Annual Meeting Dec 15, 2024 (after Dance)

Annual Meeting Sunday Dec 15 after dance

Erin facilitated our annual meeting after dance at our new dance space, Temple Beth El in Portland.

Attendees: Erin, Lori, Deb, Kari, Mellen, Marion, Tim, Sunshine, Steve, Jason, Bart, Devin, Brian, Kelly, Alban, Jess, Kiara, Dev, Lily, Jimmy, Brandon, David, Tasha, Jamie, Ben, Cor, Nev, Emily, Rebecca, Blair, Shelagh

• In-gathering - Erin

• Where Can We Dance Committee

• Last year wound up our search for a new space to sublease after looking at 80+ spaces
  After we lost Waldorf, the committee kicked into gear and found a place to dance: Temple Beth El in Portland!

• NOTES:

• The doors must always remain locked. No arrivals after 1:45.
• The building is strictly kosher, so do not bring pork or fish into the building.
• The committee was honored with cards and a small gift in appreciation of their hard work.

• Summary of 2024 - Deb, President

• At the beginning of the year, we had a big overcrowding issue, which spurred some changes, such as not sending out email announcements, then we lost our space in October, and now we've found a new place to dance.
• DJ report - Deb
• DJ pay increase to $200 per dance
• 3 new DJs this year: Dena, Sandra, Keiko
• Greeters - Lily
• Much appreciation shown to Lily who coordinates greeters.
• Lily is happy to continue in this role, which she enjoys and hopes to encourages others to continue to greet.
• Finance Update – Jamie
• Report on financials included steadily increased income since pre-covid (fancy graphics presented)
• Our new space costs a little more ($150/dance) but we no longer pay for storage. 
• Each dance costs a little less than $400 to put on.
• We have about $18k in reserve. As a non-profit we've agreed to keep our balance above $7k.
• Thank you to John, who does the bookkeeping and accounting for PCD.
• Events Committee - Emily
• Brian, Tasha, Shelagh, Deb, Kiara are having a meeting on Jan 5 to start planning a PCD Vision Quest meeting for members to brainstorm where do we go from here. Nev, Jason, and Devin requested to join

• Wiz update – Kari

• The Wizengamot members currently are: Rebecca, Tim, Lori, Kari, Jimmie, Lily, Bryan, and Emily

• The Wiz is responsible for making dance happen (pre- and post-dance) and is available to answer questions during and after dance.

• The Wiz came up with a beautiful card that describes PCD dance guidelines.

• The Wiz came up with a process for helping address dancers' concerns around safety and discomfort when issues arise: RE-FLOW: Re-establishing Equilibrium For Lightening of Weight

• Community

• Meraki Meetings - Shelagh

• To include more people, we changed the times we meet: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Sundays after dance, alternating between in person and zoom.

• 2025 Retreats – Nev

• Planning underway for 2025 spring retreat April 25, 26, 27 at Ocean Wood retreat center in Ocean Park

• Fall retreat also being considered - tentative hold: October 24, 25, 26, 2025 at Ferry Beach

• Events committee formed in October, hosted two events: Halloween costumes and potluck, Friendsgiving

• More to come!

• PCD Vision Quest - Brian

• The committee is holding a meeting Jan 5 to begin planning for a larger brainstorming meeting where we talk about the future of PCD. 
• Planning committee includes Tasha, Brian, Shelagh, Deb, Kiara.
• Nev, Devin, Jason asked to join.

Officer Elections

• Thanks to outgoing officers/board – MC

• Deb Grant, President

• Jamie Schwellenbach, Treasurer

• Tasha Salvo, Secretary

• New Officer/Board elections

• Rebecca Booth, President

• Jamie Schwellenbach, Treasurer

• Tasha Salvo, Secretary

• Donning the Royal Regalia – Deb

• Current officers ceremonially transferred hats to new officers

• Out-gathering - Jamie

Meraki Monday Nov 18 on Zoom

Meraki Monday Nov 18 on Zoom

Attendees: Nate (facilitator), Rebecca (ingatherer), John (timekeeper), Tasha (notes), Lori (vibe checker), Mellen, Kari, Sunshine, Marion, Brian, Lily, Andrew, Erin, Shelagh, Emily

Meeting format

• Choose roles (Ingatherer, Facilitator, Timekeeper, Vibe Checker, Note Taker)
• Ingathering
• Briefly review How We Roll
• Summarize previous meeting notes
• Gather new agenda items
• Set order and time for items
• Attend to agenda items
• Schedule future meeting(s)
• Evaluation
• Outgathering

Agenda

• Where Can We Dance Committee - Kari, et al
• Annual Meeting - Tasha, et al
• Events Committee 
• Friendsgiving Nov 24 1 - 3 pm - Tasha
• New Years Eve?
• Retreat Committee - Marion
• Who should/can sign event contracts for PCD? Event coordinator or should we require an Officer to sign? - John
• Proposal: Short-Term Realignment Planning Meeting - Tasha, et al
• Revisit age policy - TABLED 
• Carpooling - Rebecca TABLED

Where Can We Dance - 20 min

Mellen: We have now looked at 83 places. We went back to places we'd eliminated before. 

