MINUTES
29 October 2011

The South Carolina Square and Round Dance Federation meeting was hosted by the Meri-Go-Rounds and held at The Barn.

CALL TO ORDER & WELCOME – Richard and Barbara Walker

INVOCATION -- Melba Johnston

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – Rich Fanger

SECRETARY’S REPORT – Janice Mathys

Copies of the minutes were previously mailed to all officers, chairpersons and federation representatives. There being no correction, the minutes will stand approved as distributed. .

TREASURER’S REPORT - Darrell & Sylvia Sealey

Beginning balance 7/29/11 $6,918.03
Deposits 57.85
Interest earned .77
Disbursements (353.84)
Ending balance 10/28/11 $6,622.81

CD Balance with interest earned as of 10/28/2011 - $6,265.56

A motion was made and seconded to accept the report. Motion passed.

ROLL CALL OF CLUBS – Janice Mathys
Richard asked that each Federation Rep stand when he/she announces club membership number, so that a ‘sealed’ ballot for voting later in the meeting can be distributed to each representative.

Six clubs were absent or did not answer the roll call, these being
Beaufort Squares and Rounds
Dixie Diamonds
Grand Strand Strutters
Sand Dollar Squares
Spartan Spinners
Village Squares

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Hall of Fame – Donnie & Patsy Sligh
The committee has made a selection for 2012; it will be announced at Convention.

Education
– Although the Education position is still vacant, earlier this afternoon Frank and Mary Ann Trapp led the 3rd discussion of a series of sessions about what the Federation is for, what it does, what it should do, etc.

IT (Information Technology) – John Earley
(1) Added a link to “Square Dance Radio Network” to web page.
(2) Added “Education Meeting’s Minutes and Summary” to web page.
(3) Hit counter was 4,346 on October 28, 2011.

A question was asked: What is the name of the web site? John said to Google ‘South Carolina Square Dance’, and our site is the 1st one.

Insurance – Rosilyn Earley (in Mary Davis’ absence)
Dues ($20) and Insurance for each club should be paid by November 15. Insurance is the same as last year ($4.45 per dancer), unless the club has 10 members or less, in which case it is $45.00.

Some questions were asked:
1) Must every member in the club be insured? Yes, if not – the club cannot have coverage.
2) Can you send us the forms? The forms are on the computer. Print them out and type in the information, or complete form on the computer and then print out (NO handwriting, please!), and mail 4 copies to Mary.
3) Can I write 1 check for both dues and insurance? Yes.
4) What if Nov. 15 deadline is not met? Pat Ingles (representative from the USDA insurance company said it takes 45 days to process and issue certificate. If they don’t have those 45 days, it cannot be done.
5) Are dancers covered at parades, exhibitions, homes, etc.? No. Ms. Ingles suggested dancers talk with their individual clubs and see how they feel about that. If that coverage were a part of our policy, of course the rates would be higher, but if that is wanted, she will talk with her company.
6) So where are dancers covered? At your regular dance site (as listed on your application) and at Federation-sponsored dances such as quarterly Federation dances and the Convention. If you are going to hold a special one-time dance at another location (such as an anniversary dance, for instance), you must notify Mary 45-60 days in advance and she will get a certificate to you to be covered.
7) Under Section B, if you are traveling to a dance with 10 or more members, you are covered; is that right? The van driver must be a qualified driver, and all passengers must be covered dancers.

Mary’s email for further questions is mhdavis248@yahoo.com . Note: This is a new email address. Her new mailing address is: 1520 Coral Reef Lane, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576.

There then ensued a protracted discussion of how many members it takes to be a ‘club’. Short answer is that there is no set minimum; it could be 1, 2, 8, any number. But for 10 members or less, insurance is $45.00 and Federation dues are $20 per club, no matter the size.

USDA – Anne & Virginia Coble
USDA.org has information that might answer your insurance questions. This is a very good site for many different types of information.

Historian – Vacant

Friendship – Milton Roof
There will be several dangles given out tonight. Milton and Doris will not be staying till the end of the dance tonight, but will stay to present dangles.

State Dress – Sue McClure
State dress kits are available, so contact Sue and you could be wearing that new outfit at Myrtle Beach in January!

Nominations – James and Bonnie Franklin
Bonnie announced that she has contacted all the nominated members and each is willing to serve. Nominated are: President – Rich and Joanie Fanger, members of the Hilton Head Ocean Waves and dancing for 6 yrs; Vice-President, Darrell and Sylvia Sealey, members of the Camden Hi-Steppers and dancing for 4 yrs; Secretary – Janice Mathys, member of Savannah Lakes Promenaders and dancing for 8 yrs; and Treasurer – Doug and Linda Horton, members of the Camden Hi-Steppers and dancing for 2 yrs. They are not here this afternoon due to a family commitment, but will be here this evening.

There being no nominations from the floor, voting commenced. Voting for the above slate was unanimous. Installation will be during the state convention.

