The Portland Community Dance Steering Committee (Meraki) met on January 17, 2023, from 7-9PM on Zoom
Attending: John B, Deb G, Lori H, Mellen D, Shelagh R, Lily N, Lindy O
Social Media Committee (John for Rudy):
- We've reviewed current social media vehicles for PCD
- Currently there are 5 vehicles for communication:
- PCD Membership eMails
- PCD official Face Book Page: Private Group for PCD Members only for PCD announcements
- PCD sponsored FaceBook Group: Private Group for folks with interest in PCD, dance and related activity. ~800+ members. includes posts for non-PCD events that may be of interested (dance, music, art, theater, yoga) plus chat and videos. Some commercial advertisements (yoga studio, theater) Loosely curated.
- MaineDance Network: 1.5k members. not affiliated with PCD (so not really one of our 5 vehicles). Lots of dance related advertising and announcements. All kinds of dance, not just contact improv. We noticed some inappropriate non-dance posts.
- PCD Website. PCD only announcements and info. Tightly curated, no chat or comments. Ability to leave feed back for DJs, make Paypal and Venmo contributions.
- In reviewing these five info venues, the committee determined that each meets a very specific need / audience, have value and should continue. There may be some confusion between the FaceBook page and the FaceBook group. So Lori did some rebranding of the official FaceBook "Page" so the look and feel is consistent with the PCD official web page. Rudy looking at the FaceBook "Group" to potentially put a bit more structure / curation around content and membership.
- Discussed renaming the FaceBook group to better differentiate it from the page
- Suggestions (Deb):
- Hold the intention about being part of the community. Should be local and part of the community.
- Add screening questions, e.g., "Why are you interested in joining this group?"
Spring 2023 Retreat (Lily):
- Proposal: Have a special requirement for retreat attendance to have danced with us at least 3 times (instead of the normal membership requirement of 5).
- After some discussion, the consensus was that this is a solution to a problem (low signup numbers) that we don't yet know exists.
- Tabled until low attendance appears to be an issue closer to the retreat date. We don't need to figure this out now.
- Jo E volunteered to put together some written materials / email copy for us to give retreat participants before they get to FB and/or at FB on arrival. Info on the dorms, grounds, dances, the whole shebang.
- Camping: campsites are $28 per night for a tent, $32 per night for a small RV.
- Update on Ferry Beach registration: the first person signing up for a room, whether it be quad or double, will have to pay for the entire room. That's problematic for us.
- Lori: we could manage room assignments with a spreadsheet.
Where can we dance (Lori)?
- Not much to report. 317 Main in Yarmouth is still the "apple of our eye", but we need patience because development of the space is slow.
- Discussed DJ hookup requirements. They can offer a USB connection, but that doesn't work for a number of our DJs, who would interface either with RCA or XLR analog inputs. Lori to take this info back to 317 Main.
- They still haven't come up with a rental price. They want to support community organizations like PCD, but can't afford to "give it away." They're working on a contract that will work for anyone who uses the space.
- The Christian School in South Portland is still on the table.
- We can continue to use MCWS until we find a preferable alternative.
- Discussion about the gritty floor situation: We could buy dry mops and either bring them with or label them and keep them in the auditorium broom closet
- When can we dance weekly? Discussion points:
- Equipment storage/haulage continues to be a limiting factor. If we have either on-site storage (better), or a killer house sound system (ideal), weekly dances are more possible.
- DJ juice is less of an issue now - we have 5 1/2 DJs for rotation, and are training new recruits.
- Discussion about the gritty floor situation: We could buy dry mops and either bring them with or label them and keep them in the auditorium broom closet
- Equipment storage/haulage continues to be a limiting factor. If we have either on-site storage (better), or a killer house sound system (ideal), weekly dances are more possible.
- DJ juice is less of an issue now - we have 5 1/2 DJs for rotation, and are training new recruits.
Next meetings:
- Feb 21 in-person at Deb's (or Mellen's as backup)
- March 21, venue TBD