Our best option is Temple Beth El in Portland, but it's not available on Sunday mornings during the school year. We can dance from 1:00 - 3:00 in the winter, and summer we can go back to mornings. Fee is reasonable $190. They're very chill. Don't need people there to monitor. They use it for contra dancing. Nice wood floor. 

Reiche Community Center gym is also available Sunday mornings, but it's a gym so not as nice a vibe. They also wants to work with us and no one else is vying for the time. 

We still need to follow up on another temple in South Portland, Mast Landing event space in Freeport, North Yarmouth Academy, Chevrus HS.

John: There are 2 possibilities in Brunswick.

Mellen: Committee felt it was too far.

Rebecca: We hope to get at least 2150 sf which is what we had at Waldorf.

Brian: We should consider opening up the time that we dance. It would be preferable to not  dancing at all. 

Mellen: We could decide tonight to go ahead with Temple Beth El as a trial and keep looking. 

Brian: I propose move forward with dance, regardless of whether it's a perfect place or time.

Mellen: Dec 1, Dec 15, and Dec 22 are currently scheduled with DJs.

Shelagh: 2150 sf is without the stage at Waldorf. I'm wondering what happened with Mackworth Island. We don't know why it didn't work. 

Mellen: DJs were unsatisfied with the sound. Another issue was access through the tollbooth in the summer season. Some people didn't like the vibe out there. And two people felt the building was sick. 

Andrew: What about later time slots at Temple Beth El? 

Mellen: There are a few holidays where we can do Sunday mornings. Summers we can go back to mornings, which is better for warm weather so people can be outside. 

Lori: We found that there are a lot of imperfect possibilities. I agree that trying out some of these sooner rather than later is good.

Mellen: Woodfords Club has no times that work at all.

Nate: What's more important: time or place? Temple Beth El vs Reiche. I propose that we try both location and we get more information about who comes.

Rebecca: Is parking an issue? 

Mellen: Parking is not an issue, there's street parking. 

Rebecca: It's also a busy a time of year so we can't judge how many people will come based on just December trial.

Brian: Would the story change about Mackworth Island given that we have nowhere to dance? 

Lori: What are the concessions we're willing to consider? Rather than doing an experiment, how about we put out a survey to the community?

Mellen: I think we need to try it and see how it feels and who comes. It's hard to find the ideal space. We are running out of places. 

Rebecca: I don't think we need a survey. We need to experience it to find out how it feels to dance at a different time. 

Kari: We're going to have to change some things if we want to keep our dance going. I want to get going and start at a place rather than doing a survey. 

Nate: We want to start dancing asap. We're willing to give a time change a try. Do we want to try both places or just Temple Beth El?

Mellen: We don't have the full information about Reiche yet. So I propose we start at Beth El in December and see if Reiche comes through.

Andrew: Do we want to consider later in the day say 4 - 6?

Rebecca: A lot of people are really winding down on Sunday afternoon so would prefer earlier. 

Mellen: We also have to see if we have DJs who are willing to dj in those new time slots. 

Nate: Let's give the committee discretion to decide on when and where rather than needing Meraki approval. 

Shelagh: I propose we try a few different times in Dec to try them out. 

Mellen: Let's set it up for Dec 1 from 2 - 4, Dec 15 from 1 - 3 plus Annual Meeting, then Dec 22 (or Dec 29) from 4 - 6. And this assumes we can get the DJs to agree to the new time slot. 

John: We can bring our own equipment right? 

Mellen: Yes.

Nate: So we have decided to schedule 3 dances in Dec and not stop looking for a more ideal space.

Tasha: YAY committee. Super excited!

Annual Meeting - 5 min

Tasha: The Annual Meeting planning committee (Tasha, Erin, Marion) met to talk about the format of the meeting. This was before we lost the space at Waldorf. So the events committee was considering where we might hold the meeting and whether to rent a space for a dance as well, but now that we have a space, we can go ahead with a dance and annual meeting at Temple Beth El. 

Mellen: Let's do the earlier time slot from 1 - 3 on Dec 15 and hold the annual meeting after. 

John: Let's just do snacks since we're doing 1 - 3, rather than a potluck.

Nate: If DJs can't do that time slot, then let's have the meeting before dance.

Tasha: The committee will buy snacks paid for by Meraki. 

Tasha: Just to point out that we didn't find anyone to take on the roles of secretary and treasurer. Tasha and Jamie will continue on. 

Erin: Let's put it out way earlier in January to get people thinking about it sooner in the year. 

Rebecca: We could propose a vice president. 

