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496 discussions

talent info sheet and contracts - thoughts and queries???

by Emily Addison via Organizers

Hi Fellow Organizers, As many of you know (because I've already posted on this!), Ottawa Contra is trying to improve our talent info/contracts. I've been working with versions from your various dance communities as well as ideas that came up at the Puttin On The Dance session re talent. I've attached our draft as it is now and would love to get your thoughts on a few aspects. See below for five questions. :) Emily 1. *Does our cancellation policy look fair? Anything we should do different?* *If Ottawa Contra has to cancel a gig within three months of the event, we will compensate the talent for the full agreed upon amount. If the caller or band needs to cancel the gig, please let us know ASAP. Bands can substitute a member if agreed with Ottawa Contra (no additional pay). If you don't perform, we don't compensate. Please note that cancellation is difficult for us as we promote all bands/callers over the whole season.* 2. *I'm trying to open up channels for us to give feedback to the occasional caller/band when things don't go well. Does our wording on 'feedback both ways' seem good in terms of being able to approach post-gig to provide comments if there are particular issues (in addition to the emails we send when it goes really well!).* *Callers & Bands - Feedback both ways:* *We would like to foster an open dialogue of feedback from you to us and from us to you! If you are uncomfortable with feedback, please let us know ahead of time. And, if you have any feedback for us regarding any aspect of your experience with Ottawa Contra, please begin the dialogue!* 3. *Sit Ins/sharing mic... ... we'd like to (if talent willing) have options for a caller and 1-2 local musicians to get a bit of experience in order to build capacity. See what you think of how we suggest that. **BAND: · 'Sit ins'* *: If you are willing, 1-2 of our local contra musicians would love to 'sit in' with you for 1-2 sets. This is a purposeful attempt on our part to build capacity in our dance musician community – having locals get to feel your amazing energy will help them a lot! This is only if you are willing and we'll confirm with you ahead of time. (These sit ins could be mic'd or not.) CallErs: If you are willing, we would like to arrange a time of your choice during the evening where one of our local callers could call one dance. We would love for you to take a few notes and provide them with some constructive feedback on what they did well and what they could tweak (i.e., stop-start-continue). Our local callers would really benefit from calling with varied professional bands and from your tips! * 4. *Caller archiving: This is an idea from Belfast and Concord. What do you think?* *Archiving:* We have started an archive that lists past programs which you may refer to before/during the dance. Please record your called program there – name of dance, composer/author, comments, etc. This is shared with other visiting callers to get a sense of pacing, types of dances called, and challenges they come across . 5. *Gender-mixer dance... ... this is something some people on our committee want to try to help women especially who are scared about learning the gents role (it's true - we have many and 1 workshop a year isn't doing it). Also other reasons as some folks like to play with gender roles. However, we aren't interested in becoming a gender free dance and we have a lot of beginners every time who get confused when people change roles too much (it already happens a bit). What do you think?* *Gender-mixer dance:* (Optional ) In the second half, we would like you to announce (a full dance ahead) that there will be a gender-mixer for those who want it. Randomly choose a line for folks who want to play opposite gender roles, swap roles throughout the dance, etc. A few dancers do this regularly but some folks who are learning the opposite gender role want a more safe time to experiment where they won't be embarrassed if they make mistakes, etc.

8 years, 11 months

Bringing in more English dancers

by David Chandler via Organizers

This has been a difficult year for English dancing in NYC, with lots of people not dancing because of disability, weather, etc. We are looking for ways to get more dancers to come and join our community on a continuing basis, and want to survey dancers (those who came only once, those who came for a while and dropped out, and long-timers) about what might make dancing more attractive. Rather than reinvent the wheel we wondered if any other communities have done such surveys, and/or found good ways to expand their English dancing community. Thanks for your help! I'll post this separately on ECD. David Chandler

8 years, 11 months

performer communication

by Chrissy Fowler via Organizers

I was recently reminded of how thoroughly the Chattahoochee Country Dancers appear (at least from their comprehensive, and very entertaining, web materials) to communicate with performers. http://www.contradance.org/html/band-caller-info.php Cheers, Chrissy Fowler . . . Chrissy Fowler | 207.338.0979 chrissyfowler.com | westbranchwords.com | belfastflyingshoes.org (1st Friday Community & Contra Dances)

8 years, 11 months

Saying "no"

by Jeff Kaufman via Organizers

When you're handling booking for bands or callers, there are generally some proper you don't want to book. When the reason is straightforward it's not too hard to communicate ("you need to get more experience; play some smaller dances and get back to me" or "on even days our series only books local callers, ago the dates you suggested don't work, but what about DATE?") but sometimes the reason is "we don't think you're very good, and you've been doing enough dances that we don't think booking you for ours will help you improve"? I'd like to just say "no" without getting into reasons, but everything I write sounds either too short and curt or overshary. How do other bookers handle this?

