Meraki Notes from Meeting January 5

Meeting January 5 -- Winter Retreat Meeting

Our Winter Retreat will be held at Camp Kieve over the weekend of April 17-19.  The decision was reached after considering the issues below:

Thanks to Chloe, Parks, Neil and Diane for leading the charge on our dance retreats.  They brought four options to the table.   We heard about each:

Place 1 -- Snowbird is reserved for the 20th of March which accommodates 23 people.  We have the space held at the present.  It has a sauna and lovely owners/workers.

Place 2 -- Camp Kieve in Nobleborough available April 3 - 5 (Easter weekend), or 17 - 19 (school vacation week) -- accommodates 31 with the possibility of 4 more spaces at a nearby cabin.  15 rooms with a bathroom in each.  Has a separate dance space.  The cost is $110/room/night x 15 rooms with fees for kitchen and dance space  which would be $3600 or $117/person.

Place 3 -- Mansion in Bethel that sleeps 38 or 31 -- all the floors are colored concrete.  Cost is 210/person before food.  Voted not to consider.

Place 4 -- sheepscott hollow between gardner and wiscassett-- not much info.

After discussing the pros and the cons, we went around the circle to hear people's views and preferences.  Eventually it was determined that the April 17-19 weekend was most suitable.

Eva suggested that meadowlark be considered for next year.

Information and registration for the retreat is forthcoming.

We schedule our next Meraki meeting or Feb 10 at 7 pm at Nev and Chloe's house - 24 Pitt St.

Meeting Notes from Dec 15, 2014

Present:  Parks, John, Cherie, Blair, Liz, Ella, Nev, Eva, Neil, Chloe, Ken


Topic 1: New Year's Dance - Capacity 150
Chloe shared details about the New Year's dance.   PCD will provide a a big fruit plates or so, veggie plates, etc.  The committee will determine what to bring food wise.  And the word will go out for the potluck bootie to be limited to finger foods.  Bottles of seltzer were requested.

There is an intention to keep the dance hall to a reasonable level of quietness.    

Greeters:  1 in the beginning; 9 - 11 (1/2 hr shifts, with two people) 1 person from 11 - 11:30 then it's a free-for-all.

Estimate is that we have sold 40ish tix to date.

If the event tix sales reach 150 then we will turn people away at the door.

The NYD Crew will be sending out reminders to all who have registered for the event about the rules.

People have volunteered to bring pillows and blankets - and the message for pillows and blankets will go out in the email.

Lighting  - Ken is happy to provide the lighting for the event.  Ken can be called at 347-1381 if anyone has lighting info/ideas/materials/support.

Setup starts at 8.  The NYD Crew will coordinate volunteers for setup and breakdown.

Topic 2: Retreat  Proposal Passed
Deb will contact Snowbird regarding placing a deposit on the space for a March 20 weekend retreat if available with a caveat (shared with the snowbird owners) that until the date of the next Meraki, PCD will be looking for a larger space to accommodate our retreat, and will consider larger spaces, if any are found only until that Meraki meeting.  If, at the time of the meeting, no other spaces are deemed superior, then PCD will make good on it's commitment to rent the Snowbird and the retreat shall go forth on said date.  The proposal passed unanimously.

Topic 3:  DJ Compensation
Meraki agreed to pay DJs up to $130, and DJs are requested to present invoices.   DJs will get $90 for new year's eve.

Meraki (Steering Committee) Meeting Notes December 1, 2014

Meeting took place at Jill Eng's apartment, 39 North St., Portland, 12/1/2014, 7-9PM. Thanks Jill!

Present: Eva (Facilitating), Nev, Julie, Neil, Chloe, Blair, Jill, Ken, Liz, Amy, Jim, Xiknawi, Parks, Cherie, Rebecca, Mellen, John (notes)

Welcome to new Meraki participants Amy and Rebecca, and to returning Ken

Thanks to all who were involved with the successful First Annual Membership Meeting


Lost and Found

Concern was expressed about people leaving high value items behind at dance and what to do about them. Specifically a set of keys was left last Sunday, that we didn't know whether or not belonged to one of our dancers.

• John to talk with Kristin about having a safe place at Avant to put high-value lost and found items.
• Wizengamot (Operations Committee) to follow up.

Safety and Silence

With more people coming to dance, there's a concern about excessive conversation on the dance floor, and persistent unwanted attention by new dancers.

