The Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts held its annual general membership meeting this past Monday at Willows in Honolulu. About 45 members, including all of the members of the Board of Governors, were in attendence. I filed a summary of the activities here:

http://mauicast.net/nahenahe/?p=2613

Discussion was lively and all left very invigorated and inspired by the possibilities the future brings. We would like to invite members of the recording industry and the general public to join the organization. Details regarding the various types of membership can be found here:

http://nahokuhanohano.org/eligibilty.html

If you have been a HARA member in the past and felt that you were not served well by the organization, or if you have never joined for any reason, this would be a great time to do so. The board has several new faces, and we have a number of younger performers who are joining various committees and becoming active. It is a very exciting time for us, and I’m happy and proud to be on the board and supporting our recording industry and performers. Feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions, or reply to this message if you like.

The Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts held its general membership meeting today at Willows Restaurant in Honolulu. About 45 members showed up, including all of the 11 board members. The 2007-2008 Board of Governors is comprised of Governors Hailama Farden (President), Ku‘uipo Kumukahi (Vice President), Lea Uehara (Secretary), Alan Yoshioka (Treasurer), Gaylord Holomālia, Kenneth Makuakāne, Skylark Rosetti, John Aeto, Keola Donaghy, Pali Ka‘aihue and Tim Mathre. Kimo Alama Keaulana was voted onto the board, however, withdrew due to his heavy work schedule, and the board voted to appoint Tim Mathre to fill his term.

Hailama Farden offered updates on our membership drive, and I was happy to hear that HARA membership is up to about 650 – quite a bit higher than I had last heard a few years ago. He reminded all about the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award release deadline (December 31, 2007), the various member services available through the HARA office (postcard & CD mailings as well as email blasts), and updated everyone on the progress on the HARA website. Also present was Immediate Past President Marlene Sai, who offered a comprehensive review of the past year’s activities.

There was a lively give-and-take between the members present and the governors, most of which involved discussion of ways for the industry to address the challenges that the industry faces. One that was brought up on several occasions was the need to get the younger generation of Hawai‘i musicians involved in HARA. Mailani Makainai and Paula Fuga were the only younger performers present; both actively participated in the discussion and offered their perspectives on how HARA can move forward. I hope that both run again for the HARA Board of Governors in the future because they are both the kind of people we need to get involved and help address the challenges that the recording industry faces.

I announced that the Board of Bovernors had created an ad-hoc committee to look into the issue of digital distribution, and how HARA needs to accommodate artists who release recordings as digital downloads only – how such artists can qualify for membership in HARA and how their releases will qualify for the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards. I’m joined on the committee by fellow Governors Kenneth Makuakāne and Pali Ka‘aihue, as well as Mailani Makainai. We are soliciting feedback from all members who have thoughts on how we can address digital distribution and its place in our industry and awards ceremony. Please use the contact form linked in the left hand column of this page and let me know what you think. I’ll pass this on to my fellow committee members so we can make recommendations to the Board of Governors.

All in all it was an excellent gathering. I wish more artists would show up for these events. HARA is more than just the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, but it seems that in some people’s minds that’s all that it is about. Sad.