Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Nov. 2017 PCD Annual Meeting


PCD ANNUAL MEETING - NOVEMBER 5, 2017

In attendance:
Jimmie and Kari Pritchard, Liberty Bryer, John Boynton, Tasha Salvo, Byron and Laura Saavedra,
Shelagh Reiser, Polly Urbach, Dave and Deb Grant, Natalie Hickey, Oracle Smith, Mary Ellen Deschenes, Judy Tierney, Martin Steingesser, Lindy Ost, Heather Westleigh, Rudy Gabrielson, Rodney Mashia, Jeff Edelstein, Jeanette Schmid, Jim Young, Blair Fridgen, Rebecca Booth, Rebecca Strauss, John Ford, Jane Campbell, Ed Pontius, Steve, Elvis Franck Nindorera, Pika Skoczenski, Mike Corson, Amos Hausman-Rogers, Amanda Cote,

I.   Music & Spoken Word/Song:  Rudy, Rodney, Amos, Rebecca S., Martin, Judy

II.  Facilitator: Dave Grant
  • Introduction and overview of PCD origin and development
  • Meraki meeting schedule -in 2018,  there will be a Meraki meeting quarterly after Sunday dance
  • Committees:  Wiz (Wizengamot), Thursday night dances, All ages dances, New Years Eve dance, Finance, Nominating (disbanded after the annual meeting), DJs
III.  Signage:  PC Sunday dance photos on signs need to be updated with current and active volunteers.  (to be discussed at December Meraki meeting)

IV.   Finance Report:  John Boynton

V.    Bylaw Change: Shelagh read. Deb sang.  VOTE PASSED.

VI.  Elections:  Introduction of current officers -- Shelagh (President), Polly (Treasurer), Lindy (Secretary).  Slate of candidates presented and new officers ELECTED-- Pika (President), Polly, (Treasurer) Judy (Secretary).  Thanks to outgoing officers.

Unveiling of Regalia. Long live PCD.

VII.  Discussion:
  • Officers can choose to have an assistant (ex.  Oracle as Assistant Treasurer)
  • Photos taken at that annual meeting will posted to PCD Facebook (those present were offered an opt) (Jeff)
  • Poll of those present who might be interested in ways to way to meet/get acquainted, discuss dance or non-dance topics off the floor (perhaps all men, or all women)  (Jeff)
  • Sensitivity to gender balance by Wiz during the post dance circle offering (and identifying) volunteers with whom they can ask questions about anything that occurs on or off the floor) (Amos)  For Wiz follow up.
  • Communications to PCD contact list/members about non-PCD dance, contact improv classes, workshops etc. (Jeanette).  Legal issues around using PCD list for anything other than PCD related events.  Other possibilities:  Flyers on the tables, PCD webpage and PCD facebook. Dave encouraged attendance at Meraki meetings to further this discussion.  PCD now sponsors a Thursday night and an all ages, an open question about any other sponsorships, for ex. a monthly contact improv jam.
  • Suggestions are sought about how welcome/communicate to new dancers in a friendly but unobtrusive way (Wiz committee has ongoing discussions about this) (Martin)
  • Agenda process is ad hoc (made at the start of Meraki) with the new quarterly meetings, this may change. (Lindy)
  • Next Meraki, December 6th 7-9 pm:  Tasha Salvo is hosting, 52 Bellaire Road, South Portland, Maine, 04106-4601



Monday, October 30, 2017

Meraki Meeting Notes Oct 17, 2017

Host: Martin and Judy
Facilitator: Dave
Attendees: Dave, Deb, Lindy, Andy, Shelagh, John, Judy, Oracle, Martin, Pika; Chloe & Neal (Skype); Polly, Jeanette, Tasha

Review Meeting Minutes--Sep 2017

Agenda:

* Meraki Format--sm. groups, 1/4ly meetings, Committees
*Thur. night dance
*Wiz
*Annual Meeting--Agenda, Officers, BOD's
*New Year's Eve Dance
*Membership Renewal

Spring Retreat: Have not gotten contract from Wavus after it was returned b/c the names were wrong on the contract. Shelagh talked to the contact person at Wavus who was not aware of the issue. Shelagh is continuing attempts at contacting that person but at this time has not heard back. Currently we have a committee for planning and moving forward.

Annual Meeting: Bylaws corrections--Typos can be dealt with by BOD. Purpose: Elect officers and directors--President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Discuss/decide Bylaw modifications and whatever we want to put before the membership for a vote. We have provided food in the past. Include musical performance. Consider 2 asst. treasurers and 1 asst. secretary for next term. Clarify elected vs. selected officials. Consider vice president and assistants selected by BOD. Support for continuation of correspondence secretary. Considering new positions--Cherie Howard, Judy Tierney, Polly, Oracle, Pika. Lindy (secretary) to announce agenda 5 days before meeting.

Rudy, Judy, Martin for entertainment. Ukulele group. Judy to organize entertainment and food with Martin and Polly's help.  Chloe also to help with food. Consider $300 for food. Committee to use discretion to avoid too much left over food and plan accordingly.

