Thursday, March 10, 2016

Minutes 03/08/ 2016

Minutes of the COTMD Board meeting of March 8, 2016

Attending were:

Jonathan Janzen

John Wetzel

Dianne Britton

Virginia Winn

Fred Druseikis

Marguerite Frongillo

Victor Gascon

Tim Piesch

The meeting was opened, and began by approving the minutes of the previous meeting.

Virginia presented the treasurers report.  We gained $117 at the January dance, and lost $30 at the February dance.

There were no new reimbursements.

The reports from our last dance were discussed.  This brought up the issue of high tech methods of paying.  Victor agreed to investigate whether it would be feasible for us to sell tickets using debit cards or other electronic technologies.  There was general agreement that we are probably too small for that to work, but we can look into it.

The mailing list status was briefly reviewed, and is up to date.

Marguerite presented the current status of her booking efforts. 

Gail Sullivan had indicated in an email that she had changed her mind about serving on the board, and has therefore resigned.

Jonathan Janzen agreed to serve on the board, and was voted in as a member at large.

We discussed recruitment of students and other community members to grow our dance community.

The comittee tasked with working on our mission and vision statement submitted two draft mission statements to choose from.  These were briefly discussed, with the result that we agreed that anyone who wanted to submit other suggested wording to that committee could do so, if this is done within two weeks.  The committee will review those submissions, and will then create and submit one (or possibly more) draft mission statements to the entire board, at the next meeting, for discussion and an up or down vote.

The creation of a vision statement has been set aside until the mission statement issue has been settled.

The "work in progress" item called "Summer 2016 Dances" was discussed again:

We will have a "regular" dance in August, (previously agreed).

We will have a "techno" dance in July (previously agreed) and we have now agreed to try and combine that dance with a swing dance with possible involvement of a swing dance organization, this to include Swing teaching/dance from 4:00 to 6:00, a pot luck from 6:00 to 7:00, then our techno contra event.

ACTION ITEM:  John Wetzel to check with Barbara at the Emerald to see if this will fly, only then will others talk to swing dance groups about how to make it happen.

The addition to our website of video links about contra dancing was discussed.  Tim agreed to review existing contra dance videos, and to suggest a list of video links (youtube? vimeo?) that could be made a part of our website, with board approval.

There was a brief discussion about possible alternatives regarding the storage and safekeeping of sound equipment, the possibilities of insurance, etc.  We decided for now that we would continue to self-insure (that is, take our chances with fate).

TABLED FOR FUTURE DISCUSSION 
The following items are carried forward from the last meeting, (not discussed at this meeting owing to lack of time):
Posting our dance events on our dance-related facebook pages (Poonam).
Posting ContraCola events on Meetup groups
Midlands Gives: Join as a promotional opportunity (Connie)? 

The next meeting will be on May 10, 2016.

Meeting was adjourned.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Minutes 01/12/ 2016

Minutes of the COTMD Board meeting of January 12, 2016

Attending were:

Natalie Weston
John Wetzel
Dianne Britton
Virginia Winn
Connie Robinette
Fred Druseikis
Marguerite Frongillo
Victor Gascon
Gail Sullivan
Tim Piesch

The meeting was opened, and began by approving the minutes of the previous meeting (including one correction).

Virginia presented the treasurers report.  We lost $66 at our most recent dance.

There were no new reimbursements.

The reports from our last dance were briefly reviewed.

The mailing list status was briefly reviewed, and is now up to date with two new entries handled.

Marguerite presented the current status of her booking efforts.  The June band slot remains unfilled,
and is reserved with first right of refusal to Bob Buckingham (until the end of January).

Gail Sullivan agreed to serve on the board, and was voted in as a member at large.

The board discussed the need to move forward with the creation of a detailed mission statement, as distinct from the all inclusive
goals statement contained in our bylaws.  It is not intended that the bylaws be modified, only that a more specific mission
statement be created.  The board voted to establish a committee to perform this function.  Fred Druseikis, Connie Robinette and
Marguerite Frongillo agreed to serve on this commitee.

The board also discussed the "Review/Update Vision" task from our previous meeting, and decided that this was best handled by
the same committee just established for creating our mission statement.

The "work in progress" item called "Summer 2016 Dances" was discussed at length.  The board voted to do the following:
1. Have a "Techno Contra" dance in July.
2. Have a regular contra dance in August.
3. Implied but not stated outright was the following:
    A. We are temporarily moving from 10 to 12 dances per year (essentially until further notice).
    B. If an out of town band plays for the August dance, this may allow a local band to play one additional engagement elsewhere
       in the schedule.

The idea of sharing an afternoon dance with another dance group, such as the Columbia Swing group, was discussed briefly, and we
then decided to table the matter for future discussion, with points already discussed to be thought over and weighed for further
discussion at a future meeting of the board.

The Board went into executive session to discuss our budget, proposed capital expenditures and other issues. The board remained
in executive session until the meeting was adjourned.

NEW BUSINESS  The following items are carried forward from the last meeting, and were not discussed at this meeting owing to lack
of time.  So, the following may need to be on the next meeting agenda:

    Tim suggested that we add links to dance videos to our website.
    Poonam suggested that we post our dance events on other dance groups Facebook pages (not limited to Contra groups). We already
              cross-post with Lake Murray and Charleston, but we can expand to include Swing and Ballroom dance organizations, and
              perhaps even Meetup groups that we belong to.
    Connie mentioned the related possibility of joining Midlands Gives with other non profits, to garner some contributions and hopefully a lot of attention.

The next meeting will be on March 8, 2016.

Meeting was adjourned.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Minutes 11/17/2015

Minutes of the COTMD Board meeting of November 17, 2015
Attending were:
Natalie Weston
John Wetzel
Dianne Britton
Virginia Winn
Connie Robinette
Fred Druseikis
Marguerite Frongillo
Victor Gascon
Poonam Dhull
Tim Piesch
The meeting was opened, and began by approving the minutes of the previous meeting.
Virginia presented the treasurers report.  We lost $111 at our most recent dance (some of this may have been funds disbursed between dances, not funds "lost" at the dance).
The losses at our most recent dance was discussed, this included a long discussion about beginner classes.  The board voted to begin all beginner lessons as close as possible to 7PM, using either the hired caller or any available member of the board, whenever possible, regardless of the size of the group being taught.
The mailing list status was briefly reviewed.
Marguerite presented the current status of her booking efforts.
COTMD booking policies have been completed and posted on our website.
COTMD safety & comfort policies have been completed and posted on our website.
Natalie Weston and Poonam Dhull agreed to serve on the board, and were voted in as members at large.
Recruitment among students was discussed at some length, and Poonam agreed to post wherever she could at USC.
Recruitment among non-students was discussed at length, including many ideas for recruiting from churches and other non student community groups of all sorts.  
The "Summer 2016" agenda item for this meeting was tabled for future discussion.

NEW BUSINESS

  1. Tim suggested that we add links to dance videos to our website.
  2. Poonam suggested that we post our dance events on other dance groups Facebook pages (not limited to Contra groups). We already cross-post with Lake Murray and Charleston, but we can expand to include Swing and Ballroom dance organizations, and perhaps even Meetup groups that we belong to.
  3. Connie mentioned the related possibility of joining Midlands Gives with other non profits, to garner some contributions and hopefully a lot of attention.
The next meeting will be on January 12, 2016.
Meeting was adjourned.