Mellen: You can appoint a VP during the year if you want. 

Action: Annual meeting to be held after Dec 15 dance (1 - 3) at Temple Beth El in Portland, so 3:30 - 4:30. Events committee is responsible for buying snacks. 

Action: Let's add board member participation to the agenda for a future Meraki meeting. 

Events Committee: Friendsgiving - 10 min

Tasha: Events Committee came up with the idea of a Friendsgiving to be held Sunday Nov 24 from 1 - 3 pm at Good Medicine. 

John: How much?

Tasha: $150

Rebecca: What if we gave the events committee a budget for the year to spend how they see fit?

Nate: Let's table it for now. 

Mellen: Who will send out the email on MailChimp?

Tasha: I can do it.

John: Is this a members only?

Emily: The original idea of events committee was to make the community more inclusive. 

Nate: I want to invite everyone.

Tasha: What about Temple Beth El?

Mellen: It's the week before Thanksgiving so I don't think space will be an issue.

Agreed: Events Committee will host Friendsgiving Sunday Nov 24 1 - 3 at Good Medicine.

Future discussion: Allocate budget for Events committee for future events. 

Events Committee: New Year's Eve - 5 min

Tasha: Let's not have it since we have 3 dances in Dec.

Shelagh: Could we consider having a dance on the 29th instead of Dec 22?

Mellen: We have DJs for the 3 dances in Dec but not for NYE or 29th, but I'll check. 

Nate: If we're dancing at Beth El, you can keep the equipment at my house.

John: We're planning on giving up on the rental at the storage place in Freeport. I'll keep it at home for now. I'll talk with Nate about it. 

Retreat Committee - 5 min

Marion: Retreat is set for April 25 - 27 at Ocean Wood in OOB. A Save the Date is coming out shortly and following up in the new year with registration.  We also have a hold on Ferry Beach for a fall retreat, and if we love Ocean Wood we will put a hold on a fall retreat there as well.

John: Should we authorize people on the committee to sign the contracts? Propose that whoever is leading the committee is empowered to read it, understand it, agree to it, and sign the contract. As opposed to a PCD officer. 

Marion: Everyone on the committee looked at the contract before it was signed. 

Agreed: Retreat committee is empowered to sign contracts with the caveat that at least 2 people read the contract before signing it.

Short-Term Realignment Meeting - 20 min

Tasha: Proposal is/was to have a short-term realignment meeting to consider how we move forward with dances given that none of the spaces we've considered meet our ideal criteria. Also, there's been a desire to open up the decision making around where we can dance to more people. However, given that we seem to have a place to dance in the short run and we've decided tonight to experiment with a different time, the short-term realignment has already happened, so the proposal is moot.

Shelagh: To give some context, this meeting came out of the long-term planning committee planning meeting. There's a committee (Tasha, Shelagh, Brian, Deb, Kiara) that's been talking informally over email to decide what that meeting might look like and when. Given the urgency of wanting to dance, we decided as a committee that we should redirect that energy to the shorter-term issue to ask what the priorities are in the community now, given that that we didn't have a place to dance. 

John: Let's schedule a long term planning meeting.

Rebecca: Let's settle into our new rhythm and have a long-term planning meeting in the new year. 

Brian: Let's begin the process and have meeting Dec 1. Why wait? We'll need lots of meeting and planning. Maybe even monthly. If there's a group of people that's willing to talk about it now, let's start. Let's start envisioning having our own space.

Shelagh: We haven't agreed on owning our space as our long-term plan. I'm in favor of waiting until Jan especially since we haven't even met in person as a committee. Also, there are people here who would want to be part of the long-term planning meeting who are probably pretty worn out with their efforts. 

Nate: There's no reason not to begin researching it. Until we research it, it's a pipe dream. Anyone can research what we want now to present at the long-term planning meeting.  

Brian: Let's get together sooner rather than later and start talking about it and make action items to follow up on. 

Shelagh: Let's meet as a planning committee for the long-term planning meeting as soon as possible. If anyone else is interested in joining that committee, contact Tasha.

Rebecca: So first we will come up with a plan for what the long-term planning meeting will look like. Then we will open it up to the wider community. 

