Celebrating the positive power of music in the lives of children by sharing songs, exchanging ideas, and creating community.
Local Kids' Concerts: Partnering with CMN a Win/Win for Member Marsha Goodman-Wood

Backstory from Marsha (Mid-Atlantic Region): "I was eyeing a place here in the Washington, DC area where I've been teaching baby and toddler music classes. It has a beautiful, large, open room which would be perfect for a family concert/sing-along. When I inquired about the possibility, I found out that the fee for renting the space (which they do for parties and such), was several hundred dollars, and therefore a no-go for a children's concert. However, the administrator mentioned that they do have a nonprofit rate, which is essentially the cleaning fee of $75.

"In order to get that rate, one has to provide a letter on the letterhead of the nonprofit detailing how the event would benefit the community and fill out some other paperwork. It occurred to me that not only does CMN's mission coincide with the benefits I see for the community in offering a concert and sing-along, but that it could also benefit CMN if I can raise enough to donate a portion of the proceeds to CMN. So I sought permission from the CMN board, and with their blessing, filed the paperwork. The next step was to wait for approval by the facilities commission at the venue.

Result: "The event and nonprofit fee waiver were approved and I held a concert there on November 11. My band played this first concert, and, with good promotion, there was enough of a turnout to cover the fee, pay my musicians, and to make a small (10%) donation to CMN. And to add a cherry on top of the whipped cream, one of the members of the band made a contribution as well.

"Note This is a small venue that only holds 125 people As it was a success, I hope to be able to host more concerts in that space, perhaps for or with other CMN members in the area or those passing through town."

The CMN board is thrilled to be the umbrella nonprofit for others who would like to do the same sort of thing, If this model works for you and might enable you to host your own concert or series in your hometown, let us know. Marsha has offered to share her application with you as an aid if you would like. You can reach out to her at goodman.wood@gmail.com .

Congratulations, Marsha! It's so great to share this story!
CMN Job Opportunities

We have two job opportunities open at this time and want to give our members a chance to apply.

1) Blogger -- Jessica "Culture Queen" Hebron has been doing an awesome job creating 4–5 blogs/month. She's found it very rewarding, but life is imposing new requirements on her time so she is stepping down. This is a part-time position ($250/mo) that we would like to fill as soon as possible. If you have a knack for writing and an interest, please contact Jane Arsham.

2) PIO! Copy Editor -- As you know, Brigid Finucane is stepping down as PIO! Editor after the next issue. Ginger Lazarus, who has been our Copy Editor for the past three year, is stepping up to the Editor position, leaving an opening for Copy Editor. Here's a link to the job posting. If you have the requisite skills and interest, please contact Jane Arsham as soon as possible.

Social Media Corner

Hello everyone!

Have you created any new YouTube videos of late? Every now and again we remind our members that we have a great CMN Member Playlist on YouTube and would love to add yours. We've got a link to our Playlist on the CMN homepage that might help spread the word. If you want to share, please send the YouTube URL to Jane Arsham .
The  CMN Blog  is always looking for guest contributors! If you have an idea you'd like to share and write about, let Jessica know!
E-mail Lily any great articles or events we should share on Facebook.


Regional News

Midwest
A SongShop is coming to a location near YOU. A What???

New York Metro
November 18 is the Pass It On for Pete annual event.

New England
A whole host of activities planned, including a song swap on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Check it out!
A


Spotlight on Our CMN Sponsors and Partners
We encourage you to read about our business sponsors, visit their sites, and if you ever have the opportunity, thank them for supporting the work of the Children's Music Network. We are very grateful for their support! Each month we highlight one or two of our sponsors. 
Liz Buchanan’s music brings fun and excitement to early childhood learning. With Liz’s songs, children can enjoy dancing the life cycle of a butterfly, acting out the Three Little Pigs, sounding out letter sounds and clapping syllables. Check out Liz’s blog on music and literacy, and her super fun videos like her newest “Today is Monday” video: www.antelopedance.com

Thanks to a successful Indiegogo campaign, KidzMusic will release Kidz STEM Songz in January.  Included in this package will be Dan Crow’s Concoctions CD, a DVD with animations set to the Concoctions songs and introduced by our new teen mentor Anny Dallshouse, and a second CD of STEM songs by 16 KidzMusicians, many of whom are also CMNrs. It's called STEAM 16, because their music is an Art! Plans for the coming year include a streaming app, another festival, lots of additions to our YouTube channel, and sending one or some of us to represent KidzMusic at the 2018 CMN conference in Ohio.
Phone: (339) 707-0277 | Email Us