Have used personal hats from the Grant's. PCD to borrow or obtain hats. Grant's may not be at mtg.

BOD to create the agenda.

Membership Renewal: We need to know by the annual meeting how many members we have. John to continue to track.

New Year's Eve Committee: Judy, Kari, Tasha, Martin, ?Cherie?. Lights? DJ's. Eventbrite. Will announce at next dance and in next email a request for Volunteers. Date to get together? ? sunday dance and newyearseve dance on same day. Voted to have both!

Wiz: Kari provided email update. Natalie and Eva are no longer on wiz but are still listed on the website. Deb and Martin are now welcomed as new members.

Thurs. night dance: Deb and Oracle reported. Fills a need for dance. Not more than one/mo. Venue works, not crowded, not best, but works. What other option? Use former playlists. Sound system discussed. Sound card improves system. Buy another sound card. Crowd size has adjusted. Dance covers direct costs, but does not cover adm. overhead. Lost $234.39 with $2137 income over last 12 mos.

Do we want to continue Thur. night dance? Differences in how much energy we have to host other activities.

Voted to continue to hold Thur. night dance as a part of PCD!

Contact Jam: Jeanette requested support for once a mo. contact jam dance for announcements and emails. In order to do that there is the question of do we want to consider adding Contact Jam to PCD line-up for dance options? She also asked for support for play lists. Deb to talk to Jeanette about playlists and advertising if Jeanette decides she does not want to move forward to add Contact Jam as a PCD sponsored entity. Jeanette to consider options and report back if desired.

Next meraki mtg. Wed. 12/6, 7-9 PM.Tasha's house--52 Bellaire Rd. S. Portland.


Monday, October 9, 2017

Meraki Meeting Notes Sept 20 2017

Attendance: Tasha, Marin, Pika, Martin, Judy, Shelagh, Mellen, Oracle, John, Lindy, Kiara, Dave and Deb (virtually), Polly

Host: Marin

Facilitator: Shelagh

Agenda List:

New Year's Dance
Sound Meter
Annual Meeting
Greeter's Tally Sheet
Calendar
Wiz
Thur. Dance
Meraki Structure

Agenda Discussion:

New Year's Dance: Reserved. No deposit needed yet. No Committee as of now. Defer. Announce at dance that we need a committee. Request volunteers. Check in with Chloe, Liz. Discuss in Oct.

Add Save the Date for New Year's and Retreat, and Annual Meeting. Lindy to do.

Retreat: Shelagh reports that we will loose our deposit if we do not use it this spring. Shelagh got contract but with the wrong names and so Wavus is re-doing contract and will send back.

Ombuds: Martin talked to Blair. All in sync with outreach for new people in low key social way. Suggestion for circle time-- "Like any more information talk to these people".

Wiz: No report. Deb expressed an interest to be on Wiz. Martin reaffirmed his interest.

Thur. Dance: Cancelled Nov. (Thanksgiving) dance.

Greeter's Tally Sheet: No news. Not critical.

All ages dance: Circe and Andy rock the house! Another wonderful dance. Slow attendance at beginning and than other families came and came and came, more and more joyous. Lovely time. Paid $75 rent. Received $80 this past mo. Relationship with Jason is working. Discussed getting feedback re: facilitating.

Sound meter: Mellen, Nev, Deb, Pika met. Got a respectable level and a plan to maintain that during the dance. Suggestion: buy a mixer for DJ's to use. Is it worth it to spend money on? Current one is low quality and difficult to use. DJ's to meet to discuss further.

Annual Meeting: Have a date and space reserved. Committee to meet this Sun. Shelagh won't be there. Dave and Deb will not be available to be at the meeting.

Meraki Structure:

Below are ideas, suggestions, opinions from individuals as we held an open forum discussing Meraki. No votes were taken. Everyone did get a chance to share their viewpoint.  It was a lively discussion and hopefully most of the ideas are captured here.

Dave: Review hx: of the beginning of PCD/Meraki--committee run organization. 'Unbranded'. 'Publicly held'. Create a structure for non profit. Treasurer and secretary have roles/to do tasks. Worked quite well. No grip on power.

Others?: Over time a sense of decreased enthusiasm. How to make Meraki more fun? "Play Meraki". Got more serious, no problem. ? loose sight of fun? Meeting objective? Power diffuse.

Relationship between Meraki/PCD. Working well.

Mellen: Community based organization. Great enthsusaiasm and lots to do in the beginning. Fun, excitement, 15-20 people ea. meeting. Monthly format. Lots of details. Last 1-2 yrs. decrease in attendance 6-7 people. Are we really achieving what we want to be doing? Difficult to make decisions. Flow pauses when people aren't present. Decreased sense of urgency. Question if it is effective or desirable. Bylaws created with flexibility. Does not say we have to meet monthly. Change frequency, or day of meeting? We have to have Board for Non-profit.

John: We tend to schedule meetings based on what we have to do, can be every 6 weeks. Question the format of Meraki, open to members? Not core group people in and out. Bigger board perhaps who have ownership of organization and involve membership input. More governing power, ownership. Anyone can come and BOD vested with responsibility.

