[Organizers] Volunteers

[Lex Spoon via Organizers]

The best answer seems to depend on the scale of the dance. Atlanta ranges
from 60-160 dancers per dance, and correspondingly, it has more paid
positions than many dances seem to:

- Calling
- Music
- Sound engineering (speakers, mics, mixing, cable running, playing canned
music during the break)
- Taking money at the front

It's a real stress on the budget and/or the door price that these are all
paid, so it's really interesting to read how other dances do more by using
volunteers.

There are currently no shoe police, which is one of the great things about
the current dance hall. It's so far worked well to have sticky mats,
signage, and an honor system. Shoe police are more effective at keeping the
floor in good shape, but it's not as nice on the dancers.

I am told that sound engineering used to be volunteer, but nowadays it is a
paid position. I can see it would be different in a hall where people can
call and play acoustically in a pinch, but in a big hall, it can really
stall out the evening for a whole bunch of people if there are sound
problems.

I don't know the full story behind the doorkeeper situation, but note that
it is a significant amount of work, and the person doing it doesn't get to
dance. At least in Atlanta, the doorkeeper needs to keep some detailed
notes, too, for tax purposes.

The main official volunteer positions that come to mind in Atlanta are set
up, tear down, and hosting.

There is also lots of unofficial volunteer activity. I don't think the
scheduler is paid, nor the web site maintenance, nor the occasional
videographer. There are various social networking groups (Facebook, Meetup,
others....) that are all maintained by volunteers. There's a 9-person
steering committee. For all of these things, there are just some special
people in the community who love contra dance and who jump in to contribute.

Lex Spoon
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