AREA REP. REPORTS

Piedmont Area 1, Vacant. No report.
Piedmont Area 2, Richard & Jenny Woofter. No report.
Midlands Area 1, No report.
Midlands Area 2, No report.

Low Country Area 1, J.C. Coward.
Unfortunately, my report is to announce that James Island Wheelers will be closing at the end of their December 10, 2011 dance.
Also, the Berkeley Squares were unable to get a place to hold a New Year’s Eve dance (building rent exorbitant), but should know by mid-January whether they will hold one on 12/31/2012.

Low Country Area 2, Bill Jeffers.
The clubs who held just 1 dance a month during the summer consider that was good, and plan to do the same next year.
Singles, Jimmy Foster. No report.
Rounds, Larry and Jenny Koons. No report.

OLD BUSINESS

2017 National Convention –The Chairmen of the NEC are here today, please welcome Wayne and Janice Bowman. Wayne stated how much they enjoy square dancing, its festivals, state conventions and national conventions. Nationals have been held since the first one in Riverside, CA in 1952 and many friendships have been formed over those years. The National Square Dance Convention is the longest-continuous-running convention in the United States and the only one put on entirely by volunteers. No one is paid; we all do it because we love it.

These conventions have all happened because different states have stepped up and said they would host it. Two were held in NC. The 1st in 1998 (the 47th) was a joint effort between North and South Carolina and hosted 13,000 dancers. The 2nd in 2007 (the 56th) was not co-hosted by the 2 states, but many, many SC dancers volunteered many, many hours to make this one, too, a success.

This time SC is taking the lead. Unfortunately, the convention seems to be stuck in the West. Detroit this year, Spokane in ’12, then Oklahoma City, then Little Rock, then Springfield. 50% of the U.S. population is within an 8-hr drive or a 2-hr plane ride; the majority of the dancers in the U.S. live in the East. I know there is a concern as to whether SC has enough dancers to put on this convention. I added up the numbers while you were taking the roll call and it is over 900. NEC believes it takes 400-500 dancers to put on this convention. But it doesn’t take this number working 4-5 years. A small group of chairmen and vice-chairmen do the planning, etc. The majority of the workers are needed at convention-time. And even then, it is not that a worker must work all day long, rather work a couple hours, dance or do other things a couple hours.

There are two great places to hold a convention in SC. A couple of years ago, Greenville contacted us and asked us to come look at their convention center. We did and it is a great location – good amount of space. Drawbacks are lack of hotel space near the convention center; it’s almost non-existent, so there would be transportation issues there. Janice and I were asked to North Charleston and look at the facilities there. We did that and you should be very proud to have this facility in your state. It’s a smaller facility, but given the number of dancers, it’s certainly more than adequate. Several other advantages are that adjoining the center is a 12,000 seat arena that has a 30,000 sq.ft. floor. Attached on the other side is a 2,300 seat performing arts center as fine as anything you’d ever want to see. Great place for fashion shows, bid session, showcase of rounds. It is surrounded by numerous hotels and restaurants; the parking lot will park 5,000 cars. So, it’s a center that would not require busing, many hotels and restaurants, even an Embassy Suites hotel connected to the center.

Plus, you have the name recognition of Charleston. Conde-Nast rated Charleston the #1 tourist destination in the U.S. for 2011.

I (Wayne) think you are spending way too much time worrying about manpower. It takes commitment, no doubt about that, but once the key positions are filled, you’ll get a lot of recruitment. And I believe you’ll have a lot of help from N.C.

A question was asked about how our 900 dancers compares to other states who are hosting a national convention. Wayne thought it compared to Michigan; it is far more than Arkansas has.

At this time, ballots were passed out to Federation reps

The question was asked: if we do decide to go ahead with this, will it for sure be held in SC? Richard said he can pretty much say, yes. The words ‘pretty much’ were questioned and Richard amended his statement to “if SC receives the bid, the convention will be held in SC.”

Another question: if we receive the bid, what will be the responsibility of the club? Richard stated that of course, a club’s attendance is hoped for, but also it is hoped each club will have members who volunteer to work at the convention. Another thing to mention is that if SC is going to host the convention, that makes the Federation financially responsible for the expenses of that convention. It is very seldom that a convention does not finish in the black, but it could happen.

At this point, Wayne spoke about the ‘process’. If SC is awarded the bid, there would be a separate corporation set up (probably the 65th, I believe); members and officers of the board would be members and officers of that corporation. They would separate themselves from the Federation. But when it comes to signing a contract, the sponsoring organization would be the SC Square and Round Dance Federation\, which is ensuring that if there is a shortfall in money, this Federation is responsible for that shortfall, pay the bills not of the NEC, but of that corporation. In 60 years, we’ve had only 1 convention that did not make money. We don’t know the details of that because as a separate corporation, they are not required to share their financial details with anyone, not even with the NEC. The 47th in 1998 had 13,000 in attendance and we made money (about $6,000). But we had some huge expenses – we had a transportation bill of almost $120,000, we had a $75,000 decorator bill. 10 years later, the 56th, which was held in the same building in Charlotte, produced a profit of well over $100,000. And that money was all given back to square dancing – to NC, to SC, to every club in this room, and to some national organizations. Of course you ought to be concerned about making money, but you ought to put that in the very back corner of your mind, and work on making the convention the best that it can be.

