At Tapestry Folkdance Center in Minneapolis, we actually came to the
conclusion some years back that we were OVERcompensating our volunteers. We
were handing out free passes right and left, sometimes for pretty minimal
effort, and one of our board members did an analysis that persuaded all of
us that it was affecting income. We especially noted that large numbers of
free passes were used when high-profile performers appeared, which cut into
their income (because they got a straight percentage of the door).
We put a reform into place when I was on the board. We stopped giving
members a bunch of free passes with membership. For contra, if the
volunteer effort allows one to dance (i.e. end-of-the-night cleanup), you
get into the dance for free but don't get anything on top of that. If the
volunteer effort significantly prevents you from dancing a large chunk of
the dance (admissions, sound), you get a free pass for another time.
Committee work doesn't get you any passes. Callers and musicians are
considered paid performers and not volunteers, and get no passes.
Our other programs also shifted along similar lines, but were modified to
fit their circumstances. Our family dance, for example, has always operated
on a shoestring budget and does not compensate volunteers at all -- and we
initially paid performers so little it was basically volunteering. But by
last year, we had developed a solid enough following that we were able to
increase performer rates. Yay!
David
We tried giving our regular volunteers-programmers and dance managers “golden ticket” passes to get in free to all of our dances for the year.
Anyone who volunteered 4+ hours/month.
They were given out at our New Year’s dance and the volunteers were thanked then.
They were very grateful.
The program lasted 3 years.
I would have liked it to continue.
Sarah(a)nbcds.org
Sonoma/Marin/Napa Counties
>
>
>
>
>
We pay musicians and callers a fairly small amount. (Our large "band" band
plays for free.) Our sound techs, hall manager, kitchen manager, and door
manager get in free (save $6).
John in Houston
Hi Organizers,
We in Philadelphia are working through some dissatisfaction with how we
compensate our volunteers. We have the question on the table of
compensation vs. recognition.
We are a little bit stuck, so I'm looking for other ideas to get us out of
our stuckness, to see if there's something that's working really well.
A core issue with the dissatisfaction is a feeling that callers are valued
more than other kinds of less-public but still-essential volunteers.
I'm looking forward to hearing how it works in your communities. (Or if
this has been covered before ad nauseam, please feel free to reach out to
me off-list and tell me how to search the archives, thanks.)
Thanks,
*Karey Bacon*
she/her/hers
*267-437-5641*
Hi fellow Shared Weight organizers.
I think some of you might be interested in CDSS's next web chat .. all
details below!
Thanks,
Emily Addison
Writing from Ottawa Ontario
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Let’s Talk About Reentry: Recommendations and Q&A for Organizers
Wednesday, July 8, 7:30-9:00 p.m. EDT
Don’t miss this pivotal Web Chat! We’ll address the BIG questions on
organizers’ minds: How can we keep our communities safe in a pandemic? When
can we dance and sing in the same place again? What does it mean to be a
dance/music/song organizer when we can’t be together?
We’ll be joined by several guests providing their perspectives, including a
dancing MD, a COVID contact tracer, and music, dance, and song organizers
from far and wide. After hearing from these folks, we’ll open it up for
questions, comments, and discussion with participants. And we’ll be ready
with breakout rooms for smaller chats among organizers of like traditions.
REGISTER online by July 6.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvceirrj8vG93vJNlBhHT5YtVTc3aESU…
Soon after you register, you’ll receive a confirmation email from Zoom with
your personal link for joining the Web Chat. To keep track of this info, w
e recommend saving the email and/or creating a calendar event.
Please spread the word about this crucial Web Chat!
Questions? Contact resources(a)cdss.org.
Hello organizers,
I’m curious to hear if you are starting to book callers for your fall and winter dances… Are you booking in hopes that COVID-19 has somehow been resolved? Are you waiting longer?
It seems to me that it is going to be a while before we can safely have contra dances, given the close proximity to every one and the heavy breathing. Do we have to wait for a vaccine?
