Sunday, August 28, 2022

August 9 Meraki Meeting Notes; Next meetings: September 13 & October 11

Meraki Attendees, Tue, Aug 9

- John B. (facilitator)
- Shelagh R. (ingatherer and vibechecker)
- Lori H. (notetaker)
- Blair F. (timekeeper)
- Rudy G.
- Mellen D.

Finances
  • valuable to continue hitting home the fact that PCD has bills to pay [maybe Rudy would be a great person to make this plea at closing circle, since his Retreat Committee plea was so successful!]
  • Mellen has changed the language in the announcement emails from “suggested donation” to “cover charge”
  • Lori has changed language on website landing page to just say “$10” and will change the language elsewhere to say “cover charge."
  • WIZ signage will need to also be updated.
  • There is some sense of hope that things are moving in a positive direction, given an influx of new and younger dancers.

Alternative PCDance Location

No update to date, but time was spent discussing…
  • fatigue of schlepping
  • relative high expense of Ketcha vs. challenges (storage and sometimes getting bumped)
  • could we raise money to build a shed? general consensus: concerns about security, environment, and pain in the bum still too great
  • might we have more leverage to bargain down the Ketcha price if we could commit to every week?
  • Shelagh wondered about the value and potential of at least opening a conversation with Thea and Tom about what is working for us (location and vibe) and what is not (being bumped, the occasional wi-fi issue, storage) in order to potentially negotiate a lower price?
  • Rudy suggested focusing more on growing the inputs (number of dancers) to increase income so that we wouldn’t feel pressured to find a less expensive place
  • Shelagh gave Ketcha her vote of support based upon the location and the ability to dance in or outside.
  • Ketcha costs $225/dance for rent + $175/dance for DJ + $1200/year for overhead
  • Waldorf costs $100/dance for rent + $175/dance for DJ + $1200/year for overhead, but also does NOT have storage, and NO LONGER lets us dance outside.

PCD 2023 Retreat

It was agreed that without an established and committed committee, continued conversation about a retreat is moot. Shelagh has stepped up to wrangle a committee together; she’ll reach out to Kiara and to Krista and Tyler ASAP (Rudy is available next week—the week of August 15—to liaise on-site if needed). Below is the info provided in the agenda, updated with additional details/questions/considerations brought up in tonight’s Meraki meeting in pink, followed by a list of (potential) people and roles for this event:
  • Ferry Beach Retreat & Conference Center, where PCD had its last retreat in 2019, was well-regarded by retreat attendees. Rudy Gabrielson has an ongoing relationship with the folks there, and has volunteered to liaise with them and retreat organizers.
  • At least as starting point: Fri pm through Sun lunch; 4 - 5 dances, warm enough weather to also do things outside; outdoor nature amenities
  • At closing circle on Sunday, 24 dancers (most of those present) raised their hands expressing interest in attending a retreat in 2023, and two also volunteered to help organize the retreat.
  • If we decide to use Ferry Beach:
    • Estimated cost: $80/night dorm room (can we assume that if the rooms still have bunk beds, people can share rooms for $40/night per person in a double?) + $45/day for meals (can we therefore assume $90/pp would cover Fri dinner, Sat 3 meals, Sun breakfast and lunch?) + share of 4/5 DJ’d dances ($175/dance). These assumptions would result in approximately $200 per person. [(2 x $40 room) + (2 x $45 food) + $30 DJ]
    • Minimum: 15 people attending for food reservations; maximum would have to do with date (whether we’re the only group there, and which space we’d be dancing in…to give a maximum dancer count)
    • Deposit: $500
    • Possible dates (May is fully booked AND spring church groups rent for full weekends, so reducing our time in order to reduce cost might put us at a booking disadvantage):
      • Apr 14 or 21; we'd need to share the space with another group
      • After Oct 15, could possibly have exclusive use; there is heat pump heat
      • Slots are filling up fast; the first order of business is to secure a date.
    • Other considerations:
      • As much as possible, we want this retreat to be self-funding, that is, to cover its costs through attendee registrations.
      • Can we get early pre-registration deposits to cover the facility deposit?
Committee Initiator: Shelagh…thank you!

Ferry Beach Liaison: Rudy

Possible committee members: Kiara, Tyler, Krista

Mellen to follow up directly with Shelagh in a week (August 16) to see how things are coming…and if people are coalescing.

Future Meraki Meetings: Sep 13 & Oct 11
(FYI: Blair will not be able to attend either of these.)

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

July 12 Meraki Meeting Notes; next meetings: August 9, September 13

Meraki (Portland Community Dance Steering Committee) met on Tuesday, July 12, 7-9PM on Zoom.

Attending: Lori H, Deb G (facilitator), Shelagh R, Eva G, Mellen D, Rebecca B, John B (notes)

When Can We Dance (Rudy/Rebecca):

  • Brief discussion of current state of the pandemic
  • Proposal: Keep status quo at Sunday Dance with masks required indoors, no vaccine requirement
  • Further proposed: Suspend the When Can We Dance committee
  • After a brief discussion, we agreed by consensus to keep masking status quo and suspend the Can We Dance committee, with reactivation as warranted depending on circumstances.

Alternate location update:

  • No movement; tabled

Equipment Road Crew update (John/Blair):

  • Blair and John continue to trade off every other week, but would like to invite other custodians.
  • The job entails: transporting the sound system after dance one Sunday dance, keeping it in a secure indoor location, and bringing it back early (9:30 AM) for the following Sunday dance.
  • Mellen/Jason/Deb discussed possibility of acting as backup.
  • John: We need to know that we can trust the custodian; perhaps rather than making an announcement, we should approach potential custodians.
  • We'll continue to discuss the possibility with individual PCD members.

Spring Retreat? (Rudy)

  • Rudy: If we want to use Ferry Beach, we need to know sooner than later for booking. Ferry Beach would nee: Minimum number of people, how many days, food requirements, etc.
  • John volunteered to reach out to Kiara to see if she has interest in organizing, and if so, to connect with Rudy on details.

Finances (John):

  • PCD's balance continues to slowly decline; we continue to need support from dancers to sustain PCD.
  • Suggestion: change Suggested $10 donation to a $10 cover charge
  • Eva: is it possible to donate? John: yes, by PayPal or Venmo
  • Proposal: someone to run around with the cash box at the end of dance. This idea was discarded as intrusive.
  • Proposal: make an announcement at closing circle that we continue to need your support with a declining buffer. John agreed to make the announcement.

Finances:

  • Balance of $5,693.38 continues to decline. The buffer is covering roughly $100 of the cost of each dance.
  • Continue to highlight the need for support at greeting

Next meetings:

Tuesdays August 9, September 13, 7-9PM on Zoom; Link by email announcement.

Meeting adjourned early at 8:12 PM.