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Docent Council Meeting Summary, April, 2023

Author Jill Carlson

by Jill Carlson, Class of 2013

Here’s an overview of the April 4 Docent Council meeting held on Zoom. The rest of the 2023 meetings will be hybrid or in person.

Constance Rajala, docent at large, gave an update from the Board of Trustees. Earned revenue from tours, rentals, and retail was over budget forecast for 2022. Revenue from philanthropy, sponsorship, and membership was under forecast. 

Hiring a VP of Finance and a Chief of Staff for our CEO and reorganizing HR are board priorities.

A 2023 balanced budget has been approved by the board with a 6% increase over 2022.

Caroline reported that there are still issues with VM. She and Lexie are working hard to correct the problems before May tour sign up. Several people have been interviewed for a part time position to help Lexie.

Michael Malak, VP of Operations, reported that things are going well. The center is now open seven days a week from 10-5. Group Sales are strong and ahead of last year. River Cruise started March 31.

Docent Council approved Karen Dimond as co-director of Monadnock tour.

As part of the recommendations from the Docent Council Strategy Workshop three task forces – Digital Growth, Docent Experience, and Staff/Docent Interaction – will be formed. Look for the announcement and information about being a member of one on the Bridge soon. 

Committee Reports were brief and referred everyone to the goals and objectives of each committee available in the docent minutes which will be on the Bridge next week.

A big part of the meeting was an extensive presentation from Lisa Nucci, VP of Marketing.

She and her staff have developed a 30 page strategic plan. All of their plans include intense and thorough research involving all of the groups that are part of CAC. They have hired Smarinsights to help. Major goals are launching a new website, refreshing the brand, and “tweaking” Design Matters to be more active. Marketing is also interested in tour promotion and has lots of fresh ideas.

A new architecture.org will launch in the fall. Refreshing the Brand will start with a survey to evaluate present perceptions of targeting, messaging, and engagement of CAC. Branding consistency is important, and we saw some early examples that are already around the city – check out light poles. There were lots of good questions from meeting attendees.

For more details from the meeting, look on the April 14 Bridge for a link to the complete minutes.

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