Attended by John, Polly, Martin, Deb, Mellen, Jim, Lindy, Kiara (just one person more than a quorum!) Thank you Polly for hosting. Thanks to Kiara for facilitating. Notes by Mme InterimSecy Deb
IMPORTANT: John won Meraki points tonight for knowing something about the bylaws that Lindy challenged him on. She was wrong, he was right. Lindy gets some points (but not as many as John!) for challenging him and sounding VERY informed as she did so!
New insurance policy: Yay or nay. Covers 2 retreats + Sunday and Thurs dances. 550 (current) vs 860 (new) per year annual. We vote YAY.
Retreat committee update and discussion
Scholarship funding: We reviewed last spring’s process/decision making for retreat scholarships. We reviewed the current cost of the retreat and the lower attendance is in important thing to consider when considering whether to provide scholarships. We discussed the value of generosity if the PCD funds are above $7000 which the funds are. We agreed to provide $200 to be divided among # of requesters (looks like 2-3) at retreat committee’s discretion. This decision is for this retreat and isn’t a policy. We might want to create a clear policy at some point.
Deposit refunds: We agreed as with last time that we would provide refunds only if the retreat income exceeds costs (or provide some amount). In the meantime we will let cancellations know that the deposit is otherwise nonrefundable as was stated in the registration materials.
Non-member attendance: The retreat is for members only.
Review of holding the closed container of retreat: We support the committee in keeping the retreat closed to dropping in by members. While we may want to open Saturday nights some day in the future we won’t for this retreat. Discussed idea of extenuating circumstance: would we make a gesture to people who had to cancel by inviting them to dance Saturday night? We talked about this at length and decided that we would not do this, as we had run into difficulty last year and identified additional considerations. This issue took up a significant chunk of our meeting time and was not easy to decide because we would love to have these members be able to join us. But it’s too complicated! We are turning off the heartstrings!
We added: When we try to make exceptions we have bureaucratic and interpersonal challenges that are time consuming.
We mused: as the community grows the % of people attending retreats gets smaller, how do we relate to that? Also, can we sustain 2 retreats a year?
Reviewed that: PCD retreat is designed/meant to be self-sufficient financially. PCD will cover our retreat deficit.
Annual membership meeting will be November 20. We reminded us that we need to give 14 day notification of meeting date and info to members.
Review of job descriptions We need to notify members and tell them about officer responsibilities. Deb will compose an email, John will send Deb the attachments with info. People need to let Meraki know their intent to run for office prior to next meeting, so that we can have the slate ready.
John is mulling stepping down as Treasurer and acting as bookkeeper instead, with exchange of not paying for dance. Or giving a year’s notice. We can consider whether we would need to formalize changes in structure. Mellen reminded us that we can make changes in the board mid year. John reminded us that we have bylaws that we can turn to if ever we need to change how Meraki is run. He also reviewed that our structure and bylaws allow for a bigger board if we want, 3 officers plus additional positions.
Thursday night dance
Thankfully Polly reminded us that the THWIZ has been empowered to make decisions and move forward about finding a new rental space.
Potluck follow up/Safety conversation
The sharing/gathering and conversation seemed to be good, with content around safety generating good discussion and raising a range of topics. Question of whether the conversation brought about a feeling that there is a problem with safety? Did our conversation help raise awareness about safety and invite people to consider safety on multiple levels? The feeling was that we got the issues out there, which likely increased awareness for those who participated. It’s an ongoing discussion, to be continued.
Agenda item— safety topic to be continued:
How effective is Wiz availability after dance?
Do we need to orient ppl more fully or in other ways?
Post meeting, we read a letter offered by Oracle, reflection of issues he considered after Sunday.
“RULES ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR COMMUNITY” comment by Oracle
“IF MY CREEP METER GOES UP, THAT’S IMPORTANT” comment by Parks
Agenda item — prep for annual membership meeting
Next meeting is at MELLEN’s, Thursday November 3, 7-9, 186 Concord St, 207.318.4989, Thank you Mellen.
Annual membership meeting will be November 20
