Organizers June 2016

organizers@lists.sharedweight.net

1 participants
11 discussions

by via Organizers

Hi Marie-Michèle. (And apologies to the group, I don't know how to make individual contact and this note seemed easiest.) A friend of mine was a student at McGill about 5? maybe 7? years ago and did contradance there. I loaned him several books to help get things started. Contact me offline at bobfab(a)aol.com and I can connect you with him. He may have some insights, and offered to speak with you. Bob bobfab(a)aol.com

8 years, 5 months

University contra clubs

by Marie-Michèle Fournier via Organizers

Hello everyone! I have recruited some of our younger dancers to start a contra club at their university to help us bring in more people to our dances in an effort to be sustainable. However, none of us are quite certain what's the best way to proceed with this and what exactly to do with this club. Any of you out there have associated university or college clubs? Could you put me in contact with the people in charge so we can use their ideas and experience with this? Thanks! Marie ContraMontreal

8 years, 6 months

Re: [Organizers] Organizers Digest, Vol 22, Issue 15

by Corallina Breuer via Organizers

Marie! Let's chat at Ooh La La! I worked with my alma mater to create a contra dance club when I was an alum living in the area working for a nonprofit and students were interested in bringing contra to the campus. I've also worked with a few other universities and students since then. I've just seen your latest message regarding your campus decision to not allow new clubs, I've seen similar situations occur as a result of schools trying to direct students toward collaborative work. This was true for my alma mater. As a result the contra dances were "hosted" by a few already existing organizations who agreed that contra fit their mission and had staff members who wanted to support the club happening. Examples in our case included the Center for Women & Gender Action, our non-secular Office of Religious Life, Student Activities Office, and I think the Dance Department as well as support from the Health &Wellness Office because it was an alcohol-free event. Anyway, it was a grand mix and as a result, they also helped with publicity and talked it up a lot because they had a stake, if you will, in the success of the endeavor. Anyway, we shall see each other soon (right?! I hope so!) and I'll share the many more thoughts, and details of how it came together, plus some other examples I've been on the periphery of :) On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 4:07 PM via Organizers < organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > Send Organizers mailing list submissions to > organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > organizers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > organizers-owner(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Organizers digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: University contra clubs > (Marie-Mich?le Fournier via Organizers) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2016 08:38:48 -0400 > From: Marie-Mich?le Fournier via Organizers > <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > To: Brian Gallagher <gallagb(a)gmail.com> > Cc: Marie-Mich?le Fournier via Organizers > <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > Subject: Re: [Organizers] University contra clubs > Message-ID: > < > CADbbneaPpOyMSd34tCvxbxkJVMCZeNNaPc38qmS-Q+8Fbirkyg(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > Thanks Brian, this is very informative! > Unfortunately I had a nasty surprise when I looked up how to create a club > at McGill only to discover they currently do not allow new clubs because > they have too many. I will have to rethink the idea. I didn't see any > traditional music club in their listing, which is unfortunate as they may > have been a good option for a partnership, but I will go through them all > again to see if I can find an existing club that we might convince to work > with us. > Thank you everyone > Marie > > On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 2:28 AM, Brian Gallagher via Organizers < > organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > > Hello all- > > While I do not currently work with a student organization at a > university, > > my profession is working with student orgs at universities. > > Every school really is different in their bylaws and what is and is not > ok. > > I've seen a lot of different things to be successful. > > > > At one school in the south, the christian based organizations partnered > > with the swing club and had a large swing dance which included a lesson. > > They did this 4x per year and got a few hundred people each time (between > > local swing dancers, students who were in the swing club, and then > > christian students looking to learn or try something new). > > > > I think it is U of Chicago (or maybe it is UIC) that has a beautiful > dance > > hall, they use a student club to 'rent' the hall for occasional contra & > > english dances. > > > > Most schools will require that your club have a faculty or