The President of the Academy of Magical Arts RESIGNS

[Soda Jerk]

Exactly, Richard.

[undercut]

Another question they should ask is, why is Matt Patton allowed to continue to run the Events Department after the enormous losses incurred by The Caberet at the Castle?

I would like to bring to this discussion that, after speaking at length with Matt Patton, he ensures me that the Cabaret at the Castle did not incur enormous losses in any way. In 2010 a detailed financial analysis of the cabarets was provided to the Board of Directors. It included all expenses and income from each cabaret held in 2009. On this analysis, there was a profit in the $10s of thousands (Matt did not know exact numbers). There must be a member of the board from that time that still has these numbers. Does anyone think they can get a copy of this document? It might help confirm or deny some of the accusations about cabaret profit/loss.

Ah, here we start to get to it. Inasmuch as Matt does not attend Board meetings, how does he know what has been presented to them? That is his assumption. Just ask the Board members...OH! You CANT! They have a non-disclosure agreement that binds them against revealing anything. The actual answer will suprise Matt.

[undercut]

latest announcement from the PTB:

Recently there has been some discussion on the Forums and elsewhere about California's Nonprofit Integrity Act of 2004 which mandates for certain corporations and other entities "audited" financial statements, an "audit committee" reporting to the Board of Directors, public disclosure of financial statements and other measures. This Act is applicable by its own terms only to "charitable" corporations and other entities (for example, 501(c)(3) charitable foundations). The Academy of Magical Arts is not a "charitable" corporation; therefore the Nonprofit Integrity Act doesn't apply to our organization.

This announcement was approved by the Board of Directors.

Also posted:

The announcement does not mention the possible-exception (source) to the Nonprofit Integrity Act of 2004 - effective January 1, 2005 of: "California nonprofit mutual benefit corporations holding property for charitable purposes." Does the "Restricted Cash" (Note 6, Page 8 - of our Financial Statements) contain "property for charitable purposes?"

I presume the announcement is backed by the Opinion Letter of our counsel and that this and other exclusions have been considered.

Mandated or not, are audited-financials and/or an audit committee worthwhile considering for the future of the A.M.A.?

[magicam]

^^^ Even if some or all of the cash reserves were property held for charitable purposes, I doubt The Nonprofit Integrity Act of 2004 would compel the AMA to completely open or audit its books.

[Terrence]

Wow Magicman909! You really are a friend to Matt Patton -- revealing his name openly here -- he is an employee of the AMA -- aren't you concerned that his management might object to his revealing details to you who are posting them here, or does he have their permission?

And what stimulating bar conversations you two engage in! Perhaps, since you are not an employee of the AMA, you might reveal your identity and we could talk at the bar; I'll regale you with the fascinating details of the COBOL Compiler, and you can continue to entertain me with "Selective Details of AMA Finances that Mysteriously put Jean Boyle's and David Clement's stewardship of the AMA Finances in a positive light".

Do tell us.

[erdnasephile]

Terrence,

I could be wrong but I think that the delayed financial report you mentioned has been quietly posted for AMA members at
this location.

George: Do you have another link for this information--apparently it has now been replaced with a phony document--unless it was a big joke in the first place.

Personally, I am more interested in 1) an official statement regarding where we are financially and 2) what the plans are for digging out of the hole (presuming there is a hole).

Certainly, dealing with those individuals/policies that caused the mess (if it is primarily the fault of particular individual(s) or practices) is important, but IMHO, creating a viable rescue plan should take precedence over pointing fingers.

A simple statement from the BOD that they will discuss the financials and a plan to deal with them by a particular date would go a long way towards addressing all of these concerns and rumors. (If there is time to release a statement to correct disclosure law misconceptions, surely the BOD could let the membership know they recognize and are dealing with these issues).

I suspect that without the above data, it's going to be more difficult for many of us to decide whether or not to renew our memberships come next year.

[Richard Kaufman]

Oh ... there's a huge financial hole, no question.

And you have a Board of Directors that won't answer members' questions ...

And ZERO transparency as far as the true financial situation of the AMA and how money is being is spent and by who ...

Big problems. It's nothing new.

[undercut]

Week 3 without intervention

14+14+14= $42,000 lost

[undercut]

As for saying the Castle has lost $14,000 a week this year is questionable. Using last years loss as a basis for this years current situation is a fools errand.

Frankly, Im growing very tired of anonymous postings on this subject. Its certainly easyif not cowardlyto throw stones from the shadows. At least others who have openly criticized the AMA Board of Directorsmyself includedadd our real names to the bottom of our comments.

