2026-10-05 - Poet Laureate Task Force

00:05Okay. Well, we can go ahead and get

00:07started. I'm calling going to call this

00:09meeting to order at 5:34 p.m.

00:17Hope everyone is doing well. Um,

00:21Christine, would you mind taking role

00:23for me?

00:25>> Sure thing. Uh, Dr. Nick here.

00:30Ann

00:32>> here.

00:34>> Pam

00:36>> here. Sorry.

00:38>> No worries. Kyle

00:40>> here.

00:41>> Dia

00:43>> here.

00:44>> You have a quorum present. You may

00:46proceed.

00:48>> Awesome. Thank you so much. So, the

00:51first item on the um agenda for us to do

00:54is the approval of the minutes. these

00:56minutes would be well uh the August 3rd

01:00we did we did have a session on we had

01:04two sessions one on September 7th which

01:07was with the city council that was kind

01:08of an informal meeting not official task

01:11force meeting and then we had a working

01:13session on the 14th at which we did not

01:15have quorum hi good to see you um at

01:19which we did not have quorum um so there

01:21were no uh official task force business

01:23or official action taken But the minutes

01:27should reflect August 3rd. So I just

01:30want to make sure that uh we approve

01:32those. And are there any corrections to

01:35those minutes? You all had an

01:37opportunity to take a look at those from

01:39August 3rd.

01:42If hearing no connect uh corrections

01:44then um the minutes are approved as

01:47distributed.

01:50Okay.

01:52So, um, the next thing I want to do is

01:55kind of go over what was accomplished on

01:58September 14th, which was our working

02:00session that the lovely Ann hosted at

02:03RACK. Um, in which myself and Pacia and

02:06Pam got together and wanted to talk

02:10about a number of different things. One

02:12being um, sort of a path forward or a

02:16understanding what a pathway for funding

02:18might look like. And before we started

02:21exploring actual pathways, we wanted to

02:24first ground ourselves in what the

02:26criteria for those pathways would be.

02:29What are the things that must be true?

02:32Regardless of what path we look at, we

02:34want to make sure that these five or six

02:37things in the criteria are met. And so

02:39that was part of our discussion. And

02:42then the other part of our discussion

02:44was to look at the poet laurate

02:47selection process and look at what

02:49opportunities um just kind of go through

02:51that process for those who may have not

02:53been familiar

02:55and then go through where did we uh what

02:58were some misses and wishes? What were

03:00some opportunities for us to improve on

03:02that process? um and what are some of

03:04the things that we must improve before

03:07we go into this next selection um season

03:11going into January. And so we had a a

03:14great conversation around that. And so

03:15what you would have seen in that email

03:17is a recap of that session and some

03:20notes. So hopefully you've had an

03:22opportunity to review those as well as

03:24some pictures from the session. They had

03:26more detailed sticky notes and things

03:28that we discussed as a as a group. So

03:31I'll pause there. Um, any reactions,

03:34questions? I'll kind of open the floor

03:36for discussion.

03:42No reactions. Okay, great. So, tonight

03:45what we want to do is um because we

03:48weren't able to make any decisions in

03:49that room, tonight what we'll do is

03:51bring forward some of the themes. one

03:53being the criteria from that um for the

03:56funding pathways and some open questions

04:00and we'll talk through what some

04:01discovery questions need to look like

04:04and then what I'll do is we'll talk

04:06about um assigning that and so we'll

04:08have a discovery plan at the end of our

04:11call today and essentially you'll walk

04:13away with some level of ownership on

04:15what it what question you need to hunt

04:17down and go get answered and then bring

04:20that back to the task force and then the

04:22Another um item that I want to make sure

04:24that we get through today is um the

04:27selection process and making sure that

04:29we nail down um um some opport what are

04:33the things we definitely want to solve

04:34and then who is going to own those

04:36things as we as we move forward. So

04:38essentially at the end of tonight you

04:41can expect to own some sort of um task

04:44or activity and then be expected to

04:46bring that back in the next task force

04:49meeting.

04:50Okay.

04:52>> So during the working session, we

04:55identified um several things that a

04:58future funding model should possess. And

05:02some of those things were um if you look

05:04at the notes and I don't I have some

05:06notes in front of me,

05:09but I actually I can probably pull them

05:12up if you need me to. If not, then we

05:14can just keep going. But some of the

05:16things um included sustainability,

05:19making sure that it is um unchanged from

05:22administration to administration and we

05:25maintain some sustainability.

05:27Predictability being able to plan around

05:30it is part of the criteria that we

05:32discussed. Making sure that we

05:33understand what's available to us and so

05:36we can so the poet laurate can better

05:39plan for programming. And then

05:41administrative simp simplicity. Um,

05:44we're not sure who's going to own this,

05:46right? Some of the conversation that we

05:48had in the city council's office was

05:50like, who's the parent? Where does this

05:53program kind of sit? Um, and who's going

05:55to own the budget for it? As well as how

05:58easy will it be to track, make sure we

06:00have transparency,

06:02um, and accessibility to the funding is

06:06going to be important. And so that was

06:08part of the criteria.

06:11being able to support both the poet

06:13laurate in compensation as well as

06:16programming was a criterion.

06:19Diverse revenue sources. Um we were

06:21pretty adamant I think about no

06:23corporate funding I believe. Um but

06:26having pretty diverse streams of uh

06:29sources available and um and putting

06:33aside rack, right? you know, not being

06:36totally dependent on rack and what they

06:38might be able to do, but just making

06:40make sure we're broadening our scope.

06:43Accountability. So, make one of making

06:46sure that the criteria includes um being

06:48accountable not only for ourselves but

06:50um the city as well. Um some

06:53traceability again is part of that,

06:55right? Making sure we have proper

06:56documentation. We know where money is

06:58going. We know how money is being used.

