Minutes June 14, 2023

COTMD Board Minutes June 14, 2023

The Board gathered at Virginia Winn's house at 7pm to enjoy some dessert and coffee.  The meeting was called to order at approximately 7:30pm.

Regular board members attending: Gail, Marguerite, Virgina, Fred, Dianne, John, Karl (via Zoom)

Absent: Kenny, Maris

Guest: Dianne Palmer-Quay

The minutes of the previous meeting (May 10, 2023) were approved by voice vote.

Dianne Britton presented the Treasurer's Report.  Details are in the spreadsheet available to board members only.  The treasures' report was approved.

Booker's Report

    June 24, Marshal & Lucy w Chris Hernandez calling
    July 22, Chris & Bobby w ? calling

    CFMA Hall Commitments
        Aug 12
        Aug 26
        Sep  9
        Sep 23

    Kenny Greer will call Sept 9.
    Other bookings not committed at this time.

General Discussion

    There was some discussion about gender roles during dances. There was a concern expressed about the practice of dancers changing roles in the middle of dance, and that some might find it confusing etc.  We decided to avoid a general discussion of gender issues as this was going to sort itself out by the mutual behaviors of dancers in the moment and not some dictum or policy originating from the Contracola board (LOL).  As for how callers should practice their craft (i.e., gents & ladies, larks & robins, etc, etc.) we feel it be best left to the caller.

    The Darlington Post Office has been renovated and its management is interested in starting a local contra dance series. They contacted us via the Contracola web site and John followed up with them.  They may visit us some to see how it works and get further guidance.

    The liability insurance is coming up for renewal per requirements of CFMA.  Thank you John for addressing the onerous task of answering the of the multitude of questions the insuror asks.  Dianne reported she has renewed the hall insurance.  John noted that we need to keep a copy of the policy in an accessible place.  We are using Google drive to store the documents for this year as well as last year.  Google drive provides board members with exclusive access.

    Frustratingly, we have discovered that Charlotte is now dancing on 2nd Saturdays in conflict with us. It's not exactly clear that there may also be some irregularity in the schedule.  Some consternation was expressed.  Externally it seems like an insensitive move, yet we are ourselves aware that there are externals that often force decisions certain ways.  We're not going change as we have enough trouble already getting dates cleared with CFMA in a timely manner.

    With regard to dance operations, we've been experimenting with how breaks work (i.e., longer intentional pauses between dances) during the dance.  We agreed to try two shorter breaks.  If breaks are too short it's hard to get time to socialize.  We are working toward two breaks, with a waltz during each for those who wish; limited to 5 minutes, unless the band has issues and needs some more time.  Trying this out on the fly.  It was noted that there ought to be some kind of "agenda" displayed at the table in order to set expectations as folks arrive.

    Cleaning up the contact list is an ongoing process and a task.  We are going to continue to use Mailchimp for emails, rather than convert entirely to GiveButter (which we use to support donations, and to provide technical support for text messages to mobile phones.)

Marketing Efforts

    Anticipating students return in early August, Karl would like some volunteers to help distribute literature on campus.

    Gail will be at Soda City next Saturday to pass out a few free dance cards.

    Dianne is continuing to post our events to various outlets.

    Maris is actively talking up the Contracola dance.

Children policy.

    It was noted that there were some rambunctious children at a recent dance.  The lack of adult supervision posed a risk to safety of both the children and the dancers.  We need to articulate an expected behavior policy for children.

    Admission is free for children.  Teens and adults pay.

ACTION ITEM STATUS

    AI - John - Federal Tax Filing (waiting on June 30 to pass to trigger next fiscal year.)

    As write the first draft a cryptic note appears in my notes, literally:

    AI - Fred - "agenda"

    That's all she wrote. I’m not recalling what this means. Anyone care to refresh my memory as to what seemed so obvious to me at that moment I could never forget it?  I didn't think so.  It may come to me.  Before posting, it came to me; see comment on dance operations above.

Next Meeting

    The next meeting will be July 12.  July 26 was an agreed upon alternate, depending on John checking his calendar.  John reported to me that July 12 is good, so July 12 it is.
 
The meeting was adjourned at 9:28pm.

/Fred Druseikis/