Hi from Ottawa, I'm chiming in a bit late but thought I'd share some ideas from our local contra dance. We're a pretty big dance (attendance approx. 100-110 per evening). We let the following people in for free: -Floor manager (overseeing the whole night) -Sound volunteer (helps our sound man with set up and tear down) -One other volunteer that helps with set up and tear down. All other volunteers pay for entry. This includes: -All board/committee members -Volunteer responsible for snacks -Volunteers who welcome/help make sure shoes are clean (issue at our hall) -Door/entry volunteers (2 people from 7-8pm, 2 people for dances 1-2, 2 people for dances 3-4, 2 people for dances 5-6) -Others who help with tear down We recognize volunteers in a few ways: -Announcements from the mic -One free dance with local talent in May at the end of our season. Others can attend but they pay. Special snacks. I think there's so many other cool ways that volunteers could be recognized too... -website -thank yous in eblasts, maybe the odd feature of a volunteer Emily in Ottawa