Social Digest:
The Chapter Chatter
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Welcome to Chapter Chatter - October 2022. We hope you are enjoying beautiful days of Fall! |
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Ring In the New Year With USA Dance and the Tidewater Chapter
This is not your average social chapter event! Returning for the first time since COVID, the New Year's Eve Gala hosted by the Tidewater Chapter is a do not miss event of the year. It is an action packed event featuring 63 workshops, a social dance, a dinner dance, and a formal NYE Gala. Tickets are selling fast, so do not wait. More information at https://usadance.org/members/group.aspx?id=88057
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Chapter Incentive Program Made Permanent |
Based on positive feedback from chapter leadership and the Social Dance Council, the Board of Directors unanimously approved the proposal by Senior Vice President Todd Kirrane to make the Chapter Incentive Program permanent. This means that for every new OR renewed Adult or Social Dance Advocate member the chapter brings in, $5 will go directly back to the chapter to be used to best support your local programs.
In the second half of 2021, the Chapter incentive program has sent over $11,000 directly to the chapters — how much can you do for 2022?
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The members of the Social Dance Council have begun meeting regularly to discuss issues relevant to chapter operations and support and to develop programs to help our chapters grow over the coming years. The current members of the Council include:
Vice President of Social Dance Lolita Brawner of Chapter 6010 in Florida
Chapter Relations Director: Phil Sisk of Chapter 6006 in Virginia
District 1: Gary Coombs of Chapter 1010 in Oregon
District 2: Bonnie Burton of Chapter 2011 in Minnesota
District 4: Maureen Cleary of Chapter 3039 in Massachusetts
District 5: Ken Pandozzi of Chapter 3009 in Pennsylvania
District 6: Herb McGurk of Chapter 4031 in California
District 7: Diane Montgomery of Chapter 5044 in Texas
District 8: Lori Maggs of Chapter 2009 in Tennessee
District 9 & Interim 10: Rebecca Kelley Fournier of Chapter 6010 in Florida
These leaders are your direct resource and support system for everything related to Chapters and Social dancing so please contact them with any questions, concerns, initiatives, etc. Their contact information is available at https://usadance.org/SocialDanceCouncil
Watch for more appointments to come out over the next month.
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Chapter of the Year & Volunteer of the Year |
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As announced at the Annual General Meeting, please join the Social Dance Council and the Board of Directors in congratulating Chapter of the Year Winner USA Dance Chapter 6010 Tallahassee, Florida and Volunteer of the Year Winner Maureen Cleary, District Director for District 4 and President of the USA Dance Chapter 3039 DOCMA (Dancers of Central Massachusetts).
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Recruitment Challenge From Social VP Lolita Brawner |
Social VP Lolita Brawner is challenging all chapters to maximize membership in 2022 by getting as many Social Dance Advocate $45 memberships as possible. Why the $45 membership option?
$30 - National Admin dues – Music Licenses, Liability Insurances, & Non-profit Statuses
$10 – Social Dance Events, National Chapter Leader Conference (2023); cruises, etc
$5 – Local Chapter support ($5 rebate)
It is a win-win-win for the entire organization! Which chapter will be the top in Q4-2022?
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In order to ensure our compliance with the IRS and 501c3 requirements, USA Dance chapter bank accounts are required to have the Senior VP and National Treasurer included as signatories on all accounts. Additionally, all local signatories including the Chapter President and Treasurer must be members in good standing. This, and other requirements, are included in the Chapter Financial Procedures Policy that is available on our website here: https://usadance.org/page/FinancialRecords
Over the last seven months National Treasurer Esther Freeman has begun reviewing accounts to ensure compliance with these policies - a requirement of our 501c3 non-profit status. Please review the policies available via the link and take steps to ensure your chapter’s compliance. If your chapter account is not compliant, please work with Esther to bring it into compliance. She can be reached at treasurer@usadance.org
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Election Updates From Nominations and Elections Committee Chair Mike Lynch |
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On behalf of the Nominations & Elections Committee, please join me in extending congratulations and welcome to the following National Officers and DanceSport Delegates who will begin or continue service to USA Dance for a four-year term of office, from January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2026. They are:
- Senior Vice President: Todd Kirrane (Massachusetts)
- Treasurer: Esther Freeman (Oregon)
- Ballroom DanceSport Delegate 5: Alessandro Scalora (Georgia)
- Ballroom DanceSport Delegate 6: Lena Dudko (Illinois)
- Ballroom DanceSport Delegate 7: Amelia Wills (Massachusetts)
For our November 2022 National Elections, we had five open positions and one qualified candidate for each of the five available positions. In effect, we were presented with an uncontested election, and our Policy Governing National Elections (Article IV.A.8.) https://usadance.org/page/Policies allowed USA Dance to fill these positions without a membership-wide election. Accordingly, I provided official notice to the USA Dance Executive Committee on September 7, 2022, for each qualified candidate to be elected as a National Officer or DanceSport Delegate. Please see https://usadance.org/elections2022 for each elected National Officer or DanceSport Delegate Photo, Resume, and Statement.
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New Affinity Program Launching Soon |
In order to expand the benefits that our members receive, the Board of Directors has approved a contract with Perkspot to provide a discount program of exclusive discounts, negotiated by their team of experts, from top brands and local businesses. Once launched, USA Dance members will be able to access discounts through our Discount Portal and browse deals, search by brand or category, discover curated and personalized discounts relevant to their interests, and enjoy savings on a variety of products and services. PerkSpot’s program prides itself on driving financial wellness for its members and putting money back into their pockets. Look for announcements about this new program in the coming months. |
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As previously announced, USA Dance has ended its relationship with Talley Management. As a result of the new changes, we are excited to welcome Rebecca Kelley-Fournier as our new Central Office manager. She is available to answer to assist with membership renewal, mail membership cards, and answer questions.
