Although her love for USA Dance and her desire to serve has not waivered, due to family obligations Lolita Brawner has informed the Board of Directors that she was resigning effective immediately to allow President Richards the opportunity to appoint a new VP of Social Dance as we start the new year. President Richards, and the entire Board, would like to express our deepest gratitude to the service and commitment that Lolita has shown to our organization over the years as a chapter, district, and national volunteer leader and look forward to collaborating with her on many projects in the years to come as part of the Tallahassee Chapter.

However, this means that we are now looking for our next VP of Social Dance to continue her work and help rebuild the Social Division as we continue to exit from the impact that the COVID pandemic had on social dancing throughout our country. This person should be a dynamic, visionary, and personable team leader who is up for a challenge as they lead USA Dance’s largest division with over 4000 members spread across over 100 active chapters throughout the United States. As VP of Social Dance this individual, in conjunction with the Chapter Relations Director, will

• head the Social Dance Division and oversee and guide the administration and development of social and/or recreational dance in the United States in accordance with policies of the BOD
• preside at the Social Dance meetings and call meetings as needed
• submit annual business plan and budget to President and Treasurer
• appoint and supervise organizers of USA Dance Social programs that encourage participation at a national level
• have such other duties and responsibilities as designated by the President, EC or BOD.

If you believe you have what it takes, please submit your resume and letter of interest to President Ken Richards at president@usadance.org by November 27th.

The Social Dance Council will be launching a new series called “USA Dance Power Hours” during which subject matter experts from USA Dance chapters from around the country will share with you their best practices as it relates to different aspects of chapter operations. These peer learning opportunities will be moderated by Chapter Relations Director Phill Sisk and include time for Q&A as well as opportunities for you to share lessons learned by your chapter on what works and doesn’t work because our organization only becomes stronger when we all work together.

The first Power Hour will be on the important topic of:

The Right Music Makes or Breaks a Social Dance

December 2nd at 2pm EST

Link to join: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86866861903?pwd=lfm3fXYyMBV62F93YmMgkaikN7hr5G.1

AMERICAN DANCER - Are you reading American Dancer?  You should!

American Dancer’s November cover features Bill Wymer and Amy Maneval Wymer.  Did you catch the story where two of our Chapters shared their National Ballroom Dance Week Proclamations and many shared their hauntingly fantastic pictures from their October social dances. On the Ballroom DanceSport side, there is a great feature story on The MAC Regional Championships, which is hosting the WDO World Senior World Championships in all 4 styles, January 12-14. Plan a trip to the New York area to check out the great dancing that will take place that weekend.  You can also read about Team USA’s success at the  WDSF Senior IV World Championships, where 6 senior couples represented the United States and took home the Bronze medal.   American Dancer always has an up-to-date USA Dance Competition Calendar.  Are you reading American Dancer?  You should!

Benefits Corner - How one member saved over $180 this year using their membership!

With our digests, we’d like to take the time to remind you of various benefits of USA Dance membership with companies like Dance Vision, DSI London, and PerkSpot.  This month we’ll talk about PerkSpot, which includes discounts and benefits at popular brands and stores.

We’re sure many of you brushed off past announcements about PerkSpot, going “eh, this isn’t dance related, how can it help me?”.  Well, dear reader, hear the tale of one of our volunteers:

“On a lark I decided to browse through Perkspot after getting two lovable cats from the animal shelter. Conveniently, they had an offer that saved us $15 on our first order of cat food from Chewy. Additionally, they had $100 off a robot vacuum, as copious amounts of shedding made our cleaning regiment more intense than before.  Lastly, we were able to save a whopping $700 (50%!) on a Samsung Frame TV because we looked at the right time through Perkspot. The internet claims this model is rarely discounted to the public. The cats love “bird TV” in high definition! Since that is a little pricey, we looked today and the current special deals provide at least 20% off of the public prices of most TVs on Samsung’s website - probably worth at least $60 if you’re in the market. So, more practically, you might save $180 - many times the cost of a USA Dance membership”.