For almost ten years, CDSS has co-sponsored regional conferences for dance organizers throughout the U.S. (NW, SW, Midwest, SE, NE) and Eastern Canada. Three of these conferences have websites that provide archived materials from all workshops held at those events.
In the Resources tab below, you'll find a handy index to the available conference information along with CDSS resources. In the Additional Resources tab, you'll find links to CDSS "How-to" information specific to individual genres, as well as a link to the Make It Happen! Manual.
Resources
This index will guide you through a wealth of valuable workshop materials that can be found on these websites:
Puttin’ On the Dance (POTD1): http://www.puttinonthedance.org/potd1materials/
Puttin’ On the Dance 2 (POTD2): http://www.puttinonthedance.org/potd2-conference-notes/
Southwest Regional Organizers Conference (SWROC): http://cdss.org/swroc/post-conference/archive/
In addition, we have included some links below to CDSS information for organizers.
For more on CDSS co-sponsored conferences, see our Conferences section.
These materials are presented in three overarching sections — Strengthening Our Dance Organizations, Improving Key Elements of Our Dances, and Growing and Sustaining a Healthy Dance Series.
STRENGTHENING OUR DANCE ORGANIZATIONS
Successful organizations keep seeking ways to stay fresh and relevant. Whether your dance is run by a board, committee, or just you, these workshop sessions provide support for building a strong infrastructure.
VISION
- POTD1 Vision: First things first
- SWROC Vision: First things first
- CDSS website: Crafting a Vision
INFRASTRUCTURE
- Committees, Boards, etc.
- POTD1 Organizing Your Committee
- SWROC Organizing for Success: Crucial aspects of building a strong infrastructure for your dance
- POTD2 Happy Dance Boards and Committees: Growing a thriving, productive, and fun dance committee
- POTD1 Formalizing Structures: Non-profit Status and Insurance
- POTD2 Non-Profit Management: Updating and strengthening our administrative foundation
- POTD1 Leading Effective Meetings
- SWROC Can We Talk? Effective organization through meaningful interpersonal connection
- CDSS website: How to Structure Your Organization
- Volunteers
- POTD1 Building and Sustaining a Healthy Volunteer Base
- SWROC Happy Volunteers: Finding them, keeping them, sustaining them and using them effectively
- POTD2 Creating a Happy, Healthy Volunteer Base: Ways to engage and retain volunteers to sustain our dances
- Facilities
- CDSS website: Finding a Hall
- Finances
- POTD1 Dance Money Mechanics
- SWROC Managing Your Money: Your series is bringing in money. Now what do you do with it?
POTD2 Dance Finances 0 to 999: Deepening our understanding of sources and uses of fund
- Technology
- SWROC Tech Tools: Technology can help organizations be more effective
- Dances in Transition
- POTD2 Navigating Transitions: Strategies for evolving from a “one-person show” to an organizing team
DANCE WEEKENDS
- SWROC Working on Weekends: Organizing your dance festival
- POTD2 Dance Weekend 101: Streamlining the organization of weekend dance events
IMPROVING KEY ELEMENTS OF OUR DANCES
Here’s a variety of resources for working with callers, musicians, dancers, and sound operators to create thriving dances across the genres.
WORKING WITH CALLERS, MUSICIANS, AND SOUND TECHNICIANS
- POTD1 Booking and Working with the Talent
- SWROC Using Your Talent: How to book, work with, and help improve your callers, musicians, and sound techs
- CDSS website: Finding and Hiring Callers and Musicians
- POTD2 Behind the Scenes: Building constructive relations between performers and organizers
- POTD1 Developing and Nurturing English Country Dance Musicians in Your Community
- POTD2 Sound Design for Social Dance: Understanding the challenges of engineering sound for live music
- CDSS website: Doing Sound: A variety of resources and advice for sound operators
WORKING WITH DANCERS
- POTD1 Positive Solutions for Problems in your Dance Community
- SWROC The Unwanted Element: Preventing issues from arising on the floor and dealing with them when they do
- POTD2 Problem Dancers: Proactive management and response; creating a dance environment safe for all
- CDSS website: Dance Etiquette: Policies from numerous sources to help you craft a policy for your dance
- POTD1 Shaping the Dance Experience: Influence dance style and manners through community involvement
- SWROC From Beginner to Advanced: How to keep everyone happy
- POTD2 Welcoming Diverse Populations: Examining ways to make a welcoming dance community for everyone
- POTD1 Building Community Through Gender Role Free Dancing
- SWROC Unstraightening Contra: Community building through Gender-free dancing
- SWROC Building Community: How to keep the dance going when the music stops
- SWROC Come Let’s Be Merry: Developing and nurturing English Country Dance
- POTD1 Intergenerationality: A Big Word — A Big Value
- POTD1 Successful Family-Community-Barn Dances
- SWROC Barn Raising: Sustaining Square, Family, and Barn Dances
- POTD2 Engaging Families in your (not necessarily “Family”) Dance: Exploring the best strategy for a successful dance series
GROWING AND SUSTAINING A HEALTHY DANCE SERIES
Successful organizations don’t stand still! Here are valuable approaches and practical tools for expanding our outreach, increasing our attenDANCE, building our financial base and more.
PUBLICITY AND BEYOND
- POTD1 To Market, To Market… Jiggity Jig
- CDSS website: Publicity
- SWROC Marketing 101: Finding and keeping the crowd you want
- SWROC Marketing 102: Putting your knowledge to work
- POTD1 To Facebook and Beyond: Online marketing for dance series
- POTD2 Beyond Publicity: Getting new dancers to come and come back
- POTD2 Beyond New Dancers: Upping your attendance by preaching to the converted\
- POTD1 Promoting Youth Participation: Ideas and practical tips
- SWROC Attracting Younger Dancers: Creating and maintaining a multigenerational dance
- CDSS website: College Organizers' Handbook
FUNDRAISING
- SWROC Money: How to get more!
- POTD2 Fundraising Strategies and Tips for Dance Organizations: Broadening our views for supporting dances
GROWING TALENT
- SWROC Cultivating New Talent: Ways to find and grow callers and musicians
- POTD2 Growing Local Talent: Helping our budding callers and musicians grow and succeed
REGIONAL NETWORKING
- POTD1 Organizers Unite: Continuing our connections and sharing resources with organizers throughout the region and beyond
- SWROC Crossing the Border: Connecting groups within each state and throughout the region
- POTD2 Hands Across the Borders: Keeping the POTD connections going
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
- POTD1 The Dancing We Do: Past, present and future!
- POTD2 Growing Younger: Engaging youth for a sustainable future
- POTD1 Carrying On the Traditions: Cultivating new callers and musicians
- POTD2 Shoot for the Moon: Organizers’ roles in shaping the future of traditional dance