07:00And then two we can report that back to

07:03the board of alderman and say this is

07:05what we've done with what you've given

07:07us. And then the last thing that we

07:09discussed was um making sure that we are

07:12continuously learning from comparable

07:14poet laurate programs not necessarily a

07:17criteria for funding pathways but just

07:20uh another note that was included. So,

07:25one of the things um one of the things I

07:28want to do is make sure that we open the

07:30floor for discussion. So, I want to open

07:33the floor for discussion on um is there

07:37anything missing and if this criteria

07:40fits um what the task force will be

07:43expecting. So,

07:47do I have a motion to open the floor for

07:49discussion on the funding pathway

07:51criteria?

07:53I move to open a discussion for the

07:55funding pathway criteria.

07:57>> Thank you, Christine. I feel like you

07:59were you had a note. You were going to

08:00tell me something.

08:02>> Yeah, Dr. Nick. Um, you don't have to

08:04have a motion for anything. Yeah,

08:06>> you're voting on decision- wise you need

08:08a motion on, but otherwise you should be

08:10good to go to just uh talk amongst

08:12yourselves.

08:13>> Awesome. Thank you.

08:16>> Cool. So, we'll just do that. Um, so out

08:19of the things that we talked about, is

08:20there anything missing or Pam and Ann, I

08:23know it it was us jamming out. Um, make

08:26sure I didn't miss anything and but

08:28Kyle, Imani, India, um, what other

08:32points should we make sure that any

08:35pathway that we explore must include?

08:42>> [clears throat]

08:42>> Yeah, if I may, um, in thinking about

08:46funding outside of like a corporate, um,

08:50funer and we're we're looking at like

08:52individual leads, individual donors, uh,

08:55potentially folks in our own networks

08:58that may be interested. Um, I feel like

09:01this portion of development could go

09:04handinhand with what India has proposed

09:06uh, with like social media presence. Um,

09:10mainly just getting a pulse, excuse

09:14[clears throat] me, getting a pulse on

09:15an audience and capturing emails, um,

09:18capturing, um, contact info and being

09:23able to utilize social media platforms

09:25that are free that have free levels of

09:28like content management like Mailchimp.

09:30So, being able to set up some sort of

09:32like basic newsletter um where we don't

09:35have to pay for the software and we can

09:37feed x amount of emails um

09:40[clears throat] into a newsletter um

09:42system and be able to start making those

09:44sort of like development style asks um

09:48or like appeals and like campaigns um as

09:53like a source of funding. I was

09:55wondering I know that I I missed the the

09:57meetup. I had a lot going on that day.

09:59that I lost control of the day past noon

10:02that day. Um, but that's something that,

10:06um, I'm thinking about just, you know,

10:09capturing potential leads, capturing

10:11who's in our network and starting that

10:13conversation before, uh, if that's if

10:15that's an avenue we want to take for

10:17like fundraising and identifying

10:19potential donors who, you know, might

10:21want to pledge for two years or a year

10:24or, half a year, whatever it is that we

10:26plan to come up with that we would need

10:28uh, funding for.

10:30>> Okay. How would you articulate that as a

10:33one of the principles for the criteria?

10:36So, just to make sure I capture it

10:37correctly.

10:39>> Yeah. Um,

10:41I would say, give me a second. I have

10:44too many tabs open. Pull that PDF back

10:46up. Um,

10:49I would say that we

10:55inte I would say integrate

10:58a

11:00um

11:02I need to think on the wording, but what

11:04I'm trying to say is like integrate some

11:06form of communication model with the

11:10audience that is the city of St. Louis.

11:13Um,

11:15I think that should always like be

11:16integrated in our funding, like how we

11:19communicate or how we keep in touch with

11:22donors and leads

11:25for funding. Having some sort of like

11:28communications,

11:30I don't want to say department, but

11:33contact.

11:34>> Yeah. Like a a marketing kind of

11:37department, right? Where we produce

11:39marketing things to get things out. I

11:41think using Mailchimp for the um you

11:44know newsletters and stuff like that is

11:46a great idea. If you want to work on

11:47that with me that would be fantastic,

11:49Imani. Um if that's anything if you have

11:53time for or that you're interested in.

11:55Um but

11:56>> yeah, I want to um I'm sorry. I want to

11:59make sure I'm answering Nick's question.

12:01Um

12:01>> I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

12:02>> In the sense Sorry. No, no, no. In the

12:05sense of in the spirit of what's being

12:08asked here for uh funding and

12:11sustainability um I would say let's see

12:15if we're going to be informed by data

12:16and practices from other poet laurate

12:19programs I would say um establish a

12:25continuous communication and marketing

12:28um

12:31um plan.

12:35The words are escaping me. I've been

12:37I've the words are escaping me. But

12:39something that basically says we have to

12:41have a communications

12:44marketing sort of model for each poet

12:48laurate

12:50uh

12:52strategy. Yeah. A a social a social

12:55kind of like a communication and

12:57marketing strategy for each poet laurate

12:59going forward.

13:00>> Yeah. the marketing business model.

13:02Yeah.

13:03>> Yes. Thank you. I'm so sorry.

13:05>> No problem. [laughter]

13:06Marketing business model. Yes. Using

13:09social media and um you know, email

13:12newsletters and things like that. I

13:14think um

13:17so

13:18I'm sorry.

13:19>> No, no, no. I just want to make sure I'm

13:21tracking with you all. So are we saying

13:23that because we're saying that these

13:26these principles would be baseline of

13:29how we would grade any path we would go.

13:33This is how we would grade it using

13:35these five or six criteria. Are we

13:38saying that this would be one of them?

13:41Right. Um or are we saying that this is

13:45a consequence of having funding is that

13:47we would be able to establish marketing.

