Article VII: Regional Conferences

(1) Primary responsibility for the encouragement, planning, and production of Regional Conferences shall lie with the Regional Directors, as prescribed in Article VII, Section 3. Paragraph (a) of these Bylaws. Members of the Executive Committee and other Regional Directors shall be available for consultation with an individual Regional Director for the planning and organization of such a conference. (2) The Regional Director shall serve as host for the Regional Conference, or shall delegate this responsibility to another qualified member of his region upon consultation and agreement of that individual. (3) The host of the Regional Conference shall arrange for a location, to include adequate facilities for performances, lecturers, exhibits, and other relevant presentations. The Regional Director and host shall schedule performers and other participants on the program, with the general priority for available times among saxophonists being as follows: (a) qualified active members residing in the respective region; (b) qualified active members residing in adjacent regions; (c) qualified active members residing in other regions; (d) qualified non-members. Priority for relevant sessions presented by non-saxophonists shall be up to the discretion of the Regional Director and host. (4) The Regional Director, conference host, and/or other designated individuals shall execute the following responsibilities to insure that a Regional consistent manner, and in conformity with the expectations of the Executive Committee and general membership of the Alliance. (a) A registration desk shall be set up in the proximity to the area where the preponderance of conference events take place. A designated registrar shall have a current printout of Alliance active members, obtained by the Regional Director or host from the Membership Director, upon 30-days notice to the Membership Director, in order to validate membership status of those attending the conference. The registration desk shall also be equipped to register new members, collecting dues and issuing receipts. Name tags shall be issued to registrants as their ticket into all conference events. The Regional Director, or host, and/or designated registrar(s) shall be responsible for guarding alliance funds collected at the registration desk, and the Regional Director or host shall be charged with the responsibility of forwarding collected funds to the Treasurer for deposit, and of forwarding completed membership forms to the Membership Director for processing. All forwarding of these funds and materials shall be completed no more than a week following the close of the conference. (b) The Regional Director or conference host shall inform active members in the respective region of the event by preparing informational letters/ forms/ registrations/ application to perform/ etc. and sending them by mail, using address labels available from the Membership Director upon 30-days notice. Mailing should also include information helpful for those needing overnight accommodations and dining information. (c) At the discretion of the Regional Director and conference host, a special admission rate for non-members may be established on a per-half-day or per-session basis. Such special rates are intended to provide limited access to those who may have an interest in part of the conference, such as public school teachers or students, but who would not normally become members of the Alliance. In no case shall such special rates enable an individual to attend more than two-thirds of the total conference without paying admissions equal to or greater than the Professional active membership rate. (d) The conference host shall provide a manner of supervision by which access to conference events shall be denied to individuals who are not active members, or who have not paid special pre-session admission if applicable, except for limited complimentary admission or special guests, which shall be up to the discretion of the Regional Director and/or conference host. (e) The conference host shall be responsible for supervising the presentations and causing the conference schedule to be maintained as advertised. The host shall have the authority to declare an end to any performance or other session that runs overtime. (f) The Regional Director or conference host shall provide publicity materials about the conference to the NASA Update Editor for appropriate publication of the Regional Conference. This information shall be forwarded to the Editor as soon as possible in advance of the event, but no less than four months prior. Following the conference, the Regional Director or conference host shall also forward to the NASA Update Editor a news report, program, and photographs (if applicable) to serve as a basis for coverage of the event in the NASA Update. The NASA Update Editor shall reserve the right to trim, edit, or otherwise handle materials submitted for coverage of Regional Conferences, according to his journalistic judgment and/or available space in the newsletter. (5) Funding shall be available to assist with planning and promotion of Regional conferences. This funding shall be handled through the Regional Director and shall be subject to the procedures and limitations prescribed in Article VII, Section 4 of these Bylaws. (6) Any active member of the North American Saxophone Alliance shall be afforded basic admission to any Regional Conference by having his membership confirmed at the registration desk of the conference. Charges in excess of the active membership for admission to the general conference shall not be collected. At the option of the conference organizers, however, up to two special sessions may be planned as adjuncts to the general conference, and additional admission fees may be charged to members as well as non-members for those sessions. Such adjunct sessions shall be subject to the following limitations: (a) The total time scheduled for these sessions shall not constitute more than fifteen percent (15%) of the total time period of scheduled conference events. (b) Active members of the Alliance shall be offered admission at lower cost than non-members and the general public. (c) Detailed plans for special adjunct sessions requiring additional admission must be submitted to the President, along with or prior to any request for funding as prescribed in Article VII, Section 4 of these Bylaws. The President in consultation with the Executive Committee, shall approve these plans or ask that they be amended in some specific manner. (d) Revenues produced by such adjunct sessions may be used by the conference host to offset conference expenses that are up to ten percent (10%) in excess of the original conference budget as approved by the Executive Committee. Remaining revenues from these sessions shall be accounted for and forwarded to the Treasurer, along with other conference revenues, for addition to the Alliance treasury.