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)

Meraki Sunday June 9 In Person (after dance)

Meeting: Sunday Jun 9, 2024 12:45 - 2:00 in person after dance at Maine Coast Waldorf School

Present: Erin (Facilitator), Parks (Ingathering), Kari (Vibe Checker), Blair (Timer), John (Notes), Mellen, Lindy, Cueva, Quinn, Shelagh, Jason, Lori H, Parks, Bryan, Emily, Andrew, Jeanne, Tim, Laurie, and possible others that I (John) may have missed.

John (Editor) apologizes to all for those participants whose input wasn't captured adequately, or at all, in these notes.

How We Roll

• Call for volunteers for roles
• Ingathering
• Summarize how we roll
• Summarize previous meeting  (not done this time)
• Read draft agenda
• Assign times
• Discuss agenda items
• Schedule next meeting
• Evaluation

Agenda

• Proposal: Streamline How We Roll at Meraki - Nate
• Where Can We Dance update - Kari
• Proposal: Circle up after warmup - John
• Retreat Planning - Sunshine
• Sharing after dance - Dev Dev not present; item tabled
• Pride Parade update - Lily Nate
• How to involve more people in leadership - Mellen
• Long-term planning retreat - Shelagh

Proposal: Streamline How We Roll at Meraki - Nate

 A number of things at Meraki take up a good amount of time

1. Reading notes from last time (which we didn't do this time (that's good)) People can read the notes online
2. Making some of the roles annual (so that the same people end up taking the same roles. Burden, but good that they do it.) Have an alternate for each role
3. Save time at beginning, give someone else an opportunity to step up for a 1 year term.
4. Add a technical role - someone whose job it is to make sure that digital files are availab le, etc.
5. Nate spent time thinking about how to do it. Needs further discussion for implementation.

    Proposal is: is this worth pursuing?

 Discussion:

• John: Concern about losing facilitation experience with annual rotation
• Shelagh: Actually choosing roles takes very little time; would take longer if handing offline; Intention and integrity is to be participatory. 
• Blair: concern about attendance. Rounding up volunteers
• Lindy: Issue was getting settled before roles decided. Assign an opener (another role, would hkeep the meeting starting on time)
• Cueva: Assigning roles at beginning taps existing talent at the meeting
• Jason: quick review of the parts that aren't working. (e.g., unable to open a proposal) Brief review of tech pieces
• Quinn: experience with other organization: have a single page of approved motions. The also wrote out all the descriptions for the positions (Ed: the How We Roll document describes the roles on its second page.)
• Updated proposal based on discussion:
• Continue to update notes from current meeting
• Continue to choose roles at beginning of meeting
• Secretary to cover only topics of continuing concern. 
•     Shelagh disagrees about notes. Lack of continuity. Well worth 3 minutes.
•     Nate proposed to keep status quo, and table further discussion for a future meeting.

    Consensus: Keep status quo, take up further discussion at a future meeting

Where Can We Dance Update - Kari

• The Baxter School for the Deaf is looking like a no-go for a number of reasons.
• There so far have been no suitable alternatives to Maine Coast Waldorf School, so we'll be dancing at MCWS for the foreseeable future.
• If people know about other possibilities, let Kari or Lori know. (Ed: see their spreadsheet of researched venues.)
• Appreciation expressed for the work that the "Where Can We Dance" committee has done to find a new space to address crowding at MCWS.

Proposal: Circle Up After Warmup - John

John summarized the proposal to circle up after a warmup so that vital communication about safety, consent, and whatever needs to be imparted verbally to the community can be communicated everyone present. He then proposed to withdraw the proposal because of significant pushback from DJs, and potential negative impact on PCD's culture.

Discussion:

• The issues addressed by the proposal are important to consider, let's keep it as a discussion for the next (or future) meeting.
• Blair: This falls under the purview of the Wiz; we can fold into what we do as the Wiz.
• Jason: Give time for current initiatives to gel for longer. Let the small things percolate, realize that modeling is more significant than we think.
• Kari: the Wiz is working on a document now; want to take a step further with a new card document that encapsulates how to be at our dance. (Lori demonstrates card)
• Lori: Everyone takes responsibility for their own self.
• Jason: Languaging of card/booklet, make sure it's emphasized. Card is a great idea
• Can we put the card on the agenda for next time?
• Quinn: We should also share  that card with existing (long-time) dancers

