Minutes August 9 2023

 COTMD Board Minutes August 9, 2023

Present: John, Fred, Virginia, Dianne B, Dianne P-Q, Maris, Gail, Karl (via Zoom)

Absent: Kenny, Marguerite

The meeting was held at Virginia's house.  John called the meeting to order at 7:31pm.

Minutes from the Previous Meeting.

    A motion was made, seconded, and passed to accept the minutes of the previous meeting.

Treasurer's Report.

    CFMA has been provided a YTD list of zip codes recorded from dancers since last August.  They were happy to get this.

    The YTD dance season spreadsheet has been posted to the board blog.

    CDSS annual report has been submitted.

    A motion was made, seconded, and passed to accept the Treasure's report.

Booker's Report.

    Marguerite provided a written report via email because of her planned absence.

    The Booker is very concerned about the lack of commitments to dates for the CFMA venue and alternative.  This indecision is creating problems.

    There was some energetic discussion.  Different opinions were expressed.  Some strong opinions were voiced.

    John resolved to clarify the role of the Booker.  A different role (the "Joseph Whisperer") would be identified to help facilitate the approval of dates from CFMA and to secure the alternative venue from Susan Fort if needed.  The Booker would be only responsible for lining up the talent (bands and callers) for the expected dates.

    ACTION ITEMS: John will produce a written description of roles.  John and Dianne B would discuss scheduling issues with Joseph.

Dance Report.

    The July dances were very uncomfortable because of inadequate cooling in the hall.  Our space in the building in particular is inadequately cooled.  Several (many) dancers left early because of it.  The July heat this year has been particularly oppressive.  It was noted that for many years earlier this century we didn't dance during the summer.  We forgot why; and now we've experienced an Ah ha! moment.

    Free passes have been coming in; not in great numbers but some.

    Attendance is still low, as recorded in the Treasurer's report.

    The AC (cooling) appears to be under some kind of automated schedule; it would be good to see if that can be altered to accommodate the times of our events.

    It was noted that the cooling might improve if we can keep the door to the room closed.

ContraCola Open Band.

    There was a report on the goals and progress.

    This group would like to play in the Fall.  Two dates are available: 10/28 and 11/11.

    It was suggested that the group might be able to play a few times a year, something like once a quarter beyond the initial debut.

Mailing List Status.

    We will be inviting/reminding people on our newsletter e-mails to update their contact info.  We now have over 100 names with phone numbers.

Child Safety Policy.

    Maris researched the topic of child safety at dances and gave a report on how other groups handle this.  There is a lot of good material to draw from.  ACTION ITEM: Maris and John will formulate something.

Next Meeting.

    September 13.

Adjournment.

9:31pm.  Yes we went much longer than usual.