staff advisor- > > typically this person just signs paperwork. They may or may not be an > > active member in the organization. Have your students go to their > favorite > > professor to ask them if they want to sign on. > > As for what does the club do? It's really up to you- they can co-sponsor > a > > dance on the college campus, or just be an 'enthusiast' group (like ski > > club) that meets every so often but the real purpose is to help > coordinate > > rides to the local dance. It all really depends on the momentum and what > > resources the campus offers. Some campuses will allow you to apply for > > funds (think the same as a federal or state government- so, this is a > once > > a year type process most often - requires pre-planning, not a last moment > > thing). > > > > Most schools will require your club to have a constitution- they should > > have a template for you to follow. The club will also need X officers > and Y > > members to be a 'real' club. The school should have some sort of > > administrator (person in my type of job) who can help guide you with this > > stuff. If you message me (off the list) the name of the university, I > > could do some looking around to see if I know the person or can find > their > > name on a website for you. > > > > Feel free to contact me off-list if you need more help & good luck! > > Sometimes the 'college club' is a great thing & sometimes it is... not > > really worth all of the effort. Usually it all rides on how much effort > (& > > time) the individual student is willing to put into the project- with > > balancing it with their classes, part time job, sweeties...etc. > > > > Brian > > > > > > > > On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 11:42 PM Mary Anne Eason via Organizers < > > organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > > >> The University of Maine in Orono has a Traditional Music and Dance Club > >> dance which promotes contra as well as other kinds of dance (though > >> essentially now I don't think it does anything but contra). In the past > >> they hosted a few small contras on campus (in dorms, the dining hall or > a > >> large hallway somewhere where there was exposure to other students). > >> Recently they have gotten funds from the student government which covers > >> the entrance fee for students to the local dance each month in Orono > plus > >> free pizza! The contact person is Anthony Viselli, > >> anthony.viselli(a)maine.edu, who also heads up the band that plays at > that > >> contra. > >> > >> Mary Anne > >> > >> On 6/20/2016 1:56 PM, Erik Erhardt via Organizers wrote: > >> > >> Hi Marie, > >> > >> A little history for our group, then a suggestion that we plan to follow > >> this coming year: > >> > >> At the University of New Mexico (unmcontra.org) FolkMADS (our local > folk > >> dance org, folkmads.org) put on 8 dances in year Aug 2014 - May 2015, > >> then we formed a student organization and put on 8 dances, the last 4 > with > >> a student band Aug 2015 - May 2016. We've had low attendance (10-30 > >> dancers, about half students), but with returning regular dancers. > We've > >> put in a lot of energy without much growth, though the student band ( > >> http://www.clarabyom.com/rusty-tap.html) was a very positive outcome. > >> > >> This coming year we plan to *partner with other large student > >> organizations and put on joint events*. This will help guarantee larger > >> dances, will help with advertising, and will get people who already know > >> each other to dance together. I think this will increase the appeal of > the > >> dance. > >> We can also do more if we leverage ways to use student organization > funds. > >> > >> Good luck! > >> Erik Erhardt > >> (505)480-4462 StatAcumen.com > >> > >> On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 11:34 AM, Marie-Mich?le Fournier < > >> <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > >> wrote: > >> > >>> Hello everyone! > >>> I have recruited some of our younger dancers to start a contra > club > >>> at their university to help us bring in more people to our dances in an > >>> effort to be sustainable. However, none of us are quite certain what's > the > >>> best way to proceed with this and what exactly to do with this club. > Any of > >>> you out there have associated university or college clubs? Could you > put me > >>> in contact with the people in charge so we can use their ideas and > >>> experience with this? > >>> Thanks! > >>> Marie > >>> ContraMontreal > >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> Organizers mailing list > >>> Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > >>> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net > >>> > >>> > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Organizers mailing listOrganizers@lists.sharedweight.nethttp:// > lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Organizers mailing list > >> Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net > >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Organizers mailing list > > Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net > > > > >

8 years, 6 months

guarantee/profit sharing?