Next Meeting

• Annual Meeting Sunday Dec 15 
• Tues January 14 In Person at Good Medicine

Meraki Sunday Oct 13, 2024 In Person (After Dance)

Meraki Sunday Oct 13, 2024 After Dance

Attendees: Deb (facilitator), Kiara (ingatherer), Lily (timekeeper), Tasha (notes), Jamie (vibe checker), John, Lori, Steve, Kari, Jimmie, Tim, Andrew, Rebecca, Blair, Erin, Lily, Jon, Dev, Marion, Katharine, Sophie, Brandon

Meeting format

• Choose roles (Ingatherer, Facilitator, Timekeeper, Vibe Checker, Note Taker)
• Ingathering
• Briefly review How We Roll
• Summarize previous meeting notes
• Gather new agenda items
• Set order and time for items
• Attend to agenda items
• Schedule future meeting(s)
• Evaluation
• Outgathering

Agenda

• Retreat committee update - Marion
• Officer recruitment - Deb
• Age policy - Dev
• PCD Vision Quest - Tasha 
• Annual meeting planning - John
• Community building events - Jess
• Carpooling - Rebecca

Retreat committee update - Marion

• Contract has been signed for the spring retreat at Oceanwood in Ocean Park (near OOB) April 25 - 27 
• Tentative retreat at Ferry Beach also scheduled October 24-26 just to hold the spot until we know about Oceanwood.
• Retreat committee discussed Deb's idea from last Meraki of some other kind of PCD gathering before the retreat. We agreed that as a committee we're not open to taking that on but welcome others in the community to make it happen! And we are happy to share venues.
• Click here for link to retreat venues we've investigated
  

Officer recruitment - Deb

• John: Because we are registered non-profit in the state of Maine, we are required to have board officers that meet on a regular basis. We use Meraki as our regular board meetings. 
• Deb: 
• At last Meraki, Kari encouraged us to have a somewhat more intentional process around nominating officers. We agreed that we would put something more intentional in place for 2025, but this year we would form a committee to reach out to members. 
• Deb (president), Tasha (secretary), Jamie (treasurer), and Marion have been speaking to members about becoming officers. Our criteria was have you attended Meraki meetings and/or are you involved in some other way in the organization. 
• We've identified someone who has stepped up to be President, namely Rebecca Booth. General YAYs all around!!!
• Jamie and Tasha are willing to stay in their respective roles as Treasurer and Secretary unless someone is willing/interested in step in.
• Shared leadership is more alive when more people step up!
• If you weren't approached, please reach out to one of us. 
• And if not this year, please consider for next year or beyond. Several of the people we reached out to were interested perhaps for another year.
• We also sent a letter to membership encouraging participation at whatever level. 

Age policy - Dev

Dev: Would like some background on the current age policy.

Kari: Some years ago we voted at Meraki to limit dancers to 18 years or older. The reason for this is that we've run into issues around safety on the dance floor and because many feel that this is our space for our dance, and adding young-uns would change that.

Tasha: In years past, we had a family dance in the past that someone in the community created under the auspices of PCD. [Ed: Marin Magat is the one who spearheaded that.]

Dev: Questioning more the requirement of not having people under age 18 on the premises. Age is an interested marker, so when we choose to exclude, I want to understand why. 

Rebecca: It used to be 14 but we raised it. Waldorf is not our space, it's a school. It's respectful of the space to not allow people unattended to have free access to the space. 

Mellen: We are renting the whole school, so access to the whole building by young people might risk our relationship with the school. Also, once we allow one person to bring their child, however well behaved, then it could grow into more of of an issue as others bring their children.  

Kari: Letting kids be alone outside is also a concern given our relationship with the school. 

Dev: Would like to add this to the agenda at a future meeting. 

Deb: You're welcome to create a proposal for Meraki to take up later. 

Action: 

• Deb will send Dev the letter that PCD devised describing our age policy.
• We will add age policy to the agenda for next Meraki.

PCD Vision Quest - Tasha

• Tasha:
• Tasha, Shelagh, Deb, Bryan, and Kiara have been brainstorming a long-term planning retreat, including Goals, Structure, and Topics. 
• We're broadly thinking about a half-day retreat sometime in the new year. 
• The general idea is to focus on where we are now and what we want PCD to look like in the near to long term. 
• Some ideas for topics are: community building, renting/buying a permanent dance space, inclusivity, all-ages dance, etc.
• There's been a tremendous effort put forward toward finding a permanent home for our dance by the Where Can We Dance Committee, which looked at 60+ sites in the greater Portland area, yet none of them met our needs for one reason or another. We give tremendous thanks to the committee for their count them three years of effort on behalf of PCD [Ed: post-COVID when we lost our space at Avant in Westbrook]. 
• So for now, we are at Waldorf, which is a wonderful space and yet it remains undersized for our growing community. 
• If you have thoughts on the goals, structure, and/or content of the vision quest, please reach out to Tasha. 
• If you feel excited to join said vision quest, please raise your hand. Most hands were raised. 

Q: Will this be a member-only event? 

Tasha: Membership is a pretty low bar (dance with us 5 times and request membership), so yes, it feels important to make this a member only event.

Jess: Let's have part of the vision quest be dancing! 

Action item: Tasha to share link to dance spaces we've explored.

Click here for link to dance spaces explored by the Where Can We Dance Committee

[Ed: Please reach out to if you have trouble accessing it.]

Annual meeting planning - John

John: Wanted to get this on the agenda to make sure we begin planning for our annual meeting, which happens Dec 15 after dance. 

