Musicians February 2008

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11 participants
11 discussions

[Organizers] [Fwd: [trad-dance-callers] Re: Out of the downward spiral--Seeking true success stories]

by Chris Weiler

There is an interesting discussion happening on trad-dance-callers regarding rescuing a failing dance series. The article at the link below is one of the best perspectives I've seen on dance community for a while. Chris Weiler Goffstown, NH -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [trad-dance-callers] Re: Out of the downward spiral--Seeking true success stories Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:43:19 -0600 From: David Kirchner <dekirchner(a)gmail.com> Reply-To: trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com To: trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com <trad-dance-callers(a)yahoogroups.com> Jim Saxe wrote: > Meanwhile, I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who can tell that > kind of success story now. My wife, Caroline Fahrney Kirchner, wrote a long piece several years ago that touched on these issues. Bill Tomczak keeps it on his website at: http://www.musaique.com/contradance/articles/fahrney.html <http://www.musaique.com/contradance/articles/fahrney.html> David Kirchner St. Paul, MN

16 years, 10 months

[Organizers] Fwd: Fw: [danceambassadors] Dance Attendance Project

by Jerome Grisanti

I'm forwarding the following note about an initiative being discussed at the yahoo group called "danceambassadors." It's a model for encouraging and retaining new dancers by finding out what they like (and don't like) about their first experiences at a contra dance. --Jerome Grisanti ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Coffman <johndcoffman(a)yahoo.com> Date: Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 9:32 PM Subject: Fwd: Fw: [danceambassadors] Dance Attendance Project To: Jill Allen <jallen3(a)sunflower.com>, Jerome Grisanti < jerome.grisanti(a)gmail.com> Note: forwarded message attached. ------------------------------ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51734/*http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/c…> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Jane Ewing" <contradance(a)charter.net> To: "Dale & Susan" <shoer51(a)yahoo.com>, "John & Kathy Coffman" < johndcoffman(a)yahoo.com>, "Larry Teich" <Larry.Teich(a)dep.state.fl.us>, "Steve Herndon" <busman71(a)catt.com>, "Barry Gibbons" <barry(a)afn.org>, "Richard Hopkins" <hopkinsrs(a)comcast.net>, "Stan & Linda Prince" < sprince2(a)tampabay.rr.com>, "Joey Norton" <jnor1(a)juno.com>, "Tom Hogan" < Bocawoodworks(a)aol.com>, "Alice Milmoe" <Contradans(a)aol.com>, "Rod Edens" < pull-by(a)triad.rr.com> Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 09:01:57 -0600 Subject: Fw: [danceambassadors] Dance Attendance Project *Hi gang - You are getting this because I have either spoken to you face to face about this idea, you have been in an email discussion about it or I just think it might help your group out.* ** *In Huntsville we use most of the ideas noted in the outline. We have reworded the paper we give to newcomers to complete to suit us better. We find it is helping.* ** *If you are concerned about the overall health of your group I would like you to consider taking this on.* ** *As Ridge says - please feel free to contact him (or myself) with questions or comments.* ** *Jane Ewing* ----- Original Message ----- *From:* Ridge Kennedy <ridgek(a)j-appleseed.org> *To:* danceambassadors(a)yahoogroups.com *Sent:* Monday, February 18, 2008 7:54 AM *Subject:* [danceambassadors] Dance Attendance Project Dear Friends in the Dance Community, This is an announcement about something which is, if not about a breakthrough, then is at least a significant incremental step in the effort to encourage/increase attendance at dance events. Notice to Disinterested Parties This is a fairly long message. If you are from the school of thought that says people would either "get it" or they don't with regard to participatory dance, if you think that efforts to understand the needs, wants, and behaviors of newcomers to dance events are irrelevant, or if you are not at all interested in the challenges of organizing and encouraging attendance at dance events, please press "delete" and ignore this message. Overview If you are still reading, here is what this message covers. -- A brief statement about the genesis of this project – an effort to communicate with newcomers at participatory dance events using online communication tools -- A description of test that is being conducted -- A description of the superficial results -- Links to the survey form and to the results -- A request for people any individuals/group that might be interested in participating in the next stage of development for this project to contact me A "J. Appleseed" Principle I am an advocate the idea of using technology to assist organizers -- to make their lives easier, and to try to help make their efforts more effective. For the last three or four months, Jane Ewing (a dance organizer and dance caller from Huntsville, Alabama), and I have been prototyping the use of web based survey software to solicit responses from newcomers to dance events. Here's the good news. It works. The process that we've worked out requires very little effort on the part of dance organizers. There's no cost. And over our test., we have found that dancers will participate by providing organizers with e-mail addresses, and they will respond to the solicitations we send to them via e-mail and complete the survey. Disclaimer: The information that we are sharing at this point is really in the "beta" stage of development. The survey was developed very quickly and the questions that we have asked are not as good as they should be. There are surely some other, more salient questions that we could ask and the structure of the survey can undoubtedly be improved. I am hopeful that some of you out there in the dance world will join us now in this effort and help us make this process work better. Results For now, what we are finding is that a fairly substantial number of newcomers will accept our invitation to participate in the survey and then about 50 percent of the people who agreed to participate will actually follow through and complete the survey. Following is a link to the survey. You can click on this link and see the survey that people are completing. This is a test copy of the survey and if you want to, you can go ahead and put in some data and seeing what the survey experience is like. