Hollywood_Sapphire_Group

The next meeting will be TUESDAY JULY. 7, 2009

in Toluca Lake at

Ramsey's at the Toluca Lake Tennis Club

Ramsey's at The Club
6711 Forest Lawn Drive, Toluca Lake, CA 90068 Tel. 323.512.4170

MAP to RAMSEY'S at the TLTC

GO HERE to DECLARE YOUR DINNER CHOICE! Mandatory!

Our meetings are always on the 1ST TUESDAY OF EACH MONTH. Our 2009 meeting schedule is below.

The JULY meeting will be TUESDAY JULY. 7, 2009

The AUGUST meeting will be TUESDAY AUG. 4, 2009

The SEPTEMBER meeting will be TUESDAY SEP. 1, 2009

The OCTOBER meeting will be TUESDAY OCT. 6, 2009

The NOVEMBER meeting will be TUESDAY NOV. 3, 2009

The DECEMBER meeting will be TUESDAY DEC. 1, 2009

2009 Officer Roster:

Chairman: Aspen Pittman
Treasurer: Hank Landsberg
Secretary: EveAnna Manley
Program Committee: Duke Aguiar, Pitt Kinsolving, and Ron Streicher
Membership Committee: Marshall Buck, Shelley Herman, and Peter Mason

The terms of office will run from September to August, twenty-four months later.
Terms may be renewed by election. Elections will be held during the July meeting in even-numbered years.

Says Ron: "They have a broad array of documentaries and other media from a wealth of genre. I found tonight's film by searching on the words "audio" and "sound." For reference, tonight's film was titled "Command Performance" and was produced by RCA Victor. I also have downloaded four other documentaries (produced by RCA, Western Electric, and Britannica Films) relating to sound and audio production, ranging from 7 to about 18 minutes in length that I can show at future meetings if the Group is interested."

August 2006 meeting BBQ at Zenobia's. Thank you Zenobia for the great eats and good times!

Thanks to Ken for his excellent presentation of Photoshop tricks.
Visit www.kenrockwell.com for more photo hints.

The HOLLYWOOD SAPPHIRE GROUP is a social organization and all of its members are associated with the sound recording industry or its allied fields.

In 1942 several persons in New York, who were deeply interested in the betterment of acetate master recordings got together to discuss their special problems. Wall Rose of the Frank L. Capps Company headed the group which included George Stewart of N.B.C. Recording Division and Vince Liebler of Columbia Records Corporation. These three men often had lunch together, talking over their various recording and disc problems and the possibilities of designing new acetate master recording styli for higher precision work. Soon other recording engineers joined the group and as their discussions became more involved the found it impossible to come to any definite conclusions during their lunch period. It was from these meetings that the New York Sapphire Group, as they were to be later known, came into existence.

The name, "Sapphire Group", was a tribute to Wally Rose who first saw the need of getting such a group together. This name would not interfere with any other audio or electronics group. Then too, the sapphire cutting styli has played a very important role in the art of sound recording since the day Mr. Frank L. Capps designed the first sapphire cutter for Thomas A. Edison.

The first meetings of the Sapphire Group were held in the New York Athletic Club. It wasn't before long before the Sapphire Group found it necessary to limit their membership because they wished to only have those who were qualified recording engineers and those who were related to the allied fields as members of the Group.

In 1945 several members of the New York Sapphire Group were transferred or became affiliated with various recording and motion picture studios in Hollywood. Two of these members were Chet Boggs of Columbia Recording Corporation and Bob Callen of N.B.C. Recording division. Chet and Bob tried to form a Hollywood Sapphire Group, but it wasn't until 1946 when Chuck Phillips, a New York member, was sent out to Hollywood on an assignment for the O.W.I. that these three men got together and arranged the first Hollywood Sapphire Group meeting.

The first meeting was held at Brittingham's restaurant in Columbia Square on February 13, 1946. Invitations were sent out to thirty recording engineers. Seventeen attended the first meeting with Chet Boggs as chairman. It wasn't long before a membership committee was formed and the rules and regulations were established. At this time the Group voted on a full membership to consist of fifty members. To date the active membership is just over fifty persons, and many are well over 50....

Click above to view the Charter Members

The Hollywood Sapphire Group's first endeavor was setting the original standardization for the recording industry. However, a majority of the members voted for a more social group and the standardization was left to the A.E.S. and I.R.E.

There used to be a San Francisco Sapphire Group known as the Golden gate Sapphire Group, but sadly, they and the New York Sapphire Group have been defunct for a number of years. Inasmuch as the New York and San Francisco Groups have disbanded, the Hollywood Sapphire Group's membership limit has been waved.

So even the likes of these scary people were allowed in.... Go see what they all looked like in the 80's by clicking here...

The Hollywood Sapphire Group survives, stronger than ever, and even in a co-ed manner!