13:51I think that each funding model should

13:54have a social well a marketing strategy

13:58included in it for each poet laurate

14:00going forward. So I think

14:03>> I don't does that not fit into what's

14:05being asked? I don't know if I'm stuck

14:06on that part. [laughter]

14:10>> No, I you cut out for a second. I'm

14:11sorry. What was that? I said um I think

14:14that we should have a establish a

14:17marketing strategy for each poet laurate

14:20going forward like that's the language I

14:23feel like that should be in every

14:25sustainable funding model like each

14:27funding model should have a

14:31marketing and strategy plan.

14:34>> Okay.

14:44because we're essentially building

14:46development, right? Correct.

14:48>> Exactly. Yes. Um so and exposure.

14:54>> Well, not yet. Like we're not yet. We

14:56don't have the money to do it yet. We're

14:58just assessing how we would get money

15:00and how we would say who was going to

15:03give us money. So, okay. inclusive of a

15:06marketing public strategy.

15:10>> Yeah. And I'm So I have a question. I'm

15:12wondering um just because of the nature

15:15of the city post, is this something

15:17where we can be looking at private

15:19donors and things of that nature?

15:22[snorts] Um or is that sort of

15:24contraindicated?

15:26Um when it comes to just like the the

15:28city post factor and like whatever city

15:31regulations, do we know that?

15:35I'm sorry, Kyle. My internet I'm I'm

15:38getting a your internet connection is

15:40unstable flashing on my screen, so I

15:44probably need to switch laptops. Can you

15:46repeat that for one second for everyone?

15:48Yeah, I mean basically I just I'm

15:50wondering um because of the nature of

15:53the post if this is something where we

15:57do have the option of of engaging with

15:59private donors or like some of the

16:01marketing strategies we were just

16:02talking about. Um are those are those on

16:05the table?

16:08>> Yeah, I think we talked about that,

16:10right? Pam and M and we Pam and Am Pam

16:14and [laughter] sorry, but I think we did

16:18talk about that. We just said no, we

16:20weren't a fan of corporate, right?

16:24>> Yeah. I mean, was that addressed when

16:26the um when we had our guest from the

16:29city here, Barb?

16:34>> That idea of getting revenue from other

16:37sources.

16:38>> Yeah. Um, that's kind of where part of

16:40that likeou

16:42conversation started to come out. Yeah.

16:46>> Yeah. Okay.

16:47>> Okay.

16:48>> All right. So, what I want to do is um

16:51if you take a look at the chat and in

16:54the chat we have um and I'll probably

16:57switch laptops here in a moment because

16:59I keep getting this. Your connection is

17:01unstable. Um and I don't want to have to

17:04have you guys keep repeating yourselves.

17:06So um but some of the criteria that we

17:09established was like I mentioned be

17:11sustainable and predictable

17:13administratively straightforward support

17:15both the poet laurate compensation and

17:17programming draw from diverse revenue

17:20streams establish clear expectations and

17:23permissions um and provide enough

17:26predictability and be informed by data

17:29um and then we have inclusive of a

17:32marketing strategy. So if we feel good

17:35about this, this will then be the

17:39grading scale in which we look at

17:43anything moving forward will be based on

17:47these items. So if I can have a motion

17:51to adopt the proposed funding principles

17:55as presented.

18:00Oh, I'm sorry. Lots of questions, lots

18:02of hands up. Ann, go ahead.

18:05>> Um, thank you. I'm just wondering if um

18:08I kind of see what Imani and India just

18:12lined out as part of like the how to

18:16under the be sustainable, predictable,

18:18and administratively straightforward.

18:20So, um, because I just think that these

18:23are like the things that we're agreeing

18:25to, but then there's like the how's

18:27underneath that. And I while I think

18:29that that that marketing business model

18:31is incredibly important, I just wonder

18:34if that needs to be a part of that

18:35sustainability piece.

18:38>> Yeah, I actually I tend to agree. Um it

18:42Yeah, I I feel like that's a that's a

18:43how we would be executing and making

18:46sure that we have the model to support

18:49the criteria. But yeah, I agree. Andy,

18:52any thoughts there

18:54or any additional thoughts you have? Um,

18:56I just wanted to ask a question about

18:58being informed by data and practices.

19:00So, what type of data would that would

19:03that be?

19:05>> Whatever is available. We don't know

19:07yet. We This is This is part of like

19:09this is us establishing what we need to

19:11go find out, right? Um, so this is part

19:14of the work, but we didn't we were just

19:17kind of floating in ambiguity. We didn't

19:19know what we didn't know. So now we're

19:21establishing what are some of the like

19:23fundamental principles that need to

19:25exist and then we can go learn how does

19:28this how does the how happen.

19:32>> Yeah.

19:32>> Okay. Thank you.

19:33>> We would figure out what data is

19:35available, what are some best practices,

19:37things like that. That's something we

19:38would come back with.

19:42>> Um Pam.

19:43>> Yeah. So I brought this up at our work

19:45session. Um, and I think it's an

19:49important issue for like moving forward,

19:51which is I really have no idea what

19:53kinds of sums we're talking about. Um, I

19:57don't know if we're talking about 5,000

19:59a year or 50,000 a year. Like I

20:02literally have no idea.

20:04>> And right

20:05>> in my experience in the arts, like I've

20:07got to be really clear about how much

20:08money I need and what I'm doing with it.

20:11Um, and so, and I think just generally

20:13too, like going to donors, like they

20:16need to see a goal and how they're

20:17fitting into that goal and and when

20:19things are not very clear and concrete,

20:22people are resistant. So, I I don't see

20:24that like a number figure has to be in

20:26our criteria. But I feel like when we

20:29say things like sustainable and

20:31predictable, that very much does connect

20:34to an amount which does have to be

20:36adjusted for inflation, but it's

20:38probably going to be a baseline amount.

20:40And so I feel like, you know, before

20:44funding can be sought that that really

20:46needs to be figured out with like a good

20:48idea of and what exactly does that money

20:51go to? Not that it has to be so strict

20:52that like it can only be this type of

20:54programming, but just a a good idea of

20:57that. Um because I think like without

21:00that it's going to be it's going to be a

21:02really tough road because it's going to

21:04be very very abstract.