Dave: Supports post dance meetings. Prefers not every Meraki meeting happens after dance and would also like to include week night meetings. Could be loss of continuity. Generate interest in Meraki. Don't confuse with PCD not being successful. Likes diffuse center of power. Community careful to differentiate improving structure with improving meetings.

Mellen: issues re: meetings, "how Meraki connects to PCD".

Polly: A lot of agreement in PCD functioning. Natural organization evolution. Starts out up and running and then maintenance and how to keep parts running? Polly's goal is to keep it in the community and keep the community involved. And it is not happening. People drop out. Hard to understand what is going on. Make more explicit. Help people to get involved right away. In response to Mellen's ideas of changing meraki to quarterly after dance: 1. Functionality-decision making, committees. 2. Community issues. 3. "Fuzz Stuff" 4. Philosophical, safety, etc. ID as a need. All committees report at Sun. quarterlies and then pot luck, fun! Theoretical stuff goes to elected BOD, representative of larger community, etc.

Oracle: Agrees with Polly re: separating business from...? A new person can't get invested with info in the background. With new people getting involved suggests getting more explicit with info on the website; contact, etc. Thur. nights OK for next few mos. To report in Oct. Sound system not adequate enough. Start a report/agenda before 1/4ly meeting to see and read. Getting people minutes. Publish meeting minutes every time.

Shelagh: "Themes". Desire to do it differently. Suggestion: stand up, popcorn ideas/suggestions out loud and hear them.  ID a couple things about what we like and what is not working right now.

John: Published agenda; names of people with time limits. Sets agenda.

Deb: 1/4ly on Sun. with purpose in committees. People helping on ground level. Clean up Meraki slog. Keep meetings relevant and not repeating things. Load up on committee commitment. Don't have Meraki just on Sun. Minutes real and want people to be engaged and can be done easily.

Martin: One of the reasons I stopped coming. We had a core group that was sympatico and I didn't have to always be here. Excused self. Come back. Common thing-- have ongoing interest from enough people. Count on people to be hear and  admired each member. Time problem. Don't need to meet regularly. Meet every other month. Voting members only. Size of bod not important. Balance between core group and come and go members. Vote on how often we meet and the 1/4ly idea. 3 principal things safety, money and music.

Dave: All successes: New energy Pika; Martin  and Judy back. Marin/Andy- all ages dance. One question to ask ourselves, "How do we promote meraki?" 1/4ly after dance has been one per year. Keep track of who is coming. a list of meraki members gets . time frames all those good intentions fall down with time frames fall down. caution of high expectations of what Sunday meetings will involve. the higher we set the bar, and loose sight of purpose, may lose sight of. Read minutes before you come. Put energy into something that collapsed between meetings.

Mellen: Hybrid-- 1/4ly meetings plus easy access to make easy for people to stay a bit. Make entry pretty welcoming. Meeting too frequently.  Don't think we have to change bylaws to do anything. Separate bod.

Meraki points shared between Mellen and john re: bylaws change!

Kiara: Agree with Dave. Lots of plans and some times things are going to be this way. Enjoyed in past. ? not fuzzy holding space and sharing of space. Not creating space of getting business done.
? Fulfilling in some way, slogging thru... getting shit done. How to do easier? Percolate and grow. That's why I like showing up at night. Don't enjoy keeping organization going. Needs to be meaningful.

Marin: Newcomer. Least favorite way of interacting. (Meetings) Disappointed. Relational story? Keep it going. Applaud and don't enjoy it. Divvy it up, meet with neighbor, make more personal relationships-most important to her.

Pika: Attending meetings last 4-5 mos. Impressed with organization, business of running this huge thing. Not about hanging out, but making decisions and handling business that needs to be handled. Tighten up how to tighten up decisions.

Lindy: Important not to assume we know why people have slowed down/stopped coming to meetings. We may be trying to change something in a way that does not address the primary issue. Spontaneous vs. structure ie, fun vs. work.

Judy: Likes the variety of everyone's opinions. Covers the gamut. Willing to do more.

Tasha: Hard time coming. Not fun-connection-want to use at forum as gratitude for those who are woking hard. Participation. Committees solicitus. Deb's suggestion, and Tasha agrees- build committees.

Polly: Separate function and business and fuzzy stuff, connect, relate, other issues, 1/4ly meetings. Simplifying it. Time limit is happening naturally, don't care about fun, but do care about being heard. Think about separating business from fuzzy stuff. Keep business running and roll along. Fuzzy stuff happens in a different way.

Dave: Small groups. Could be helpful. Supports Marin's idea. Dave happy to meet with anyone who would like to partner for suggestions for facilitation of meetings.

Martin: Confirm basis for this meeting is non verbal, right brain under the surface. All about relationships.

Next meeting date: Tues., Oct. 17th Martin and Judy to host 7-9 PM.






