SOP

Standard Operating Procedures for the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company
8/17/07 Draft

The operations of the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company shall be governed by its bylaws.
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.
4. Membership shall entitle the member to the right to vote on organizational matters, the right to hold office or a seat on the Board of Directors, as well as other benefits to be determined by the Board of Directors.
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 $100US 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 by the Executive Committee.
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. A form will be provided with guidelines for what shall serve as adequate research.
  3. Purchase proposals should ideally be made two weeks prior to when the goods or service must be ordered. This may be waived in certain instances pending the approval of the Executive Committee, including the President and Treasurer.
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.
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.
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.
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 be appointed.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Record Keeping

TO BE ADDED BEFORE NEXT BOARD MEETING