21:06>> Yep, you're absolutely right. So that is

21:09actually going to be part of our

21:10discovery plan. So that was that's one

21:13of the questions that one of us will own

21:16and go figure out how much money should

21:18we be asking for? Um what is a best

21:21practice? What is a baseline number that

21:24we should start thinking about? How much

21:27does it cost to run a program like us?

21:30And so, um, and I think that's a good

21:33point, Pam, and and that you brought

21:36that up now because as we continue the

21:38conversation, um, task force, as those

21:40questions come about,

21:43not as once we finish this discussion,

21:45our next discussion will be what

21:48questions do you have that we need to go

21:49figure out and get answered? One of them

21:51being that one exactly. So, I think

21:54that's that's great, Pam. Thank you.

22:00Okay.

22:00>> Yeah. I don't know if this is a sort of

22:02like a how piece or a written into this

22:05piece. Um but I think just kind of

22:08building on the question and then the

22:10reminder of like oh yeah private donors

22:12for example like that would be on the

22:14table. Um, so I'm wondering if it would

22:16be helpful, especially thinking about

22:18whenever there is transitioning among

22:20task force members and leadership for

22:23the institutional memory of like making

22:26some sort of like for there to be some

22:29sort of at least doesn't have to be

22:30every possible way that that money could

22:33come in, but like making sort of

22:35explicit name of like these are the

22:37options that are on the table. So for

22:39example, you know, viaou

22:42with a granter seeking private donation,

22:45you know, whatever we find is uh viably

22:49on the table so that we can maybe avoid

22:52in the future there being any conflicts

22:55with the city saying, "Oh, maybe that's

22:57not a way that we can gather money

22:59versus like, yes, that is on the table."

23:01Um

23:03how is are you um is your question

23:07whether or not it's a how or are you

23:09saying what you're saying is not

23:10reflected and you want to add it in. Oh

23:13no, just a suggestion that part of this

23:15document outline you know like when we

23:18say diverse funding sources that might

23:21say including you know but not limited

23:24toou

23:26with you know

23:29a fiscal sponsor who can manage you know

23:33this might include soliciting donations

23:36from private donors. So basically like

23:38outlining some of the categories of

23:41where the money can come from as we

23:44clarify and sort of check mark like okay

23:47that is on the table. Okay. And then if

23:48we hear from the city oh that's not an

23:50option you know just being able to sort

23:52of have that built in I think would just

23:53be a suggestion.

23:55>> Yeah. Yeah. Could you do me a favor Kyle

23:58and type that into you are you driving?

24:00>> Um I'm on I I'm in my car right now so

24:02it's a little hard to do uh most things

24:05other than just mute and unmute myself.

24:06>> [laughter]

24:07>> unfortunately.

24:11>> So, you want to add additional language

24:14in here?

24:16>> Just a suggestion. It's not something we

24:17have to do. So I think I think it could

24:19be helpful just as we're talking about

24:22um predictability and specificity is

24:24thinking about like within this document

24:27[snorts]

24:29>> specificity you know a little more

24:30specificity around like these are the

24:32funding sources that are on the table or

24:34this is the funding like categories more

24:36than sources.

24:38>> Got it.

24:41I'm trying to think which one was that

24:43the first bullet or the third one or

24:46this

25:04third bullet.

25:06>> Thank you.

25:09Okay.

25:11um can include but to private donor

25:16word can include but not limited toou

25:18private donor. What else would you say

25:20Kyle? I'm sorry.

25:21>> Um I think those were the only two that

25:23I named. I think collectively I mean I'm

25:26wondering like there was a little bit of

25:28discussion it seemed like when we met

25:30with um Barb about like could this be

25:33part of some city entities budget. I

25:36think we talked a little more about the

25:38external route. Um but I do think that's

25:41an important discussion to keep having

25:42given that it is a city post. Um is you

25:46know is continuing to inquire about like

25:48is there the potential of this being

25:51built into some you know city

25:54department's budget if that is a

25:55potential on the table.

25:57>> Okay. Okay.

26:00>> I think those were the main three that I

26:01took away you know and again I was not

26:03clear about the private donor so that

26:04was helpful to clarify. Um, but I think

26:06yeah, like just sort of identifying like

26:08these are the categories of like where

26:10we can go looking.

26:12>> Got it. Okay.

26:13>> And trying to prevent in the future, you

26:15know, somebody barking up a tree and

26:17doing work when it turns out maybe like,

26:18oh, that's not a category we could

26:20pursue.

26:21>> I see. Makes sense. Okay,

26:25sounds good. So, I have that. Um,

26:29I

26:31am not going to I'm just going to put it

26:34in the chat, but I'll I'll make a note

26:36for myself. Okay.

26:38So,

26:41all right. Are we ready to go for All

26:43right, let's let's run through this um

26:46because I want to keep us going because

26:47we got a lot more to talk about um and

26:50only 30 minutes. So

26:52um all right so the first criteria being

26:56u and and I kept these broad just

26:59because they're criteria but we can

27:01certainly if we need to in the next

27:03conversation add subcategories or

27:06additional language um let's go forward

27:09um but I just want to make sure we get

27:11at least these baseline

27:13um moving forward and then kind of going

27:16into that discovery plan so we can get

27:17some more questions about that Pam and

27:19others. So the first one being being

27:22sustainable, predictable,

27:23administratively forward. You know, big

27:27way of saying just making sure that um

27:30it can it can move across

27:32administrations, be predictable as we

27:34talked about. We talked about all these

27:36things but um just making sure we have

27:38the context include support for poet

27:42lauran compensation draw from diverse

27:44sources inclusive um not uh corporate

27:49funders but can include but not limited

27:51tous or private donors

27:55clear expectations and permissions

27:57requirements and accountability and then

27:59provide um predictable support for

28:01planning and be informed by data. So

28:05if there's no more discussion or any

28:07more questions, I'll entertain a motion

28:10to adopt these as our funding principles

28:14for as presented for discovery.