8 years, 11 months

Re: [Organizers] Organizers Digest, Vol 12, Issue 8

by Julie Bermant via Organizers

Thanks Don and Lou! I will check out https://civicrm.org <https://civicrm.org/> and would love to see the email produced by mail chimp. (they certainly have catchy ads!) You could send it to treasurer(a)friendsofgreenfielddance.org <mailto:treasurer@friendsofgreenfielddance.org>. Julie > On Apr 24, 2015, at 4:08 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. Data Base resource question (Julie Bermant via Organizers) > 2. Re: Data Base resource question (Don Veino via Organizers) > 3. Re: Data Base resource question (Lou Echeandia via Organizers) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2015 13:33:38 -0400 > From: Julie Bermant via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > To: organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > Subject: [Organizers] Data Base resource question > Message-ID: <9E04D02B-7B1D-43CD-B8C4-03B6E71D9C3A(a)jbermant.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > Hi All, > I am looking for a simple, intuitive program to manage finances (membership money,) and to send emails. I use Quicken to track our general finances, but have been struggling to find a data base that will track membership and send out thank you letters. Being able to send out other letters to our membership would be a plus. I am presently using Exceed, but it is clumsy and takes a lot of work to get out the letters, and though it is supposed to be able to email them, that function doesn?t seem to work. > > Any suggestions??? > Thank you! > Julie > Treasurer Friends of Greenfield Dance > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2015 13:40:21 -0400 > From: Don Veino via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > To: Julie Bermant <julie(a)jbermant.com> > Cc: "organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net" > <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > Subject: Re: [Organizers] Data Base resource question > Message-ID: > <CAAJTtiK+BsPrMXCKq3SRVXKye4sOfMy__uCrzcCwtQkYvmGqLQ(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > Have looked into this space a bit but not implemented anything so far. That > said, this looked interesting and is a free and open source product: > https://civicrm.org/ . > > -Don > > On Fri, Apr 24, 2015 at 1:33 PM, Julie Bermant via Organizers < > organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > >> Hi All, >> I am looking for a simple, intuitive program to manage finances >> (membership money,) and to send emails. I use Quicken to track our general >> finances, but have been struggling to find a data base that will track >> membership and send out thank you letters. Being able to send out other >> letters to our membership would be a plus. I am presently using Exceed, but >> it is clumsy and takes a lot of work to get out the letters, and though it >> is supposed to be able to email them, that function doesn?t seem to work. >> >> Any suggestions??? >> Thank you! >> Julie >> Treasurer Friends of Greenfield Dance >> _______________________________________________ >> Organizers mailing list >> Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net >> >

8 years, 12 months

Re: [Organizers] Data Base resource question

by Lou Echeandia via Organizers

Hi, Julie, Not so much for finances but for emailings and tracking and identification of membership status by date as well as absolute status, you might look into a website, Mailchimp.com. Their "Entrepreneur" entry level allows up to 2000 contacts and 12,000 mailings per month - free, and no credit card info is required. It takes a little work but once you establish your method your mailings will be relatively simple. The mailings go out in bulk but to only the members in your contact list you specified. The mailing can be scheduled but there is no automation in the free service. I can send you an example of one of our recent mailings if you like. Regards, Lou Echeandia, Treasurer, Oakland County Traditional Dance Society, Southeast Michigan On Apr 24, 2015 1:33 PM, Julie Bermant via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > Hi All, > I am looking for a simple, intuitive program to manage finances (membership money,) and to send emails. I use Quicken to track our general finances, but have been struggling to find a data base that will track membership and send out thank you letters. Being able to send out other letters to our membership would be a plus. I am presently using Exceed, but it is clumsy and takes a lot of work to get out the letters, and though it is supposed to be able to email them, that function doesn’t seem to work. > > Any suggestions??? > Thank you! > Julie > Treasurer Friends of Greenfield Dance > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net

8 years, 12 months

Data Base resource question

by Julie Bermant via Organizers

Hi All, I am looking for a simple, intuitive program to manage finances (membership money,) and to send emails. I use Quicken to track our general finances, but have been struggling to find a data base that will track membership and send out thank you letters. Being able to send out other letters to our membership would be a plus. I am presently using Exceed, but it is clumsy and takes a lot of work to get out the letters, and though it is supposed to be able to email them, that function doesn’t seem to work. Any suggestions??? Thank you! Julie Treasurer Friends of Greenfield Dance

8 years, 12 months

Dance organizers - anyone have talent sit in with visiting bands?