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=e7vy3ALyBmPhZUgBaNDEdg_3d_3d Now, here is a link to the results of the survey that we have been conducting. The results can be "filtered" so that you can see responses based on specific venues, the gender of participants, the age range of participants, whether they are "experienced" dancers attending a different dance for the first time or whether they are "complete newcomers." Results can be viewed in summary form (all results tabulated and ranked) or results can be viewed on a "survey by survey" basis. http://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=MxsWM6VOhosNjXZUwqgnHSe8DoFKo6TQfmuE… One caveat about the results -- some survey results include e-mail addresses. That was unintentional. At this point I can't remove them from the results, but I did find where the setting was that included them and they will not be included in future results. One of our promises to participants is that we will not use their e-mail addresses for anything other than the survey, unless they give us permission. Benefits to organizers -- "what's in it for me?" First, there's the benefit of getting real information about concerns that newcomers may have every dance. It's simply a way of getting objective opinions from people who've never been there before about the convenience, friendliness, sociability, -- whatever conditions you want to ask about. In short, it's a way to find out if there are problems, and it gives us an opportunity to address them. Second -- from bigger perspective -- it gives us information about the new dancer experience. Frankly, I was hoping to get responses from people who were disappointed with the experience -- frustrated and unhappy. Eventually, I'm sure that some responses like that will come through, but in our testing so far. We have not received many negative responses. Which leads to the third point. Number three -- participation in the survey does provide reinforcement about the idea of coming back. A review of which survey results shows that a high proportion of people who have completed the survey have said they are positively or at least likely to come back again. Finally -- the survey process can integrate with the group's effort to build attendance using an announcement e-mail list, and/or a "come back for the next time free" pass that many groups are using these days. As noted, this is really a test version of a process; it has lots of flaws and has lots of room for improvement. I do believe, however, that we have shown that this process does have potential for certain groups well and can play a positive role in increasing dance attendance. If you have any questions about all of this, I'd like to share them in the context of an online discussion group that is focused on the issues dance organizers face. My goal is to find a few more organizers, who might be interested in participating in this survey effort and help us take it into a "production" mode. Additionally, we are interested in developing a second step to our research – a process that reaches out to the current dancers for feedback. If you are interested in discussing this further, please contact me directly at mail to mailto:ridgek@j-appleseed.org <ridgek%40j-appleseed.org>. Thank You very much for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Ridge -- Ridge Kennedy [Exit 145] __._,_.___ Messages in this topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danceambassadors/message/34;_ylc=X3oDMTMxOTZu…> (1) Reply (via web post) <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danceambassadors/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJvZ2dwMmN0BF…>| Start a new topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danceambassadors/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJmOTA5dTlqBF…> Messages<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danceambassadors/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJmcm1mOD…>| Files<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danceambassadors/files;_ylc=X3oDMTJnYW11cHRzB…>| Photos<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danceambassadors/photos;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZzY2NGtn…>| Links<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danceambassadors/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJnN2NyMmVxB…>| Database<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danceambassadors/database;_ylc=X3oDMTJkbDVsc3…>| Polls<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danceambassadors/polls;_ylc=X3oDMTJnYzVtM3ZkB…>| Members<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danceambassadors/members;_ylc=X3oDMTJmcWxpaXV…>| Calendar<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danceambassadors/calendar;_ylc=X3oDMTJlYjczYW…> [image: Yahoo! Groups]<http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTJlbjAwdTU0BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE5N…> Change settings via the Web<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danceambassadors/join;_ylc=X3oDMTJnbmJzaWEwBF…>(Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest<danceambassadors-digest@yahoogroups.com?subject=Email+Delivery:+Digest>| Switch format to Traditional<danceambassadors-traditional@yahoogroups.com?subject=Change+Delivery+Format:+Traditional> Visit Your Group <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danceambassadors;_ylc=X3oDMTJlOXFrYjM3BF9TAzk…>| Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>| Unsubscribe <danceambassadors-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com?subject=> __,_._,___ -- Jerome Grisanti 660-528-0858 660-528-0714 http://www.jeromegrisanti.com