Consensus: Kari and Lori to present the card in development at a future (possibly next) Meraki meeting, where we can review and discuss its contents (Ed: with a view to the issues raised by the proposal)

Retreat planning - Sunshine Nate

• Had a meeting last week. Lots of interesting thoughts, some feasible.
• Locations we're considering for Meraki approval:
• Oceanwood - dance space unheated, we could have a retreat there this September.
• Medomak looks fantastic, hits all the points except price: $340/person (their price to us for each attendee) includes food. Also further away (Ed: 1 1/2 hours from Portland)
• Jason question: Vavus/Kiev no longer available because charter doesn't allow? (Nate: we're investigating, it's on the radar)
• Jeannie: Have you looked at Meadowlark?
• Nate: If you have location ideas: send email to announcements address (Ed: see Possible Retreat Venues document.)

Pride Parade - Nate

• There's not sufficient time to plan a PCD presence at the June 15 Pride Parade.
• PCD folks can join individually or gather together on their own.
• We can plan something for next year.

How to involve more people in leadership - Mellen

• Appreciate that a number of people in this room have stepped up.
• Focus should be: get involved, not necessarily attend meetings
• The main thing is to keep the organization going through involvement

Long-term planning retreat - Shelagh

• Committee formed to address possible solutions to overcrowding
• Brainstormed possibilities
• Upshot: have special planning meeting or retreat
• Not sure what form it takes, nothing to vote on today, but: keep the idea alive
• Beck: good idea, keep on the agenda - perhaps a half day retreat/gathering is sufficient?
• Cueva: likes the way the idea is formulated
• Nate: propose that at future Meraki establish a committee to explore what do do about long-term planning
• Shelagh: wants to clarify point: Don't need a proposal to bring to Meraki. For today, it's a bookmark
• John: Don't want this to be perpetually tabled.
• Cueva: Wants to boost the topic
• Jeanie: Develop a mission statement.
• John: We have one; he read it. (Ed: PCD's Mission, Values, and Intentions document.) Perhaps it's time to update it.
• Consensus: Take up planning for for planning meeting or retreat at a future Meraki meeting when we have adequate time. (Ed: When is that? :-)

Tabled from last time (to continue forward to future meeting):

• How We Roll Evaluation description - John 
• Send Email Announcements for Dances? John / Mellen 
• Process for addressing high volume - Mellen
• Age-related policies - Kari 

Next meeting

• Tuesday July 9 on Zoom; link to be sent by email
• Monday August 19 in person, location TBD

Evaluation

We spent about 10 minutes sharing about how the meeting went; some expressed gladness for having the in-person meeting after dance, and would like to see more done this way.

Meraki Monday May 13 ZOOM

Meeting: Mon May 13, 2024 7-9 Zoom

Present: John (Facilitator), Shelagh (Ingathering), Kari (Vibe Checker), Lori (Timer), Tasha (Notes), Andrew, Nate, Mellen, Shelagh, Devorah, Steven, Lesley, Jeff, Kellie, Julian, Jon, Parks, Mark, Sang, Marion, Jason, Deb, Chloe, Sunshine, Lilibrooke

How We Roll

• Call for volunteers for roles
• Ingathering
• Summarize how we roll
• Summarize previous meeting 
• Read draft agenda
• Assign times
• Agenda items
• Schedule next meeting
• Evaluation

Agenda

• Review Meraki decision-making - Mellen
• Meraki representation - Shelagh
• Where can we dance? update - Kari
• Proposal: Circle up after warmup - John
• Sharing after dance - Dev
• Pride Parade update - Lily

Meraki decision-making - Mellen 5 min

Mellen: As a reminder, Meraki does its business when we meet. Any decisions we make hold until we meet again. If there's something urgent, then the board can hold a special meeting to make decisions. 

So if people bring up topics that question decisions that have already been made at Meraki, those questions should be brought to the president for consideration outside Meraki. They should not be sent by email to people who attend Meraki for a decision.

Meraki representation - Shelagh 10 min

Shelagh: Our current Meraki email announcement states that if you have a proposal, you must be at Meraki to represent it, otherwise it will be tabled. Proposal is that we change the language to allow representation for putting forth proposals. 

John: The proposer or appointed deputy can bring forth the proposal.

Deb: But let's remember, that if someone does represent, it must not be vague. 

Lori: Suggest that we use the word co-sponsor so that it makes it clear we take proposals seriously.