At this point, everyone was asked to turn in their ballots. Richard clarified that the ballot requires just a simple Yes or No. If you want to sign it, or state your club, that’s fine, but not necessary.

NEW BUSINESS

While Mac and Sue tallied the ballots, Barbara announced that Joan and Ed Redmond are here with 2012 convention tickets. They are in the lobby and will be here until 9:00 tonight.

After the 1st tip tonight, Rich and Joanie Fanger will be in one of the meeting rooms taking ads for the program book. Royce, who is helping with this project, spoke about the importance of getting ads for the book, and the supporting of those merchants who buy ads. Several previous advertisers are not placing ads this year, as they say they have not seen any business from their ad.

The Showcase of Ideas was discussed for the next National. In the past, most of the handouts, etc. from SC have been obtained in Columbia, showcasing the state. But with budget cuts, those materials are not so readily available this year. So let’s try to showcase the different areas of our state. Each club could go to their local Visitors’ Center and get promotional handouts to showcase. The next Federation dance will be in March. All materials should be brought to that dance, and Richard and Barbara will take them to the national convention. (The June Federation dance will be too late, as the national convention will already have occurred.) Barbara also asked the approval of the Federation to buy pencils with SC Square and Round Dance Federation printed on them, for handouts. All these materials would be showcased at all the nationals prior to 2017, promoting SC and hopefully generating interest in dancers to come to our convention. The idea of hat pins was suggested. They are much more expensive than pencils.

Fashion Show in January’s theme will be a Hollywood Premier. All models will walk down the red carpet. We need models and lots of door prizes. Sylvia said this is a new endeavor for her this year, and she will appreciate all the help that is offered.

Results of 2017 Vote. Mac and Sue announced the ‘Yes’s’ were the majority, and that they would be Vendor Chairmen. For National Chairmen, Richard and Barbara Walker. Services Chairmen, Donnie and Patsy Sligh. Each dancer has chaired a committee for the nationals previously, and all agreed that the best thing they come away with is many new friendships.

Timeline for the NEC to make a decision. The Intent to Bid will be announced at the 2012 National. The actual Bid would be submitted in 2013. The Gene and Connie Tripplett and Janice and Wayne Bowman will work very closely with us the next four years. The first order of business is to prepare a bid presentation. So we need a Bid Committee, comprised of probably 6 couples, who will go to whichever city we decide is going to host, talk with the people there, getting all the concessions possible. That committee needs to put together a list of absolutely all the things they want, and then see how the convention center reacts to it. Convention Centers exist for only one reason – not to make a profit, but to have people in their city with heads in beds and diners in restaurants. The hotels and restaurants are the ones that support the convention center, so the convention center is very eager to have you in town.

The Bid Committee will work with the chosen city to put together a 20 minute presentation about the city and about South Carolina to present to the NEC. It is possible we will have competition, although no one has announced they will be bidding for 2017. And in today’s environment, once a state has announced, it is unusual to have two cities bidding. The reason? Nobody likes to go to that much work and lose! When Wayne and Janice get home tonight, the first thing they will do is send an email to all the members of the NEC, announcing South Carolina’s decision to bid. Even though someone needs to stand up and officially announce the intent, the NEC will all have this information tomorrow.

Bid Presentation (for 2013 in Oklahoma City). The dignitaries of the host city should be there, someone from the Visitors’ Center, the Convention Bureau, representatives from the hotels, the restaurants. Then in the afternoon the NEC has a private session where it’s just the people representing the city and the NEC. The NEC’s combined experience assures that they know all the right questions to ask, and we also tell that city when they come into that meeting that we record that session. Anything they commit to is part of the contract for this state.

The bid committee will put together a ‘bid book’, with letters of support from various entities. So, the committee needs to start work fairly soon.

Monetary donations to clubs hosting a Federation Dance. Bill Jeffers moved that the Federation donate $100 to each club that is hosting a quarterly dance, this to commence as of March 2012. Seconded by Larry Turner. The question was asked: why? Bill said the Low Country really would have liked to have today’s Federation meeting in their area, but every place is just too expensive. It would be a help to all the clubs. The Callers donate their time to the hosting club, it is being suggested that the Federation make a donation. An Upstate club expressed an opposing view. It was pointed out that various eating establishments are happy to donate items. The Nay voted carried.

Future Federation Dances
Jan 27-28, 2012 State Convention, Myrtle Beach (fliers available)
Mar. 31, 2012 Federation Dance, hosted by the Carolina Squares & Rounds, Aiken at The Barn
June 30, 2012 Federation Dance, hosted by the Spartan Spinners, Gillespie Center, Spartanburg

Richard reminded everyone to be back by 7:00 this evening for the Grand March.

Motion to adjourn made and passed.

Respectfully submitted,

Janice Mathys, Secretary