Organizers

organizers@lists.sharedweight.net

4 participants
518 discussions

by Mark R Dobyns Jones via Organizers

Just in case any organizer is wondering: Yes, you may use these particular words and ideas in your efforts to sustain and grow your community. Here's a liberal copyright license: I hereby place the text in the public domain, though I appreciate knowing if any person makes use of the text or ideas. Regards, Mark Jones ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Mark R Dobyns Jones <markrdjones(a)gmail.com> Date: Sat, Dec 17, 2016 at 11:07 PM Subject: Sustaining your dance To: A list for dance organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net> How did you start dancing? I asked that question of many people, in my role as a dance producer, in hope of learning better how to introduce more people to our dances. It turns out that nearly everyone I quizzed did not first arrive through their own initiative, to participate in something they had never done before. (Nor did they first participate merely by seeing a flyer, nor by viewing a web page - these are usually for the already interested or initiated.) Rather, most describe some one, or several people in their life that made the occasion of going to a dance inviting, interesting or fun, and they wanted to find out more, and see what the experience might be like. And to have the experience again. And again. That inviting person often was a friend, sometimes a family member, sometimes part a group of friends, or a teacher or co-worker, and sometimes it was someone that they did not know, who directly asked them to come to a dance or festival for the first time. I think each of underestimates the persuasive social influence we may have, and that our friends and fellow dancers have, in inviting people we know, and people we do not know--to the pleasures of dancing regularly to live music, and to join our community. Anyone organizing any group of people knows that no matter how many there are involved, over time, people depart, for a variety of innocent and benign reasons. Perhaps their work life has changed, or they have moved; perhaps their family life has changed, or they have become parents, or their lift to the event does something else that evening. My favorite metaphor for this is filling a bathtub with the drain open. To sustain our dances and our communities (and any cooperative human activity, for that matter), it is beyond desirable for us to invite and welcome new people to our activities: it is necessary. It is necessary to personally invite people who may never have danced before. To invite people often, graciously, enthusiastically and with welcoming tone. And invite people you don't know, too. And to welcome them back. Again and Again. I welcome you to invite several people this year to join you at a dance. And to invite your entire dance community to do the same. It is nearly the only way to sustain your dance. To have a community that understands that it is crucial for the community to continue to invite newcomers to come, and to treat them well after they arrive. The total population of people participating in our favorite forms of social dance is less than one tenth of a percent of the surrounding population (except perhaps for some rather active rural areas, where it may be higher). I believe thinking about attracting and retaining the next tenth of a percent of the population is the means to sustain and grow our social activity. There is no scarcity of potential dancers. ~Mark Jones Boston

8 years, 6 months

Keyboards

by Larry Koplik via Organizers

Princeton Country Dancers has happily used a Roland keyboard for our contra and English dances for many years, but it's finally wearing out and needs to be replaced. We are considering replacing it with one of the following: Kawai ES100 Yamaha P-255 Roland RD-300NX Kurzweil SPS4-8 Does your dance group use any of these (or different models by the same manufacturer) and, if so, what do your pianists think of the sound and feel? Also, how durable have the keyboards been, ie how often have they needed to be repaired? Thanks for your help. Larry Koplik

8 years, 6 months

Cancellation Policies

by via Organizers

Hi all, In Rochester NY we are often blessed with unpredictably significant quantities of snow over a short time. Generally speaking, it is known by 3pm if the evening dance will cancelled due to weather. We are reviewing our procedures for canceling the dance, and wondered what other communities do to: 0) Decide if a dance should be cancelled? We are thinking of basing it off Winter Storm Warning by National Weather Service 1) Let the community know the dance is cancelled Easier if everyone knows to check for a Winter Storm Warning... But post on website, and facebook event page are also done here 2) Compensate performers who have arrived or are en-route when the dance is cancelled. In particular, touring performers who may be in the city on their way to the next gig... Any thoughts are appreciated. Bob Fabinski