Kari: We take proposals seriously, so please ensure your representative is well informed about the proposal. 

VOTE: PASSED

Where Can We Dance Update - Kari 30 min

Kari: On Saturday, a bunch of us went to see the Baxter Academy gym as a new dance space. It checks all the boxes except doing a sound check, which we did on Saturday with a whole bunch of DJs and others.

John: After the sound check, I drove around the place and it felt "yucky" throughout the day. We gave a thumbs up to giving it a trial at the time. Not sure I want to dance there.

Deb: Were we trying to override what our bodies were saying because it checked all the boxes? Did anyone else have an aftereffect experience?

Chloe: We were in the excitement of it at the moment, but then I had a sinking feeling afterwards. Is this where we want to spend time? It was sensorially intense with the walls and florescent lights. The nuance of song is so important and that gets washed out. I wanted to love it but there's a sinking feeling in my heart. Is there a way that we could dance there on days we can't dance at Waldorf? Could we line it with white curtains? But that would take a lot of effort.

Jason, Mark: I agree with Chole.

Marion: Do we all know about the history of the school? So people know, they had a ritual burning of the buildings.

Lori: And they changed the name as well.

Parks: I'm aware of the history and also aware of the positive nature of the school today. I want to have a place that has more capacity. It's a gym. It's not warm and welcoming like Waldorf or Avant. I want to like this but I'm not feeling it.

Shelagh: I feel more neutral about it. There were fewer people at dance on Sunday, and it still feels like too many people. We have set a few things in motion to try to address capacity, like going back to weekly dances plus it's summer, so maybe we won't have such an acute need for a bigger space.

Nate: Who is using the space now? 

Mellen: It's used by Baxter and a preschool. 

Deb: Could we change the gym, and have we explicitly asked that? Like could we paint it? If we knew we could change things, would that matter?

Tasha: Let's discuss the sound quality. 

Deb: We didn't find a sound that we were satisfied with. It was ok but not great.

John: It's concrete and steel, lots of echoing, not an ideal environment, it's very live, sound gets very muddy.

Parks: On Saturday, we were deciding to move forward with an experiment to see if the sound can work with more people in the space.

Mark: The sound will change when more bodies are in the room. It was fairly horrible in my opinion. No one thought it was good; the question is could it be better. 

Jeff: Could we do a one-time trial or once a month? Also I advocate involving the entire community to allow ownership in the decision. It feeds into the question of how we promote PCD. We want to keep the dance manageable at Waldorf.

Shelagh: For background, change is hard so the idea was to give everyone an opportunity to try it out a couple of times. Also, this has been an ongoing process since after covid because we lost our old dance space. The committee has reviewed 62 venues over the past 3 years. 

John: Propose that we consider having one dance to try it out.

Kari: We talked about having one dance but we decided that wasn't enough to really get a feel.

Jeff: How is the parking?

Kari: Some of us stayed and counted, and we had the feeling there was enough. I have not had a chance to call Dean to confirm the number of parking spaces.

Parks: Our decision to give it a try was pending parking, and I thought there were plenty of spaces.

Sunshine: It would be worth trying it for 3 dances in my opinion.

Various: Is there a list of places we've looked at?

Lori: Posted the Where Can We Dance committee spreadsheet with all the dance spaces we've looked at. (You can request access as needed.)

Shelagh: Should we do a trial consecutively or alternatively?

Steven: What was the environmental link that Jason sent out all about?

Jason: I don't know anything about it, but it's my suspicion that that era building has environmental issues. Is it a sick building?

John: What I'm hearing is that we should try it for somewhere between 2 - 8 times. 

Parks: I think we should try doing it once.

Deb: How do we communicate to the community effectively? First time what are your complaints and second time the question is can they be mitigated.

Chloe: Could we consider having a currently not scheduled Sunday as a trial?

Nate: As a reminder, we danced on a cement floor at UFF and had a good time.

Mellen: July 7 and 21 are currently unscheduled so those are potentials for experimenting at Baxter. But July 7 is July 4th weekend. Also, we have 2 dances in June that aren't schedule that we could do the trial. 

John: Propose that we dance June 23 and 30 at Baxter, and we'll work on how to present it to the community and logistics. Mellen, Chloe, Deb, Kellie will craft the email announcing the trial dances. And then we evaluate after that.

VOTE: PASSED

Deb: And if it's an obvious no, then we can cancel the second dance at Baxter.

