Minutes August 28, 2024

Meeting called to order at 7:31pm by president John.

Attending: John, Victor, Fred, Dianne B., Virginia, Marguerite

Absent: Dianne P-Q., Kenny

Represented by Proxy: Maris and Gail (via Dianne B.)

It was determined that a quorum was present.

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed.  A motion was made, seconded, and approved to accept the minutes as posted.

Dianne B. gave the treasurer's report.  We are now in current FY 2024-2025.  The first dance was August 24, held at LMCH.  There was a small loss. Venmo was accessible from the site even though it is so far out in the woods; within the building can be a problem.  Givebutter and Venmo payments are being moved into the bank account rather than being kept in those systems.  A motion was made, seconded. and approved, to accept the Treasurer's report.

Marguerite gave the Booker's Report.  We were very fortunate to be able to get the LMCH hall on short notice.  It was hard for several of us to find the driveway.  The yellow signs we had been using for a few years have gone missing at the August 24 dance. It was speculated that there may have wandered away because the neighbors are known to have unfavorable feelings about dances being hosted there.  Two concerns arose in the discussion: Road Access and Signage for Parking.

There was concern that the last dance felt as if it was "low energy."  Typically the caller is the focus for getting the dance to be exciting.  An number of remarks were made about the specifics.  One reality for us is that we always have a fair number of beginners and this can be challenging for out-of-town callers if their dance communities have a larger base.  Also, dancer energy tends to decline over the course of the evening and this needs to be addressed by the caller.  The board feels that in general we should communicate concerns to callers about these perceptions and continue to work with them rather than cease book them for a season.

Upcoming Schedule:

9/28  Band: Cloud 10; Caller: Stephanie Marie.  NOTE: Dance Canceled due to Hurricane Helene damage.

10/26 Band: Marshal Goers & Lucy Allen; Caller: Victor

11/23: Band: CCOB; Caller: Leslie Bowers?  There was some discussion as to whether or not an alternative venue such as the Community Center in Peak should be considered instead of LMCH.

12/14: Band: Green Levels(?); Caller: Dianne P-Q.  (The choice of the date was voted on.)

General Business.

I have a notation that we are probably going to be at LMCH through June.  Susan wants Waiver's.  She is ambiguous about needing our insurance, i.e., that she needs to be named as an insured on the policy.

The board voted on the motion to continue coverage with our event insurance for the next year.  The voted passed with six in favor and two against.

The possibility of returning to Arsenal Hill as a dance venue was discussed.  It is unclear who or how to schedule that.  There was some discussion that it was dedicated to the Model Railroad Club.  John said he would take this as and action item.

John will send information about insurance payments to Dianne B.

The next meeting will be on October 9.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:41 pm.

/s/Fred Druseikis

Minutes July 10, 2024

Where: Virginia Winn's home.

When: 7 pm

Present: Fred, Dianne B., Gale, Maris, Victor, John, Marguerite, Virginia.

Absent: Dianne P-Q., Kenny.

John was briefly delayed; he called ahead to let us know.  He gave us the go-ahead to start without him, so Marguerite called the meeting to order at 7:33 pm. The minutes from the last meeting were read and approved. John then arrived.

Dianne B. gave the Treasurer's Report.  There was a small loss in the last dance.  There were two transactions since the last report: Our Meet-up account was extended for six months; and a two year renewal of the contracola.org domain name was paid to Dotster.  The over-payment to CDSS reported in the last meeting has been refunded to us. There was some concern that Venmo would not work at LMCH, but it seems to work just fine as long as you stand outside of the building (which is metal.)

Money paid to us via Venmo will be moved to the regular bank account asap out of concern that keeping it in Venmo could cause it to be difficult to get to. (There was discussion of reports in the trade press of disputes etc.)

There are now about 100 cell phone numbers receiving texts message notification of our dance events.

Marguerite gave the Booker's Report.  Here is the current line-up for the first part of the next season:

Aug 24 at LMCH: Sherlock's Meow with Chris Hernandez calling.

Sept 28 at LMCH: Cloud Ten with TBD calling.

Oct 26 at LMCH: Marshal Goes with TBD.

Nov 23 at LMCH: Contracola Open Band with TBD.

Dianne P-Q has been in training over the summer for calling.  Hopefully she will soon be able to call some dances locally.  A possible opportunity for calling a couple of private events was passed on to her.

Some discussion of the status of other dance communities was had.  Charlotte's schedule is in flux. Of the Charlotte caller's, Gretchen and Dean are not available for family reasons; Stephanie is.  Victor also reported that he is stepping back from the Booker's role in Charlotte.