      Safety

• Liz mentioned that the Cambridge dance group she belongs to had volunteers with special training in safety. (After the meeting, John requested more information; Liz to get information from contacts there.)
• Neil suggested posting pictures of Wizenagmot so that people will know who to turn to in the event they're not feeling safe. (Ed: We decided to do this previously, but it didn't happen.)
• We need something more proactive. Not specifically sexual, but non-threatening approach and sensitivity to nonverbal cues (eye contact, moving away, body language) and when that fails, suggesting that dancers take care of themselves and feel free to say "no". Also establish that 
• just because you danced once with a partner, it doesn't at all mean you have to dance again.
• Solo dancing is part of the norm at PCD.
• Suggestion was made to have a specific safety sheet and board that goes into more detail about what our expectations than what's on the new member sheet.
• Other suggestions/ideas:
• Have a designated "on-duty" safety person for each dance
• Have a 2nd greeter whose responsibility it is to welcome and orient new dancers
• Have a sign-off on the safety sheet that the dancer has read and agrees to abide by guidelines
• Let's not micro-manage this, but have something specific in place.
• Regular announcements at closing circle
• Whatever rules we establish, we use "so that ... " language to establish the benefit of following the rule. Example: "So that partnering is a comfortable experience"
• Wizengamot will follow up

      Silence

• We had a suggestion in the suggestion box that the way we ask for quiet now is overbearing. Too much "shooshing."
• "On the dance floor, movement is language."
• It's not silence we're asking for, but freedom from social conversation on the dance floor.
• On the other hand, DJs could provide more time for silent wind-down at the end. Make sure there's time for this at the end of the set before we have to leave the space. (Chloe to take to the DJs.)
• We need to model ourselves what we're asking from others.
• The current "silence" sign is not clearly legible enough. We need something that can be grokked at a glance.

New Year's Eve Dance

• John: what we need right now are start and end times, and how much, so we can publish the event.
• Capacity is likely to be a problem. We decided to sell tickets in advance. Price: $15-$20.
• Not a dance party per se. Our usual dance with waves.
• Event is from 9-1. We'll rent the space from 8-2.
• Committee formed to follow up: Eva, Julie, Chloe, Ken, Liz
• Chemical-free, alcohol-free
• Julie and John to coordinate Eventbrite registration
• Liz offered having laptop or tablet at dance for registration
• Question to DJs: what is fair compensation assuming approximately 30% tax burden?

Compensation

• DJs: John said that some DJs have approached the $600 limit over which we are required to issue 1099-MISC forms to DJs. He wants to be able to pay DJs more because they are the lifeblood of PCD. So we could pay DJs enough that taxes are a don't care. DJs to take up at their next meeting. John will provide information on Sunday Dance income and expenses for informed consideration.
• Other positions: Nev's experience with Dance New England says that compensation should/could be considered before it is actually needed. DNE developed a patchwork of inequitable compensation policies based on desires expressed by individuals. We tabled the issue for now.

Taxes/Nonprofit status

Treasurer John's discussion with the accountant/tax advisor recommended by Mellen suggested that it would be advantageous to organize as a tax-exempt organization. Tax filing becomes much simpler. John: 501(c)(7) organization (Social Club) fits us best. We wouldn't be a charitable, tax-deductible 501(c)(3), which requires a much higher standard of charitability. Would require amending Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws. John and Mellen to follow up.


Health during Cold & Flu Season:

•  Xiknawi to bring facial tissues and scent-free hand wipe or alternative
•  Liz: Stay home if you're sick

Retreat

Chloe solicited anyone who might know of a good retreat space for our 2015 winter retreat to let her know. Otherwise, further discussion about the retreat was tabled.


DJ Support

Neil suggested that PCD could buy one or more iPads with DJ software and a PCD spotify account for use by DJs, which would make their lives easier and save on music acquisition expenses. Agreed that this is a possibility. DJs to take up at their next meeting.


Promotion/Announcement of community resources

Neil and Chloe suggested possible ways that PCD community members could let other dancers konw about events of potential interest to them. Ideas: add links to Sunday Dance announcement, have a once/month special "Happenings" newsletter, put links to related dance resources on our website, have a table at Sunday Dance (we do now, but Liz said she'd never seen it). There was need for more discussion about this. What to include/exclude? Whose events are eligible? Email/website/physical or ? We tabled this for now.