Deb: For those of you who haven't been, this is where we pass the hat (literally) to our new board officers. And we often have a "data share" like financials and do crafts and other fun stuff.

Mellen: In the past, current officers have organized it. 

Tasha: Who is interested in helping to plan the annual meeting?

Marion, Tasha, Erin agreed to plan the annual meeting. 

Community Building Events - Jess

Mellen: Our weekend retreats can be a lot for people to take on, so maybe we could consider a day-long retreat. 

Erin: Wonders about small group potlucks. This would be more accessible for building connections with people than after dance on Sunday, which can feel intimidating. 

Deb: Let's have a quick brainstorming session! I just happened to have a white board. ;) 

Brainstorm:

Circle suppers

Authentic relating games

Touch and consent games

Sunday events when we don't have PCD dances 

Other kinds of movement offerings

Community sharing events

Head outdoors and hike and dance

Post-dance events

Potluck after dance

Plan a hike on the trails at the end of the school after dance

Night time dances

New year's eve dance

All night raves

Campfire bonfire

One day retreat

Fundraiser for a good cause

Dance-a-thon

Raves

Food drive

Costume dances

Prom night dance

[Ed: WOW, that's a pretty good list for five minutes of brainstorming!]

Deb: We don't have any events planned until April, so who would like to form a committee to make some stuff happen?

Emily, Sophie, Jess, Jamie, Jon, Dev, Kiara, Tasha, Katharine have agreed to be on a committee to make stuff happen. 

Tasha: I've been invited to be a community partner of Good Medicine and am hoping to involve people in the dance community as part of my membership. 

Tasha: If you need help with Mail Chimp (our tool for sending emails out to our membership/attendees, please reach out.) 

Kiara: What about planning something for Halloween?

Dena's dance will be a Halloween dance. Look for correspondence to announce this. 

Action: Committee will come back with proposals!

Carpooling

Rebecca: Isn't it a good idea? How would we enact it? 

Lori: There's an app for that. Would people want to put themselves on a map? Here's the date and destination. 

Mellen: Propose promoting the use of an app and then keep posting it with our email.

Brandon: There's a group I'm involved with that uses a spreadsheet.

Emily: We use a google sheet for going to Earth Dance.

Action

Rebecca will look into the app and how to move forward with the idea. 

Next Meeting

• Monday Nov 18 on Zoom

• Annual Meeting in Sunday Dec 15

Meraki Monday Sept 9, 2024 In Person

Meraki Sept 9, 7-9 PM met at Kari and Jimmie's house

Attendees: Nate (facilitator), Deb (ingatherer), Marion (timekeeper), Tasha (notes)  Brian (vibe checker), Lori, John, Mellen, Kari, Jimmie, Rebecca, Blair, Erin, Andrew, Arianna, Forrest, Lily

Meeting format

• Choose roles (Ingatherer, Facilitator, Timekeeper, Vibe Checker, Note Taker)
• Ingathering
• Briefly review How We Roll
• Summarize previous meeting notes
• Gather new agenda items
• Set order and time for items
• Attend to agenda items
• Schedule future meeting(s)
• Evaluation
• Outgathering

Agenda

• Welcome newcomers - Deb
• Planting a seed - Deb
• Streamlining How We Roll - Nate (5 min)
• Age limit policy - Kari (15 min)
• Capacity review - Deb (10 min) 
• PCD guidelines card - Kari / Lori (20 min)
• Retreat committee update - Marion (5 min)
• New board selection process - Kari (30 min)
• Long-term planning - Tasha (20 min)

Welcoming - Deb

Deb: We feel genuine joy for two new people coming to a meeting! [Applause all around!!!]

FYI, we queue comments on each topic so everyone has a chance to speak. And we vote using thumbs up or down. If the consensus is all one way and you vote sideways, we welcome hearing your concerns.

Planting a Seed - Deb

Deb: We don't have to have a two-day retreat. We can have any any kind of day-long PCD event we want to bring our community together!

Streamlining How We Roll - Nate

Nate: At our last meeting, we agreed not to change anything. It's all documented here. 

Age limit policy - Kari (10 min)

Kari: We need support behind enforcing our age-limit policy.

Deb: Read a letter that she wrote to someone recently who inquired about bringing a baby to dance. It comes up time and again. We're a volunteer organization. There are liability issues.

Kari: There are both legal and safety issues.

Mellen: We should have that statement at the greeter table. If you want to start an all-ages dance, you are welcome to do so. And we have had an all-ages dance in the past.

Rebecca: If the greeter can't effectively communicate our age policy, we have agreed to have two people on Wiz step in to address the person.

Brian: Dancing with children on the floor means you're taking care of them, not yourself, which is not the intention of our dance. I'm ok with having hard conversations with people. 

Erin: Great that we have a two-level response in place. But what happens if they don't respond and refuse to be "pro-social?" Do we stop the music? 