16 years, 10 months

[Organizers] Dance Organization

by George Fowler

Hi Jeffrey, It may also have to do with how "organized" the group's structure is. If the dance is run by a 501c3 non-profit (or similar tax-free setup) the group's by-laws may dictate how boards are elected, how long officers serve, what offices are held, by whom, etc. Other dances may be more informally organized & don't need to follow lots of R&Rs. Some venues require, or perhaps prefer, rules of organization while others seem to just happen on an informal basis. Depending on the circumstances I would say either model works. Best to all, George Fowler Blue Hill, ME 1st Sat dance

16 years, 10 months

[Organizers] Rochester NY Organization

by Bobfab＠aol.com

HI all, Rochester has a weekly Thursday dance, with a board consisting of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. All positions are elected by the members who attend the dance when the voting is held. There is a few week notice, with a slate presented for consideration. It is mostly by coercion that members get put on the slate, so there is no contention in recent memory. The board meetings are somewhat regular, about every month, open to all, with special invites to the organizers of an upcoming event, as well as "members at large" , the scheduler for bands/callers, and the sound guy. The positions are described in the bylaws, and there are time limits (3-5 yrs) for the positions - as much to be a guaranteed "out" for those afraid of being stuck in the position, as for helping to get more members of the dance involved in the organization. We are a CDSS affiliate, and we are an official Tax Exempt Non-Profit Organization - 501c(3). 2007 is the first year we have to file our own Form 990 in addition to the CDSS required annual summary. Anyone with words of advice, please contact me directly!!! Bob ************** Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. (http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp0030000…)

16 years, 10 months

[Organizers] Dance Group Structure

by George Fowler

In the past, a common way of organizing dances in Maine was around a "house band", who really were the committee, the hosts, the go-fers, what-have-you. In short, you were throuwing a public dance party. Our monthly dance in Blue Hill (ME) still functions this way (after 32 years - the longest-running dance in the state). We are a band of 4 members, and with some help from various volunteers (mostly spouses and friends), we book the hall, collect the gate, do the publicity, open, set up, pick up, what-have-you. We book a rotating collection of callers, and an occasional visiting band when we have other commitments, but essentially we are the house band doubling as committee. The model is perhaps less common now than in years past, but still occurs with several venues in this state. On the plus side: continuity from month to month, regular sharing of ideas (usually at rehearsals), long experience working with each other, comfort in the routine. A few drawbacks: more work for some members if others are absent, a certain staid comfort with the status quo that could become (but hasn't so far) a bit of stagnation, a certain amount of exhaustion from time to time. But ...... "if it ain't broke; don't fix it" Best to all, George Fowler

