Please join us on Sunday, October 8th as we begin to plan our Pittsburgh Fall Dance Weekend 2018. Join us to discuss which bands and callers we’d like to invite for the wonderful weekend of dancing.

During the meeting we will take suggestions on bands and callers that we think would make a great weekend of dancing. After receiving feedback and input, the Contra Council will follow up with our list of possible bands and callers to make a fantastic line up (making sure to balance styles of bands and callers)!

Potluck dinner to follow.
207 S Aiken Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15206

A little more about our process:

Community planning meeting for the 2018 Fall Dance Weekend

Three-stage process for selection of bands and callers:

First stage—idea generation.  The first stage will involve participants making suggestions about the bands and callers they would like to perform at the 2018 Fall Dance Weekend.  Participants may have specific bands and/or callers in mind, or they may describe general musical preferences (for example, old time, modern or jazz-influenced), calling preferences or other considerations that are important to them (for example, thoughtful matching of bands and callers or a having variety of musical styles).  The goal of the first stage discussion will be to generate lists of possible bands and callers.

Second stage—voting.  The second stage will involve identifying the community’s preferences for possible bands and callers by using “dot-voting.”  Dot-voting (voting with dot stickers) is a method of consensus decision-making in which participants vote on their chosen options using a limited number of dot stickers.

Dot-voting involves the following steps:

• Participants are each given a set number of dot stickers.
• Participants place stickers next to the options presented that they like (they may place any number of their dots on any number of the options).
• Options with the most dots at the end of the voting “win.”

The benefits of dot-voting as a method of decision-making include the following:

• It is a quick and simple method for finding the priorities of the community in a long list of options.
• It allows participants to express a preference for more than one option at the same time.
• It leverages the collective wisdom of the community and provides an equal way for all voices in the community to be heard.
• Since the community’s most-preferred bands and callers may turn out to be unavailable for the 2018 Fall Dance Weekend, it is important for the contra council members to understand the community’s preferences generally and not just to have “top choices” that may be unworkable.

Third stage—booking (occurs after the community planning meeting).  The third stage will involve contra council members reaching out to the community’s preferred bands and callers to check their availability for the 2018 Fall Dance Weekend and then officially booking bands and callers.