28:19>> Can I get a motion

28:22move to adopt these principles for um uh

28:27for funding moving forward?

28:29Um

28:30>> second.

28:31>> I second that. Anyone

28:36second?

28:38>> I second the motion.

28:42>> Been moved and seconded. Okay. And is

28:46there any further discussion?

28:49Hearing no further discussion. Um all

28:52and we'll we'll proceed to a vote. So

28:54all those in favor say I.

28:56I. I. All

28:59>> oppose. Nay.

29:02Okay, all the eyes have it. The motion

29:05carries. These have been adopted as our

29:07funding principles. So, I will send this

29:10and our recap email. Um, and so we'll

29:13use these to assess our funding pathways

29:16moving forward. Awesome. So, the next

29:20decision we need to determine is where

29:23we might want to investigate.

29:26And um some of these things as we kind

29:29of approach each of these models whether

29:31it be anou or private donor uh we might

29:34have questions around you know is this

29:37going to be sustainable over multiple

29:39terms what's the easiest to administer

29:42what seems the most politically feasible

29:45um lots of different questions and so I

29:47really want to get those questions out

29:50on the table um so we can go investigate

29:53them. So Pam and um Pam, you brought up

29:58a good one around um just making sure we

30:02understand the cost. Are there any other

30:05kind of investigative questions is what

30:07I would call them that we need to go

30:09figure out in order to really feel

30:12informed about our funding pathways.

30:19We'll open the floor for discussion.

30:21>> I have a couple. Can you hear me, Dr.

30:23Nick? I can.

30:25>> Okay. Um, so I wrote a few things. Um,

30:32under the umbrella of like how much

30:34would this program cost for the laurate

30:36themselves? Um, are we able to identify

30:41how many events per year? Um, would

30:44there be a mileage reimbursement?

30:47Would we pay hourly or like a flat rate

30:49for events?

30:51um what does the funding

30:54pay for within the laurate ship like are

30:56there some limits on that you know um

31:01yeah those are like some starter

31:03questions and I think that those

31:05contribute to the notes from the

31:08previous session um

31:12about clarifying the respective

31:15responsibilities

31:17um

31:19of nominators and nom nominees

31:22or even just like what the poet laurate

31:24is doing um and laying out I'm not sure

31:28who said it earlier um how the like

31:31being very clear on the goal and how

31:33donors could fit into that goal

31:35especially for establishing how much

31:37things cost I think those those tenants

31:40should be included like what all is the

31:42poet laurate doing and how are we paying

31:44for it

31:45>> okay

31:46>> given those I ramble but given those

31:49four things that I mentioned like events

31:51per year, mileage reimbursement, hourly

31:53or flat, and are there limits to this

31:56funding?

31:57>> Okay. All right. Are you volunteering

31:59yourself as tribute to be the

32:02investigator of the annual program cost?

32:06>> Well, when I wrote these questions, um,

32:09it was me simply following along the

32:11conversation. Um, and I I kind of

32:14identified that that goes along with

32:16investigating other poet laurate

32:18programs. Um, but also this isn't a poet

32:22laurate program, but I know that the was

32:26it the Missouri humanities um, society,

32:30how they have that speakers program and

32:32I believe that they reimburse their

32:34speakers for where they go, but then

32:36they pay them like a flat rate for

32:37however many speeches that they do. Um,

32:40I'm not sure if that's something that we

32:42would be interested in kind of putting

32:44in our our parking lot of ideas, but

32:48that's something that came to mind. Um,

32:51but it seems like I'm talking about it a

32:53lot, so maybe I'll I'll sign up for

32:55that. [laughter]

32:57>> Okay. So, one of the things, so let me

33:00throw it back to the group. Um, does the

33:02group agree first of all that annual

33:05program costs inclusive of many of the

33:09items that Imani spoke to already um

33:12kind of packaging that up into one

33:14discovery question of annual program

33:17call. Did the group agree that that

33:18should be one of our discovery

33:19questions?

33:23>> Awesome.

33:24>> I agree.

33:26>> Okay. Now, I will say I have never um

33:30budgeted a program. So, those of you who

33:33know numbers in the arts, I would love

33:34your help.

33:37>> Okay,

33:37>> honey. I would be happy to work on that

33:39with you.

33:39>> Thank you so much, Pamela. [laughter]

33:42>> And just to clarify, are we just working

33:44on the programming part and not the

33:47compensation or stipen for the poet

33:48laurate or should we be doing

33:50>> you're not figuring out the dollars and

33:51the cents per Well, you are in a sense

33:54of like B ranges. We need Yeah. Yeah. So

33:58you would your your full umbrella is

34:02cost

34:04>> um

34:04>> including a compensation. Okay.

34:07>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. How whatever you

34:09need to your point, Pam. Um if we were

34:12to go and ask for money, how it would

34:14need to include that as well, whatever

34:16you need to include. Yeah.

34:18>> Got it.

34:20>> Um okay. The other question that was

34:24kind of thrown out um a little bit as an

34:27idea was what funding mechanisms are

34:31legally available through the city. So

34:34this is like what are kind of Kyle what

34:36were you talking about right what are

34:38the options in general um what

34:40mechanisms are available are there

34:43grants are there special allocations

34:46and then also in addition to what's

34:48available what is required to get those

34:51things what what is the approval process

34:54um what are the ordinance amendments

34:56what budget office like who do we need

34:59to go talk to to go do the thing um so

35:03at that the second kind of umbrella that

35:06we would be looking at is city funding

35:08options. Um, does everyone agree that

35:12first of all that that should be one of

35:14our discovery investigative questions?

35:19Awesome. Do I have anyone volunteering

35:22for tribute?

