Minutes, March 1, 2023

 COTMD Board Meeting March 1, 2023

We met at Virginia Winn's house around 7pm to enjoy some dessert and conversation.

The meeting was called to order at 7:37pm.

In Attendance: Margurite, Virginia, John, Dianne, Fred, Karl (via Zoom)

The minutes of the last meeting were approved.

The results of the two dances held in February were discussed.  Attendance was about 40; a notable number were present at 7pm for instruction - so callers should be prepared to teach as soon as there are enough bodies.  Joseph and one of the CMFA board members popped in during one of the dances to see what was going on.

Dianne gave the treasurer's report.  The dollar figures for funds in the bank and in the kitty (working funds) were reported.  A Venmo account for COTMD payments has been created and can accessed via QR code.  There is also a QR code for email lists.  Dancers who wish to pay online can do so using the Venmo app.  We ask that they add fifty cents to cover the transaction cost.  Accounting for gate receipts is made slightly more complicated because of this.  The report was approved.

John is preparing a letter to Joseph at CMFA detailing the serial numbers of the equipment being transferred to them.  Joseph does not want to make a big deal of this nor go into great detail about the discussions for paying for the use of the hall. In short CMFA gives special consideration to 501(c)(3) organizations use of the facility without expecting payment.  (This may have something to do with how CMFA does its budgeting and making a big deal about it just complicates things.)  In this respect they are different for us rather than individual artists renting the space.

The COTMD board approved the concept of 20% of gross receipts (paid admissions) as a reasonable benchmark figure to give to CMFA for hall use.  (Editorial: the point of this is to recognize that by not accounting for an actual cost we are not being truthful to ourselves about what it costs to produce a dance series, and therefore whether or not we are solvent in the longer run.  Nothing is forever and we may be required to find an alternative space for whatever reason.)

The Booker reported increasing difficulty with lining up bands and callers. Wisdom dictates the use of "duos" for out of town bands.  As of this meeting there was no band for March 25.  At the meeting Sherlock's Meow agreed to play for the dance.  The board OK'd the booker to discuss price flexibility for out of town bands as some subset of Contraforce may be willing to play for us.

There was considerable discussion about the issues of what dates there were to be scheduled.  At the time of the meeting there was no venue committed for May 13 or May 27.  The realities of scheduling dances and getting low attendance because of other competing factors was considered (yet again.)  We are pursing a very aggressive scheduling plan with two dances a month.  Keeping up that pace puts a strain on everyone when there is not enough hands to help out.

The uncertainty about scheduling dates creates considerable stress for all involved in the booking process, as dates too near the present vastly reduce the number of possible callers or bands available to book on short notice.  This is a major issue.

Booking Action Items:
    John will give Karl the list of OK dates for the dance series.
    Karl will give consideration for how to adjust the list to maintain momentum as we work to rebuild the dance community.
    Karl will communicate back to the board and with Joseph on the dates.

A motion was made and seconded: that Karl is authorized to spend up to $350 for expenses related to ContraCola event promotions at UofSC Russell House.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at Virginia's.

The meeting adjourned at 9:07pm.