by Dana Dwinell-Yardley via Organizers

Hi all! Writing in my role as an organizer of the new second Saturday Montpelier Contra Exchange series: http://www.contraexchange.org/. We are trying to figure out a band/caller payment amount that works for both us and the talent. So — simple question: How much to do pay your musicians and caller? Do you have a guarantee, and if so, is it per person or for everyone, no matter the band size? Do you do profit sharing on top of that? (I will say that the well-established Montpelier dance on first and third Saturdays, which I also help organize, has a guarantee of $650 to be split among musicians and caller, with additional payment for sound. We share additional profit based on attendance, once our expenses are paid for and some money saved back for dances we need to subsidize.) Thanks! Dana -- Dana Dwinell-Yardley graphic design & layout Montpelier, Vermont 802-505-6639 danadwya(a)gmail.com

8 years, 6 months

ASCAP and BMI

by Rob Lindauer via Organizers

I just got a letter from ASCAP asking payment of license fees for use of recorded and copyright materials at our dances. If my organization ran just our contra dances, I'd tell them to take a hike - or not respond at all - with the argument that our contras use only traditional public domain music, and not recorded music nor copyright arrangements. However, my organization also has waltz, swing, DJ, and Cajun/zydeco series, where I don't think I can make the same assertion. The net is I'll probably go ahead and pay. My question: What encounters (and resolutions) have other groups had with ASCAP (and BMI too, for that matter). Thanks, RL -- Rob Lindauer

8 years, 6 months

Re: [Organizers] Admission Table "Cash Register"?

by Don Veino via Organizers

Thanks Koren, I'll give it a try. In a quick review it looks a lot like what I was working on myself, without obviously being 100% customized to our purpose. Happy to accept something that's done/tested now and mostly matches our needs and then put something else in place which takes the output the rest of the way. -Don On Jun 9, 2016 2:06 PM, "Koren A. Wake" <koren.a.wake(a)gmail.com> wrote: I'm coming very late to this topic, sorry... but since I don't see anyone else having mentioned this, I wanted to chime in. The blues dance I now run in Seattle uses Square to track attendance and cash. It's simple to set up and our door volunteers seem happy with it. We charge a sliding scale and just have separate "items" for each dollar amount. When we used to have "regular" and "student" prices we had buttons for those as well, and a custom price item for donations. Square automatically tracks the number of each item sold, and the times. On a tablet (we use an iPad, and I would assume it works on an Android tablet as well), Square also does cash drawer tracking -- enter your starting cash, track transactions, and enter your final counts; it'll tell you whether you're off and by how much. It does not allow for cash drawer tracking through the phone app, though. I'm not sure why not, or whether they're going to add it eventually. And of course, Square allows us to take credit cards too, which has pros and cons but overall I'm very much in favor of it. Koren On Mon, May 16, 2016 at 12:53 PM Don Veino via Organizers < organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > Just in case there was any question, we have absolute trust in our > volunteers and have had no instances of door sitter cheating (a tiny > minority of dancers on the other hand... but I digress). The impetus for my > original investigation is solely operational efficiency - making it easier > for our volunteers and ourselves as organizers. It would be nice to > actually be able to dance at our own dances more often. :) > > On Sun, May 15, 2016 at 5:54 PM, Dan Pearl via Organizers < > organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > >> We operate on a basis of trust with our door-sitters and the mix of >> adult/youth varies during the year in unsurprising ways -- we just don't >> feel like we need to capture that information. >> >> 4. Any system can be compromised by crooked door-sitter. They can wink >> at their friends and wave them in for no fee. They could pocket some money >> and not click the tally counter or put a tick-mark on the paper. Anything! >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net >

