Meraki Meeting Notes for December 13, 2022

 Age Restriction & Associated Waiver Form Update (Kari)

• Proposal to restrict PCD dances to adults only (18 and older).
• Precipitated not only by the snafu during the 12.4.22 dance (synopsis: father arriving with 12-year-old daughter, not having found notification of age restriction via prior research on website and being miffed when this was spelled out; father subsequently submitted long email diatribe to which Mellen & Kari diplomatically responded).
• A number of PCD members have wished for this restriction for a long time, noting that (put simply) minors might not only have questions about what they encounter on the dance floor, but also that the presence of minors may inhibit full expression by adult participants.
• Concern about spatial and energetic awareness of minors.
• Mellen pointed out that the inclusion of minors was more in response to the opportunity to dance outdoors after Covid hit AND that space is already becoming a concern (again!) as we reestablish ourselves post-Covid.
• And it’s really always been an adult event.
• 18 is culturally/legally established as the cutoff for being an adult, so that cutoff feels non-arbitrary to society.
• Unanimous passage of proposal!
• Effective immediately.
• Greeter can inquire about age of new dancer if obviously necessary.
• Waiver to drop bottom two sections referring to minors; re-print with changes, but still use BLUE paper to keep continuity…will change color at the end of the requisite three-year lifetime of the collected signatures.

Where Can We Dance? Update (Lori)

• Mellen, Kari, and Lori visited the Christian School in SoPo and view it as a contender (storage, amenities, kindness and cooperation of contact person), with the caveat that the dance space (gym) is rather boomy. Pricing TBD. Available January forward.
• Looking forward to visiting the other strong contender, 317 Main Street in Yarmouth (storage, TBD plug-and-play hookup to 317 sound system, sprung dance floor, purpose-built, aligning with 317’s desire to create community). Pricing TBD. Not available until mid-February or possibly into March if there are snags on their end (the dance hall is part of an extension of their existing facility and is presently under construction). [Visit Wednesday following Meraki revealed square footage: 2061.]
• Option to try out one/other/both locations prior to signing a contract; WCWD committee entrusted with deciding upon any such activity.

May 5 - 7, 2023 PCD Dance Retreat at Ferry Beach in Saco (Lily)

• Contract has been ironed out, signed, and provided to all committee members so that the facility's requirements are known by all.
• Lily is in contact with Kathy and will convene the committee in January to continue planning:
• Marion K.
• Sandra (?)
• Joe E.
• Shelagh R.
• Krista O.
• Rudy G. & Kari P. (available for consulting)
• 4 DJs have already voiced interest, thereby covering the 4 dances!
• 25-person minimum; maximum?
• If people can begin signing up sooner rather than later, we’ll have a better idea of numbers and therefore whether or not or when to make membership requirement changes to encourage more signups.
• John will get proof of insurance to Lily pronto for Kathy.

Facebook Group Administration and Group Membership Approvals, et al (Rudy)

• Rudy has taken the bait and is taking this quagmire on.
• Clarification: Page is official PCD business and is completely open for viewing, but only PCD admins can post; for the purpose of announcing dances, cancellations, and policies as needed. Group, however, is only accessible via acceptance into the group; it is possible for anyone in the group to post and is meant as a place for building (dance) community.
• Committee of Rudy, Mellen, John, and Lori will figure out how to better define the above and then better visually and verbally communicate the same.
• Determine any rules of engagement for Group admission.
• Can the Group be a clearinghouse for dancing in Maine?!? Rename Group to something like “Portland Dance Hub”?

Membership Requirement (Lily)

• Would it be helpful for the 5-dance requirement for PCD membership be lowered since we’re only dancing twice a month presently and the retreat is on the not-too-distant horizon?
• Suggested: 3 dances.
• Change would make the retreat available to more dancers.
• What is the retreat capacity?
• Note that annual meeting must be attended by 10% of the membership in order to make quorum; keep this in mind as we grow membership, but membership can be winnowed of dead wood.
• Are 3 dances enough to grant benefits of membership: access to Meraki meetings and therefore decision-making, access to retreats, ability to serve as an officer?
• Do retreats have to be members only?
• Lingering concerns by some present: there is a group understanding, a holding of space around touch, boundaries, consent, power dynamics, body and gender issues. 