35:27if it's helpful, um, I'm happy to work

35:30alongside that person to to do that work

35:34since I work for the city and can

35:37hopefully figure out answers quickly

35:40with the questions that get posed.

35:43>> Thank you, Christine.

35:46So,

35:49who do we got?

35:51>> Um, I'm open to helping work on that. I

35:54will say my October in particular, just

35:58with a particular project grant deadline

36:00and some like amping up of my educator

36:02role things that are kind of all

36:04starting and amping up right now.

36:06[laughter]

36:06Um I don't know that I will be able to

36:09commit to like doing a whole lot within

36:12the period between now and next month,

36:14but I'm happy to work on that angle if

36:16it's something that can be a little bit

36:18more of like an ongoing discovery

36:20process. And I [snorts] think like the

36:23other piece that I'd really like to add

36:25to that and again like tell me if this

36:28doesn't feel one of the takeaways from

36:30our convers for me at least from our

36:32conversation with Barb with Barb was

36:33sort of this idea of like where do we

36:36live as a program like who knows where

36:39we live? Do we live anywhere at all? Is

36:42there any department [snorts] that

36:44actually would like to embrace us more

36:46so than who like it seems to be, you

36:50know, it seemed like there was a little

36:51bit of ambiguity about sort of like

36:53where do we live in the ecosystem of

36:56city government and so to me it sort of

36:59goes handinhand with this idea of what

37:01are what are our options cuz like

37:04knowing sort of where we live in my

37:06opinion has the potential to streamline

37:08some of those conversations and help us

37:10have more of a concrete advocate

37:13um when it comes time to advocate for

37:16changes. So to me that feels like a

37:18little bit aligned is sort of this like

37:20really hashing out where do we live

37:22slash where can we live programmatically

37:26um as like you know sort of again within

37:28the idea of this ecosystem of city

37:30government and then from there finding

37:32out or sort of in in conjunction with

37:35that finding out yeah what are these

37:36viable like um tracks or courses of

37:41funding we could pursue.

37:43>> Yeah. Yeah. Um, and Christine, I don't

37:48we don't it seemed like even Barb and as

37:51you and Barb were even talking, it's

37:53like that was still a bit of a gray

37:55area. Is do you feel it's something we

37:58can try to solve?

38:01>> Absolutely. Yeah. And um if it's helpful

38:03under the current ordinance, the poet

38:06laurate lives basically under the board

38:08of alderman. the the board of alderman

38:11is is uh the entity or department that

38:14um is tasked with making sure that

38:18there's a poet laurate task force that

38:20all of these things happen. Um but there

38:22is some ambiguity there that I think

38:24needs some more pre like

38:27precise language and also I think um to

38:32you know Barb's point and Kyle to what

38:33you're bringing up like is the board of

38:35alderman the best place for that to

38:37live?

38:40I don't have the answer to that. I think

38:41also when you're doing investigations,

38:44uh, looking into other public laurate

38:46programs, um, it may be good for all of

38:49the task force members to work together

38:51because there's probably, um, like a

38:56layered list of questions that would be

38:58helpful to have information about how

39:00those other programs are working well or

39:02what challenges they've had. Um,

39:04>> yeah.

39:07>> Yeah. Yeah, I agree. So, we'll

39:10definitely need to stay in lock and step

39:12and um

39:15you know, as we make progress um making

39:18sure that we're reporting out on what

39:20that is and what questions, what support

39:22we need from others and what we're

39:24hearing, you know, as we like you said,

39:26Christine, as we continue to do our

39:28investigations.

39:29>> The other piece was this benchmarking.

39:33>> Oh, yes. I'm sorry.

39:34>> Excuse me. I just um to Kyle's question

39:38um Ann had a really brilliant idea at

39:40our um brainstorm session which was

39:43having it housed under the library

39:47the public libraries and um you know and

39:50then that could actually even be

39:52connected to their budget potentially.

39:54But it does seem like especially for

39:56sustainability that might be a good

39:59route to take um to investigate what it

40:02would what what it would entail for us

40:04to be part of the public libraries in

40:06St. Louis.

40:08>> That's a cool idea.

40:10>> Really quickly, I I hate to always be

40:12the Debbie Downer on these calls, but

40:14the public library system is a political

40:16subdivision of the state and not the

40:18city. So, we don't have any control. Um,

40:21but I also I don't think that should

40:24stop you from reaching out to the

40:26library to see where there are

40:27partnership opportunities because they

40:28they do tend to be collaborative and so

40:30there may there may be partnership

40:32opportunities there.

40:37>> Makes sense. And you had your hand up.

40:42>> Yes. I wanted to know um do am I allowed

40:46to schedule like time to talk to

40:49Christine about what she mentioned like

40:51outside of this group or does it have to

40:53be like city business?

40:55>> Yeah, any of um well I talked to

40:58Christine outside of this group.

41:00Christine, are you open to Immani

41:01reaching out to you?

41:03>> Oh yeah. No, no, no, absolutely. Thanks

41:05for asking the question. Yes. I I always

41:08want to make sure all of you feel

41:09comfortable reaching out to me. I'll

41:11also pop my cell phone in the um in the

41:14chat if you need me quickly. Texting is

41:16the fastest way to reach me. Email also

41:18works. Um and if for some reason I don't

41:20respond like within a day, please feel

41:23free to ping me again. I do my best to

41:25keep up with everything, but sometimes

41:26things fall through the cracks. But um

41:29it's important to President Green um and

41:31and me in particular, our entire team

41:33that you all feel supported.

41:36>> Great. Thank you.

41:38>> Sure thing.

41:41Okay.

41:42Um, so the other one I think was

41:45benchmark research uh where we can learn

41:48from comparable um poet lawyer programs.

41:51Was there anyone interested in

41:53investigating that one? If not, I can

41:56take it.

