To: organizers(a)sharedweight.net.
CC:
BCC:
Subject:Dance in transition
Hi
Dance venue in transition Qs?
Just curious as to longevity of dance series.
How do you handle organizer burnout?
I know an organizer who has been at it for 12 years and wishes to turn
the series
over to a new 'generation'.
How do you generate support and bring new people in to the organization
of dances?
(dancers scatter when there is mention of organizing!)
There is a small loyal group of dancers. The problem is no one wishes to
take up the duties of organizer. This is compounded by the fact that the
main organizer needs to
be a resident of the town where the dance is held. (I do what I can. I
organized a dance and found it was not my calling. esp. as the sole
organizer, dancers want to dance not organize!)
History:
Dance started in 1996
In a beautiful medium size hall.
First 2 years averaged 65-70 dancers
In the third year there was a problem with parking at the hall. Number
of dancers dropped off. Parking problem was resolved but the numbers did
not rebound.
Year 3
A "Flashier" dance series, 50 miles away, was created for the same wknd.
This siphoned
off more dancers.
Over the next 8 years attendance fluctuated between 20-40. which is the
sustaining level for this dance.
In the past year attendance levels have dropped to 10-30
The dance is having problems hiring the "Name" talent that brings in
dancers from more than an hour away (Though Randy Miller from western NH
is a fan of this dance and
plays for the take of the door)callers and musicians ask for guarantee
sums
The organizer just does not want the hassle of it anymore.
There are several of us who help when we can.
Some of the reasons the dance is struggling (along with the above)
Very few local dancers.
Lack of flashy talent (dance can not provide the pay out)
It's a community dance that welcomes beginners/families
At one time there was a rowdy teenage group who frequented the dance,
they were very energetic, too much for some dancers. (they do not
attend the dance anymore, but the stigma is still there)
It's to far off the beaten path (Where is ----------- anyway?) [ I
choose not to include the name of the dance without permission of the
organizer]
Its to long of a drive! There are better dances closer by...
Is that dance still happening?
It is a shame to see the demise of this dance series due to lack of
interest, attrition
gas prices, an aging dance community, apathy.
Perhaps it is time for this 'community' dance to close it's doors. I
wonder how many other smaller dances are experiencing the same problems.
Here is in southern NH dance venues (new dance halls) are becoming
increasingly hard to find and it would be a shame to see this one fall
from use.
Hope to start a dialogue and get some ideas for keeping this series
viable
Thanks in advance
Gale Wood
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Alan, Gale and all,
I'm replying to both the organizers and callers lists, since I think
Alan's comments are quite keen and hope those of you on the organizers'
list who missed them can look at them (he sent them only to the callers
list).
I have a somewhat unique perspective on passing on leadership roles in
dance communities. I've been one of the primary organizers for the
contra dance here at Oberlin College for three years, now, as well as
the primary organizer for our dance weekend, the Dandelion Romp, last
year, and one of the organizers this year. Our dance has existed for
five or six years, now, and our dance weekend has been an annual event
for the past eight years. As our dances are student run, nobody has run
any part of the dance for more than three years at a time, which means
we have to find creative ways to pass it on. Many of our dancers, too,
are students, and so we have to constantly advertize and find new ways
to attract people to dances, since few of our dancers have been
attending for more than three and a half years.
In the past, we've relied on one or two people to do most of the
organizing at dances, and particularly for the Romp. Things have slowly
changed, however. As Alan suggested, having meetings about the
direction of the dance community and splitting up tasks into manageable
commitments has been vital for us. There is more you can do for your
community, though. We have somewhat regular potluck dinners, where the
dance organizers and interested dancers can socialize and talk about our
contra dance scene. These can help create a sense of stewardship;
dancers will start to feel like the dance is a part of their community
that's worth investing time in, rather than just a service that some
people provide for many others. Also, for us, our dances became more of
a group effort when we officially chartered them as student
organizations with Oberlin College. I really think that making an
organization, and writing bylaws, can help keep the dance going when the
people who started the dance no longer wish to organize it. I don't
mean that you should necessarily immediately incorporate your dance
community as a nonprofit and start declaring all your income and
expenses, of course, but even a short document explaining the purpose of
the dance and perhaps outlining some distinct jobs that people can do to
keep the dance running might help a lot.
-Dave
Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing wrote:
>Gale wrote:
>
>
>
>>Dance venue in transition Qs?
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>Just curious as to longevity of dance series.
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>How do you handle organizer burnout?
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>I know an organizer who has been at it for 12 years and wishes to turn
>>the series
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>over to a new 'generation'.
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>How do you generate support and bring new people in to the organization
>>of dances?
>>
>>
>
>
>
>> (dancers scatter when there is mention of organizing!)
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>There is a small loyal group of dancers. The problem is no one wishes to
>>take up the duties of organizer. This is compounded by the fact that the
>>main organizer needs to
>>be a resident of the town where the dance is held. (I do what I can. I
>>organized a dance and found it was not my calling. esp. as the sole
>>organizer, dancers want to dance not organize!)
>>
>>
>
>Reframe.
>
>You're not looking for an individual to whom the organizer can hand the robe
>and sceptre; you're looking to (a) get a certain minimum set of duties done and
>(b) develop a broader sense of ownership of the dance so that people feel
>motivated to help get the duties done (and possibly expand the stuff that gets
>done).
>
>One of those duties is to be the resident interface to the town, but that
>person probably doesn't actually have to be the person who books the staff,
>sweeps the floor, and bakes the cookies (if any).
>
>People are wary of open-ended commitments, so "could you be the organizer of a
>dance series" is a scary question. "Could you bring refreshments in
>even-numbered months?" is a much less scary kind of question.
>
>I'd suggest that you announce at a dance (maybe two dances) that at date X in
>the future, so-and-so plans to retire from running the dance, and that at
>(well-defined date and location well before that time) there'll be a meeting
>for those interested in having the dance continue to discuss what to do about
>it.
>
>You do need somebody to host that meeting and somebody to facilitate/lead it
>and it would be helpful if the organizer could, beforehand, make a list of the
>stuff that he or she does for the series.
>
>If there's nobody willing to even come to a meeting, then the dance series
>doesn't have enough dancer commitment to function, and it'll have to die when
>the organizer retires. If you get some people, you can start discussing what
>needs to happen and who can do it, and possibly extract commitments either to
>do those things or to recruit people to do those things. If nobody's willing
>to make even the commitments necessary to keep the dance functioning, then it
>has to shut down. Maybe they'll miss it enough when it's gone to start it up
>again.
>
>I don't have an answer if you've got enough volunteers to keep it going and
>nobody fulfills the residency requirement, except to ask the current organizer
>to keep functioning in the reduced-obligation role of resident interface to the
>town.
>
>-- Alan
>
>
>
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
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.
------------------------------
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---------- 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]
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--
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
660-528-0714
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
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
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…)
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
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.
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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
_________________________________________________________________
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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
>
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