[Note: Wiz has the Re-Flow flowchart presented at an earlier meeting to address safety issues at dance.]

John: This is really a new topic about what we do when we need to escalate when someone doesn't comply with any of our policies. 

Blair: We've written down our policy, and maybe someone will go away upset, but that's the way it is. 

Ariana: Maybe on every other Sunday we could have all ages dance. It's the first dance I've been to that doesn't allow children. 

Kari: If someone sees someone that shouldn't be there, we need to say something so it doesn't domino into someone telling their friends they can bring their kids next time. 

Andrew: In the email we send, it says we have the right to refuse entrance. 

Erin: Also, to clarify, no children at the dance means no children at the building. We need to make that clear as well. In other words, kids can't sit in the other room while their parent is dancing. 

Nate: We need to bring this up several times at closing circle.

Blair: We should change it online to say children can't be in the building at all. 

Deb: We can discuss changing our policy at a future meeting. 

Mellen: There are liability issues. We rent the entire school, so kids might wander. 

Consensus: To enforce the age-limit policy, we can call in support from the Wiz, if needed, We need to communicate our policy to each greeter. 

Action Items:

• Lori to change the wording on our website to include "no minors in the building" or on the dance floor. 

Potential future Meraki meeting topics: 

• Discuss changing our age-limit policy. [Edit: More to the point, who wants to start an all-ages dance like we've had in the past?]
• What do we do when someone isn't being "pro-social" at our dance? 
  

Capacity Review - Deb (10 min)

Jeff's proposal to Meraki:

Background: Back in February, when Meraki decided to stop emailing about dance, coincidentally that was right when I began publishing my calendar. Mellen brought the Meraki decision to my attention, and asked if I’d be willing to list the link to the PCD calendar, not actual dates, and I said sure, and have continued to do so because I do understand the challenges. 

Now that Meraki has decided to send monthly emails, I’d like to start mirroring that with my calendar, putting the upcoming month’s dates in my first weekly email of the month and on the webpage. I’m proposing that Meraki consider that my calendar could also actually be a way to help with the capacity issues, if it could be announced in the closing circle, because the more people who are actually going to PCD get on my list or go to my website, the more they will learn about other dances they can attend, as well as other activities they might be drawn to on a Sunday instead of PCD. I’m providing a handout of this past week’s calendar listings, to give a sense of how many other events are on there.  

Meraki response:

The group is comfortable with Jeff mirroring what we say in our email in his weekly email, as proposed, putting the upcoming month’s dates in his first weekly email of the month and on the webpage if that is what PCD announces, and so forth. If PCD announces nothing in a week he would announce nothing that week.

The group recalled the policy of only allowing PCD announcements at closing circle, therefore will not announce his calendar. He is welcome to share and distribute a flyer(s) or signup sheet in the lobby.

Consensus: We accept that Jeff can mirror what we say in our email in his weekly email, per above response.

PCD guidelines card - Lori (20 min)

Lori: Here is our "agreements to dance by" accordion card. [Much applause!!!] A lot of thought has gone into it by the Wiz. Our intention is to give them out to everyone who comes to dance. And new dancers will get them at the door. 

Kari: Just to note, this has already been approved by the Wiz so we are presenting it to Meraki. 

Rebecca: Suggest we have a bowl at the greeter table. And that we given them out at closing circle.

Lori: We suggest that we get 300 printed at a cost of $500. 

John: I would like everyone to read it and take it home, not just new people. 

Nate: How many people on our email list?

John: 700 but not everyone comes. I suggest we print 500. 

Rebecca: We can ask that everyone read it and take it home or put it back in the bowl after they've read it.

Blair: I suggest that we walk around at closing circle. And stand at the greeter table handing them out. 

Lily: Handing this out at the greeter table is too much to ask of the greeter.

Deb: It's important to do it at closing circle as well. 

Erin: Let's have someone on the Wiz read a piece of it at closing circle, like reading PCD "scripture." [Much laughter!!!]

Consensus: 

• Meraki agrees to printing 500 cards. 
• For two weeks, Blair will be at the greeter table and at closing circle to hand out the cards to everyone. At the same time, we can ask everyone to sign the new waivers. 
• Wiz will ask that someone read a piece of the card each time at closing circle. 

Retreat committee update - Marion (5 min)

Marion: In the wake of deciding not to hold a fall retreat due to scheduling issues, we are busy trying to find a time to meet again to plan a spring retreat. 

Also, given the seed planted by Deb, we would be open to taking up some other event as a committee.

New board selection process - Kari (30 min)

Kari: President, Secretary, Treasurer selection process has been haphazard in the past. Since we're "growing up" as an organization in many other ways, this is another area where we could be more intentional. 

John: In the past, we've formed a committee to gather nominations and then it comes down to who is willing to do these jobs. There's never been any contention. What is lacking in the current process?