Saturday, September 2, 2017

Meraki Meeting Notes Aug 22 2017

Meraki Meeting Notes

Host: Rudy

Attendance: Blair, Mellen, Rudy, John, Polly, Martin, Lindy, Shelagh

Facilitator: John

Review of last month's Meraki Meeting Notes

Agenda:

1. Annual Membership Meeting: Begin officer recruitment. Reach out to people. Talk to current officers. Scheduled for 11/5/17 after dance. John contacted Kristin. OK for the space. Have a process in place. Voted: A nominating committee of 2 or 3 people of board members and membership to seek a slate of officers for the annual meeting. Make an announcement, identify the nominating committee. Unanimous "Yes". Polly, Shelagh, and Mellen volunteered.

2. Membership Renewal: Blair, Dave to organize. John to coordinate with them by next meeting. No renewal 2016. John maintains list. Options: email and in-person renewal.

3. Annual Calendar: Active document. Part of every meeting.
Approaching--New Year's Dance--date, sign up, committee by Sep. Announce "save the date". Lost money last year. Lindy to put in meeting minutes and announce at dance.

4. Retreat: Shelagh checked with Kari: Committee-- Kari, Julie Isbill, Jane. Need 2 people--1 with tech experience. Will be meeting soon in fall. Dates reserved. Shelagh to sign contract. Shelagh to check in with Kari re: getting 2 new members.

5. Thur. night dance: Review with committee in Nov. at Meraki. Polly to talk to Oracle and Deb about Nov./Thanksgiving dance and she also may get back involved with the WEVE. Shelagh to also check in with committee in Oct.

6. All Ages Dance: Polly talked with Jason. Questionable financial status. Jason will take whatever they get thru the end of the summer. Shelagh to talk with Marin re: website and attendance. Questionable attendance. Review in Dec.

7. Wiz--How are members feeling? Look for new people to check in with them? No concerns otherwise. Opening of Sunday dance formal and informal. Wiz staying available for new dancers. Safety issues, a few. Natalie, Cheri, Jimmy, Kari, Blair make up Wiz. Blair to take back to Wiz meeting. Blair to check in with committee members. Martin interested in wiz committee. Meets first Sun. of the mo. Rudy offers the Nominating committee acts as the organization for all recruitment of members for committees.

8. Sound meter: Pika has volunteered to take up. Shelagh to check in with him.

9. Pot Luck: Not in fall b/c of annual meeting. If anyone is interested, put it on annual calendar for spring. To discuss in Jan. Unanimous.

10. Partnering discussion at last pot luck. Got some data re: how we communicate. No responses from organizing members. Topic remains relevant. How we communicate to new people at dance and what are the rules and what remains around the topic? People not available to put energy into it now.  Let it go for now until it comes up again.

11. Outreach: Make outreach a responsibility of wiz rather that waiting for people to respond to the invitation during circle time. Martin to connect with other group members. New name for the volunteers who are involved with outreach--"Ombuds". To take as a responsibility. Blair to take back to Wiz. Ombudsman group part of wiz. They will work out tighter details.

12. Greeter's tally sheet. Finance committee involvement. John to draft up a replacement, get a clicker. Finance committee and Tim to implement.

13. To review Bylaws and see if we need to change.

14. Feedback re: DJ's? DJ's web site clarification re: feedback format.

15. Meraki meeting--Review agenda setting for each meeting. Is our current way of operating working? Are there other options? Core board members meeting, is it serving us in the best way? Discuss at next Meraki meeting. When we announce the next meeting, include a special note to let members know that we will be discussing our business meeting structure, including bylaws.

Next mtg. Wed. 8/20. 7-9 PM. Make an event on FB. Talk about next meeting at Sunday Dance. Check with Liberty/Polly to host.  Lindy to contact.

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Meraki Meeting Notes July 12, 2017

Host: Keita

Attendance: Shelagh, John, Mellen, Pika, Lindy, Keita

Facilitator: Mellen

Review of Minutes: Lindy

Agenda:

Retreat--Kiara stepping back in leadership of retreat. John to talk to Polly and Kiara to clarify status of contract with Wavus. It is reported that Kiara and Liz expressed willingness to poll members for interest in future retreats. Shelagh to inquire with membership for new committee members at Sunday dance.

Pot Luck--Kiara to step back with organizing. Do we want to change frequency? Purpose: Social, get to know each other off the floor, specific topics/concerns. Defer further discussion until Aug. Shelagh to follow-up with pot luck committee.

Annual Calendar--Still in development. In process of putting it into google docs. Begin to use it as part of Meraki.

Insurance--We do not get a refund from our previous policy per contract. New policy costs less for more coverage. It is with Farmer's Ins. began in June.

DJ update--DJ's talked about the sound meter, but discussion not completed. Pika--able to set sound setting. House amplifier can change. Can't be set. John and Pika to look into it this Sun. with other DJ's who are available or who may be available in the near future. Two new DJ's: Pika-lots of experience! Debuting Sun. 7/16. Jason is debuting on Thur. night in July (27). Welcome new DJ's!!!

Keita--looking to start a community dance in Harrison, ME.