41:58>> Oh, I kind of integrated that with the

42:01questions that I had about like cost of

42:04the program because I felt like maybe

42:06looking at other models would be helpful

42:07with that. But um as Christine

42:10mentioned, this is going to be it's

42:12going to need more than one more than

42:13two more than two hands um to get it

42:18done. So I I would welcome some

42:20assistance on that portion as well.

42:21>> Yeah. Yeah, of course. Sure. And then

42:24the other one was around governance and

42:26accountability. Um some of the questions

42:28that we have and and and and we'll see,

42:31right? Like Christine, you're pointing

42:32out there's going to be a lot of

42:34overlap. we'll just have to stay in lock

42:36and step and making sure we're sharing

42:37out what we're learning. Um because I

42:40could definitely see, you know, as you

42:42think about funding and you think about

42:44city funding options, you're also

42:46probably thinking about long-term

42:48sustainability and who would oversee it.

42:51Um but one of the key pieces of this is

42:53making sure that we understand or can

42:57look at what would some of the reporting

43:00requirements be. Um, part of that might

43:02be, you know, our parents, what do our

43:05parents, what is the board of automan,

43:07what do they require? Um, if we were to

43:09get funding or if the fiscal the fiscal

43:12sponsor, whomever that might be, what

43:14what uh requirements they may have and

43:16then generally how do we want to measure

43:18success um as as a program um may be

43:22something we want to investigate. So, do

43:24I have anyone who might want to take

43:26ownership of that one?

43:39If not, we can try to fold it into some

43:42of these other pieces and um and I can

43:44take that one too.

43:48Okay. So the next thing I want to make

43:51sure that we do is

43:54uh propose that we focus our discovery

43:58plan on these one, two, three

44:02uh how many?

44:05Four questions. Four questions. So, but

44:10I'll entertain a motion for us to focus

44:12on our discovery, focus our discovery

44:14plan on these four primary questions to

44:17be answered as we discussed.

44:28>> I just need a motion.

44:30>> I I motion to focus on these plans and

44:33forth discussed.

44:35>> All right. And I just need a second.

44:37>> I second. Thank you. Um any other

44:41discussion about adopting these these

44:43questions as part of our discovery plan?

44:45This is going to be our official

44:47discovery priorities.

44:49Okay. Hearing no further discussion,

44:51we'll raise it to a vote. All those in

44:53favor say I.

44:55>> I.

44:56>> I.

44:56>> I.

44:57>> All those opposed.

44:58>> I.

45:01>> All right. Hearing no opposition. The

45:03motion carries. These will be our um

45:06primary questions that we'll go ahead

45:09and work to get answered. And we've

45:11assigned the owners. So, we have

45:15let make sure I've got this written down

45:17correctly.

45:18>> I see a question in the chat. I'm just

45:20looking through the chat stuff. Um

45:22sorry, trying to keep up with it. Um

45:26I think there might be some confusion.

45:27India's asking if she's still working on

45:30the social media and marketing. Oh, I

45:33missed that one. India, you had a

45:36question.

45:40>> Yes, sorry.

45:43Uh because uh Imani brought up marketing

45:46and I do feel in marketing, social

45:48media. No, not I feel social media does

45:51come in under the umbrella of marketing.

45:53So, I was just asking if I'm still going

45:56to be involved in that, but Imani and um

45:59Pam now are working together on that.

46:02So, uh I I doubt that three people are

46:05needed. Uh so that's

46:07>> No, we're working on budget. We're not

46:08working on social media.

46:11>> That goes into marketing, though. And

46:13that's one of the that that's what

46:15>> they're just assessing. They're not

46:16doing the marketing. They're just

46:18assessing what would need to be the

46:20budget for marketing.

46:22So you would if you were still

46:24interested in handling the actual

46:26execution of marketing communications

46:29and social media, you can still own

46:31that. They're just looking at what would

46:33need to what would the funding for that

46:34need to look like.

46:36>> Okay. Thank you for clarifying that.

46:37>> Yeah. Yeah. I'm just I'm just looking at

46:40other programs around the country to to

46:42answer questions of what would our

46:45laurate do and how much would that cost.

46:47I I would never step on your toes on the

46:50on the social media. No, no, it's okay.

46:52I just needed clarity uh on that. But

46:55thank you.

46:57>> How

46:58>> do you still feel clear, India, or you

47:00need are you still have questions? Are

47:02you good now?

47:02>> No, I'm clear. Thank you. Thank you,

47:05Pam, so much.

47:06>> Oh, yeah, of course.

47:08>> Okay. All righty. Um Okay. So, we have

47:12our owners. Uh we've assigned

47:16and let me make sure I have this

47:19correct. So we have annual program cost

47:23is going to be

47:26um Pam and Emani. Is that correct?

47:32For that discovery question city funding

47:36options is going to be Kyle with support

47:39from Christine.

47:42Is that correct?

47:46And then uh we have benchmarking

47:49research is Nick that's me

47:53and that will also be a little bit of

47:57I'm actually just supporting Imani

48:00because that'll be included in you all's

48:03work

48:04and then we have governance and

48:06accountability and that will be myself.

48:11Okay,

48:14>> I have a question and this is kind of

48:16like

48:19walk with me. Um,

48:21for the long term of the task force and

48:24going forward, I know that this group

48:28we're focusing on like establishing the

48:31foundation for the for the task force

48:33and language and what we're introducing

48:36going forward. Um,

48:40we've talked a lot about where this

48:42operates, where this lives, and I'm

48:45wondering if this group of people and

48:48even

48:50I'm sorry, my dog is doing things. I'm

48:52wondering if

48:55all my books are falling. I'm wondering

48:57if this group of people and even like

49:00continuing on

49:02can build the sort of language to

49:05introduce to the board of alderman a uh

49:11the request to create like office of

49:13culture

49:15because I feel like this could live

49:17under the office of culture and it would

49:20establish uh like its own budget

49:22especially if the board of alderman

49:24introduced it and that's more So the

49:27long-term thinking of the the the poet

49:30laurate if in a perfect world it lived

49:34under an office of culture that had its

49:36own budget that did things around the

49:38city and being able to have those

49:40conversations with alderman and see if

49:43that's something that they would

49:44introduce.

