*tl;dr: follow this link for info on what board does <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pcz-qA8eo8xw8YjwclgZ57dniCJ1_WOY/view?usp=sharing> **and we’re doing monthly board office hours open to the community* Howdy again, y’all! Earlier this year, the Board had four new members join in part to increase our capacity in several areas, including communication to the community. Today we want to share two efforts on that front. First: some better explanation as to what the Board is, what we do, and what we don’t do. There’s some information in the bylaws <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/firefly-arts-collective/bylaws/> and our names/bios are listed online <https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/firefly-arts-collective/board-of-directors/> already, but those don’t really cover the day-to-day, so we’ve put together some slides on our day-to-day <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pcz-qA8eo8xw8YjwclgZ57dniCJ1_WOY/view?usp=sharing> to cover exactly that. If you have more questions, feel free to email board@fireflyartscollective.org. Email isn’t the best medium for all questions, which leads to our second announcement. During Firefly a few weeks ago, we hosted a series of Board Office Hours - opportunities for members of the community to come up and talk to us about whatever is on their mind. Obviously many of y’all were busy… well… attending Firefly, so we wanted to open up those office hours year round. Moving forward, we plan to have at least one Board Office Hours session each month, alternating in-person and virtual. *In-Person Office Hours* will take place on the first Tuesday of every other month, starting in August, and will be co-located with the first hour of the Greet+Meet at Remnant Brewing <https://maps.app.goo.gl/TXzPEWMbrhM6XsRdA> in Somerville (i.e. 6pm-7pm). More specifically, the following dates: - August 5th, 2025 - October 7th, 2025 - December 2nd, 2025 - February 3rd, 2026 - April 7th, 2026 - June 2nd, 2026 *Virtual Office Hours* will take place on the first Thursday of the other months, starting in September, and will take place at 8pm-9pm Eastern. The different time and day are intended to enable folks to be able to attend at least one. These sessions will run on Google Meet <https://meet.google.com/knv-meet-uzu>. - September 4th, 2025 - November 6th, 2025 - January *8th*, 2026 (because the first Thursday is New Year’s Day) - March 5th, 2026 - May 7th, 2026 Office Hours sessions will be attended by at least a few board members, and are intended to be a time for casual conversation and Q&A. Please note that since the full Board is unlikely to be at any given Office Hours session and since these will not be formal meetings, Office Hours will not be a venue for getting official decisions made or resolving inquiries that may need the participation of the full Board. We are always open to such inquiries by email. Expect more from us in the coming weeks and months (though not every day). If you have any ideas for us, send them our way! Sincerely, The Firefly Arts Collective Board of Directors