All Ages Dance--Pika went to last mo's dance. Structured. Cool, fun. Marin/Andy unable to attend tonight but did email. Will be to Meraki in Aug. John to clarify how to handle funds and relaying of information. Shelagh to reach out to work with Marin re: specific details, web site, etc. Last dance earned $80. Paid to Jason for rent. 8 adults, 5 kiddos.
This Fri. dance next dance.

Greeter's Tally Sheet--Current chart has unnecessary details. Primarily need count of money and people. Consider a counter and not record how many people gave $5, $10, etc. on paper. John to work with Tim to reformat form. John wants to do a 4 wk. rolling ave.

Next Meeting--Tues. 8/22. Shelagh to check with Rudy, Jason and Liberty to host.

Thank you all for finishing business early and without any obvious grievances!!!! Meraki points to Mellen for her management in facilitating the meeting to make that happen and showing it could be done!!! (Granted having only 6 people and it being a summer evening probably helped too!)






Thursday, July 6, 2017

Meraki Meeting Notes June 6, 2017

Host: Mellen

Attendance: John, Shelagh, Mellen, Judy, Pika, Dave, Martin, Andy, Marin

Facilitator: Dave

Review Minutes from May meeting: Lindy

Agenda:
Finance
All ages dance
Liability Form
Pot Luck
Tally sheet
990 filing
Sound Meter
Post dance circle
Annual Calendar
DJ agenda
Sound system avant
Avant
New Greeter Coordinator


Finance: --Relationship to money and how we communicate that.
               --990 Filing Files every year. 15th of May. John missed deadline. Not a problem unless        
we do it for 3 years in a row. John to make sure we will do next year. Has been filed late, but has been done.
              --Avant Update; Cancellation policy. Avant's 2 mos. cancellation is for events, but not for us since we are "regulars". We will give Kristin enough advanced notice for changes in our schedule. We don't pay if they cancel. We will pay if we cancel on short notice.
              --Current balance $6559.16.

Retreat: Cleared $260.      $3605 deposit currently held by Wavus.

Greeter tally sheet: Defer.

Sound Meter: Mellen to take to DJ meeting.

Update from Wiz: (Kari) meets every mo. Nothing to pass on. Will meet in a couple weeks.

New Greeter Coordinator: Tim stepped forward and volunteered. Will greet in a couple weeks. John to show him the ropes.

Live Music Sunday: We have a policy that we previously coordinated that we will not hire outside people for live performance. If members want, we can discuss further.

Previous Pot Luck Summary: Would be useful to have a system that follows thru with action steps. Last pot luck topic-- partnering. Results: 1.) Look at board. 2.) Safety information. Committee will look at process results and explore action and come up with suggestions. To consider content of board, paper guidelines, etc. To develop process.

Next Pot Luck: No topic, no facilitator. Social vs. topic? Interest in individuals commitment and expanding to others and educating new people. Phone call with Kiara: Topic for discussion/social. To have social only. Polly has cutlery.

All ages dance: Move forward to incorporating this group into PCD. How much contact? Insurance quote from different insurance co. Obtained policy for less cost and more coverage. Release form. How much to subsidize, for how long, how are we going to decide, criteria? Measure of criteria? ? do for a set period of time? ?spell out parameters? How do we integrate AAD into our community? "PCD now includes an all ages dance which we will develop over the course of a year with a plan and assess with a plan to revise and assess the program in 6 mos. Representatives of the all ages dance committee will make an effort to be in attendance at Meraki." Voted to include AAD into PCD and approved!

Group Stress: Defer.

Post Dance Conferencing: How do we improve the form of interactions to hear newcomers concerns or to help them feel more comfortable? Greeter take responsibility to refer to members to talk with. Historical background: Purple bracelets? Learn about how dance works. How to invite people to be in discourse with the question. Change statement to general questions rather than a "process". We have agreed not to ask greeters to do more and we have asked members to search new people out. Happens informally.

Next Meeting: Wed. July 12th 7-9 PM. Ask Kiara if she can host. Otherwise, put out request.

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Meraki Meeting Notes May 9, 2017

MERAKI MEETING NOTES
May 9, 2017
Host: Tasha
Attendance: Liberty, Deb, Shelagh, Kiara, John, Tasha, Blair, Andy, Pika, Lindy, Marin

Facilitator: John
Review Last Meetings Minutes: Lindy
Agenda:
Thur. Dance
Spring Retreat
Live music Sun. Dance
DJ agendas
Care and responsibility of sound system at Avant
New folks closing circle
Finance Report
Pot luck info distillation
To Do item list
Calendar
Cancellation Evant's policy
Liability Release Update
Family all-ages family committee dance
June Potluck

Thur. Dance--1. Changed cost to DJ's to $80. A.) DJ brings in a set that they have done before. The DJ holds space and if something goes amiss, the DJ addresses. B.) Pay DJ's to review set lists and send to committee. 2. Reduce rental cost from $90 to $70.
      Deb Proposes the A model. Has already happened. 
      Long term: Consider active DJ'ing, as before, in the future.
      Finance Report- 2 lg. equipment costs, ? cost of facility. Money matters. Discuss subsidy of Thur. night. Need for subsidy is not anticipated with changes that have been made.
Vote and passed: Continue Thur night dance with above changes. Re-assess in Oct.
Vote to do Doodle survey: Did not pass.
Vote and passed: Thur. night dance to operate during summer.