49:47>> Yep. Certainly an idea. Christine, any

49:49thoughts there?

49:52Yeah, I think whatever the task force is

49:54interested in having conversations with

49:56other persons about um you know it it's

50:01always worth starting those

50:02conversations. I will say um

50:06that

50:08absent the ARPA money and the RAM

50:10settlement funds like those pools of

50:13money have already been spent. The city

50:14budget is

50:17really tight. So, you would want to have

50:19a strategy for making sure you had the

50:22support you needed in order to establish

50:24an entire another office. Um, it it may

50:29make sense to explore that option along

50:32with um like having maybe one person

50:37um or like a position under another

50:39department versus creating an entire

50:43different department. Um, but I don't

50:44want to deter you from exploring all the

50:47options. Um, you just need to make sure

50:49you have uh the votes um at the board of

50:51alderman and the um the funding set up

50:55to do it. Um, I think we discussed with

50:58Barb Burkett from the city councelor's

51:00office when she was on the phone that

51:03um, all budget decisions, even if

51:06there's like a dollar amount allocated

51:08to them or it says it needs to be

51:10funded, um, it gets it can be usurped by

51:13the budget bill every year. Um, so

51:15there's never 100% certainty that

51:18anything's going to uh be consistently

51:21there, which I think is one of the

51:23reasons why um you all are exploring

51:26some outside funding opportunities as

51:28well. Um, that being said, if it is an

51:30ordinance, um, it makes it a lot

51:34trickier for the city to try and get

51:36around not paying what they're supposed

51:38to be paying under the law.

51:43It's a complicated answer. I apologize.

51:48>> I find it to be a hopeful answer though.

51:50Um, but I understand I understand and I

51:53believe that Baltimore I think Baltimore

51:56has an office of culture. I'm not sure.

51:58Um, but it's something that I was

52:00thinking about during this meeting and

52:01thought that might be something really

52:03beneficial for our city in the future.

52:06>> I'm glad you brought it up. I think

52:07everything's worth exploring. Um, and I

52:10would never, like I said, deter anyone

52:12from at least starting conversations

52:15with elected officials to kind of take

52:17their temperature and see what concerns

52:20they have or how like supportive they

52:22are and then, you know, coming up with a

52:24strategy based on those conversations.

52:29>> Okay.

52:31So, thank you both. Um, we are running

52:36out of time. We we have a 6:30 stop,

52:39right? Um so we are running out of time

52:42and I don't want to rush the next com

52:44part of the conversation which is the

52:46poet laurate selection process because I

52:50want to make sure that our new task

52:53force members India, Imani and Kyle are

52:56have a firm understanding of what that

52:58process actually is um before we start

53:02making decisions on what to improve or

53:04not. So just for my own sake, um I know

53:09we had individual onboarding

53:11conversations

53:14um but from a scale of 1 to 10, Kyle,

53:18you go first. How confident are you in

53:21your um knowledge of the polora

53:24selection process?

53:32Um, I mean, I've read the documents

53:34you've sent. I would say like

53:37six and a half,

53:39>> maybe seven.

53:41[laughter]

53:43>> All right, that's helpful.

53:48>> I would say sitting around a five. Um,

53:53>> okay.

53:54>> I can be honest about that. Five.

53:57and India, how how confident would you

53:59say?

54:00>> Um, I would say around a five as well,

54:03just specifically because we haven't

54:05we've talked about it, but we haven't

54:07talked about it in depth enough

54:10>> um for me to uh get a complete

54:13understanding of everything that that is

54:17>> which of course is extremely important.

54:20>> Yeah, fair enough. Okay. So that gives

54:22me an idea of how much time we need to

54:24spend on it in our next meeting. So

54:26thank you for those that that um that

54:28ranking. So we'll spend some time in our

54:31next conversation just kind of rooting

54:33ourselves in that process and then we'll

54:35go forward and talk about what we might

54:37just some of the things that we talked

54:39about might need to be improved as well

54:41as some of the things we want to make

54:42sure that we keep in that process. Um

54:45and then we can then vote and make

54:47decisions on it. said, I want to start

54:48there in our next conversation. So, but

54:52at least we have a discovery plan. So,

54:53we made some progress. I feel good about

54:55that. Um, thank you all for your time

54:59and I'll get the minutes out as well as

55:01those assignments and our investigative

55:05questions that will get answered. So,

55:08uh, we don't have our poet laurate here,

55:09so we won't have any updates, um, from

55:12her today. So, I'll go ahead and

55:15entertain a motion to adjourn the

55:17meeting.

55:21>> I'll make that motion. But before I do,

55:23I just want to um say that

55:27because I if you've been paying

55:29attention to the news, you know that the

55:30regional arts commission has been in the

55:32news lately. And um I'm a little bit um

55:36what I like to say is up to my armpits

55:38and alligators right now. So, um, which

55:41is why I did not volunteer to be a part

55:43of any of the discovery question plans.

55:45And as things settle down for me, I'm

55:48happy to help and do whatever I can

55:50because I'm committed to all of this

55:52work.

55:53>> Fair enough. Thank you, Ann, for for

55:55saying that. I really appreciate you and

55:57appreciate all the work that you're

55:58doing um out in the community already.

56:00Thank you.

56:01>> Thank you.

56:04>> And I make a motion to uh to adjourn the

56:07meeting.

56:08>> Second.

56:09All right, it has been moved and

56:11properly second. Um, all those in favor

56:14say I. I. I.

56:18>> All oppose.

56:20All right, the eyes have it. The meeting

56:22is adjourned at 6:30. Have a good one,

56:24everybody.

56:24>> Everybody, thanks for all you're doing.

56:27Bye.