Next Meeting

We'll be devoting the next meeting mostly to the New Year's Eve dance event and the PCD 2015 Winter retreat. Monday December 15, 7-9PM, at Nev and Chloe's, 24 Pitt St., Portland ME

PCD First Annual Membership Meeting: November 16, 2014

Portland Community Dance

First Annual Membership Meeting

November 16, 2014

The Portland Community Dance membership met at Avant Dance Center, Westbrook, Maine for its Annual Meeting. The meeting opened at 1:15 pm.

The meeting was attended by 34 members which constituted a quorum (total Membership is 51 so the representation of membership was at 67% for this meeting).

3. Elections of officers took place with these officers elected by unanimous vote:

Eva Rose Goetz - President

John Boynton - Treasurer

Dave Grant - Secretary

Outgoing secretary Deb Grant was thanked for her service. 

4. John Boynton gave the Finance Report, showing a projected balance of $6555 (in the PCD bank account) as of 12/31/2014. 

The meeting closed at 2 p.m.

Thank you to all who participated!

PCD Meraki Meeting 10/20/14

Met at Jill Eng's-- thanks, Jill!

Attended: John (facilitated), Mary Ellen, Xiknawi (welcome back!), Liberty, Liz (welcome!), Blair, Kellie, Jill, Parks, Chloe, Neil, Dave, Deb (meeting notes)

New Year's Eve party: reviewed that we want waves versus a dance party.  this will be a PCD dance, at Avant (vs a big party with multiple invitees who don't ).

Wiz update: Nev would like to join Wiz (operations committee) and we need new blood. Sage will cycle out.  That makes two spaces after Nev.
Deb steps forward to DJ coord and join Wiz.  One space left as of Jan. 1 as  John will need to leave at end of the year.
Voted yes to Nev and Deb
Current wiz is now John, Chloe, Neil, Blair, Nev, Deb

Chloe update, Retreat:  30ish people interested.  Jan and Feb were preferred, but March seems ok. Anticipate 20-25 people.  Idea of dance structured in thru out retreat time.  Chloe will continue to research locations.

RSVP-ing Meraki meetings: Regrets only of regulars?

Liz gets Meraki points. Like 3. For the following suggestion:

People should RSVP to the person who's hosting. That person's email goes into the body of the Meraki announcement email. If the host doesn't get a lot of emails, they could always bring that to the attention of the Meraki list.

Membership Meeting - dates - and location Avant vs. Portland Yoga Studio. Chloe asks how long meeting needs to be. Only things we need to do are elect officers, change bylaws if necessary, and maybe questions for non-Meraki people.

Decision to hold meeting at Avant on 11/16 after dance until 2:15pm. Eat first and keep meeting short.

John says that he still wants to be the Treasurer and that seems to be favorable to the Meraki.

Deb is considering stepping away from her position as Secretary. Secretary is the person who is responsible for keeping the records. Needs to attend all board meetings. Has authority over affixing the seal. Dave suggests that he will take it on if nobody else steps up, as he is in the best position to ask Deb for help.

We need to put it out to the Meraki to see if anyone else is interested in being Secretary.

Eva has yet to confirm whether or not she wants to be President again. Actually via text she says that she's interested in serving again.

Secretary is going to send out an email calling for people to be Secretary and also saying that John and Eva are interested in continuing, so we're all set with candidates for that.

Dave suggests that we really need a formal nominating process before we really have an open call for nominations.

Discussion following to establish what the purpose of Meraki continues to be? Anyone can be on Meraki. And yet the Meraki has the power. Unless they can't decide something, in which case the board can decide. The point is for the power to be in the Meraki.

What will we do at the meeting? How will we handle the election?
We'll have an explanation of the structure.
Mellen is going to put together an agenda for that meeting and recruit people to help her if it's necessary. Dave is going to help with fun.
Voting will be "all in favor" "all opposed" - voice vote?

Chloe proposes that we use some of our $ to get food for the meeting - why not do something nice for the members? Chloe says she will help figure it out.

Neil will add an announcement about the membership meeting to the PCD emails.

Members can sign up day of meeting even if they do.

John is going to import the membership list into an authoritative Mailchimp "membership" list. Dave/Blair will get that list to John. Deb proposes that we back up the list in Google Docs.

Choosing next date: December 1 at Jill's house - 7pm
39 North Street, Portland
between Quebec and Cumberland on Munjoy Hill

Meraki (Steering Committee) Meeting Notes 9/23/14

Attending: John, Chloë (co-facilitating), Neil (hosting, co-facilitating), Mellen, Parks, Liberty, Blair, Jill, Eva, Deb, Judy T, Julie, Nev, Martin

Facebook group

Nev suggests the possibility of Facebook group for community discussion. More shareable than a page, and more people get to see what's posted there.