by Emily Addison via Organizers

Hi Dance Organizers, One more question stemming from my work on our callers handout here in Ottawa... except this query relates to musicians! Do any of your dances facilitate local musicians sitting in (either on OR off mic) with visiting bands? This came up at Puttin' On The Dance 2 and we have a few keen musicians who would like to do this as part of their strategy for improving their chops. I've since talked to two touring musicians who are very open to this and think that some other bands may also be open. However, I anticipate that other bands may not be open. So ... if you do something like this... 1. How do you structure it? Is anyone allowed on stage? Do the musicians get permission from organizer ahead of time (e.g., book their spot)? Is there a max number of sets a night that are 'sit in'? Are any 'sit ins' on mic or are all off mic? ???? ???? 2. Also, how do you pitch the idea to the hired band? I'm particularly talking about TOURING BANDS and then local musicians who already have some dance experience (not random musicians). With thanks! Emily

9 years

Examples of agreements/information provided to callers & bands?

by Emily Addison via Organizers

Hi Shared Weight organizers! Ottawa Contra started working on a 'caller information' handout earlier this year. On the heels of Puttin On The Dance 2, it's time for us to get 'er done! Below is our early draft based strongly on Belfast Flying Shoes but also Scout House Thursdays, Harvest Moon, Glenside Thursday, Philadelphia, John C Campbell, & Farmers Ball. We still have to discuss it as a committee but it's coming along. Arising for my working on this, three questions have come up: 1. Do you provide programming type requests of the band? 3. We would like to be able to provide feedback to the very occasional caller. We don't know how to set that up in the wording though. I've seen (and like!) Scout House Thursday's working of "If you haven't called a full evening for us within the last two years, we ask that you be open to feedback following your performance; most likely we will contact you by email." However, the 'if you haven't called for us in 2 years' wouldn't work for us. How could we word this to set it up to provide feedback to the odd person we get every year, especially since we haven't had that feedback loop set up in the past??? 3. What basic logistical information do you provide? We talked about the need for this at POTD2 but we didn't have time to flush it all out and I'd love to get your thoughts! In no particular order... - Disseminate among other people coming. - Directions (actual address important + directions) - compensation - schedule (announcements, hall open & can hang?, when sound check, when breaks, lesson, start, etc) - Dance series mission statement - Billeting (who to contact and timeline for set up + what's offered for meals and letting know issues) - Cancellation policy - Sound needs/person - Contact (for more info, cell last minute issues etc) - Connecting bands and callers - If running late… With thanks, Emily in Ottawa PS - hi to the POTD2 peeps that have just joined the list in the last few days! *Caller Information* *NEW Fall 2015 - PLEASE READ!* *We are excited that you will be calling in Ottawa! **We asked you because* *we think you are a great fit with the vision of our series**. * *We believe that callers are leaders within the dance, establishing the tone of the evening and that they can make or break a beginner's experience. We know you can help the dancers and band have a great night, so keep the hints below in mind but call to your strengths* · *Dancing level & style:* Dancers at our series range in age from six to eighty and are used to the basic contra figures (e.g., contra corners or 'dancing outside your set' are not impossible but are not overly common in Ottawa). Our overall style has been described as friendly, fun-loving & enthusiastic. We have many long-time dancers of mid-level experience, a smaller group of very skilled dancers, and then many new dancers. On average, we have 120 dancers a night. · *Beginners:* Our series welcomes new dancers! We have on average 15 brand new dancers each dance plus others coming back for their second or third time. Expect relative novices and rank beginners of all ages. *We have recently started to work particularly hard on enhancing the experience of beginners to the point that they catch the bug and come back to be regulars. Anything you can do to help would be wonderful!* o In your own way, please make sure to encourage regulars & beginners to ask each other to dance. o Other ways of encouraging & supporting brand new or relatively new dancers are welcomed. o The introductory (beginner) lesson is from 7:30-8pm. Unless you tell us otherwise with a few weeks notice, we expect you to teach the lesson. We appreciate as much of a focus on connection, having fun, the dance structure, and transition/formation? than on learning specific moves. The one particular move we wish to have taught is the swing. (too much? I'm thinking of those people that only teach moves) o Note that in Ottawa, beginners tend to collect in the back corners of the contra lines so those are good spots to watch! o Clarity and conciedness in teaching & calling is very much appreciated by all dancers! (e.g., short walk throughs with no more than 2X through the dance) · *Style tips, etiquette & safety:* We appreciate judiciously sprinkled tips and reminders of ways to make dancing fun and safe for everyone. A few of these style tips, described from the stage or demonstrated on the floor, and definitely issued with good cheer or humor, are encouraged by the committee and will be welcomed by most dancers. Not to outweigh other topics, timing is a challenge for our dancers! · *Programming:* o *Variety:* Variety in programming is appreciated in Ottawa! Although dancers will expect a program that is has many duple improper or becket contras, we encourage inclusion of 'other' dances as well. ("Other" could be a different formation such as a square, four-face-four, Sicilian circle, or triplet; or another type such as chestnuts or mixers.) o *Choreography:* We prefer reasonably interesting dances with logical flow (enabling us to enjoy the music and each other) over complex choreography that requires intense concentration (hampering our enjoyment). o *Mixing folks up:* In the interest of mixing dancers up and getting used to dancing with different partners, we would encourage the programming of a mixer (e.g., scatter, circle) sometime in the first three dances. o *Couple dances:* As a heads up, we usually finish the first half, start the second half, and finish the dance with a waltz – that's three! The band may also play a hambo or schottis at the dance if they are keen. o ??? Challenging or Gender mixer dance in second half? (committee to talk) Bullet re one guest slot each night plus mentoring? · *Archiving:* We have started an archive book that lists past programs, which you may refer to before/during the dance. Please record your called program there – name of dance, composer/author, comments, etc. This is shared with other visiting callers to get a sense of pacing, types of dances called, and challenges they come across. ???For Ottawa? We do much to develop the culture of our community in terms of being a welcoming, friendly, and safe space. Thanks for your help in that regard! If you are open to feedback after the dance, feel free to let us know and if you would have any feedback for us regarding this sheet or on other aspects relating to the experience in Ottawa, please talk to us at any time. - The Ottawa Contra Dance Organizing Committee (with inspiration and wordsmithing help from the Belfast Maine Flying Shoes series)