8 years, 7 months

Cancellation Policies

by Mark Jones via Organizers

Here's an after-the-event musician perspective, on a non-snow, but icy-post-midnight travel, with high humidity (dew point) at altitude and declining temperature, just below freezing 25+ miles away from the dance. ~Mark Jones (Concord Massachusetts) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Mark Jones <markjones(a)busybusy.org> Date: Sun, Dec 11, 2016 at 9:22 PM Subject: Fwd: [pvcd] OT - Gofundme for Ann Percival's medical expenses To: Boston Area Contra Community <BostonAreaContraCommunity(a)yahoogroups.com> Greetings, Ann Percival and David Canteini were in a car accident in which their car rolled over several times, on the way home to western Massachusetts after the Wild Asparagus dance at the Concord Scout House dance on Friday night, December 2nd. News and link below, for the Gofundme page for raising funds for Anne Percival's medical and home-care expenses. ~Mark Jones ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ted Soulos soulost(a)arps.org [pvcd] <pvcd(a)yahoogroups.com> Date: Sun, Dec 11, 2016 at 12:33 PM Subject: [pvcd] OT - Gofundme for Ann Percival's medical expenses To: "Orin Nisenson orin@nisen." <pvcd(a)yahoogroups.com> Hi all, I'm sharing the link to a Gofundme page raising funds for Anne Percival's medical expenses: https://www.gofundme.com/ann- percivals-medical-expenses?ssid=835523030&pos=1 She was in a car accident recently and had some fairly serious injuries. I know musicians are often self insured and that their medical expenses are often higher than those for people covered by workplace insurance. Ann is the guitar, keyboard, vocalist for perhaps my very favorite dance band, Wild Asparagus. I contributed this morning. See you on the dance floor. TED __._,_.___ ------------------------------ Posted by: Ted Soulos <soulost(a)arps.org> ------------------------------ Visit Your Group <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/pvcd/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJlaHIydGk3BF9TAzk3…> - New Members <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/pvcd/members/all;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZzhiZ25hB…> 1 [image: Yahoo! Groups] <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJkb2pwc3BwBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkA…> • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • Unsubscribe <pvcd-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe> • Terms of Use <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> __,_._,___

8 years, 7 months

Catapult 2017 looking for bands and callers

by Rob Harper via Organizers

Catapult is built to bring the best ready-to-be-discovered contra talent together for one fantastic festival over Memorial Day Weekend. Have any favorite bands or callers on stage in your local haunts that are ready to break onto the national circuit? Let them know. Let me know. For all the details check out www.catapultshowcase.com. ciao, rah -- Rob Harper thatrobharper(a)gmail.com (404) 307-3444

8 years, 7 months

word clouds attached

by Emily Addison via Organizers

Here are a few examples of possibilities.... just starting to play with forms and fonts. I hope they come through. Emily

8 years, 7 months

contra word clouds - thanks and update!

by Emily Addison via Organizers

Hi fellow organizers! Thanks for all the help brainstorming words.... wow... there were some grand ideas. 'Tis much appreciated. :) I've started playing with word clouds in wordle.net and wanted to share my progress as it's pretty darn cool. I'll attach a few jpgs of the word clouds in a follow-up email as I think they may get removed from my message. In case you want to try making dance clouds too, here's what I did: - I couldn't run wordle in chrome so had to pull out explorer and update java - I used one of the 'advanced' options where you could select size and hex coding. The list of words with coding is below. (I used the following website for the colour/greyscale choices http://htmlcolorcodes.com/) The following text seemed to be best outside of the word cloud itself so that it was really clear. - All dances taught - No partner needed - No experience needed - All are welcome - absolutely no lessons required! (there's a beginner lesson at 7:30 which helps but is not necessary) The words and coding I used are below. :) Emily CONTRA~DANCE:500:000000 always~live~music:300:000000 living~tradition:300:000000 vibrant:100:000000 welcoming!:300:000000 try~it!:300:000000 all~ages:200:000000 joy:300:000000 smiles:200:000000 super~fun:300:5E5E5E community-spirited:200:5E5E5E participatory:200:5E5E5E very~simple~footwork:100:5E5E5E social~dance:300:A1A1A1 trad~fiddle~tunes:200:A1A1A1 inclusive:100:A1A1A1 lively:300:A1A1A1 all levels dance together:100:A1A1A1 delight:300:A1A1A1 connection:100:A1A1A1 move:300:A1A1A1 celebrate:100:A1A1A1