Concern was expressed about opening it up to all and sundry, but an announcement about the group's purpose and guidelines can be pinned to the top, and our community is perhaps small enough as to not be vulnerable to a lot of superfluous stuff. Also, admins can delete spam.

We discussed making it a benefit of membership, but decided to make it open to all (but require Admin approval). Voted to create; Nev to spearhead. Admins: Nev, John, Chloë, Neil, Eva

Retreat

Chloë has done research, has email inquiries out to several facilities. Possibilities include Ferry Beach Saco, which would have space for 20 indoors, and we could do a retreat this fall (though most felt that was too soon for planning purposes), but has a big campus and dining hall that wouldn't be that intimate. Another possibility: a big house in Harpswell. Gorgeous place 20-24 (sleeps 20, but bedding for floors might be a possibility), about $150 / head. Great room looks big. On the pricey side at $1200-$1400/night. Other inquiries are out there, but no one facility is a standout perfect fit. Other possibilities to check out: Camp Kiev, Camp Wavus.

We discussed subsidizing part of the cost or offering scholarships, and decided to set a sliding scale fee, offer scholarships, and pick up the difference of what we don't take in. There was discussion of how big a place we'd need, and decided to take a poll/survey to get a gauge of interest and numbers. It depends on cost, when we hold it, how far away it is, and so on. Wouldn't be before January 2015. Chloë to take charge of announcements and signup sheet.

New Year's Eve Dance

We definitely want to do a New Year's Eve dance. Most expressed the desire to use a wave format rather than a more free-form dance party format like we had last year. State Street Church will be in the neighborhood of $500; John recommended renting a kickass sound system for the event. Some felt that last year's event was too crowded, but on reflection, it may have been that the crowd wasn't a problem as much as the dance party vibe of the event. There was fairly unanimous feeling of wanting to stage our regular Sunday Dance format. Avant was discussed as a possibility for a more intentional (but more costly @$200/hr) venue - we'd have fewer drop-ins at Avant than at State Street Church, because dancers would have to make an intentional journey to Westbrook for the event if it was held at Avant. We discussed the idea of presenting it as our standard dance experience rather than a dance party. John and Neil to follow up with State Street Church and Avant.

Fallbrook Woods

Martin took the initiative to coordinate our attendance at the Fallbrook Woods regular Saturday Dance Party. The main question under consideration was whether to keep it under the PCD umbrella, or let Martin run with it as an independent activity. We felt we had pressing matters to consider at the meeting and voted to keep it under PCD auspices for now, and take up the question later. Martin will continue to coordinate volunteer dancer, around 3 per week, to serve Fallbrook Woods with our dance offerings. The staff was really appreciative of what the dancers did for the first two events, and requested to mention us on their volunteer of the week page with a link back to our website, to which we heartily consented.

(break)

Membership signups

Blair passed around a membership signup sheet. As for an introductory packet, he felt that what we already have is sufficient. We discussed modifications to the signup sheet. We'll put out the forms throughout October for membership signups at dance. We'll start making announcements at dance and start signups in October with the modified form that Blair and Dave developed. Thanks Blair and Dave!

Membership meeting

John proposed a post-dance potluck party and meeting. We settled on Nov 2, 12:30 - 3:30;  John to check with Kristin (update: Nov. 2 not available; current proposed date and time is Saturday Nov. 1, 10AM-2PM at Avant)

DJ feedback

Nev proposes a DJ feedback form to help grow the art. Wants to keep it positive.
John (echoed by others): Don't see the need. Some suggested the suggestion box. Other inputs: We don't want to interfere with the creative process; "bad" sets actually are good in that they take us out of our comfort zone. The DJs could take responsibility for self-evaluation according to the form criteria they've established: How well did I do against our established criteria? Also, Chloë's take from Neige's experience with DJ feedback forms at DanceCamp was that there was conflicting input that ultimately wasn't helpful. Another idea: more generally than just DJ feedback was "How're we doing?" in general. Get input from the community on any and all aspects of the PCD experience. The DJs are meeting as a group this Sunday (September 28) and will discuss this among other things.

Meraki Meeting Facilitation

Nev: It might be worthwhile to pick facilitator for the next meeting at the end of each meeting. Among other things, it would cut down on selection time at the beginning of the meeting.
Julie volunteered to facilitate the next meeting; Neil to take notes.