The first agenda item was regarding our continued quest for alternative dance venues.  The good news is that LMCH is available to us and Susan is very open to accommodating our events.  However as we are all well aware it is a significant trek (30 miles, 39 minutes as the Google Drives) from Columbia downtown to LMCH on Devil's Backbone Road off of US 378 west of the center of Lexington.  LMCH has the right vibe; and after having been at Bill's recently and having suffered through a year's worth of dancing at CMFA (some months having two dances) the contrasting differences between them an LMCH has been very evident.   Other venues were mentioned: Allergra, Esmeralda, Blue Moon, Cayce Leisure Center, Peak Leisure Center, and even Arsenal Hill and some churches.  Of those the venue in Peak looks very promising, but warning: that venue in Peak, SC, is about 25 miles from Columbia, so it's not exactly a win.  It's main advantage are it's floor and stage.

"We will keep looking."  Gail offered to check out the Oak Grove Civic center.  To help with this discovery process it was suggested we get some "business cards" to leave with contacts and prospects. Victor offered to mock-up some cards.

The second agenda item concerned the question of whether or not we should renew the insurance which was required but CMFA but is not being required of us for LMCH.  There was discussion and no consensus.  John suggested we take the pros and cons discussion to e-mail to develop positions and reasons for and against.  We do not have to decide immediately but the renewal date is coming up in September so it is imminent.  The cost is about $650 per year.  The insurance is comparable and similarly priced to insurance offered by CDSS.

Since the meeting John has initiated a e-mail discussion by stating the facts as known.  There has been e-mail discussion and the upshot of e-mail chain is that three board members expressed opinions in favor of purchasing the insurance, and thus far with two board members against.  As of the writing of these minutes there are five board members who have not expressed opinions in e-mail.  (The e-mail chain is incorporated into these minutes by reference.)  John will call the question at the next meeting.

The next meeting will be Aug 28 at Virginia's.

The meeting adjourned at 9:18 pm.

/s/ Fred Druseikis

Secretary

Minutes May 15, 2024

The board met at Virginia Winn's house on the evening of May 15, 2024.

The meeting was called to order at 7:32 pm.

In attendance were: Virginia, Marguerite, John, Fred, Dianne B., Gail, Victor, Dianne P-Q, and Maris.

The minutes for the last meeting (held March 6) were approved.

Dianne B gave the Treasurer's Report.  She noted that an over-payment of $100 was made to CDSS; she will work with them to either get a refund or credit.  A check was sent to CMFA for use of the hall through January.  Financial details were reported on the spreadsheet.  It was noted that because of the financial arrangement made with Bill's Pickin' Parlor there were some positive numbers.  The report was approved.

Marguerite gave the Booker's Report.  Sherlock's Meow will be playing and Kenny Greer will be calling for the dance on 5/27 at Bill's.  The Lagomorph Trio will be playing in June with Gretchen Caldwell calling. {Ultimately the dance happened at Lake Murray Contra Hall and Tom Machlin called due to sickness and Bill's deciding they'd had enough contra.]

There was discussion about possible plans for July and August and into the Fall.   This was based on good faith assumptions about continuing with Bill's as a venue. 

There was discussion about the general experience we were having at Bill's and there was discussion about contra dancers's impressions.  It was not all positive.  There was discussion about simple things like whether water was freely available or if we could bring it or if  it was expected to be purchased.

Some concern was expressed about a culture clash.

At the time these minutes were posted (late June) the reader will note that optimistic assumptions about Bill's as a venue were unfounded. The May dance did happen at Bill's.  Willie subsequently told us (immediately after the May dance) that Bill’s was no longer available to us as a venue (w/o significant changes to the schedule and financial agreement). We thus had to relocate the June dance to LMCH on short notice.   All of this transpired cordially and with sincere expressions of mutual regret.  We were very grateful that Susan could accommodate us on such short notice.

As far as schedule is concerned, 4th Saturday's seem to be working.  This year Thanksgiving is early so there is no clash there.  The date for a late December dance is not realistic so we need to reconsider a possible earlier date.

The Bylaws stipulate the month of May for for appointment of officers and at-large board members for the next year.  After a brief discussion there was consensus that we can continue with our current lineup.

President: John

Vice President & Booker: Marguerite

Treasurer: Dianne B.

Secretary: Fred

At-Large Members: Gail, Maris, Dianne P-Q., Victor, Virginia, Kenny.

Kenny has relocated to Berea, Kentucky.  However it was felt that we could benefit from his advice if he were to continue as a full at-large voting member because he has in the past contributed to the discussion on various issues.

The slate was approved.

Next meeting: Wednesday, July 10, 2024.

The meeting adjourned at 8:52 pm.