Thanks for your input…
Seth
Fiddlers Green Contra Dance, Amherst, MA
Hi organizers.
The Rochester NY Contra Dancers FB page is getting a few join requests per week from people in other countries, from accounts that have very recently been created and have only a very few, if any, friends or other groups joined.
We are leery of trolls who intend to disrupt the group, and have been rejecting them.
I was wondering if other group pages are receiving similar requests, and what they have done about it.
Thanks,
Bob Fabinski
If you're into using the social dance shutdown time to improve your game as
an organizer, this ought to interest you.
Dela Murphy, my wife and co-founder of both Portland Intown Contra Dance
and Form the Ocean, is a total whiz-bang organizer. She's been a leader in
shaping the community we're so proud of and has expertise in leadership and
group development. Despite many challenges in the North American contra
dance community, PICD had been growing steadily for years prior to the
pandemic and Form the Ocean has been a weekend meeting a need not
previously met. Now, Dela's been codifying why that is.
Here's an opportunity for organizers of contra/social dances to tap into
that knowledge and share it with your community!
Dela is hosting the following workshops for organizers in June. I encourage
you to sign up if you're interested, as these workshops are limited to 10
people each:
*Cultivating an Outstanding Culture*:
June 10 & 16
http://portlandintowncontradance.com/workshops-info/organizer-class-culture
*Attracting, Managing & Retaining Volunteers*:
June 13 & 17
http://portlandintowncontradance.com/workshops-info/organizer-class-attract…
*Attracting & Retaining Dancers*:
June 9 & 20
http://portlandintowncontradance.com/workshops-info/organizer-class-attract…
You'll find them all listed here:
http://portlandintowncontradance.com/workshops
Dela would have posted about this herself, but she isn't subscribed to this
listserv. If you have any questions, you can reach her at
dela-at-delahere-dot-com.
Dugan Murphy
(he/him)
Portland, Maine
dugan at duganmurphy dot com
One tool that we use for Portland Intown Contra Dance's Facebook group is
"Membership Questions" that pop up when someone requests membership in our
group. Asking people to answer 3 questions and select that they agree with
the group rules helps make the decision to approve someone or not. I
recommend this tool to others.
Our questions are:
"Hi! Just want to make sure you're not a robot. Are you a robot?"
"Are you joining this group so you can post in here about an event you're
organizing? Please do that in this group instead: Portland, Maine Friends
of Old-Time Music & Dance."
"You know we're in Maine, right? If you're looking for contra dancers in
Oregon, you're in the wrong place."
People often leave cute answers to these questions, so that's fun.
Dugan Murphy
(he/him)
Portland, Maine
dugan at duganmurphy dot com
>
> Date: Sun, 31 May 2020 19:15:36 +0000 (UTC)
> From: bobfab(a)aol.com
> Subject: [Organizers] Facebook join requests
> To: organizers(a)sharedweight.net
>
> Hi organizers.
>
> The Rochester NY Contra Dancers FB page is getting a few join requests per
> week from people in other countries, from accounts that have very recently
> been created and have only a very few, if any, friends or other groups
> joined.
>
> We are leery of trolls who intend to disrupt the group, and have been
> rejecting them.
>
> I was wondering if other group pages are receiving similar requests, and
> what they have done about it.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bob Fabinski
Hello all,
As many of you know, I've been working on putting together a guide to Zoom
security based on our experiences with the Toronto dances, and with input
from other organizers/communities.
The security guide is now published - you can find it here:
http://drewdelaware.com/virtual-contra-dance-security-guide/
I should have the organizers and callers guides completed over the next
week.
Feedback and suggestions are very warmly welcomed - you can reach me at
drew(a)delaware.ca or via the Facebook Messenger integration on my website.
I'm also available to volunteer with one or two communities over the next
month if you are starting a Zoom dance and would like support for your
first event. Happy to help where I can.
Many thanks,
Drew