Wizengamot (Operations Committee)

John: With Don's departure, we're down to 5 members and could use one more to bring our membership back to 6. Our next meeting is slated for Sunday October 5 after dance. Nev expressed interest.

Next meeting

Monday October 20, 7-9PM at Jill's, 39 North St. Portland, enter at driveway side door, 1st floor.
We will focus on the membership meeting
Julie to facilitate with Neil on notes

Meraki (Steering Committee) Meeting Notes 8/12/14

We met at Eva's lovely home in SoPo. Thanks Eva for your hospitality!

Present: Eva, Deb (facilitating), Dave, Neil, Chloë, Julie, Jill, Parks, Liberty, Kellie, Mellen, Blair, Jim Young, John (notetaker); Traca and Don in our hearts and by remote video road song presentation

Communications coordinator replacement

• Paid position? No, but consider another time
• Don set the bar really high with his creative presentations. Whoever takes on this job can make it simple and not feel they have to live up to Don's standards. (Ed: though he is a tough act to follow.)
• Announcements frequency doesn't have to be once a week. Maybe once a month? Although the announcements are fun to get every week.
• Neil volunteered to take it on, with Julie and John as backups. Neil wants to do them every week. John to get login details to Neil; Communications Committee to advise Meraki if there's trouble down the road.

Community Health Issue

• Eva raised the concern about public health concerns in light of current Ebola virus epidemic in Africa. And in Maine, we have the cold and flu season. What should we be doing to safeguard the health of our community members?
• Resolved: ask the communications person to make an announcement ("Stay home if you're sick") when there's a wider health concern (like a flu outbreak).

Lea's request to have us take over EDM punch cards

• Background: Lea sent a letter to the PCD email address asking if we'd consider accepting and honoring the handful of punch cards she has. No payment was discussed for this consideration.
• The overwhelming response amongst those present: No.
• John to send a response email to Lea saying simply: No (Ed.: This was done 8/13/14)

Chloë's upcoming move; upcoming opening for Thursday evenings at BiM

• Chloë is planning to move to Holyoke MA, and will be teaching until Oct 1.
• We tried to veto this precipitous action, but unfortunately could not.
• She offered that if PCD or one of its members was interested in taking over her Thursday evening teaching slot at Bhakti in Motion, she'd make the suggestion to BiM.
• We discussed various options for PCD taking this on. Deb is interested in teaching in the fall, and we'd be stretching ourselves thin by taking on another weekly dance. So Chloë and Deb will work together to see if Deb could have the slot.

Membership

• Dave (membership chair; Blair co-chair) reviewed our agreements for establishing membership:
• Timeframe: Enrollment is open, but advertised at the will of the Meraki, probably once or twice a year.
• Annual renewals
• Revocation possible by Board of Directors (established in bylaws)
• Membership document approved for putting at the front table.
• The time to initiate membership signups is drawing near.
• We'll take up membership signups and the first annual Membership Meeting (slated for around the beginning of November) at the next Meraki Meeting.

Scentsitivity

• Neal raised the concern about sensitivity of some dancers to strong fragrances, including perfume, essential oils, strong smelling shampoo and hair products.
• Let's create a phrase that goes into the email.
• Make an announcement occasionally at the end of Sunday Dance
• Deb to write up a blurb for the email announcement. (Ed.: Completed 8/13/14)

Sacred Silence

• Feedback from Liz Farmer: silence makes it more sacred feeling. She appreciates the atmosphere we've established (not hookup like in Boston)
• Julie: Create banner? Good idea, but we couldn't agree on verbiage. Tabled for now.

Service (Dave)

• Look for ways of being generous that are part of community building
• Specific idea: Preble St. But think broadly about the possibilities for us to serve the community
• Dave will take this on

Paid retreat (Eva):

• Wouldn't it be nice to offer paid weekend retreat for everybody?
• Would be for members, but this could create a number of difficulties
• Other ideas: have one or more free dances; lower the price of Sunday Dance; make New Year's eve free for members
• Just an idea to think about; we'll table it for now

Don & Traca video

• Dave showed a video that Don and Traca recorded on the road for us. What a sweet way to have their presence at the meeting!
• Our resident professional videographer Dave Grant filmed our group response lovefest. Fun!

Next meeting: September 23, 7PM at Neil's (147 Brackett St.)

Agenda items for next time:

• Start membership signup
• Plan membership meeting
• (John) New Wizengamot members