• Table for now.

Next Meraki Meetings

January 17 - possibly @Deb G.’s, weather permitting; otherwise, on Zoom

February 21

Annual Membership Meeting Notes - November 20 2022

Portland Community Dance held its Annual Membership Meeting on Sunday November 20, 2022, from 1-2:15 PM at Ketcha Outdoors, Scarborough ME

Participants:

With over 13 members, we met our quorum requirement of 10% of our 132 current members. (Sorry, I didn't get an exact count - 20 to 25 people?)

Agenda:

• Ingathering - Rudy
• Icebreaker - Deb
• How we Roll - John
• Summary of 2022 - Mellen
• Finance - John
• Wiz update - Kari
• Greeter Coordinator - Lily
• Future Dance Space - Lori
• 2023 Retreat - Shelagh
• Thank outgoing officers/board - Mellen
• New Officer/Board selections - Deb
• Kari Pritchard, President
• Lori Harley, Treasurer (continuing)
• John Boynton, Secretary (continuing)
• Crowning Cermony - Deb
• Out-gathering - Rudy

Meeting:

Ingathering

Rudy offered music

Icebreaker

Deb facilitated icebreaker exercises.

How We Roll

John summarized the How we Roll document.

Summary of 2022

Mellen gave highlights of 2022.

Finance 

John interpretively danced a gradual decline in our account balance, and presented a discussion of our costs and income. PCD finances should improve with robust attendance we've seen in the last few dances.

Wiz Update

Kari summarized activities of the Wizengamot (Operations Committee), whose current members are: Blair, Jimmie and Kari, Lori, Lily, Sunshine, and Tim. The biggest logistics lift continues to be equipment cartage, storage, and setup/teardown.

Greeter Coordinator

Lily has graciously offered to serve as Greeter Coordinator. We passed around a signup sheet for a "Let me know how I can help" list of names for anyone who would like to assist with any of the various PCD needs.

Space

Lori summarized our current space search for a new venue in 2023, and reported that Ketcha Outdoors might be available to us through the winter and spring months. Maine Coast Waldorf School is a regular possibility if a better option doesn't surface. There's a spreadsheet of our research; anyone with ideas of possible venues, please contact Lori.

Social Media Correspondent

Deb mentioned our need for a Social Media coordinator / correspondent to take charge of our Facebook page and group.

Spring 2023 Retreat

We have a signed contract and have paid a deposit to Ferry Beach Retreat Center for a spring retreat for PCD members, planned for May 5-7 2023. If anyone wants to contribute to organizing the retreat, please talk to Shelagh.

Thank You to Outgoing Officers

We thanked outgoing officers Mellen, Lori, and John, for their service to PCD.

Officer / board elections

We elected the following officers and board members:

• Kari Pritchard, President
• John Boynton, Secretary (continuing)
• Lori Harley, Treasurer (continuing)

Officer positions take effect immediately.

Future Meetings

We scheduled future Meraki meetings for December 13 and January 17 on Zoom and at Deb's place, respectively. More details by email to the membership.

Outgathering/adjourn

Rudy performed a brief reprise of the ingathering music.

Meeting was adjourned at 2:15 PM.

Annual Membership Meeting Sunday November 20; November 15 Meraki Meeting Notes

Participating: Kari (Facilitating), Lori, Shelagh, John, Rudy, Deb, Mellen, Lindy

Spring Retreat update (Rudy)

• The contract with Ferry Beach is signed and ready to go.
• Dates: May 5-7 2023
• Next steps:
• Send deposit check (John)
• Hand the contract over to the retreat committee to begin planning
• Firm up committee membership
• Develop a list of tasks and a timeline (committee)
• Publish a "Save the Dates" announcement (Mellen)
• Deb to write up a handout ("if I get my act together") to post at dance

New Dance Venue (Lori)

• Barring a miracle, we won't have a new facility (other than Waldorf) for January.
• Lori and others are pursuing many leads, which we discussed.
• Next steps:
  
• Continue reaching out to facilities on the spreadsheet
• Reach out to Portland Public Schools and Portland Rec. Dept. to see what facilities might be available.