Spring Retreat: 11 people signed up. Is happening. Retreat is paid for. DJ set lists are ready. 1 partial scholarship given. Total cost $140/person. Bring own food. Paying Rudy to rent his equipment. Next year Spring Retreat at Wavus May 18-20, 2018. Kiara is attempting to schedule 2019. Committee Kari, Jimmy, Kiara may want to sit the next one out. Let people know we need a committee. Need 30 people to cover expenses at Wavus.

Next Potluck June 11 is reserved. Voted yes to hold. Discussed ending time and donations for use of space. Vote and passed: Rent space until 3 PM. Voted and failed: Ask for donation for space rental.

Financial Report--What do we need? Something more detailed? At annual meeting presentation. DJ expenses went up in Jun. 17 and Avant costs went up therefore increase expenses. Stopped free dances. Spring retreat deposit went up $1500 to $3000 deposit; food doubled cost. Wavus has a deposit which will be transferred to next retreat at that location.
Next meeting: Continue to discuss finances/dance. Finance Committee reports. Keep monthly reports as is. Ave. donation, # of attendees to add to monthly report.

All Ages Dance: Marin/Andy. Read subcommittee report. Need separate release form. ? who is responsible for child? ? Jason's ins. Continue discussions and work Voted and passed: Committee and discussions to continue.

Liability Release Forms: New forms--yellow paper. Liability to start 6/1. Education push. Everyone to sign. Liberty to track.

Discussion re: last potluck: Shelagh volunteers to talk to Dave and come up with summary and proposals. Marin to join group. Have secretary. Voted and passed: go ahead with above.

Next Meeting: Jun 6. 7-9 PM Kiara's office. 222 St. John St., Suite 117, Transformational Healing.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Meraki - April 11, 2017

Attending:

Kiara, Dave G, Liberty, Blair, Mellen, Eva, Andy, Marin, Pika, Liz, John, Neil, Chloë, Shelagh (facilitator)

Establishing Norms:
Shelagh began the meeting by establishing that we take turns to talk and that the facilitator will track who wants to speak.  We make decisions "loosely by consensus."

Agenda:
Financail oversight process review
Anual calendar
Spring Retreat Update
Finance Report
Family Dance
Potluck - new signs and partnering
Thrusday Night Update
Request for live music
Booking the next potluck
DJ agendas
Sound System management at Avant
The Experience of New people

Spring Retreat:
Looks like the spring retreat is not happening at Wavus.  We have only 9 enrolled (need 30) and we don't have DJs.  Plan: Diane is going to investigate moving the retreat to Snowbird Lodge.  Facts about Snowbird: ~ $1400 for the whole group; Snowbird is in Harrison (70 minutes from Portland); Snowbird has 12 bedrooms which means up to 24 people if we have enough couple for the double beds; Deposit at Wavus will be held for our next retreat.  Meraki gave a thumbs up to letting Diane pursue the retreat at Snowbird -  and make it happen as she sees fit.

The group was curious about why the attendance was so low, and why DJs were not interested in supporting the dance.   Chloe shared that her experience was that it was frustrating to have so few people dancing, that instead people tended toward the cuddle pile.

The group decided to conduct a survey which could include:

  • considering fewer dances (which might increase dance participation)
  • pre-recorded sets to lower dj costs
  • retreat frequency
  • price
  • ideal group size
  • too much cuddling?
  • other programs /activities
  • would people like to have alternating retreats - ie - big at wavus and small at snowbird
Family Dance:
PCD formed a committee with Andy and Marin to explore how PCD might or might not integrate with the All-Ages Dance.  On the committee will be Neil, Chloe, Eva, Andy, and Marin.


Financial Update: 
John reminded us that how we allocate the fixed costs for PCD (insurence, taxes, etc) impacts how we might view the profitability of each dance we support.  For example, if sunday covers all fixed costs, it costs $42 per week.  If we spread it out over other events, Sunday's overhead cost is $22.

John is wondering what he should produce for reports.  He shared a pretty comprehensive report that breaks down costs and income in detail for all of our events.

We decided that we need more time to review John's report and so it may be revisted next Meraki.



Next Meeting:
Tuesday, May 9 at Location: TBA









Thursday, March 16, 2017

Meraki Meeting Notes March 15, 2017

MERAKI MTG.

