Minutes May 25, 2022

 COTMD Board Meeting Minutes, for the meeting held on May 25, 2022

The Board met at Virginia's house.  John called the meeting to order at 7:36pm.

Attending: Bob (Barb), Karl, Fred, John, Virginia, Margurite
Absent: Victor, Dianne, Kenny

It was determined that a quorum was present.

Minutes from the previous meeting April 25, 2022 had been discussed via e-mail and several corrections were noted; the revised minutes were approved.

There was no treasurer's report.  There were no financial transactions since the last meeting.

Agenda for this meeting: Officer and Board election, Progress on the Dance Series restart

Election of Officers

    A slate consisting of the current board membership and officer roles was proposed, seconded, and approved.

    For the record the officer slate is:

        President: John Wetzel
        Vice President: Margurite Frongrello
        Treasurer: Victor Gascon
        Secretary: Fred Druseikis

        At-large Board Members are:
            Dianne Britton
            Kenny Greer
            Barbara (Bob) lastname?
            Karl Smith
            Virginia Winn

Dance Series Progress

The board discussed at length various ideas and specifics for how to unfold the forthcomming dance season.  The nature of the conversation was more akin to a working session to decide what to do, rather than a specified set of motions for actions to be taken.

It was recognized that we need to have more than an August dance to restart the series.  The discussion revolved around various ideas:
    (1) Planning dates through January 2023
    (2) Don't consider a dance in December because holidays
    (3) Use a live band and caller for August, October, and January.
    (4) Use recorded music of various types (trad or techno) for September and November.
    (5) Continue planning for the use for the CFMA [Columbia Music Festival Association] when possible because of it's highly desirable downtown location (on Pulaski Street just on the edge of the Vista.)

Karl briefly described a multi-target messaging campaign involving different organizations and web sites.  He emphasized the need to begin messaging in June to let people know "we're coming, details to follow."  And then to message again in July with specifics as they become known.

Fred suggested that a "pick-up band" of local musicians might be possible for October.  This was an off-the-cuff suggestion subject to further discussion amongst potential participants.  If an out-of-town band were available that would be fine too.

Karl further elaborated on the discussion about the CFMA space and the general nature of the conversation with Joseph, the CFMA Associate Director.  To make the CFMA space viable as a PERMANENT ALTERNATIVE to Lake Murray, we need two things to be true:
    (a) Commitments for our dance dates, which are contingent on sighing an agreement with CFMA for use of their space;
    (b) An additional agreement with CFMA to keep our equipment on-site so that it doesn't need to be hauled to each dance; this seems to place a requirement for additional equipment;
    (c) Therefore additional audio equipment may need to be acquired, or moved from Lake Murray, as long as the CFMA can assure the dates.
    (d) It is unlikely that CFMA can commit to the same date for our season.

For the record, in the course of the discussions John wanted to make it very clear that he has has to retire from the role of audio engineer and sound tech for COTMD dances.  The hiatus imposed by the pandemic has created the opportunity and necessity for this transition.  The COTMD must set up proper support processes so John can step back from this support role to which he as so graciously assumed over many years.  A start on this was accomplished earlier this year by moving some of our equipment to Lake Murray.  This reality directly impacts the requirements for venues.  (I am paraphrasing my understanding of John's remarks.)

After an hour's worth of conversation we were mightily confused, so John created a table in real-time to describe his understanding of the discussion as of that moment  (let's say 8:50pm):

Date (Approx)       Music                    Location               

August              Live Band                In-Town [CFMA] NOTE: Since changed to Lexington venue!
September         Recorded Music      In-Town
October             Live Band                In-Town
November         Recorded Music      In-Town
December         No Dance
January 2023    Live Band                In-Town

Specifically we would try to use CFMA for August with Lake Murray as backup.

The date was assumed to 3rd Saturday but this has changed.  There are no commitments from CFMA for these dates.  See Notes below.

Next Meeting date proposed for July 13, 2022; but this may change based on availability.

The Meeting was adjourned at 9:15pm

In writing this I find there is no mechanism that seems to incorporate business conducted by e-mail.  What follows is additional actions take by e-mail vote, or events and activites of board members which might be relevant to the substance of these minutes.  (Robert's Rules does not allow the motion to ajourn to be tabled (i.e., deferred) because then there would never be an end to the meeting.)  So our meeting did end, but we never stop talking (LOL).  Hence just a list of e-mail transactions to append to this set of minutes until they are approved at the next (face) meeting.

BUSINESS SINCE CONDUCTED BY E-MAIL (This list as of June 7, 2022)

(1) After the meeting there was an email vote to change the dance date to 4th Saturday. The motion was seconded and approved.  The reason primarily was to avoid conflict with regional dances often attended by members of the Columbia dance community.

(2) In an e-mail, John notified the Board that the idea of moving the equipment from Lake Murray to CFMA is not feasible by the August dance.  Therefore the August dance needs to be at Lake Murray.

(3) Victor, Karl, Fred and Dianne, visited the CFMA venue Thursday, June 2.  We saw the facility in general and the specific space in particular.  The general conclusion was that this would be quite good for us.  Victor summarized the inspection in an email to the Board.  Further progress including commitments to dates is predicated on fulfilling CFMA requirements including insurance.

(4) Karl has received the application form from CFMA and forwarded it to the board.  CFMA is requesting a donation at a level commensurate with charges space of equivalent value.  This needs to be discussed because it is not $50 per dance (as in $1/person) but possibly rather more like $50 per hour (~$200).  There is also a charge to a CFMA presence at the dance which if it is an employee of CFMA is treated as a donation, or otherwise as a compensation if the person is not on CFMA staff.  Proof of insurance is required to be submitted with the application.  An officer needs to take action on the application.