Annual Meeting (Mellen)

• We'll set up tables in the room next to the dance hall for the post-dance potluck
• We discussed agenda items
• Next steps:
  
• Add potluck and meeting summary to next dance announcement (Mellen)
• Publish meeting announcement details with agenda to the membership Friday-ish (John)

Facebook Group Administration and Group Membership Approvals (Deb):

• It's not clear who all has responsibility for vetting new membership requests to the group, and what the criteria are for accepting or rejecting.
• We do have some automatic approvals, if the person is in the Portland area and has one or more friends in the group
• Beyond that, it's not clear.
• Nor do we have published guidelines for group posts and conduct.
• No one present at the meeting was keen to take on responsibility for the Facebook group administration.
• We discussed a response by one group member to a dance announcement post, that we decided to leave be.
• We need a Social Media secretary/coordinator to take on the responsibility for our Facebook and possible future other social media presences. (Right now, Facebook is it.)

Meet in Person (John)?

• We discussed the possibility of meeting in person at future Meraki meetings, and there were mixed feelings. The convenience of Zoom makes it easier to attend meetings, but the possibility of meeting in person, especially after such a long time meeting on Zoom, is appealing.
• Deb volunteered to host the January meeting at her home; we'll see how that goes.

Closing Business

• Next meeting dates after the Annual Membership Meeting: December 13, January 17
• We spent about 15 minutes in meeting evaluation

October 11 Meraki Notes; Next Meraki November 15; Annual Membership Meeting November 20

Participating: Kari, Jimmie, John (Notes), Rudy, Deb (Facilitating), Jason, Mellen

Spring Retreat update (Rudy)

• Rudy created a deck of slides that he shared with the group.
• Dates: May 5-7
• We'll be sharing with another group, but will attempt to get exclusive use of breakout rooms.
• Housing:
• Dorms insulated but not heated, heat rises from below
• Heated cabins available, price chart on web site
• Food: limited menu, nutritious, vegan option available
• Next steps:

1. Wrestle contract to reflect what's in the slides (Rudy)
2. A lot of logistics
• They did agree to do registration
• We need an active committee - Rudy wants not to be involved in organizing

Masking (Jason)

• Idea in Jason's mind: at some point we need to drop the masks
• It's not about protecting each other; we're making our own choices
• We had a round-robin of each member present sharing their feelings, which were mixed.
• Proposal:
• Make masking optional
• Revert to masking if surging, following Maine and U.S. CDC guidance
• If not feeling well, don't come to dance
• Discuss at the annual meeting
  
• Proposal was adopted by consensus

New Dance Venue (Lori)

• Lori shared the spreadsheet she's keeping on prospective venues with input from members.
• Cory at Maine Coast Waldorf School showed us a closet we *might* be able to use. She's using the slow drip process to encourage consideration of its use by PCD.
• We discussed the various places
• Put in the meeting notes: Be in touch with Lori and/or Mellen about possible spaces
• We can always dance at Maine Coast Waldorf School

Annual Meeting (Mellen)

• Kari volunteers for President; John and Lori to continue as Secretary and Treasurer.
• Rudy offered the possibility of serving as Vice President, but we didn't have any scope for such a role.
• Mellen will continue as Correspondence Secretary to monitor gmail account
• John to send bylaws link to Mellen and Deb
• We have the hall for the extra hour (until 2:30)
• John to publish a Save the date message. Potluck (bring your own meal kit), indoors, done before 2:30
• John to send Mellen last year's AM agenda
• Mellen and Kari comprise the Meeting Committee

Agenda for next time (November 15):

• Meet in person?
• Retreat status/progress
• Where can we dance status/progress
• Annual Meeting planning
• PCD Facebook group: how do we decide not to admit a person who requests to join? (Deb)

September 13 Meraki Meeting Notes; Next Meetings: Oct 11, Nov 15

 Present at meeting: John, Shelagh, Rudy, Lori, Mellen, Kari, Marion, Lily, Deb

2023 Retreat (Shelagh) 

Shelagh, Rudy, Krista, Julie, and Lily considering three venues: Ferry Beach, Pilgrim Lodge, and Wavus. Short story: If Wavus does not respond in another week or so, PCD will book Ferry Beach.