Kari: Remember, it's a causeway, so there will be traffic coming in especially in the summer. 

Deb: We will have to set up a system that each person shows something that allows us to pass through the gate.

Shelagh: There will be a lot of logistics to be worked out.

John: Propose that we can work out these details in a subgroup.

Mellen: The search committee will deal with the logistics. We have the WIZ for support too.

Deb: We talked about setting up a google doc with all the logistics so we can all contribute to that and support the committee so they can delegate to get support. 

Mellen: We will need 2 new DJs for these dances. 

Proposal: Circle up after warmup - John 15 min

John: Many people leave before dance is over and that's when we share important announcements with the community. Also people often don't read email. We have concerns about safety, consent, etc. So these announcements are being missed. So the proposal is to circle up after a warmup. This would mean breaking up the DJs set, similar to other dance groups do it. Let's begin the conversation with DJs and not take a vote tonight but just open the conversation.

Deb: Let's get a general feel from the group about how much we each support this idea. Show of hands high, middle, low. 

Group: Generally mixed feelings.

Dev: Let's also hear some other ideas about the benefits of change.

Jon: I'd like to hear the benefits and downsides. There would be an opening ritual. I feel it's very important to bring up consent. So propose a 10 minute warmup, then circle up, then full dance.

Nate: I support that.

Mark: I have a strong visceral reaction against breaking up the flow of our beautiful dance.

Chole: I very much value safety and consent especially for new people. It's been huge for me since the beginning. And we've talked about many different ways of doing this over the 10+ years of PCD. And it would feel very disjoined for me as a DJ and as a dancer to break up the dance. Are there other ways to address it?

Jeff: Proposal for next time. Learn by doing. Include the greater community. Propose doing it one time. And get a show of hands after dance. And then take it up at next Meraki.

Deb: We can't finish conversation tonight. I am interested in preserving the 2 hour uninterrupted set.

Shelagh: Was there a specific instance that brought this up?

Deb: We've been having multiple conversations 0ver the past many months about loss of culture of our dance community and this is one of many ideas we've put forth to address that.

Jon: As a new person to dance, I wouldn't know how to do this (enter into our dance) without having gone to other ecstatic dance groups. So for me this piece is missing.

Nate: Good to have ideas to talk about now. I have noticed that there are a lot of new people and they are mostly leaving before closing circle. So there's a significant gap about knowing what this community is about.

Parks: As a dancer, I don't like a circle at the beginning. People are not there at the beginning either. The spiritual experience of a 2 hour set is what I come to dance for. I think there are other ways that don't infringe on the spiritual juice that is PCD.

Jeff: Let's try it and see how it goes.

Deb: Maybe we can come up with alternative ideas and take them up next time. So please think about it and bring ideas for next time. How do we orient people more fully so we all feel good!

Sharing After Dance - Dev 10 min

Dev: I'm both quite experienced having danced in many places and still consider myself new. Personally, it's hard to "get it" with this very formed group as to what the norms are. After a couple years of dancing with PCD, I'm still sitting with a longing for a group sharing in some form to harvest the gems that come up during dance about what it means to be human. It's a way of getting to know people's heart and soul. And I also understand that opening up the circle at the end is opening up a lot especially with so many dancers. I trust and believe that there's a way we could do it well. And if it's a no, is there a way I could hold space for that at the end, which is not my preference. I want to hear what your discoveries were at dance. It's my professional and personal selves that are asking for it.

Nate: Do you feel the large circle is the only or best way to get what you're looking for?

Dev: I like the idea of it coming into the big circle. I'm open to other ways.

Marion: I love the idea about sharing ways to remember how to be human. This speaks to our culture and what it our dance is all about. And it's such a grown up dance, not mediated or facilitated, which means we're all there to do our own work within ourselves. I really value the sacredness of my own processing, kind of like church. Could there be a solution that embraces both? 

Shelagh: I hear something about belonging and what are the norms. We've addressed that in the past by having potlucks after dance, for example. It's come up over time and has taken different forms. 

Chole: I love the idea of having reflections. We've kept it to 2 hours historically but could we consider extending the time? It can be hard to open it up to the whole circle since people talk on and on. 

Jeff: I tried doing after dance discussion circles in the past but not many people came. But that's when we were a lot smaller. 

John: Let's continue this discussion in a future Meraki and come up with a proposal. 