Kari: We haven't had much of a committee. Also it seems a lot of the same people step up. So it might be good to expand who could do the nominating and would step into these roles. 

Deb: We have had a committee, but it's been hard for the committee to find the people. The  issue is more about wanting a bigger inflow of new people coming to Meraki so they know the process and want to participate. I'd like to focus on growing our base of people coming to our meetings. In the past, we've had people who became officers who hadn't been to meetings. 

Mellen: We have had a committee. Current officers reach out to people they think might be a good fit. We haven't had enough people who are active and engaged. This process should start in Sept for our annual meeting in Nov/Dec.

Nate: Is any of this written down? The committee isn't selected by a formalized process. What's expected of the officers?

John: The officer roles are written down. The process of selecting new officers is not. To clarify a point, our bylaws require us to have quarterly Board meetings, so board members have to come to Meraki meetings. 

Marion: Meraki is a good forum for bringing up job descriptions so that the process of selecting new officers doesn't feel "exclusive."

Nate: Proposal that we have a nominating committee that doesn't include existing officers. 

Lori: But maybe some of those same people would want to be officers themselves, so it feels weird to have someone nominate him or herself. 

Mellen: We have a small organization, so given experience with other nonprofits, I think it makes sense to have existing officers nominate, for practicality. 

Someone asked what's required of PCD president?

Deb: It's been a busy year as president so more than average. There have been a number of "Special Board Meetings" called to address some difficult issues in our community, not the least of which is capacity. 

Mellen: It would be great to get more people to know the responsibilities of each role.

Marion: We could ask people to come to X number of Meraki meetings before they're nominated.

Tasha: Could someone give a brief history of PCD officers?

Deb: Gave a brief history of officers in the room.  

Blair: Also, Wiz will kick up hard decisions to the Board as has happened this year on a couple of occasions. 

Mellen: In the past, we've sent out an email to members asking if you'd like to be an officers.

Brian: Increased participation in Meraki is the first step. If we get more participation, then maybe we need a bigger space in which to meet. [Addition post-meeting: In the past we've met at Jason's studio.]

Mellen: I think it makes sense to keep the same process for this year. Maybe next year we can be more proactive. I can also send out an email with officer description roles. Also, we did a survey that asked who might want to be in leadership. 

Lori: It can be hard to get people to greet, let alone agree to be on the board. She's found that simply changing the language can help: WHO is interested in becoming an officer?

Deb: In the past, we've had an email going out to active people. We could do that now to keep the vibe of this Meraki meeting going, perhaps including other "regulars" who aren't here tonight. 

Nate: There seem to be two issues. 1. What is the process for selecting new officers and how can we make it more clear? 2. How can we get more involvement so we have a bigger pool of people who are willing to step up. We need more discussion. 

John: We need a committee to form. 

Question: Who in the room would like to join the search committee this year? 

Marion would like to join. 

NOTE: If there is any other PCD member and "Meraki regular" who would like to join the search committee, please reach out to one of the Board officers.

Consensus: Current officers will seek next officers for this year's annual meeting, and we can weave in others to help in the search. For next year, let's start the process earlier in the year. 

Action Items: 

• Mellen to send an email to "Meraki regulars" with links to job descriptions for each Board position. 
• Tasha to send an email to members soliciting interest in Board positions. 
• Board members Deb, Tasha, Jamie, plus Marion, to begin the process of reaching out to the community to nominate new board members to present at Monday, Nov 18 Meraki.

Long-term planning - Tasha (5 min)

Tasha: Given so many new people joining our community combined with capacity issues, Shelagh and I have been talking for some months about having a long-term planning gathering to embrace change and explore more deeply what PCD is and wants to become. So let's have an offsite "vision quest!" 

Deb suggested a "temperature gauge" poll of those in the room as to who might like to attend such a gathering, and the temperature was generally high.

Brian and Deb are interested in helping coordinate a long-term planning retreat. 

Note: If there are other members of the community who would like to help plan the vision quest, please reach out to one of us.

Consensus: Tasha, Shelagh, Brian, and Deb will start planning such an even and put forth a proposal to Meraki. 

Next Meeting

To be more inclusive in hopes of accommodating more people, we've been meeting on a rhythm of Mon, Tues, Sun, so next would be after dance.