March 16, 2017

 

Host: Liberty

Attendance: Kiara, Shelagh, Eva, Deb, Dave, Lindy, Liberty, John, Polly

Facilitator: Eva

Minutes from Feb. meeting read.
Actions from previous meeting yet to be completed: Lindy, John

List of Agenda Items:

Liability Release Refresh
Edits to Calendar
Finance Discussion
Oversight review
Sound System
Thur. Dance
Retreat
Potluck
Updated roles in documents? Polly, John
Communication/g-mail


Potluck: Avant reserved. Email sent out a week or 2 ago. Mellen to add it to Sunday dance announcement. Discussed interest in a theme. "How to say yes and how to say no in/to partnering". Action: Dave volunteered to facilitate. Shelagh and Kiara to organize "Who we are and what we do" for interested  newcomers. They will  stay in closing circle after dance and invite those interested. We have to be prompt in leaving. Need to be out by 2:30. New group in by 3.

Thur. Dance: Deb--Thurs. night is not making money. $60-100 loss/wk. Last year lost $300. Under consideration: Contribute play lists. Negotiate rent. Action: Thurs. committee (Deb, Oracle) to continue to discuss. Will review in May as originally decided.

Sound System/Tai Chi Studio: New speakers mounted. 4 speakers adequate for our needs.

Liability Release: Refresh every 3 yrs./insurance co. How do we implement? Action: Lindy, Liberty, Kiara to discuss, determine a procedure and implement on a trial basis. John to order new forms. Begin with yellow--200.

Sound System: John, Dave and Neil have discussed, researched and have identified a Bose system consisting of a tower, subwoofer, etc. for $4000+ with mixers and cables. Do we need it? Retreat is currently renting a system for $250. Voted to not buy a system and to close discussion until a sound system need is identified.

Threshold for Balance: $7000-10K. Discussed when to take "corrective" action. Discussion centered primarily around what will happen when the balance drops below $7000, esp. in consideration of deposits. Vote and approved: If the balance drops below $7000 with a retreat deposit, no corrective action will be taken. If the balance drops below $7000 and it does not include a large one time deposit (ie retreat), Meraki will discuss, consider and/or establish measures for corrective action.

Communication/g-mail acct: Shelagh and Lindy have explored and discussed what is needed to continue with tracking and responding to emails. Shelagh will continue to monitor the g-mail acct. Discussion re: how to proceed in "naming" the role. It was voted and agreed to title the role "Correspondence Secretary" and that the job would not fall under the responsibilities of the president, clarifying that Shelagh has volunteered to fill that position in addition to her presidency.

Retreat: Tickets will go on sale Sun. Discussion re: scholarships and sustainability. Query scholarships? ? mission. Feel of org.? There was a strong consensus that scholarships are vital to offer. Self sustaining vs. scholarships. Track scholarships. Build scholarship fund. Voted and approved: PCD ensures $500 to retreat committee for scholarships. The retreat committee will work towards financial independence. If there is a profit from any one retreat, the profit will be used to fund scholarships at future retreats. The retreat committee will discuss the status of registrants at the next Meraki in re: to number of registrants and scholarship needs.

Personal Loss: Sympathy cards can be sent personally. It was decided PCD would not participate as an organization.

Finance: Polly/John. $42/wk overhead in addition to direct expenses. In what format would/could it be viewed? Forms/docs. Minimize paper distribution.

Next meeting date: Tues. 4/11, 7-9 PM. Host: Eva-- 46 C St., South Portland.

***MERAKI POINTS go to Dave! In the arc of TENSION, he stayed cool and came up with a novel idea of creating a scholarship fund pool! It was a hit! Congratulations Dave!

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Meraki Meeting Notes February 16, 2017

Meraki Meeting

Feb 16 2017


Polly Hosted

Attendance: Oracle, Blair, Mellen, Shelagh, John, Polly, Kiara, Lindy, Marty
Facilitator: Shelagh

Agenda:

1. Thursday night dances: DJ Feedback. DJ's have voted to take a reduction of pay to $150 from $175. Discussion re: financial loss. ? re: self sustaining.
Considering options for time, pay, play lists, etc. Polly resigns from Weve. Dave, Deb, and Oracle on Weve. Mechanics Hall may be becoming a community center.
408 Broadway, S. Portland, mentioned as a place that has been used in the past for dances.

2. Wiz: Blair: a. Weather Cancellation Policy is in place. Discussion re: Avant cancelling vs. PCD cancelling and other considerations. Actions: Lindy to put written policy into google docs. John to discuss with Kristin. Pre-recorded CD in greeter's bag if DJ can't come. Wiz has ultimate decision.
               b. Committee Membership. We did have membership tenure in the past. Used to have 6 mo. membership. Didn't follow thru. Question need for new members. Action: Wiz to self monitor.

3. Spring Retreat: Kiara: 6 committee members. Cheri, Judy, Rudy, Kari, Jimmy, Kiara. Deposit made. Mtg. this Sun. Push for registration to go out in Mar.
Date: Mother's Day w/e. May 12-14. Send out notice for retreat "save the date". Will need 4 DJ's. Retreat to be self sustaining. Kiara suggests we get more information re: dates from Wavus and plan for projecting ahead. Empower Kiara to recruit committee members for 1-2 retreats per year. Event brite charges to use it. Must clarify if event gets cancelled. Kiara will bring up new information at next mtg. if needed. Actions: Committee meets 2/19. Send out "Save the Date" notice. Clarify Event Brite cancellation.