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Administrative Changes Coming to USA Dance Operations |
If you use an old form in the next couple of months, do not worry as we have mail forward setup for the next 12 months. But we do ask that you attempt to change all information in your contact lists, websites, social media pages as soon as possible.
USA Dance, Inc
1750 Delta Waters Rd Ste 102 PMB 314
Medford, OR 97504
1 (800) 760-0582
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What's Up in American Dancer |
When was the last time you looked at American Dancer, americandancer.org? The current cover features Dennis Matveev and Anna Jonczyk; read about their international camp experience at: https://americandancer.org/international-training-camps-provide-new-perspective-and-opportunities. The Style Section features a new story about Standard dresses through the years and what is on today’s WDSF dance floor: https://americandancer.org/standard-dresses-arent-so-standard-anymore. Also, find interesting commentary: https://americandancer.org/slow-slow-quick-quickmore-than-just-words, the latest information about the 2022 USA Dance National Elections, and some “Let’s Laugh” quotes. American Dancer is looking for articles, commentary, and photos about your USA Dance dancing, friends, chapters, styles, competitions, and events; send them to americandancer@usadance.org.
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The Gender Neutral Committee (GNC) is looking for volunteers to support and expand our work now that USA Dance offers gender-neutral competitions.
At the request of the president and the board, the GNC will work to develop a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) policy for USA Dance. Articulating and implementing a DEIA policy is part of the organization's responsibility as the Olympic national governing organization for Dancesport.
All members are welcome to volunteer. We are particularly looking to include members of minority communities in dancesport: BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and dancers with disabilities.
We also want the committee to represent the demographics unique to our organization, so we encourage volunteers from across USA Dance regions, age groups, and dance levels.
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Special Olympics and Your Chapter...A Message from
Co-Chairs Carol Davis and Louis Van Amstel
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USA Dance has created a Special Olympics program for our very special dancers!
We are so excited to prepare dance programs for our Special Needs dancers to become champion athletes. The journey to the World Championships is in the distance giving us time to produce our teams, dance coaches, and classes. So let’s get started! The USA Dance SODS Committee will be releasing the rule books digitally to each interested chapter.
In preparation for developing a program to support your chapter, the SODS Committee would appreciate Chapter leaders answering the following questions:
Does your chapter have a ‘special needs’ dance program?
Does your city have ‘special needs’ organizations?
Does your area have Special Olympic regions?
Does your chapter have venues/facilities to coach our dancers?
Does your chapter have coaches and/or chapter members to teach ballroom?
Please discuss these questions with your chapter board and members and send the answers to these questions to Carol Davis at dancingtala@gmail.com
If you have an existing program please share your success stories with the committee as well.
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This year Chapters are expected to conduct their bi-annual Chapter Board elections for Chapter officers. Social Vice President Lolita Brawner shares the following advice to make the perfect Board:
It is a natural drive within us to aspire for perfection in life, while achieving our goals, and following our passion.
According to the book, “The Perfect Board” written by Calvin K Clemons, CAE, CMP, is a set of precepts and ideas that can enable people, even the uninitiated, to work together… effectively…efficiently… and harmoniously to achieve the goals of an organization.
It would be impractical to have every person participate in every activity of your chapter. The members of the chapter elects people to represent them in carrying out the mission of the chapter. This creates an orderly process for managing the chapters activities and goals.
The elected officials have been entrusted to perform their duties and responsibilities to be the representation of its members. They must adhere to a set of practices that ensures they measure up to this trust and interrupt the chapter bylaws.
It’s getting that time again to elect officers at both the National and Chapter levels.
Below is a step-by-step reference and process for electing officers at the chapter level. Reference Bylaws Article XII, Section H-K for the official position description.
Look for these characteristics when nominating your candidates…
- Loyal commitment and allegiance to the chapter and organization.
- Skill set and competency to do the position
- Shows respect to all chapter members, board of directors and national leadership
- Actively participates in the inevitable consistency of change
- Embraces his or her leadership role
- Understands “conflict of interest”
- Welcomes diversity
- Cares for the chapter’s property
- Willingness to attend meetings
- Understands and follows bylaws and policies, while exercising confidentiality
And the most important characteristic is a positive attitude.
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Membership Benefits! Get Your Monies Worth...
Take Advantage of the Membership Benefits As Part Of Our Agreement With Dance Vision and Our Own Free Library of Online Workshops Perfect for Social Dancers!
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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.
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From shoes to clothing to technical books, DSI London is the World’s leading one stop Dance shop for all your dancing needs. USA Dance is proud to once again partner with DSI London to provide an exclusive discount on their entire line of products. You can view and order their products at https://dsi-london.com/. To get the member exclusive discount code please contact Margot Garnick at
Thanks to the support of a private donor, USA Dance’s Collegiate Network was able to provide a semester's worth of online syllabus and social dance video instruction to collegiate clubs during the Spring of 2021. USA Dance has launched a new video platform, accessible via our website, to provide 30+ hours of instructional videos to social dance members as a benefit of membership.The videos will be accessible at
Twenty-three videos are uploaded and we will be adding more each month. Please note that these are only available to members so you must be logged into your account to access them.
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As a reminder, the National organization maintains membership licenses with the three 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.
This form is now due for all chapters for July through September 2022. If you have not filed those for previous quarters - it is not too late - please do so now.
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National Calendar for Upcoming Events |
The National Organization continues to try 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.
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