16 years, 10 months

Re: [Organizers] Organizers Digest, Vol 7, Issue 3

by Chrissy Fowler

Good idea Stephen. Sorry to leave it out in my recent emails. Chrissy Fowler Belfast Flying Shoes Dance Series (Belfast, Maine) http://www.belfastflyingshoes.org > Stephen Moore > Lenox (MA) Contra Dance > > PS- I sign my contributions with the name of the dance I help with. > I'd like to encourage others to do the same so I can build some sense > of identity around who is contributing. Thanks. > ********************************* _________________________________________________________________ Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live. http://www.windowslive.com/share.html?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_012008

16 years, 10 months

[Organizers] dance group structure

by Chrissy Fowler

The two monthly dances that I have been involved with producing have had organizational structures that functioned thusly: Conceived of by catalyst(s). Work done by a team of people. Infrequent formal meetings, usually 1x/year. More frequent informal discussions and conversations to make decisions as things came up (e.g. what do we do about weather?) Usually done in combination of phone and email. No umbrella, just on our own as a functional non-profit venture (though not formal non-profit.) In neither case was there a formal elected board or beneficent/benevolent dictator (much as I'd have wished to be that person when I wasn't getting my way!) ---------------------- SERIES A: Two enthusiastic dancers conceived of the notion of starting a series. They solicited participation of a 3rd person (housemate of one) who had significant history in the dance community (played in a long-standing touring band.) Much discussion of philosophy and "best" practices ensued, "policy" decisions were made as a group, a name was chosen, and the series was begun. Each of the three "committee members" had different strengths, and various informally assigned roles were assumed, including: 1 person: - booking/scheduling - flyer production - snack arrangements - event management (the night of the dance, including setup, cleanup and gate management) - performer arrangements (hosting, etc) - bookkeeper (finances) - statistician (tracking things like attendance) 1 person: - sound engineer for bands who needed us to do sound - print publicity 1 person: - email publicity - hall liaison - mailings For major decisions, everyone in the group was consulted, even if the individual was tacitly authorized to act independently. Sort of a check and balance system. ----------------------------- SERIES B: One person conceived of the notion, sketched out the rough concept, got input from many others in the local (and dance) community, and brought three others on board to run the series. The four of them discussed philosophy, finalized policies, chose a name, and started the series. There are four core committee members, and eight significant volunteers. There are two major committee roles (duties were chosen informally, mostly by whoever took the initiative): 1. -booking/scheduling - statistics/finances - performer liaison - hall liaison - sound engineer liaison 2. - webmaster liaison - publicity/marketing (including email and print media/radio) - flyer production The major job of the remaining two committee members is: - coordinate the open band during the community dance - Event management is shared among the 4 committee members and the 8 volunteers. (This is arranged fairly informally, depending on who is available on the given dance night and when they are available. Two of the volunteers coordinate the snacks. A team of people handles set up, gate management and cleanup, with informal arrangements.) We contract out to experts for: - website management - sound engineering All 4 committee members serve to advise the others on an as-needed basis (another check and balance system) especially on matters such as booking and website content. ----------------------------------- Documenting what each role does is a GREAT IDEA for the franchising of the series "product" so that there will be continuity for the dancers and the performers no matter who is filling a given role. We have some documentation, but not quite enough to ensure a smooth transition if all four of us were to jump ship at once. I love the notion of being "custodians of the dance." I think that's relevant to us too, and although we don't necessarily solicit broadbased feedback from the dancers, whatever feedback we get, we consider most seriously. It's exciting to hear about other ways people organize themselves to organize the dances. -Chrissy Fowler _________________________________________________________________ Helping your favorite cause is as easy as instant messaging. You IM, we give. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/?source=text_hotmail_join