Pride Parade - Lily 10 min

Lily: Last time we thought PCD might be a good contribution to the parade. There was a question about whether PCD should align itself with any groups. We haven't come to any conclusions. Parade is June 15. 

Jason: It's probably closed at this point. If we want to be in it, it feels like not enough time to plan. 

John: Our policy doesn't prohibit our participation. Maybe we can do something official next year. 

Please reach out to Nate, Jamie, Lily, Cory if you want to join the parade unofficially this year.

Tabled

• Process for addressing high volume during dance - Mellen
• Dog policy for service dogs - Tasha 
• Update on age limit - Kari 
• How We Roll - John 
• Revisit Evaluation description to be more accurate
• Revisit process to see if it can be streamlined (eliminate summarizing previous minutes, eliminate assigning roles at the meeting, streamline agenda setting and time assignments) 
• Retreat Planning - John, et al 
• Long-term planning retreat - Tasha 
• How to involve more people in leadership - Mellen

Retreat planning - John 5 min TABLED

Send Announcement Emails for Dances - Tasha TABLED

Dog policies - Tasha TABLED

Age related policies - John TABLED

How We Roll update - John TABLED

Process for addressing high volume TABLED

Long-term planning retreat - Tasha TABLED

How to involve more people in leadership TABLED

Next meeting

• Sunday Jun 9 after dance in person
• Tuesday July 9 ZOOM

Meraki Meeting Notes: April 16, 2024

Meeting: April 16, 2024 7 - 9 Tasha's house 52 Bellaire Rd, South Portland

Present: John (Facilitator), Jamie (Ingathering), Cory (Vibe Checker), Blair (Timer), Tasha (Notes) Nate, Mellen, Kari, Rebecca, Lily, Jimmie, Shelagh, Sunshine

How We Roll

• Call for volunteers for roles
• Ingathering
• Summarize how we roll
• Summarize previous meeting 
• Read draft agenda
• Assign times
• Agenda items
• Schedule next meeting
• Evaluation

Agenda

• How We Roll update proposal - John
• Responsibility of monitoring volume during dance - Kari
• Subwoofer update - Mellen
• Capacity Update - Mellen
• Weekly dances
• Email announcements
• Where can we dance update
• What next?

• Wiz Updates - Rebecca
• Formalized flow chart, RE-FLOW: Re-establishing Equilibrium For Lightening of Weight, to help WIZ address dancers' concerns around safety and discomfort (please review before Meraki)
• New efforts to increase presence more visibly in the community
• Other pro-active and educational strategies
• Photography on the dance floor
• New members  

• Meraki Participation - Shelagh
• Updates
• Consider different days and times
• Should we consider some form of representation?
• Retreat update - Lily
• Pride Parade - Lily
• Long-Term Planning Retreat - Tasha TABLED

How We Roll Update - John 10 min

John: We've eliminated the strong connection with formal consensus process. It's more of an inspiration. 

Mellen: Evaluation takes a lot of time. How valuable is that information? 

Rebecca: I like it. It speaks to the emotional undercurrent that connects us all in some way that honors that.

Blair: I like it. It's a glue, a reference of our good nature. It's of value when there's any tension. The value is worth the time.

Kari: Sometimes it takes a bit too much time. It does have an important purpose. Maybe it could be monitored.

Shelagh: Really important. It's like asking the importance of dance. It aligns with our mission of who we are. 

Nate: The description of Evaluation could be updated in How We Roll document to be more reflective of what it's for.

Jamie: Maybe we could come up with a word.

Kari: Noted that it's just the word "discussion" that has to be changed.

John: Propose working up changes to the Evaluation for a later meeting and vote on the changes in the proposal.

VOTE: Passed

Responsibility for Monitoring Volume During Dance - Kari 10 min

Kari: There was a meeting where DJs decided what the volume level should be, and DJs are the only people who could approach the table and ask to lower the volume. It's not the WIZ's job to monitor the volume. It's the DJs job. 

Mellen: She talks to each DJ each Sunday. Last Sunday was better. Over 85 db sustained is too loud.

Blair: It's not a WIZ job, so is it something that needs to be addressed outside of dance with a particular DJ. We don't have a process now.

Lily: Is the process written down? It's a bit murky as it is. Would like to see the policy written down and disbursed to the DJs.

Mellen: She will bring it up again with the DJs.

Kari: Even if you don't feel the sound is too loud, it still can be too loud. It's about hearing safety. 