4. Quarterly Potluck: All 4 Sun. available in Mar. Pot Luck costs-space. Actions: Kiara to pursue organizing and determining date. Kiara to talk with Neal and Kristin. Wiz members to discuss. Shelagh to meet with Kiara.

5. Financial Oversight: Treasurer Role; $3000 deposit to Wavus. To be returned, currently on loan from deposit. Current balance $7000-$10,000. Corrective action. Discussed greeter involvement. Action: Finance committee to discuss and return to Meraki to propose announcements/suggestions in March.

6. Calendar: Mellen would like input re: what to include. Has gotten some.

7. Treasurer Role: Polly Sun. deposit, writing checks. John to do annual committments, taxes, etc.

9. Inquiry: Adults Dev. Disability. Shelagh reports on recent request. Action: Visitors welcome. Be aware and welcoming.

10. Liability Release Form: That people sign at first dance. John reports that we checked with the  insurance agent and the form is good. To do every 3 yrs. Action: Table it until Mar.

11. Passwords: New for gmail. Check with John if you need it.

11. Next mtg.: Wed. Mar. 15, 7-9 PM. Host? Shelagh to check with Liberty.

For next meeting: By-Laws

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Meraki Meeting Notes January 10, 2017

Meraki Meeting
January 10, 2017

Attendance: Deb, Liz, Liberty, John, Lindy, Mellen, Dave, Blair, Steve, Polly

Thank you:   Facilitator: Deb            Hosts: Dave and Deb Grant     Minutes: Lindy


Agenda:

New Year's Eve Dance Debrief: 80 people, lost money, sleepy affair. Suggestions: Advertise earlier/1 mo. ahead. Spend less money on food. Different sliding scale > $15. Talk it up! Possible reasons: 4 day w/e. Lots going on that w/e. Lack of committee.

Calendar: Mellen suggested creating a calendar of annual events, allowing for more planning time, ie, NYE, retreats, annual meeting, etc. Plan: Mellen to have draft ready for the next meeting.

Renewing membership: Should we renew membership? What are the pros and cons? Dave and Blair did previously, but then John proposed that we do not renew membership. Sent out email 1-2 wks. before asking to click and re-enroll. Collected phones and emails. Tracked down people and called people. If we do it, bi-annually? Purpose is to cull membership list/attrition process.
Plan: 1. Repeat membership renewal. To begin in Sept. Dave to be membership chair. Blair to help.
2. Determine biannually, annually.

Membership List: Currently in both MailChimp and gmail contacts. Need some place to reliably store membership list. Discussed if we should have it in one place or not. The main issue in gmail is sending it out to the membership list with addresses exposed rather than BBC. Plan: John will determine how to proceed.

Communication Coordinator: Discussion re: gmail account and who monitors and corresponds. John has been monitoring gmail account daily and would like to have someone else take it on. Discussion re: who to do so and that they must be comfortable working in gmail and know what is going on in PCD. There was also discussion re: people who monitor it during a special event, ie, retreat. Plan: Lindy volunteered to talk to Shelagh about monitoring it and organizing the coordinators of special events. John to add to officer position description.

Changing Passwords: John proposes passwords be changed. Each person should have their own MailChimp login. Plan: John will set it up for whoever needs it. John to change google password. Liz to change Eventbrite password.

Wiz: Meeting got cancelled past Sun. Discussion re: snow cancellation. Telephone #=google voice number. Currently John and Neil know how to change the announcement. Plan: John to talk to Blair about how to change the outgoing announcement. When we cancel we will put an announcement on the phone line, send an email out and post on FB. Wiz decides and notifies if there will be a weather cancellation. If DJ can't make it, they call other DJ's and then talk to Wiz.

DJ's: To meet in next mo. or two. No suggestions for their meeting.

Paying rent for New Year's Day: Neil had conversation with Kristin and suggested we pay half b/c of a 60 day cancellation policy. We did not know about that in the past. $225/session. Plan: Get holiday and cancellation policy in writing. John to talk to Kristin. We will pay Kristin 50% for New Year's Day.

Safety/Aggression: Proposal-- drop from agenda. Nothing alive to deal with. Plan: Discuss pot luck topical at next meeting.

Spring retreat: Committee-Shelagh/Kiara. Survey results ranked Mother's Day w/e, May 12-15, first. Has Kiara booked Wavus? TBD. Discussion re: whether to have one or two retreats/year. Do we have enough dedicated volunteers or interest to do more than 1/yr? Liberty to talk to Kari and Jimmy about their continued interest in being on the retreat committee for Spring 2017. Suggestion to only have one retreat this year. On agenda for next meeting.

Liability waivers: Mellen initiated the question re: having new liability waivers for dancers. Currently stored in different locations. Suggestions: Check law for liability waivers. Use binder, alphabetically. Plan: Lindy to contact our ins. co. John to provide contact.

Next Meeting: Feb. 7. 7-9 PM.  Location TBD.