and Treasurer.
      3. Projects with a budget of over $1000 shall require the approval of two thirds of the Board of Directors, with the President and Treasurer retaining veto power.
   3. Recurring expenses of variable value (ie postage, etc) shall be evaluated quarterly.
   4. Purchasing
      1. Purchases can be proposed by any member of the organization. Purchases will be evaluated by the Executive Committee, with final approval resting with the President and Treasurer, as outlined above.
      2. Purchase proposals shall demonstrate adequate research to determine the best value. This research shall consist of three competing bids from companies offering like services within a specific time frame. Items included in the research shall include:
         1. Quantity
         2. Cost per unit
         3. Set-up fees (if any)
         4. Deadline
         5. Turnaround time
         6. Estimated total cost
         7. Shipping estimate if the estimated total cost is within $10 between two bidders.
      3. Purchase proposals should ideally be made two weeks prior to the submission deadline for the goods or service. This may be waived in certain instances pending the approval of the Executive Committee, including the President and Treasurer.
4. Contracts
   1. Contracts shall exist between ARTC personnel and the organization.
   2. Subject to the findings of the pre-existing Contract Committee, the following temporary procedures are set in place (8-13-07):
      1. Live Performance
         1. Contracts for live performances shall be a general release and shall be signed by everyone involved.
         2. Yearly releases for all live performances shall be sufficient, rather than signing a new one for every show.
         3. These contracts shall stipulate that no compensation shall be due for the live performance or any FREE distribution of a recording of the performance (ie podcasting).
         4. If the Producer, President, and Treasurer deem that funds produced by the performance are sufficient, compensation MAY be distributed amongst the cast and crew, but it is not required.
         5. If the recording of the performance is sold, compensation shall be negotiated with the cast and crew prior to duplication and new contracts will be signed indicating that the performance has been transferred from LIVE status to STUDIO status.
      2. Studio Production
         1. TO BE REVISED UPON COMPLETION OF THE CONTRACT COMMITTEE’S WORK.
5. Marketing
   1. Marketing of the organization shall consist of the following:
      1. Creating and maintaining a brand identity for the organization.
      2. Creating and implementing ideas for marketing and promoting the company’s live shows and studio productions.
      3. Appointing someone else to act as spokesman for the organization.
      4. Determining a budget for all of the above activities. This includes discounts or promotional items.
   2. A record of media publications and outlets shall be maintained to distribute press releases and submit to public calendars.
   3. Fifty (50) CDs per calendar year shall be allocated to be given away as promotional items. Any number of CDs beyond 50 must be treated as an expense and receive approval from the President and the Treasurer. Additionally, the President and Treasurer shall have authority to designate who may give these promotional items away.
6. Sales
   1. The sales table shall be set up and adequately staffed for each live performance. Product shall be placed in a way to maximize sales, draw attention to newer releases and releases that may have shown poor sales in the past.
   2. Mail order sales shall be filled in a timely manner.
7. Production
   1. Studio Productions
      1. Each studio production shall have a Producer
      2. Each active studio production shall have a deadline, which shall be adhered to as much as possible. Deadlines should be realistic.
         1. In the event that a deadline is not met, the Producer shall be asked for an update on the project to determine what difficulties are being met and how they can be solved, and a new deadline set.
         2. Once the deadline is extended 3 times, a new Producer may come in and take over the project from the original Producer.
   2. Each production, whether live or studio, shall be subject to the approval of the Vice President, who shall act as Executive Producer.
   3. The Producer of any project shall be responsible for the list of activities spelled out in the Producer’s Checklist, which shall be an addendum to these Standard Operating Procedures.
8. Publication
   1. Each new release must be evaluated for quality prior to distribution.
   2. After evaluation the final authority to release a new publication rests with the Vice President and the Producer of the piece in question.
9. Appointed Officers
   1. To allow for the smooth functioning of the organization, members of the Executive Committee may appoint officers and assistants to help them with their duties.
   2. Appointed offices are an adjunct of the office which appointed them, given certain authority. The appointing office shall retain all their usual authority over any decisions made by the appointed officer.
   3. Appointed officers serve at the pleasure of the officers who appointed them or the President.
   4. A record of appointed officers and assistants shall be kept indicating the title of the officer and a detailed accounting of their duties and authority. This record shall be kept separately from the Standard Operating Procedures.
10. Committees
    1. Committees shall be appointed with specific goals by either the Board of Directors or the Executive Committee. Each committee shall have a Chair which shall ensure that the stated goals of the committee are met.
    2. Committees shall have a deadline set, or if an ongoing committee shall have frequency of reports set.
    3. A record of committees and who serves on them shall be kept indicating the name of the committee, the Chair, and a detailed accounting of the committee’s duties and responsibilities. This record shall be kept separately from the Standard Operating Procedures.

Addendum

Motion:

Resolved: The Board of Directors of ARTC shall establish a standing committee to be referred to as the E Mail Meeting Standing Committee. The Committee membership shall be identical to the Board of Directors. The Committee chair shall be the President.

The purpose of the committee is to allow deliberation and passage of resolutions via email. Rules for the committee shall follow the rules for Board meetings as established in the bylaws but shall otherwise be altered as follows:

1. The Committee meeting shall be considered in order whenever a motion is put before it.
2. A motion shall be made by submitting an email with a second to the chair.
3. The chair shall refer the motion to the board members via an email distribution list. The chair is not responsible for determining whether the email has been received. He will set a reasonable deadline for discussion – but no less than 48 hours. He may set a longer deadline and he may, at his discretion, extend discussion.
4. After discussion, a vote will be held via email. He will set a reasonable deadline for voting– but no less than 48 hours. He may set a longer deadline and he may, at his discretion, extend voting to allow for extraordinary circumstances. Any reasonable form for a vote will be accepted as long as the intent is clear. If all members have voted, the chair may declare the voting closed before the expiration of the deadline.
5. Quorum requirement shall be considered to be met when a sufficient number of votes have been registered in accordance with the Board Meeting Bylaws plus one.
6. There must be an acknowledgement of receipt of email to count towards a quorum.
7. No amendments shall be considered in order. Motions may not be “tabled”.
8. After holding a vote, the results of the vote will be reported at the next Board of Directors Meeting as an agenda item. If the report is formally accepted in accordance with the Rules of Order, the motion/resolution shall be considered binding.
9. The President shall be authorized to act on resolutions passed by the Email Meeting Standing Committee in advance of the Board Meeting. If the report is not accepted, the President will make his best effort to reverse any steps taken.
10. A quarterly census of the email list must be conducted to determine that everyone is on the mailing list.