Ferry Beach (Rudy): A known entity, responsive, and more affordable

• Rowland Hall (same building as before) has been upgraded with heat downstairs (but heat may rise to 2nd floor!); floor re-finished
• April 14/15/16 (off-season…all to ourselves)*
• $500 down payment
• The food off-season is "healthy and clean,” but very limited in scope
• They do have a registrar, but it may be better for PCD to arrange registration for better service/efficiency.

*After Meraki, 9.21.22, Rudy learned of a May (4/) 5/6/7 cancellation open to us, with the only caveat that there will be a small group there at that time using a side room in Roland Hall…with the following details:

Ferry Beach total Cost per person for retreat.

Dorm style Rm* (2 Nights): $40-160** 
Food*** (6 meals): $90 
Membership: $30…with alternative of PCD paying for a group membership

DJ Costs: TBD

=================

Total: $160-$280 (not including DJ costs)

Minimum #: 25

$80 pre-recorded/$175 live per dance, usually with 4 dances

* There are a limited # of rooms available in heated cabins  hose are more expensive.  Details and links with pricing provided in previous eMail below.

** Majority of rooms have 2 bunk beds (4 beds).  Cost for 2 nights is $160, regardless of number of people  o sharing a room lowers individual cost.

*** Includes vegetarian option: vegetarian meal plan must be requested at registration.  To avoid food waste, vegetarian option only available to those who register for it.

Pilgrim Lodge (Lily): Too pricey

• desirable location on Lake Cobbosseecontee in West Gardiner
• Dock & boats, but req. lifeguard for swimming ($100 per 2-hour block)
• dates available before Jun/Jul/Aug
• capacity: 65 or fewer
• 10K for three days, plus food…so, estimate for 40 attendees: $250/pp for lodging = $150/pp for food = $400/pp…ouch!
• sound system
• (new-ish) large barn with a beautiful wooden floor

Wavus (Shelagh): Unresponsive

• previous retreats there before educational-group requirement; that appears to have been lifted and all/any groups are acceptable for retreats now
• very desirable location on Damariscotta Lake
• docks, swimming, bunk rooms, camping
• as yet unresponsive to communications

Search for 2023 dance venue (Lori)

• gathering any additional considerations for new venues
• neighbors/neighborhood regarding sound if openable windows
• parking/access
• bare feet
• type of floor
• Sunday morning!
• Lori will update Google doc spreadsheet and invite people to contribute info they collect
• new/old venue ideas
• Westbrook Community Center (Kari)…Sunday morning gym full of basketball; dance studio space small and without any windows
• Maplewood (Deb)
• Odd Fellows @ Woodfords (Deb)
• Masonic Lodge (Deb)
• Woodford’s Club (Lori)…Shelagh dances there Thu nights; no noise issues, as dance hall is on the parking lot side, with the closest neighbor being the funeral home.
• UNE Westbrook Campus (?)
• St. Brigid’s on Steven’s Ave (?)
• Christian School in S. Portland (Mellen)
• Breakwater School (Mellen)
• Grange Halls, e.g. Highland Lake (?)
• Longfellow School (?)…in the midst of renovation, so not good timing!
• synagogues!

Annual Membership Meeting (Mellen)

• Zoom again, or do live, after a dance? The latter would most likely guarantee more attendance!
• Meraki agreed on allocating 1 hour following the Nov. 20 dance for an in-person meeting!
• Mellen to contact Ketcha to schedule that extra time (1:30  :30) and find out what if any additional fee; as soon as that is verified, a Save the Date email can be sent out to community.
• Suggestions about the inclusion of food:
• potluck, with BYOF if special diet
• BYOF/bagged lunch
• consider masking policy if indoors since there will likely be eating; if outdoors in the pavilion, get permission/help to unroll the walls if chilly

Recruitment for Officers and Board of Directors (Mellen)

• Search committee for recruiting officers is the current roster of officers, so Mellen, John, and Lori
• Deb submits herself as option for President.
• Shelagh suggests making an announcement to the PCD community re: a call for nominations/volunteers for officers. 

Meraki Meetings

• John will open Zoom meeting 10 minutes early so that socializing can happen before meeting
• Future dates: October 11, November 15
• In Oct & Nov, revisit masking policy

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.)

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.