8 years, 6 months

Flurry Festival--Historic Building in danger of being converted to a courtroom

by Paul Rosenberg via Organizers

Hi folks About a month ago, we were stunned to learn that the Saratoga Music Hall was in danger of becoming a courtroom. On May 26, the Saratoga Springs City Council did indeed decide to convert the space. As founder and former Director of the Flurry Festival in Saratoga Springs, NY, I am reaching out for ideas, but even more so, for help in preserving our wonderful Saratoga Music Hall space (3rd floor of Saratoga Springs City Hall) for dancing, and the arts in general. I’m sure many of you have been to the Flurry Festival and danced at the historic Saratoga Music Hall, built in a somewhat different format in the 1870s and renovated in the early 1930s We have drafted an information sheet to distribute to our local dancers this Friday night. See below Paul Rosenberg Albany, NY 518-482-9255 Calling all Dancers We need your help to save the Historic Saratoga Music Hall The City of Saratoga Springs has received a mandate from NY State to create another courtroom. They decided that renovating the space of the third floor Music Hall in City Hall is the best option. This space has been used for the Flurry Festival since we moved Saratoga in 1994, and is most dancers' favorite venue. It is also the site of the very popular Diamond Dance, a swing dance series affiliated with DanceFlurry Organization. The City Council says the Music Hall is not of historical value and is underutilized. We need to let ourselves be heard if we want to dance in or otherwise use the Saratoga Music Hall after 2017. The only way we can save the Music Hall is if a huge number of people write to the people listed below. The following list is our suggestion for writing to the decision makers, in order of importance starting at the top. The decision is now seems to be in the realm of the NYS Office of Court Administration. They will only read signed letters which are either postal mailed or faxed. Ron Younkins Executive Director, NYS Unified Court System Office of Court Administration 25 Beaver Street - 11th Floor New York, NY 10004 Fax number: 212-428-2190 Governor Andrew Cuomo – he ordered the court expansion - http://www.governor.ny.gov/contact <http://www.governor.ny.gov/contact> Mayor and all members of the City Council of the City of Saratoga Springs - http://www.saratoga-springs.org/963/City-Council-Members <http://www.saratoga-springs.org/963/City-Council-Members> Assembly woman Carrie Woerner <http://nyassembly.gov/mem/Carrie-Woerner/contact> - http://nyassembly.gov/mem/Carrie-Woerner/contact Senator Kathy Marchione <https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/kathleen-marchione/contact> - https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/kathleen-marchione/contact Office of Court Administration for the Saratoga area <http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/4jd/> - http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/4jd/ <http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/4jd/> email: dcaj-alb(a)nycourts.gov <mailto:dcaj-alb@nycourts.gov> (address letter to the Honorable Michael V Coccoma, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge) Here are articles (and a petition) with some background info: Petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-the-music-hall <http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-the-music-hall> Articles: http://www.saratogian.com/general-news/20160608/saratoga-springs-music-hall… <http://www.saratogian.com/general-news/20160608/saratoga-springs-music-hall…> http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Opposition-to-Music-Hall-renovation… <http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Opposition-to-Music-Hall-renovation…> <>The option to use the music hall space has gone to the Office of Court Administration. We need to act very quickly. Write and email to bring concern and attention to this. They did this before anyone knew what had happened! Go to the Save the Saratoga Music Hall facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/496927287168669/ <https://www.facebook.com/groups/496927287168669/> to stay informed about what is happening and what you can to. We need everybody!

8 years, 6 months

Re: [Organizers] Admission Table "Cash Register"?