• Sunday, Oct 13 after dance
• Monday Nov 18 on Zoom
• Annual Meeting in Sunday Dec 15

Meraki Tuesday July 9 on Zoom

 PCD Meraki (Steering Committee) met July 9, 7-9PM, on Zoom

Attendees: Deb (host), Mellen, Shelagh (facilitator), Devin (ingatherer), Marion (time), Kari, John (notes), Rebecca B

Agenda

• Wiz: New card for safety, consent, and other guidelines for new and existing dancers - Kari / Lori
• Review Meraki decision-making - Mellen
• Capacity update - Mellen
• Resume Email announcements?
• Process for addressing high sound volume during dance - Mellen
• Dance policies
• Dog policy for service dogs - Tasha
• Update on age limit - Kari
• How We Roll updates
• Continue discussion of process to see if it can be streamlined - Nate
• Update Evaluation description to be more accurate - John
• Next Retreat Planning - Nate
• Long-term planning - Tasha / Shelagh
• New board selection process - Kari

Devin ingathered, Shelagh summarized How We Roll, Rebecca B reviewed last meeting notes

Meeting Content

How We Roll updates - John

We discussed proposed updates, adding a paragraph about meeting decision-making (see new 2nd paragraph in the document) and a clarification about evaluation in the first sentence of the Evaluation section.

Consensus: John will publish changes as discussed during the meeting. (Ed: this is done)

New information card from the Wiz (Lori/Kari)

• Lori presented (by screenshare) a new, small squarish accordion-folded card that would fit in people's pockets, and be reminders of safety, consent, scent, chem-free, and other guidelines.
• Goal in Lori's mind: provide new and old people with bullets we want them to read immediately. The front of the card is a bulleted summary of the main points we want dancers to remember, and the back would be a boiled-down version of the intro sheet we currently use.
• Discussion:
• Printing house would handle printing and cutting
• Best words to use for sober or chem-free
• Wiz to edit? What's the process?
• Kari: intend to have a Wiz meeting, discuss/modify, get it done, present to Meraki
• Final size (folded): 2.3125" wide x 3" tall
• Devin: gorgeous design, but for accessibility, font too small?
• Mellen: stuff in 5th box more important. Come healthy, non-chem, no photog sooner (middle spread sooner, except for first aid).
• John: Cost? Not known
• Shelagh: appreciate comments, agree with them, would like to see this in draft form at next in-person Meraki. It's our collective face to the community.
• Devin: Reiterate that this is gorgeous, but would switch 1 and 3, which also addresses consent elements
• John proposed to empower the Wiz to make a small initial run at reasonable cost that could be handed out to dancers and reviewed by Meraki
• Consensus: Wiz members will review and edit content, and do an initial run at reasonable cost and reasonably small quantity, then we'll review and iterate. John will provide payment details for the print run. 

(Break)

Long-Term Planning

Tabled for a future meeting

Age limit policies (Kari)

• Kari was the sad recipient of someone's anger when she approached a dancer to enforce the age policy (dancers must be 18 or older).
• We have to be willing to stand up and say this is a policy. Need to be more vigilant  about maintaining age limit parameters. We landed on 18 and over.
• Shelagh:
• Does fold-out address age?
• We used to highlight minimum age in email messages. Resume regular email announcements?
• Is it OK to have a baby with parent in the cafe?
• John: No matter who's in the hot seat, it's challenging
• Beck: When we need to enforce age limit, suggests approaching with 2 people
• Kari: Don't want kids anywhere
• Devin: Agree with 2 person approach. Checked website, but not prominent. Highlight better on website and on the card.
• Deb: always the option to say something at the end. Almost said something in closing circle, but the mom/baby was still in the room. Closing circle can help with runaway train.
• Resolved: Wiz will take it up in a future meeting to establish clear handling protocol.

Resume email messages? - Mellen

We discussed pros and cons of sending out regular email messages. Though population has been less lately, that may be a natural consequence of summer vacation season. Suggestion was made and we resolved to send out regular (monthly email) message with important reminders, upcoming DJs, etc.)

Process to resolve too-loud sound at dance

DJs met about this and agreed that DJ members will monitor sound volume of the current DJ and ask to lower if sound volume is consistently above 85 dB on the sound meter monitor. Every DJ except one is willing to tell another DJ that the sound is consistently too high.

Retreat planning (Devin/Marion)

We're planning for a September 20-22 2024 retreat at Oceanwood in Ocean Park. Devin showed pics of the venue and gave descriptions of accommodations.

$195 would be the basic rate, but the committee wants to offer sliding scale possibility starting at $195

The retreat committee requested up to $2000 in subsidies from PCD to support the retreat.

Resolved: Empower the retreat committee to move forward with planning, with up to a $2K subsidy if needed.

The question arose: do we have enough DJs? The committee will ask Nev (on the retreat committee) to reach out to DJs

Long-term planning

Tabled for now, until Tash can discuss

Officer/Board selection (Kari)

Kari concerned that time is running short to resolve this. The issue is that the way we selected officers and directors at the annual Membership Meeting is loosey-goosey. The process needs to be better defined.

However, discussing at our next meeting still gives plenty of time to better define and tighten up our selection process, so tabled for next meeting.

Next Meeting

Deb suggested that we skip August. Resolved: Next meeting Monday Sept 9 at Kari and Jimmie's

Evaluation

We had a brief evaluation, where attendees discussed their experience of the meeting

Outgathering (Devin)