Dustin

Dustin, perhaps someday, you will actually be involved in management of a business, and you will actually know something about such things?

First, when you have a trend demonstrating a loss, you have three choices: pending the obtaining of current information (lets see, the last time the Board obtained information on the first quarter of the year, they got it ONE YEAR LATER!), and you may find it a responsible approach to wait, no one in the fiscal world would.....you can
1. assume that you continue to lose money at the same rate (unless something major has changed fiscally...has anything major changed, Dustin?)
2. You can assume that you are now break even, on the basis of understanding the fiscal changes that have happened. (any happened, Dustin?). or
3. The AMA is now making money.

A fiscally responsible manager looks at this from the standpoint of being WRONG. If you assume the 1st or even 2nd, and you aare WRONG, then you will have increased the profitability of the MC. What is bad about that?? Perhaps some short term inconveniences.

BUT, if you assume 3, and you were WRONG, then the MC is in a deeper and deeper hole, perhaps even accelerating in depth.

Will you have time to correct, before hitting the bottom? (running out of reserves)

Changes of direction take time, you can't change direction instantly.

Finally, if you find all this boring, Dustin, don't let the door hit you on the way out, while the big boys figure out the problems. And don't call me Frank. :)

[George Siegel]

Erdnasephile,
Google somehow got hold of the report, even though it was in a supposedly secure part of the MC server, thus making it readily available to the general public. That's been fixed now, and attempts to externally access the file produce the faux document you found.

If you logon to the MC website and access the report via normal navigation, the real one should still be available.

Mr. Kaufman,
Agreed. Financial problems at the MC are nothing new. But the recently established obligation to pay rent would seem to make the problems several hundred thousand dollars per year bigger than they were in the past.

[Richard Kaufman]

undercut, Dustin is definitely one of the "big" boys. :)

He's also smart as hell, so don't make any more insulting personal comments or you'll be outta here.

[undercut]

undercut, Dustin is definitely one of the "big" boys. :)

He's also smart as hell, so don't make any more insulting personal comments or you'll be outta here.

Richard, with all due respect to both you and Dustin (can he not defend himself?), when your moderators start calling people "cowards", then the tone of the discussion has been set. Ad hominem attacks upon what fundamentally are your customers, is a somewhat novel business practice, but what do I know?

[houdini's ghost]

Anonymous posts are cowardly.
Patrick Culliton

[undercut]

Anonymous posts are cowardly.
Patrick Culliton

My, don't you add to the intellectual level of the forum. I'm sure James Edwards would be proud.

As I'd previously posted, people will lose their positions if I post under my name. Is that what you want? How did you enjoy seeing Emilio get the boot?

Or, I could not post. Does this mean that you already know the things I've posted? If so, why have you been withholding the information?

I've made no allegations of illegalities, simply poor business practice, and not following the rules. This is currently hidden from members. Do you support that members have no right to know what is going on? Think about what you are defending.......

[Richard Kaufman]

Patrick: not all anonymous posts are cowardly. Sometimes anonymity is the only way information gets out. Think Deep Throat--that's the first one that comes to mind, and one of the most important.

[Larry Horowitz]

Patrick,

I greatly prefer signed posts.

However, if it is required to give your name in order to enroll in the Genii forums, then Richard knows identities. His allowing of posts must to some degree, however small, be a vote of credibility.

[houdini's ghost]

I know who undercut is.

[Richard Kaufman]

Names are not required in order to register to post here. Sometimes I know who an anonymous poster is, but many times do not. I view anonymous posts with greater skepticism than those from someone using his or her name, which is as it should be. However, that's not to say that because someone is posting anonymously what they are writing is not true.

The only time we force people to give their names is when they're selling something, and we do this because long ago people have been screwed by sellers on here.

"Outing" anonymous posters, unless it's Mark Lewis, is also strongly discouraged. In other words, you better have a damn good reason that should be discussed with me in advance.

[Kardova]

Ive tried to avoid this thread, because, frankly, its sad. When I was a junior I would always hear a loud audible <sigh> when Castle politics was brought up by the grown-ups. It appears that nothing has changed. But isnt this the vast majority of cases with BoDs out there? Isnt it all just a microcosm of the macrocosm as far as transparency is concerned?
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/peter_eigen_how_to_expose_the_corrupt.html

Edward Pungot (I also go under "sophia feltro" for fun)

[houdini's ghost]