Cory: Have DJs been talked to about it in a caring way about this issue?

Mellen: Yes.

John: Mark's volume on Sunday was much better than in the past.

Jimmie: Mark has ear issues so he's more aware. Pika's set at the retreat was below the level as well.

Lily: At the retreat, she had a conversation with a couple of DJs that were very caring and informative about volume.

Kari: After a conversation with a DJ at the retreat, she realized it's hard to monitor the sound along with everything else they're doing.

Mellen: We need to continue to reinforce it with all the DJs. And the DJs who have been loudest have been doing better.

Shelagh: What's the process for addressing volume that's too high at dance? At the retreat, there was a dance where monitor was over 90 for a long time. So what do I do? 

Blair: We can always give feedback after dance on the feedback form.

John: Can we ask DJs to come up with a process for addressing high volume at dance?

Mellen: Current process is to find a DJ during dance and ask them to go up to the DJ. She will bring it up with DJs again.

Blair: Can we announce at circle that there's a DJ feedback form? 

John: He will announce the DJ feedback form at circle.

Subwoofer updates - Mellen 5 min

John: He created a platform for the subwoofer that he'll bring to dance next time.

Blair: Should we have an insulated pad? Are we taking the platform to and from storage? 

John: Yes, and it's bulky.

Mellen: When subwoofer is on the floor, the sound is imbalanced, so it's recommended to get it off the floor. Let's try the platform John built and see how it works.

Cory: So we won't bring the pallets that are on the floor of the storage unit. :)

Capacity Update - Mellen 15 min

Mellen: Last Sunday wasn't as crowded. It was a nice day. Not sending emails seems to be having some effect. We're still in DJ training mode. Things are slow. We have 4 DJs putting together playlists. Mentor DJs are hard to pin down because people are busy and it takes a lot of time. Having more people move equipment helps. 

Kari: Where can we dance committee has one more site to look at next week.

Shelagh: We haven't been not sending emails for long enough to know if it's having an effect. I still don't like it. We've been looking at spaces for a while and wondering if there's something you need in terms of support, suggestions?

Mellen: We've looked at 62 space and they all have some kind of issue. Size, complications around renting, cost, etc. We're open to considering new space so see us if you have a new idea.

Tasha: I'm an advocate for leasing a space.

Nate: The solution to overcapacity is not to discourage people from coming.

Tasha: I'd like to bring up the idea of sending out the email messages again. 

John: Let's take it up at next Meraki.

WIZ Updates - Rebecca 15 min

Rebecca: Current members: Rebecca, Blair, Kari, Jimmie, Lily, Tim, Lori. We have 2 new members: Emily and Brian!!! 

We're going to be more visible and present by adding back the poster with pictures. We're going to add a bi-line that says we're available. We're going to stand up at circle. We're going to have 2 people up at the stage for easy access after dance. 

John: Even if no-one comes, I think you should still be there.

Rebecca: We're going to consolidate our intentions around dance and print something to hand out for new dancers around physical or emotional safety. A baby, blood, a dog! Come to the WIZ to help sort it out.

We formalized our process for handing safety issues. When is it something we deal with and when it's not? RE-FLOW. Did it occur on the dancefloor or outside? Does it affect physical and/or emotional safety or discomfort? We got feedback from a dancer on the process and it was a positive outcome.

Blair: We're going to bring up concerns such as no taking pictures, which came up recently.

John: Thank you for the new energy in addressing these issues.

Rebecca: When someone speaks to us it will be confidential within the WIZ. If someone has a concern, it must be the person who approaches us, not hearsay, which is important. 

Kari: Really proud of WIZ for accomplishing this. We're going to put together live skits at closing circle to role model some issues. One question still remains. How do we make ourselves more visible?

Nate: Matching eye shadow! For later, the people that need to get messages the most leave the dance before dance is over. 

John: Propose that we have a warmup and then announce ground rules at a opening circle like other dance communities do.

Sunshine: Second that. 

Mellen: We've discussed that before with DJs and they nixed it. 

Other suggestions: WIZ T-shirts. Purple Ribbon, Tutus!

Cory: What does WIZ stand for?

John: WIZ is short for Wizengamot, comes from Harry Potter. It came from Don Norman, a founder of PCD. Along with Meraki.

