Minutes
Board Meeting – December 2, 2006
Present: David, Jimmy, Theresa, Wayne, Janet, Tammy, Elaine, John, Jerry, Teresa W
Absent: Dwayne, Neil
Welcome
Welcome to newest board member, Jerry Vice. Jerry volunteered for the Maintenance Committee.
New Policy Review
David reviewed the new policies that were approved 01 Oct 2006.
1- Band member spouses pay to dance
2- Full price for latecomers (after break)
3- Students (18 and over) pay the same as adults.
4- Half-price donation for those who do not want to dance, only listen to the music.
Minutes from last meeting
Minutes from last meeting were approved (motion made by Tammy and seconded by Theresa).
Monster Mash
Gratitude was expressed to all Monster Mash committee members for making it a “smash” and to other dancers who volunteered to help with decorating, etc. We made over $400 on Monster Mash.
Moondance
David is stepping down from co-chairing the committee. Theresa will continue and is looking for another co-chair. David will still help out in various ways and in booking/organizing details for the bands and callers.
We will most likely vote for bands/callers via email instead of a meeting of the Moondance committee. David will email instructions.
Theresa would like written details on the responsibilities for each of the committees for Moondance. These will be compiled into a report for future use. Email to her as soon as possible. Gari Carter will compile and edit the report.
It was recommended that two scholarships be considered for recycling at Moondance next year.
John is working on the camping issue for Moondance: whether to assign camping or allow first come first serve.
It was recommended to re-evaluate ordering t-shirts post Moondance. It was a major inconvenience and accounting problem for the treasurer. One recommendation was to collect the money at Moondance for t-shirts prior to ordering.
Nominating Committee
John presented three applications for potential board members. Catherine (Cathy) Scott, Robert Jamison and David Polechko.
Concerns were expressed about the commitment involved in being a board member. Most were in agreement that anyone interested in being on the board should demonstrate this commitment by volunteering and participating in the RFL community at large (i.e, help open/close, work days, other ways of volunteering).
John makes the motion to nominate Cathy Scott. Wayne seconds the motion. All approved. The remaining two will remain in the pool until a future selection.
David challenges each board member to submit a name for future consideration with consideration to creating a little more diversity on the board, especially regarding age. David also suggested that we consider creating a special “seats” on the board for high school age and college age dancers.
Finances
Elaine reports that we have over $11,000 in the bank, even with having paid out $5000 for Moondance 2007 (camping reservations, etc).
Annual fees for CDSS are due soon (~$200). She indicated funding may be available through CDSS as grants for purchasing RFL and will keep up-to-date on availability of funding.
Elaine will edit the document for depositing money to be added to the website under Board responsibilities.
Maintenance
We acknowledged David’s help in fixing the one heater. Wayne will check into having the other one fixed as well.
David will ask Leon for permission to clean out the back corner where supplies are currently kept and to replace the sofas.
Wireless Microphone
Based on Weogo Reed’s recommendations for a wireless mic. Wayne makes a motion to purchase the $500 microphone. John makes a second. The floor was opened for discussion. Weogo is interested in contributing $150 toward the $500 mic, as he would like to use it at other times than RFL dances as well. There was discussion about how this would work out, whether we should purchase the mic entirely and let him borrow it, or rent it when he would like to use it. There was also a question if would be a hand-held mic or head-set. It was recommended a head-set would be more convenient for callers when assisting beginners during the lessons and/or during the dance.
Wayne suggested tabling this item. He will find out about the type of mic (hand-held or head-set) and clarification on Weogo’s additional use of the mic.
At break, David found out from Weogo [but forgot to share w/ board at meeting] that if Weogo was part owner, he understood that Harvest Moon would be priority user. He also found out from Weogo that he had only priced a wireless hand held mic, not a headset mic, which he said would be more expensive. Weogo will get prices for head set mic.
Open/Close Dances
David had revised/refined the Open/Close instructions. He will email out for comments. Send comments to Teresa for compiling/editing. These instructions will be posted on the web and placed in the blue notebook under the coffin.
David also corrected and clarified the procedure for turning the water on and off during the winter months. These are laminated and on the wall by the breaker box. Additional copies will be in the blue notebook under the coffin.
Tammy will bring the no-smoking signs at the next dance.
Policies
We discussed the proposal of “3 strikes you’re out” for inappropriate behavior for repeat offenders. After much discussion, it was decided that Jimmy and Wayne, along with input from Theresa and David, would develop more clarification on the subject, i.e., define inappropriate behavior, how to communicate with the offender appropriately, etc. We do have in place in our by-laws that dancers who behave inappropriately can be asked to leave. Until a policy is in place, if someone complains, a board member can approach the offender with the intent of a non-judgmental discussion about the inappropriate behavior. It was recommended this item be tabled for further clarification.
It was decided that our announcements at the break will include verbiage along these lines: state your name, that you are a board member, ask for board members present to raise hands, state “if anyone has concerns, questions or problems, contact me or one of the other board members.”
Inclement weather
In discussion about last year’s ice store and power outage, it was decided to have phone service (voice mail only) so dancers can call in to find out about cancellations. Janet will draft a policy.
River Falls Lodge Purchase
Tabled due to lack of time.
Volunteer Co-ordination
Tabled due to lack of time.
Bands/booking
Everyone gave David a big thumbs up for booking and selecting the bands!!
John Bryson is going to be on the committee with David now; David will share correspondence with John that pertains to booking bands/callers and will confer w/ John about booking issues. When and if David gives this job up, John would be in a position to take over.
Crowds/Dance instruction
David proposed a modification of the callers role in the dance instruction policy. It is meant to be more flexible, relying on our traditional approach to teaching (pairing up experienced w/ beginner dancers) but having the caller ready and prepared to lead or participate in the instruction at 7:30, depending on the need. The details of this policy will be included on the website and all board members are encouraged to review the policy so that when they are the dance host, they will be able to remind or convey to the caller the expectations and help monitor dance instruction needs. David is modifying the letter to the caller to reflect this.
Publicity/Marketing
Newsletter items due 15 Dec for the next newsletter in January. Send items to Theresa. We’re only printing the newsletter twice a year at a savings of ~ $500.
Current schedule will be in the blue notebook under the coffin to help with announcing upcoming dances.
Thanks to Theresa for working on the newsletter for the past year. Cathy Scott is now responsible for putting it together.
By-laws
No report.
Other
Wayne will come up with two dates for an indoor work day during the winter.
Teresa informed David after the meeting that she will take on the beginner’s buttons. Plans are to make them over winter break for the first dance in January.
Next Meeting
20 January 2007 @ 2:30-5:30 @ RFL
Respectfully submitted: 08 December 2006