November 2021
Social Digest:
The Chapter Chatter
Welcome to Chapter Chatter - November 2021. We are thankful for our members! Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
American Dancer News
Sylvia Harris Rose, the USA Dance Greater Memphis Chapter Vice-President and Publicity Director shares a piece called “And the Band Played On” which describes their October 9th dance sponsored by Ms. Camilla Wilson and featuring the Drew White Orchestra. Read the full article.
USA Dance & Special Olympics Kicks Off DanceSport's Official Inclusion Into the Utah Special Olympic Games
USA Dance partnered with Special Olympics Utah for a night of performances and showcases featuring Special Olympic DanceSport athletes and their Unified Partners. 

Hosted by USA Dance Special Olympics Committee Co-Chair & SODS Dance Ambassador Louis Van Amstel, this was the first Special Olympics event since our joint proclamation of support with Special Olympics North America.

Joining Louis in taking part in the event were:

USA Dance's President Ken Richards & SODS Athlete Laura Lemon
USA Dance Utah Chapter President Shawn Fisher

If your chapter is interested in developing a Special Olympics program please contact the USA Dance Special Olympics Committee at specialolympics@usadance.org
USA Dance Board Welcomes Esther Freeman as the New National Treasurer
Esther Freeman
Following an exhaustive search, the USA Dance Board of Directors unanimously approved the appointment of Esther Freeman as the new National Treasurer for USA Dance. Esther, a native of Medford Oregon, is no stranger to serving USA Dance on the national level. She is the only individual in USA Dance history to have ever served in all four corporate officer positions – National President, Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. On the Chapter level, in July 1995, she joined USA Dance, then USABDA, and helped to start the Southern Oregon Chapter #1011 in Medford, Oregon where she remained an active member and board member until the chapter closed in 2018. An avid social dancer, she then joined the Eugene Springfield Chapter #1010 where she continues to participate and help promote community dance activities.

This experience on the chapter and national level, when combined with her professional background as an independent Non-profit Management Organization consultant, gives her a historical perspective on our organization that few can match and allows her to hit the ground running as we rebuild the effects of the COVID pandemic on our organization. Esther can be contacted at treasurer@usadance.org
Membership Benefits
Take Advantage of the Membership Benefits As Part Of Our Agreement With Dance Vision
Dance Vision Logo
During the AGM, the Board of Directors announced a new agreement with Dance Vision to strategically align the two organizations. Dance Vision, also known as DVIDA, operates one of the largest ballroom dance teacher certification programs and provides instruction on syllabus dancers for competitive and social dancers via online and app formats. While more benefits will be included in the formal announcement later this week, one of the benefits of the new agreement includes a one-time 20% off coupon code for a new monthly or annual membership for USA Dance Social Dance members. To take advantage of this membership benefit, please email Margot Garnick at membership-dir@usadance.org In order to maximize the benefit we strongly recommend the annual membership.
Insurance Certificates & Music Reporting Forms
As chapters begin hosting events we have received an increase in requests for insurance liability policies to cover the event locations. Our National Liability Insurance policy covers our chapter events and facilities that host these events. Requests for coverage certificates can be made by completing the “Blank Request for Certificate of Insurance Form” available in the Chapter Admin section of our website. The form includes instructions on how to submit the form. Just a reminder that you must be logged in to access this part of the website.

Similarly, the National organization maintains membership licenses with the 3 largest music copyright holders - ASCAP. BMI, SESAC - to allow chapters to play music without violating copyright laws. An important part of this is keeping track of the level of music played at events to ensure we are not overcharged. Therefore we require that chapters submit the “Quarterly Event Attendance Reporting Form” available in the Chapter Admin section of our website. The form includes instructions on how to submit the form. Just a reminder that you must be logged in to access this part of the website.
Volunteer of the Year and Chapter of the Year
It’s that special time again when we want you to sing your praises and your members praises by submitting applications for Volunteer of the Year and Chapter of the Year. These applications, along with other useful tools, are found on the Board Management Tools page on the website. Please note that the deadline for submittal is December 31st and you must be logged into the system in order to access the applications. If you have any questions please contact Chapter Relations Director Phil Sisk at chapterrelations-dir@usadance.org
National Calendar for Upcoming Events
Calendar
The National Organization is seeking to inspire America to get back to social dancing and part of this is to promote chapter based dance events throughout the country via our calendar so that when people begin traveling and want to social dance they have a single place to look OR to inspire other chapters to begin holding events as public health restrictions allow it. The calendar is available at https://usadance.org/events/event_list.asp

To ensure your event is listed you can either:
please create the event within your chapter’s SocialLink group, complete this form, and then National Officers will be able to add it to the National calendar; OR
Email the relevant info (date, time, chapter, theme or event name, contact info, flyer, etc.) to chapter-announcements@usadance.org and the Marketing & Communications Committee will add it for you.