Meraki Participation - Shelagh 10 min

Shelagh: After last meeting, Tasha, Jamie, and I met to talk about how to encourage more people to participate in Meraki and overall PCD participation. We discussed what participation means and whether to allow people to send a representative. Tasha is playing with Meraki email to encourage participation. We decided to announce at closing circle what goes on at Meraki and have people raise hands to show others participation. We'd like to announce agenda items for next Meraki at closing circle. We opted not to do it last week because WIZ announcements took some time.

Tasha: We also sent an email specifically inviting people who said they wanted to come on the survey.

Nate: Voices are excluded who can't make it on Tues night. It's impossible to come on a Tues night for me and probably others. I just happened to be available this week. There's only one other day where people are available and that's SUNDAY. I really think it's worth a try to have a meeting after dance. It will encourage people to show up and see what it's like to get more participation. There's a barrier to getting people to come if it's only in the evenings.

Mellen: It's worth considering.

Shelagh: We also talked about meeting on different nights. We're meeting on Monday on Zoom for next meeting. We also talked about soliciting feedback at dance like a Feedback box, which we used to have.

Mellen: We want more people who are familiar with what's going on and how we operate to  become involved as leadership since many have been doing this for a long time.

John: Propose a Meraki meeting on Sunday June 9 dance and schedule it now.

VOTED: PASSED

Shelagh: Can we change the language to allow a stand-in representative to make a proposal?

Blair: Someone should have enough gumption to bring the idea in person. While we could allow representation, we should still encourage people to come. 

John: If there's a scheduling problem, ok.

Kari: In the past we talked about alternating Tues and Thurs.

Shelagh: We will come up with a proposal for next meeting about having representation at Meraki.

Retreat report - Lily 10 min

Lily: Planned for 60, we had 60, filled some cancellations. Netted $88! Snafus with Ferry Beach.

Kudos from all!!!

Do we have a date for next year? Do we want to go to Ferry Beach again? 

Lily: Most slots are already booked for next year. March or October are the only times available, so that means no camping. If you have ideas let me know.

John: We have alternatives in mind. We're soliciting for a new retreat committee.

Lily: Wants to step down as committee chair. Ferry Beach is hard to deal with, hard to pin down, surprise Sunday brunch. 

Cory: Did they offer any compensation?

Lily: None.

John: They under-charged on the original invoice so we're letting that ride. 

Lily: They're not holding any dates for us. 

John: We paid a deposit to hold the spot this year.

Mellen: Oceanwood in Ocean Park

Nate: We're at square on again, so we need to get retreat committee together soon.

John: Who might be interested? 

Interested in retreat planning for 2025: Nate, Tasha, Lily, Jamie

Lily: Let's make an announcement at closing circle asking for interest. 

John: He will send out an email to members to ask about planning for next retreat.

Pride Parade - Lily 10 min

Lily: Recently the parade has been very corporate. Parade is June 15. Wanted to float the idea. Don't want ownership but want to get feedback to see if it aligns with our values of expression, joy, movement, inclusion, an expression of love!

Jimmie: Fabulous idea except it's in direct conflict with keeping numbers down. It would be great to have more inclusion.

Jamie: Great idea. It wouldn't need to be a big deal. Playing music and dancing! I will help lead it.

John: Propose that PCD approves participation. 

Tasha: It costs $200. 

Shelagh: As an organization, we don't align with any other dances or organizations. So is Pride an entity?

Lily: Do we ever want to align ourselves with anything? 

John: We've chosen not to do that so far. But that can change. 

John: He will come up with the PCD's statement and share with the group. 

Cory: The intention is to be inclusive.

John: Does this fit within our restriction? Do we have energy?

Cory, Jamie, Lily, Nate: We'll bring something back for next meeting.

Long-Term Planning Retreat - Tasha 5 TABLED

Agenda Items for Next Meeting

• How We Roll - John et al
• Revisit Evaluation description to be more accurate
• Revisit process to see if it can be streamlined (eliminate summarizing previous minutes, eliminate assigning roles at the meeting, streamline agenda setting and time assignments)
• Capacity update 
• Send out email announcements again
• Process for addressing high volume during dance - Mellen
• Announcing PCD ground rules after a warmup at dance - John?

• Pride Parade - Lily
• Retreat planning for 2025 - ???
• Meraki participation - Shelagh
• Representation proposal
• How to involve more people in leadership
• Long-term planning Retreat - Shelagh

Next meetings

• MONDAY May 13 on Zoom
• SUNDAY June 9 after dance