As the Hollywood Sapphire Group grew in size, so did the responsibilities. There was the problem of finding a qualified speaker or entertainment that would be of interest to the group, someone to send a cheerful note to members on the sick list, condolences and flowers in time of sorrow, and so it was Ernie Knight, a fully attending Charter member, was elected permanent Chairman of the Group and it would be his job to take care of such matters. For the last long while, and nobody can quite remember how long that last long while was, we were graced by the ever-entertaining Oliver Berliner as Chairman. Olly has just retired his Dictatorship having moved to Maryland, and thus we begin a new era under the Dictatorship of Bill Hogan, beginning with the June 2003 meeting. This lasted until August 2008 when Aspen Pittman was elected to take over the job to lead our group.
Our Ever-Jovial, Ever-Jewel-Boxing, Past Chairman Jolly Olly Berliner

Hank Landsberg has been secretary-treasurer of the Group for a number of years. As secretary-treasurer it is Hank's job to collect payment for dinners. As a result of his excellent work, we seem to have no slackers or freeloaders in the Group.

EveAnna Manley is the Group's Secretary. She has been in charge of handling the details of meeting announcements. She receives instruction from the Chairman to notify each member about the monthly meeting and to spam the Group periodic announcements. She also runs this website and is compensated for the cost of the domain name renewals and hosting fees.

Section 2: The Hollywood Sapphire Group is a social organization and all of its members are associated with the audio industry or its allied fields. Its purpose is to provide an opportunity for members to meet informally for networking and to discuss current activities, technology, or events relating to the audio industry.

Section 3: Its officers shall consist of a Chairman, a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Membership Committee, and a Program Committee, all of whom must be active members.

Section 4: Election of these officers shall be conducted at the September general meeting in even-numbered years. The terms of office shall be two years or until successors have been elected. All officers may stand for re-election without a limitation on the number of terms.

Section 1: The general meetings of the Hollywood Sapphire Group normally shall take place on the first Tuesday of each month.

Section 2: Notice of the meetings shall be sent, via e-mail, to the membership no less than one week prior to each scheduled meeting. This notice also shall include a dinner reservation form.

Section 3: All members planning to attend the meeting must complete and submit to the Secretary by the date specified a confirming dinner reservation form for themselves and any guest(s) that they intend to bring. If they do not show up for dinner, they are nonetheless obligated to pay the Treasurer for the dinners they have reserved.

Section 1: To be eligible for membership in the Hollywood Sapphire Group, a candidate shall have a technical, scientific, and/or professional background in the audio industry or its allied fields. However, no sales person shall be eligible to become a member unless he/she previously has been employed as a practitioner in the audio industry

Section 2: Candidates for membership must attend three consecutive meetings as the guest of an active member, who then may submit a petition on behalf of the candidate to the Membership Committee for evaluation. This petition must be presented both in writing and verbally at a general meeting. Any objections to this petition must be submitted in writing to the Committee by an active member. The Membership Committee shall make its final recommendation to the Chairman who in turn will make the appropriate announcement at the subsequent general meeting.

Section 3: New members shall be required to lead a discussion or provide a meeting presentation within three months of being accepted as a member.

Section 4: An attendance roster shall be circulated at each meeting. Any member missing three consecutive meetings without a legitimate excuse — such as professional obligations, excessive travel time, family situations, or health conditions — shall be designated to inactive status and shall be notified of this by the Chairman.

Section 4a: Inactive members may be reinstated to active status by attending three consecutive meetings.

Section 4b: Members unable to attend meetings on a regular basis due to a permanent and legitimate excuse shall retain active member status as long as the legitimate excuse remains valid.

Section 1: The duties of the Chairman shall be to preside over the meetings and, with the assistance of the Program Committee, provide a discussion topic or presentation for the meeting. In the event that the Chairman cannot attend a meeting, he/she shall designate a member of the Program Committee as a stand-in.

Section 1a: The Chairman shall be responsible for determining the meeting place and negotiating details with the venue.

Section 2: The Treasurer shall receive all money from the members and shall pay all expenses of the Hollywood Sapphire Group. He/she shall keep an accounting of all funds received and expended by the Hollywood Sapphire Group and provide a report to the Chairman semi-annually.

Section 3: The Secretary shall maintain the meeting attendance roster and the membership database. He/she shall send to the membership notices of all meetings, and receive the reservations for dinner.

Section 3a: The Secretary also shall be responsible to supervise the maintenance of the official website of the Hollywood Sapphire Group.

Section 4: The Membership Committee shall consist of three members. It shall review all petitions for membership in the Hollywood Sapphire Group and any member’s request for exemption from inactive status. The Committee then shall forward its recommendations to the Chairman for appropriate action.

Section 5: The Program Committee shall consist of three members. Its responsibility is to assist the Chairman in the selection and presentation of discussion topics, programs, and presenters for the general meetings. The Chairman shall have the final decision on the acceptance of meeting topics or presenters.

Section 1: There shall be no dues for membership in the Hollywood Sapphire Group.

Section 2: The price charged for the dinners shall be established by the Chairman and Treasurer. Each member shall pay to the Treasurer the amount specified for his/her dinner and that of any guest(s) he/she may invite. The member also is responsible to pay any tips, incidentals, or extra amounts to cover his/her expenses. Active members shall be afforded a $5.00 discount on the price of their dinners.

Section 2a: Members attending a meeting without having made a timely dinner reservation with the Secretary shall be assessed an additional $10.00 for each dinner (member and guest) for that meeting.

Section 3: Disposition of any funds accrued shall be determined by the Officers and must be for the benefit of the Hollywood Sapphire Group as a whole.

SPECIAL NOTE: In case you find a mistake in this roster please consider it was put there for a purpose.
As there is some news for everyone and some folks are always looking for mistakes.