Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for this conversation! Here's an anonymous poll to fill out:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfyhEx6t49BC-YZAQKJJaERELupEuViE_P…
There is a separate poll for contra callers and musicians. (I thought that the content of the different lists may generate different answers.)
Thank you,
Seth
Dear list members,
Since the beginning, the archives for this list have been public. This was an effort to make information easier to search, to find, to link to, and to share. However, the days of free information online have changed. AI bots are now scraping the web for data to train on and privacy is more of an issue.
As we move to groups.io, Chris and I would like to make the archives private. The biggest reasons are member privacy and to protect us from AI training/scraping. This means that you’ll need a free account on the new site to view the archives.
We feel this is a good change for our community. Since the only barrier to the archives would be subscribing, we think this is a reasonable trade off between privacy and accessibility.
If you have concerns about this change, please reply! (Once we make the archives at groups.io <http://groups.io/> private, we cannot make them public again later.)
Thank you,
Seth & Chris
Hi Folks,
The admins of Shared Weight have some exciting news… Organizers (and all the other CDSS Shared Weight email lists) are moving to Groups.io!
Groups.io is a more secure and stable mailing list platform, with less spam and fewer bounces. Also, there will be more useful features like a calendar, photos, files, wiki and more. The move will make much less work for our sysadmins, and will bring much more reliable email delivery.
The existing archives will be coming along with us to the new site. The archive interface is a lot better than the old Mailman3 site and has better searching.
All members and the archives will be automatically moved. You do not need to do anything (other than update the email address you send to once the move is complete).
Once completed, the new address for this list will be: organizers(a)sharedweight.groups.io <mailto:GROUPNAME@sharedweight.groups.io>
This move is financially supported by CDSS. We appreciate their involvement and support, and we could not do this without them. Please consider supporting CDSS. In addition, this new platform allows members to donate directly through groups.io <http://groups.io/> to help defray the hosting costs. (More on this once the migration is complete.)
There will be another email with lots more details once the move has been completed.
Seth & Chris
Hi All,
BIDA has been thinking a lot about how to make our band booking process more transparent, predictable, and fair. I wrote up a blog post summarizing what we've come up with, and thought it might be of interest to folks on this list:
https://blog.bidadance.org/2025/05/bida-band-booking-timing.html
Emma Azelborn
she/her
Hey fellow organizers :)
Just wanted to flag Brooklyn Contra's blog for y'all in case you hadn't
heard about it. I'm really enjoying their posts a lot.
Here's the latest on an argument for beautifying our dance halls:
https://brooklyncontra.substack.com/p/make-it-cute-an-argument-for-beautiful
This one really spoke to me I feel that the visual vibe of the hall adds a
LOT to an event.
You can actually sign up to get their blog posts sent to you via email. :)
Emily in Ottaw
Hey fellow organizers,
Sharing this message on behalf of the POTD3 organizing team
Thanks!
Emily in Ottawa
======================================
Just a quick message to say that the archive of materials and photos from
POTD3 (May 2-4 in Belfast Maine) has just gone live:
https://www.puttinonthedance.org/potd3archive/
A big shout out to the archive team, facilitators and POTD3 participants
for contributing to make the archive possible.
Enjoy 🤗
Emily, Chrissy, Patty, & Lisa
PS: Reminder that there are great archives from POTD1 and POTD2 as well!
Hi Y'all,
Inspired by a post a few months back we've got a new Substack post up! Make
It Cute: An Argument for Beautiful Contra Dance Halls, and How to Do It On
the Cheap!
<https://brooklyncontra.substack.com/p/make-it-cute-an-argument-for-beautiful>
We hope its helpful to folks, and we'd love to hear more idea for low cost
ways to make rental halls lovely!
Thanks,
Christin at Brooklyn Contra
Hi,
We've been trying to figure out how to tie admission payments via Venmo to
specific events. I'm not the account user so I'm only hearing this second
hand or through web search, but we can create QR codes in Venmo with
information encoded in them, e.g.:
https://www.paypal.com/qrcodes/venmocs/be7ee836-3a9a-44c7-94e3-d6a1ae93b6b9…
But I'm told when they are scanned, folks still need to key in the amount
(despite it being encoded in the URL). And when payment comes through,
there is no tie to a unique code that makes for easy attribution to a
specific event.
Are there any tricks others have found for doing this? It would be great if
we can separate generic donations to our organization from event admission
payments so we can properly credit them. This is something easily done in
PayPal but folks don't seem to have the patience to use that tool and have
asked for Venmo availability.
Thanks in advance,
Don
Hi Shared Weight Organizers,
Last notice about POTD3 :)
See below!
Thanks :)
Emily
======================================================
Dear POTD email list members 🤗
This is a quick final reminder that Puttin' On The Dance 3 is happening
soon in Belfast Maine!
*🌟Registration closes **April 15th** at 11:59pm .🌟*
We're super excited that there are so many folks who have never been to
POTD who are participating this time around. The schedule is really coming
together - we've got some fantastic sessions based upon community input and
there's lots of space for the informal conversations as well. Plus some
dancing of course! 🪅🪅🪅
*If you're available May 2-4 and would like to join us, check out the
registration information: https://www.puttinonthedance.org/
<https://www.puttinonthedance.org/>*
We even have a couple of scholarships left.)
Cheering y'all on - So grateful that we're each doing our bit to bring joy
to others and make the world a better place.
♥️♥️♥️
The POTD3 organizing team
Emily Addison, Chrissy Fowler, and Patty Giavara
--
puttinonthedance.orgfacebook.com/PuttinOnTheDance
*You're on the POTD email list because we think you're interested in
conferences for dance organizers. Let us know if you want your address
removed. *
Hi fellow dance organizers,
Here's the latest from the POTD3 team. :)
Emily
=====================================
Hi Fellow Dance Organizers!
Wow - it's already April first - hoping that many of you are enjoying some
early spring flowers. 🪻🪻🪻
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
*Puttin' On The Dance 3 registration is now officially open to those
outside our catchment area!*
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
All details about the conference are here.
<https://www.puttinonthedance.org/potd-3/>
There are even still a few scholarships available.
*Heads up that registration CLOSES April 15th.*
Our team is in the midst of program planning and it's looking pretty darn
exciting!
So thankful that many of you will be joining us for this co-created weekend
of learning, connection, and inspiration for dance organizers.
♥️♥️♥️
The POTD3 organizing team
Chrissy Fowler, Patty Giavara, and Emily Addison