by Claire Takemori via Organizers

Koren, Square sounds great. Can you tell me the cost of using it? Is there additional cost for credit cards? Thank you! Claire Takemori ( South Bay Contra, SF Bay area) Begin forwarded message: From: via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> Subject: Organizers Digest, Vol 22, Issue 4 Date: June 9, 2016 at 1:10:39 PM PDT To: organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net Reply-To: organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net, organizers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net Message: 1 Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2016 18:06:23 +0000 From: "Koren A. Wake via Organizers" <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>> To: Don Veino <sharedweight_net(a)veino.com <mailto:sharedweight_net@veino.com>>, "organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>" <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Admission Table "Cash Register"? Message-ID: <CAJU=4bPK7s0_8EvUksUjRyEcSZ_ebHavxKQVLjwv_38PR7zEQA(a)mail.gmail.com <mailto:CAJU=4bPK7s0_8EvUksUjRyEcSZ_ebHavxKQVLjwv_38PR7zEQA@mail.gmail.com>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" I'm coming very late to this topic, sorry... but since I don't see anyone else having mentioned this, I wanted to chime in. The blues dance I now run in Seattle uses Square to track attendance and cash. It's simple to set up and our door volunteers seem happy with it. We charge a sliding scale and just have separate "items" for each dollar amount. When we used to have "regular" and "student" prices we had buttons for those as well, and a custom price item for donations. Square automatically tracks the number of each item sold, and the times. On a tablet (we use an iPad, and I would assume it works on an Android tablet as well), Square also does cash drawer tracking -- enter your starting cash, track transactions, and enter your final counts; it'll tell you whether you're off and by how much. It does not allow for cash drawer tracking through the phone app, though. I'm not sure why not, or whether they're going to add it eventually. And of course, Square allows us to take credit cards too, which has pros and cons but overall I'm very much in favor of it. Koren

8 years, 6 months

Re: [Organizers] Admission Table "Cash Register"?

by Lou Echeandia via Organizers

Hi, Don, Our dance organization has chosen a low tech solution that seems to have worked well. We put together a cash box and four tally counters (shown in the photo) that yields statistics for correct count for attendance as well as a means for determining correct attendance recieipts - or at least an means of determining error. The associated Dance Cash and Tally Box Record sheet provides a record and means of attaching any receipts for expenses that might have been necessary for the event, as well as the receipt for the cash deposit at the bank. Hope that is useful, Lou Echeandia Treasurer, Oakland County Traditional Dance Society (OCTDS) -----Original Message----- From: Don Veino via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> To: A list for dance organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net> Sent: Sat, May 14, 2016 8:46 pm Subject: [Organizers] Admission Table "Cash Register"? Hey all, Do any of you have/use a program for your door sitters which acts as a cash register? I've done some research to find a suitable simple program or app and have not found one yet. Most of the truly simple ones are targeted at restaurants/bars. There are some ticketing applications but they're aimed at theatres, etc. and nothing inexpensive at all. Need to keep it super simple for the door sitters and am hoping to use a touch screen Android tablet as the interface. Would love to greatly speed up the tally and cash box/accounting process for the night, improve accuracy and potentially create single use volunteer passes on the spot. I've started hacking up something on my own but before I spend too much time there I thought I'd ask what others have done. -Don _______________________________________________ Organizers mailing list Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net

8 years, 6 months

Spectator

by Mary Collins via Organizers

As the primary "door" person for the past several years this has fallen on me to resolve on many occasions. As a board member I know how costly it is to have too many "freebies" but I am also very aware of the good customer service, the kindness to new potential dancers, the spouse/sig. other of the band who has helped to heft and tote, the relative that would otherwise possibly not get to hear their family member perform, etc. We need to hold all of this and how our response will be translated in the re-telling of the experience. If we are to be open and welcoming we need to be flexible as well. Here are some of my judgement calls (all, some or none are not necessarily the policy of the group) - *Low Income* - Please pay what you can afford. *Family group* - charge adults, if the children are small...free. If they are older and dancing, the student rate is $5, if there are many I may let them in for a prorated "family rate" TBD. *Lookie Lou's* - Come in! See what we are about, maybe you'd like to try? (If possible, I steer them toward an experienced dancer) These people often come back for a whole evening of dance. *Family of the band/caller* - I generally leave it up to them especially if they are not dancing. They very often ask what they can pay or just pay for the evening. *Non -dancer spectator* - I tell them the entry rate and if there is balking or comments about "but I'm just listening" I explain that we all pay for concerts and that we do need to pay the band. Please make a donation of what you can. I try to never turn anyone away - we need every body we can get! Hope these are helpful. Mary Collins, Dance Caller Board Member, QCCD.org “Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass ... it's about learning to dance in the rain!” ~ Unknown

8 years, 6 months

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Organizers June 2016