Taken by: Tania
Present: Greg, Lynn, Sally, Can, Steve, Kim, Tania
1. Old Business
General Report -- Progress on purchases: Tania rented PO box at annual cost of $45, Tania will order business cards with correct phone/fax and new address; Greg ordered address stamp/return address labels at cost of approximately $30. Upon Can's proposal, we agreed to purchase a high-quality and reliable microphone primarily for use at workshops. Can will e-mail board members with a proposal after doing market research. We reviewed March 24 co-op dance with Nadim Catal and found it generally successful, although Can noted poor floor at Puttin' on the Ritz and initial problems with the DJ duties. SSDS's contribution to the "co-op" was publicizing the event on its e-mail and web pages.
Co-op policy -- After a general discussion, we agreed on the following policy: In any co-op dance, SSDS will publicize the event and encourage its members to attend but will not get involved with the finances or other volunteer duties. The goal of SSDS regarding co-op dances is to support dance venues, not to generate revenues. The organization conducting the dance will have to emphasize swing in its playlist by playing approximately 50 percent swing music. SSDS will be open to co-op inquiries from any dance group or venue.
Financial Report -- Steve reported that we have $1,296.92 income year to date with total assets of $9,373.71. The April SSDS mailing was three flyers going to 580 people at a cost of $204 for postage and $116 for copies.
WCS nights -- Tracie, Maria and Mary Ellen have arranged with Freddy's in Mattydale for a WCS night on the first Monday of the month, 7 to 10 p.m., no cover. They will DJ. This is not an SSDS event.
Grants -- Can and Steve agreed to serve as SSDS representatives at award drawing for Updowntowners grant on May 1. Progress on request for funding from Senator DeFrancisco's office (tabled). Administrative grant of $1,500 received from CRC. Tania is submitting required progress reports to CRC.
2. New Business
May Lindy workshops -- Date May 5 with instructors Skye Humphries and Sarah Spence. Venue is Ukrainian Home at cost of approximately $250 (Steve needs to finalize cost). Workshops 3 p.m. to 7:15 p.m., DJ dance 9 p.m. to midnight. Instructors paid $100/hr or one-half of net, whichever is higher. RoseAnn is handling on-site registration and recruiting volunteers; Greg will handle volunteers for door duty. Can, Steve & Tania will handle set-up, and Can will coordinate clean-up. Lynn will purchase bottled water.
Workshop cost policies -- Value of time of SSDS volunteers who are not compensated with cash discounts (i.e., free workshop or admission to dance) is figured into SSDS calculation of workshop expenses. This policy is true of all workshops. Steve proposed a discretionary bonus to workshop instructors who "go above and beyond" in teaching or participating in workshop events. We agreed to consider such bonuses on a case-by-case basis; the board must approve the bonus.
June WCS workshops -- Dates June 8 to 10 with Kyle Redd and Sarah Van Drake of California. Eight one-hour workshops and two DJ dances, with fee of $1,500 to instructors. Venue is Ukrainian Home at approximate cost of $750 (Steve will confirm). Greg and Steve will work on purchasing airline tickets. Tania and Steve will work on contract with instructors. Steve will book hotel rooms. Tania will coordinate housing requests. Tania will send email asking for volunteer captains for set-up/clean-up, door duty, registration (Kim is available), refreshments, dance activities (Jack and Jill contests).
New home for weekly swing dances -- Lease with First Presbyterian Church United ends June 15. Possible alternative is Johnson's Bally Bay in 500 block of Richmond Avenue. We discussed whether this location presented safety issues. Steve is negotiating a fair rental rate from bar owner and will try for an hourly rate. Tania will call DeWitt Community Church to see if they have suitable space. Steve will check on possible space on Teall Avenue (a Polish Home?). Damon's is the fall-back location.
Purple Valley Band dance -- Date is May 19, venue Damon's. Per co-op policy, SSDS will promote event and encourage members to attend, Damon's will keep the door. Steve will contact Cindy or Leoni to teach a lesson prior to dance. SSDS would handle registration, charge $5 for lesson; instructors would get all proceeds but SSDS will guarantee $50 plus travel expenses.
Conflicts policy -- After a lengthy discussion, we adopted a policy aiming to avoid regional scheduling conflicts as much as possible. First step in any workshop planning is checking for regional conflicts. SSDS will use every effort to schedule workshop and other major events around regional workshop weekends, but it may not be possible to schedule around monthly band dances. We will give as much advance notice as possible of SSDS events to other event organizers in the region. Scheduling decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis with heightened awareness of scheduling conflicts. We had problem with scheduling of May 5 Lindy workshop in particular for variety of reasons, including failure to coordinate with Lynn Miller, currently the only active Lindy teacher in Syracuse.
Workshop organization policy -- Anyone organizing a workshop on behalf of SSDS must attend SSDS business meetings and take the lead with organizing details such as scheduling, set-up, volunteers, etc. Workshop contact also must keep SSDS board informed of workshop developments.
Summer picnic -- Date is Thursday July 5, 5 p.m. (set-up) to dark. Admission $5 or dish to pass. Camp Brockway at Pratts Falls Park reserved for $75.
Halloween dance and regional workshop -- Date is Saturday October 27. Steve proposed to incorporate workshops with regional instructors into annual SSDS Halloween dance. Discussion about asking each regional teacher to teach one workshop during day, with parallel locations for Lindy and WCS. Discussion will continue.
Long-term planning meeting -- At a previous meeting we set date of June 24, 5 p.m. at Tania's house for special meeting for brainstorming of SSDS long-term goals, vision, plans, etc. June 24 presents a conflict with regional dance event. Proposal to move meeting to July 1. Tania will email Maria and list to make sure date is relatively conflict-free.
Other Business
(1) Can proposed that the core volunteers generate lists of their tasks and responsibilities with the goal of getting a larger base of volunteers. Tania will email Howard of ISDN for information about their volunteer plan.
(2) Kim will work on scheduling Diane Nardone workshops in September.
(3) We agreed to extend Alan Goldstein credit toward the June WCS workshops because a medical problem prevented him from taking prior SSDS workshops for which he had paid.
(4) The board agreed to lend the SSDS sound system to Tania on September 8.