8 years, 7 months

Re: [Organizers] Organizers Digest, Vol 26, Issue 19

by Eric Gidseg via Organizers

One of the tools that I've used in the past is "Wordle". What's cool about it is that it accentuates words used more frequently. It would mean (for example) asking your dancers to respond to a prompt like, "Contra dancing is...". Then put all the responses into a document and paste that into Wordle. The result is usually quite striking. Of course you could just generate the text yourself. I suspect that you all know about this but I thought it was time to weigh in :-P What else does a Jewish boy do on Christmas Day? A joyous holiday of your choice to all of you! Eric G. Highland, NY On Sat, Dec 24, 2016 at 4:09 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: Word cloud words for a contra poster??? > (JD Erskine via Organizers) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2016 20:10:50 -0800 > From: JD Erskine via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > To: organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > Subject: Re: [Organizers] Word cloud words for a contra poster??? > Message-ID: <585DF54A.3080005(a)shaw.ca> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > On 2016-12-22 1216, Emily Addison via Organizers wrote: > > Hi fellow organizers :) > > snips > > > Things like... community, super fun, great exercise, live music.... > > > Any ideas for words you find sell the experience???? ??? > > Nice idea. > > > Has anyone made a contra word cloud before???? > > No, simply used a few related words in event descriptions or on posters. > > Keywords/tags used here: > > Fun > Live music > All dances taught > or > All dances taught & prompted > or > Dances taught on the spot > Try it! > Intro session > Bring your friends > > Sometimes: > > Tea & goodies > Real Ale > 50/50 Raffle > > as appropriate, natch. > > Some events here use All Ages as a tag, which in BC is also code for a > dry/no-bar event. > > > :) > > Emily in Ottawa > > Cheers, John > -- > J.D. Erskine > Victoria, BC > > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net > > > ------------------------------ > > End of Organizers Digest, Vol 26, Issue 19 > ****************************************** >

8 years, 7 months

Word cloud words for a contra poster???

by Emily Addison via Organizers

Hi fellow organizers :) In Ottawa, we're working on a new poster ... the kind you put up around town to try to attract to people who have never heard about contra before. Yes, not nearly as effective as word of mouth but we'd like to give it good shot! The thing we're struggling with is how to communicate what contra dance is in a way that will grab the uninitiated. This was raised by Marie-Michelle on the list earlier this year... ... 'what's the elevator pitch'???? Our current plan is to create a word cloud somewhat like this: http://coedtech.hdesd.org/2012/09/10/word-clouds-are-a-simple-way-to-visual… We're looking for words to populate the cloud, mostly wanting to avoid unfamiliar words (e.g., many of the figures etc) but instead go for words that really sell the experience and that would attract brand new people. Things like... community, super fun, great exercise, live music.... Any ideas for words you find sell the experience???? ??? Has anyone made a contra word cloud before???? :) Emily in Ottawa

8 years, 7 months

Re: [Organizers] Organizers Digest, Vol 26, Issue 17

by djw8888 . via Organizers

Hi, Emily. Haven't created a cloud before but here are a few words to consider: connect, contemporary, traditional, meet, join in, flow, listen, move, walk, V02, formation, commemorate, celebrate, endorphins, oxytocin, touch, eye contact, family-oriented, friendly, inclusive, welcoming Have fun, Denise Wenner (Houston Houston Area Dance Society - HATDS) PS My first contra experience was in Ottawa. :-) On Thu, Dec 22, 2016 at 3:08 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. Word cloud words for a contra poster??? > (Emily Addison via Organizers) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2016 15:16:36 -0500 > From: Emily Addison via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > To: organizers shared weight <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > Subject: [Organizers] Word cloud words for a contra poster??? > Message-ID: > <CAD7WKUWPbLtSErwNsjTMgRgeD48v13-+2RjcWfJuO_fou4D9Sw@mail. > gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > Hi fellow organizers :) > > In Ottawa, we're working on a new poster ... the kind you put up around > town to try to attract to people who have never heard about contra before. > Yes, not nearly as effective as word of mouth but we'd like to give it good > shot! > > The thing we're struggling with is how to communicate what contra dance is > in a way that will grab the uninitiated. This was raised by Marie-Michelle > on the list earlier this year... ... 'what's the elevator pitch'???? > > Our current plan is to create a word cloud somewhat like this: > http://coedtech.hdesd.org/2012/09/10/word-clouds-are-a- > simple-way-to-visualize-class-discussions/ > > We're looking for words to populate the cloud, mostly wanting to avoid > unfamiliar words (e.g., many of the figures etc) but instead go for words > that really sell the experience and that would attract brand new people. > > Things like... community, super fun, great exercise, live music.... > > Any ideas for words you find sell the experience???? ??? > > Has anyone made a contra word cloud before???? > > :) > Emily in Ottawa >

8 years, 7 months

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