Undercut has been a member for a very long time--almost as long as I have. He has reacted very strongly to changes at the Castle over the years. The Cabaret series got him and other members insane. I shouldn't say him--Undercut might be a her.
When I was a member of the S.P.V.A., everything was tried to pull the people in. When something was tried and didn't work, heads didn't roll. Everyone learned from it and kept trying. Ultimately, the location and the Community Redevelopment Administration beat us.
I know this: ever since the lockout of Magic Food and Beverage, many members have notice a lift in spirit around the club.
More magicians working per week than ever in the club's history--and the talent level is very high. Steve Valentine, for one example.
I like the food. I always have a good time in the club.
So, now our Board of Directors has to keep the AMA in its building and guide it to solvency.
I trust the leadership to act in the best interests of the club.
And I wish them Godspeed.
Is it true the stage floor in the Palace of Mystery is in need of repair? I remember when that stage floor first went in. Milt worked on it. Robert Harbin showed him where two ideal locations for stage traps were and Milt put them in. Peter DePaula was the first magician who used one of them.
The traps were covered over by subsequent stage floors.
Some congratulations should be offered to the person or persons who fixed the sound in the Inner Circle. I don't care if it cost a lot of money and I don't care whether the sound went in for the Cabarets. The Inner Circle, the Fields bar, the Peller need to be exploited. And the sound had to be balanced, because in those places, it was impossible.
Patrick Culliton

[Dustin Stinett]

Im going to address Mr. Undercut and his question whether or not I can defend myself.

I can most certainly defend myself, particular against people who purposely redact quotes, as undercut did regarding what I said about using Year Ago data. And I did not say undercut is a coward; I said, Its certainly easyif not cowardlyto throw stones from the shadows. I was talking about anonymous posts in generalas I have in the past.

I further clarified my comments in later posts, but obviously undercut chooses to ignore those as well.

Read the thread.

So, I stand behind that and subsequent comments because it IS easy and many people absolutely consider it cowardly and see it as devaluing what is being written.

Now, if Richard wants to delete the comment, hes certainly free to do that, but I wont. What I wrote is absolutely true in its context.

Now, undercut, since you chose to take out the part of my comments regarding the business aspects of what I wrote, and then used this edited material to question my qualifications, Ill let you know what I do.

For over the last 20 years I have worked as a business analyst for a multinational sales and marketing firm. For the last six years, Ive served on the most successful team in the company, having record years, even in this soft economy.

I know a lot about data analysis, sales and revenue tracking, forecasting, and budgeting; you know, little things like that. My client is a multibillion-dollar company and I handle both the USA and Canada for them.

Im also the CFO/Treasurer of a multimillion dollar Home Owners Association/Co-Op. Were doing pretty well too, considering we have only needed to raise our fees once in the last six years. (Id like to know how many people in HOAs can say that their fees have only been increased once in the last six years.)

Additionally, I owned a profitable golf club customizing and repair shop before my landlord lost his ass, making me lose my lease (turned out I was the only one paying my rent) and I was the partnerrunning the financialsof a trucking company. It did well but we saw that fuel prices and interstate taxation were going to increase to a point where operations would be severely impacted, so we sold the trucks. Good thing we didnt look at just the previous years trendswhere fuel went downand understood that we needed to look ahead at ALL the available information. But what the hell did we know?

So, according to you: (lets see, the last time the Board obtained information on the first quarter of the year, they got it ONE YEAR LATER!)

Frankly, I really have to doubt that. Thats just the last time YOU saw the data because the BoD is only required to show financials once a year to its membership. If the BoD isnt going to see Q1, 2011 data until Q1, 2012, they have a bigger problem than anyone can even imagine. And ANYONE who knows anything about business knows that management doesnt get financials a YEAR after the fact. Thats just plain stupid.

So that makes me question you with your own comment:

perhaps someday, you will actually be involved in management of a business, and you will actually know something about such things?

You know what undercut? I could go on, but Im done with you and your nonsense.

Dustin


PS:

I want to walk-back something I wrote (out of anger, which is never a good idea); but just a little bit:

If (and its a big IF) undercuts allegation is true, and every member of the BoD was not receiving regular financial reports (and monthly, not just quarterly), then they do have a VERY serious problem.

Its one thing to trust your management team to run day-to-day operations. But it is absolutely vital that the BoD oversee every aspect of those operations and they cannot do that without the data.

If thats what was going on during the last couple of years, the problems ARE bigger than we can imagine; and I am stunned.

If I were to describe my reaction in one word, that word would be, What the [censored]!
Richard Jeni

Sorry undercut.

Dustin

[Richard Kaufman]

Tomorrow night the Board of Directors will have its first meeting with the new director, Randy Sinnott.

The Board has an opportunity to make intelligent decisions and show the members they are pro-active in fixing the financial future of the AMA.

Hopefull we'll have some news soon.