9 years

Re: [Organizers] Dance organizers - anyone have talent sit in with visiting bands?

by via Organizers

Emily - I would say it is entirely up to the band as to how comfortable they are with sit-ins. It is hard to imagine any band allowing someone they do not know to be on a microphone and in "the mix," but it is not hard to imaging them letting people sit in the back and play along. You definitely want to communicate with the band ahead of time, so they are not surprised the night of the dance by someone expecting to be able to play along. A couple of thoughts - If you send out a booking contract, you could put a statement on it that there may be occasional sit-in musicians, and ask that the band contact you if they have any issues with that. You could also find a "senior musician" who is known and trusted in your area, who might be willing to screen people and recommend whether they are ready to be on stage with a traveling band or not. Then the band could contact that individual if they have concerns about whether someone is ready to sit in. I have seen many people sit in with local bands, but with traveling bands it seems like you on the right track to have a strategy for this. Good luck. Ben Allbrandt ---- Jeff Kaufman via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > It depends on what your goals are. If you want to give the dancers there > that night the best music you can give them that usually means letting your > touring band play on their own. Most bands have their own tunes, > arrangements, and style, and when fitting in extra musicians that's often > hard to communicate and organize in the time available. Especially if this > is a band known for having a tight sound, you're going to lose that when > you add more people. > > But this may be worth it if your main goal is building local capacity. Yes, > the music that night won't be as good, but if you can make up for that when > the local musicians who sat in are playing on their own it's good on > balance. If you go this route it's important that the sit ins are there > because they want to learn and not just because it would be fun to play > with the visiting musicians, or else you're not really being fair to the > dancers. > > (You do still want to check with the band, because the amount the band's > sounds will change when they incorporate new musicians is variable. At one > extreme you have groups like Perpetual eMotion, at the other you have > groups of individually excellent musicians who have more of a pickup band > style among themselves. The more pickupish a band is the better they'll be > able to integrate new musicians, and the way to find out is to ask them > what they'd think.) > > (The above is all talking about sit ins who are included in the overall > sound and that the band is trying to coordinate with. It's also possible to > allow sit ins to sit well behind the band off mic while the band plays > whatever they normally would. This is what BIDA does, though people only > rarely show up. Some musicians find it annoying to have people noodling > along behind them, others don't care.) > On Apr 9, 2015 10:37 PM, "Emily Addison via Organizers" < > organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > > Hi Dance Organizers, > > > > One more question stemming from my work on our callers handout here in > > Ottawa... except this query relates to musicians! > > > > Do any of your dances facilitate local musicians sitting in (either on OR > > off mic) with visiting bands? This came up at Puttin' On The Dance 2 and we > > have a few keen musicians who would like to do this as part of their > > strategy for improving their chops. I've since talked to two touring > > musicians who are very open to this and think that some other bands may > > also be open. However, I anticipate that other bands may not be open. > > > > So ... if you do something like this... > > > > 1. How do you structure it? Is anyone allowed on stage? Do the musicians > > get permission from organizer ahead of time (e.g., book their spot)? Is > > there a max number of sets a night that are 'sit in'? Are any 'sit ins' on > > mic or are all off mic? ???? ???? > > > > 2. Also, how do you pitch the idea to the hired band? > > > > I'm particularly talking about TOURING BANDS and then local musicians who > > already have some dance experience (not random musicians). > > > > With thanks! > > Emily > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Organizers mailing list > > Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net > > > >

9 years

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