16 years, 10 months

Re: [Organizers] dance group structure

by Rick Johnson

In San Diego we have a non-elected, self-selected dance committee comprised of those who show up at the quarterly meetings. I can see theoretical drawbacks to this method (hostile takeover for instance) but it has worked successfully here for many years. I should mention that this dance committee operates under the umbrella of a larger, more formal non-profit organization, although the parent organization is not involved in routine dance operations and decision-making. Rick ------ Original Message ------ Received: 06:37 PM PST, 02/05/2008 From: astro46(a)apricoto.com To: "'A list for dance organizers'" <organizers(a)sharedweight.net> Subject: [Organizers] dance group structure (resending) > sorry, i sent this under a different email address so it was held for > approval. i am resending under the correct address. > > i am interested in hearing about different methods of dance group > organization. > > i am aware of two basic methods: 1) elected board method, which is > responsible for making all decisions by vote and 2)the beneficent dictator > method (b.d.). the b.d. may or may not have people that act as a board who > are appointed, but in the end all decisions are those of he b.d. > > > re: elected board voting methods: there are a couple of variations for the > voting process: 1) dancers get the right to vote by buying a group > membership, or 2) whoever is at the dance on the day of the election gets to > vote. (my feeling is that regularly attending dancers ought to be the ones > voting, but i haven't figured out a good way to track attendance) > > a side issue of the elected board method is how the positions are > established, sometimes individuals run for positions (eg president, > secretary, treasurer, booker, etc). in other groups a certain number of > people are elected to the board and the board decides the different > responsibilities. > > are there other methods or permutations? > > any comments on the pro or cons of these different methods? > > > thanks, > > Jeffrey > ____________________________________________________________________

16 years, 10 months

[Organizers] dance group structure (resending)

by astro46＠apricoto.com

sorry, i sent this under a different email address so it was held for approval. i am resending under the correct address. i am interested in hearing about different methods of dance group organization. i am aware of two basic methods: 1) elected board method, which is responsible for making all decisions by vote and 2)the beneficent dictator method (b.d.). the b.d. may or may not have people that act as a board who are appointed, but in the end all decisions are those of he b.d. re: elected board voting methods: there are a couple of variations for the voting process: 1) dancers get the right to vote by buying a group membership, or 2) whoever is at the dance on the day of the election gets to vote. (my feeling is that regularly attending dancers ought to be the ones voting, but i haven't figured out a good way to track attendance) a side issue of the elected board method is how the positions are established, sometimes individuals run for positions (eg president, secretary, treasurer, booker, etc). in other groups a certain number of people are elected to the board and the board decides the different responsibilities. are there other methods or permutations? any comments on the pro or cons of these different methods? thanks, Jeffrey

16 years, 10 months

[Organizers] dance group structure

by jeffrey

i am interested in hearing about different methods of dance group organization. i am aware of two basic methods: 1) elected board method, which is responsible for making all decisions by vote and 2)the beneficent dictator method (b.d.). the b.d. may or may not have people that act as a board who are appointed, but in the end all decisions are those of he b.d. re: elected board voting methods: there are a couple of variations for the voting process: 1) dancers get the right to vote by buying a group membership, or 2) whoever is at the dance on the day of the election gets to vote. (my feeling is that regularly attending dancers ought to be the ones voting, but i haven't figured out a good way to track attendance) a side issue of the elected board method is how the positions are established, sometimes individuals run for positions (eg president, secretary, treasurer, booker, etc). in other groups a certain number of people are elected to the board and the board decides the different responsibilities. are there other methods or permutations? any comments on the pro or cons of these different methods? thanks, Jeffrey

16 years, 10 months

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Musicians February 2008