Minutes of Open Planning Meeting
July 1, 2001

Taken by: Tania

Present: Tania, Steve, Tracie, Can, Kim, Alice, Mike, Sally, RoseAnn, Lynn, Brian, Greg, Andy, Ilona, Mark, David

The meeting was an open-agenda session designed to discern important goals or projects for SSDS to consider and pursue as a group. Following is a summary of the discussion highlights. At business meetings in the next several months, SSDS will decide whether and how to implement these ideas.

1. Venue for dancing
   • Current Thursday swing dance location is not ideal. Ideas for new spaces: St. Joseph the Worker Church in Liverpool, lease an open space and put down a floor, 3rd floor of Cathedral School in downtown Syracuse, private schools, buy a building, look into city-owned buildings and spaces, old Club 37, Grace Episcopal (too small), upstairs at Club Polski, church halls, Bellevue Methodist (tile floor), reconsider Ballybay at Sackett & Richmond streets (safety issue, escorts, trial dance), roller rinks (Westvale Plaza), Donna's studio.
   • Possibly divide city into quadrants to explore possible spaces.
   • Write letter to editor about need to dance space.
2. Regional dances
   • Borrow idea of exchange from Lindy Hop. Weekend of nonstop bands, dancing; invite other dancers from region. Need large volunteer base for three-day event. At Halloween Dance (October 27, 2001) invite regional teachers to increase dancer base. Exchange cites would be Buffalo, Toronto, Syracuse, Rochester.
   • Organize club outings to regional workshops. Toronto is good at bringing big groups to out-of-town workshops, SSDS could do something like that for Toronto's Mario workshops in July. Lynn is good at organizing car pools to Rochester dances.
   • Use exchange idea with other dance groups within Syracuse, such as county-western and WCS exchange. Possible monthly dance/local exchange at location such as Donna's studio. Country Club is a built-in local exchange if it re-opens in fall.
3. Increase volunteer base
   • Possible ways to increase volunteer participation: increase incentive rewards, send special e-mails asking for volunteers (do we rely too heavily on e-mails?), seek volunteers sooner before a specific event, ask for volunteers in person, ask outside the circle of people that normally volunteers, establish point system for volunteering/rewards, give volunteers more responsibility.
   • Invest in computer software program that others can access to make flyers, etc.
   • Better publicize business meetings, where volunteer captains are recruited.
   • Make one person responsible for collecting money at the hops.
   • Busy people will take on one project instead of long-term commitment.
   • Possible incentives are volunteer-only events, tickets to national events, volunteers get first dibs on SSDS tables at national events (if SSDS takes on project of reserving tables at events by fronting the ticket money and reselling tickets to individuals).
   • Need to reinforce need for volunteers message generally even if dollar incentives don't work.
4. Students at hops
   • SSDS doesn't get many college, SU students. SU has peculiar lesson/practice structure with its dance classes.
   • Transportation difficult - could have venue closer to SU, organize car pools or pick-up and drop-off points.
   • Advertise on campus.
   • A downtown venue is attractive to students. Students want to be in club, not church hall.
5. Newcomers welcome at hops
   • Club taxi service - designated people to dance with newcomers.
   • Move DJ table out of the corner of room at hops, encourage more mixing at hops.
   • Create mixer dances, WCS line dances, Philly Bop, Rueda line dance.
   • Have new dancers raise hands after taking survival lesson, and experienced dancers will ask them to dance.
6. Better quality workshops
   • Use the same teachers every year at workshops (Diane Nardone, Sarah & Kyle, Mary Ann Nunez, Skye & Sarah). Another form of exchange. Instructor knows the area, people plan on the event, dates are easier to organize.
   • At big workshops people forget lessons, and we need to reinforce material with review classes, practice sessions, use of video notebooks (which are a financial incentive for out-of-town instructors).
   • Create standard practice to teach review course but make sure workshop attendees get favorable rate. Make part of the out-of-town instructor's job to teach material to local instructors so they can teach review class. Make review class part of all-in pass. Videotape the top dancers in class.

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