Information for Dancers
at the San Francisco Contra Weekend

This page contains copies of the E-mail notices that have been sent out to the dancers who have registered for the weekend.

sfcw-2008 E-mail list subscription notification (April 10)

Thank you for registering for "Balance the Bay", the San Francisco Contra Weekend.

You have been automatically added to the sfcw-2008 @ bacds.org mailing list, which will be used by the SFCW organizing committee to communicate important information about the weekend.

You may also use this list for personal reasons: to arrange rides and housing, to organize groups to go out for lunch or dinner, to plan side trips and excursions, and to communicate things of possible interest to everyone who attends the weekend.

Please use this list responsibly. Do not use it for private communication. Everybody will see what you post. Do not use it for commercial gain or to harass or intimidate people. If this happens, we will be forced to set up a moderator to approve postings, and to remove the offending parties from the list.

Please keep your postings short and direct to avoid filling people's in-boxes with more than they care to read.

If you asked on your registration form for your E-mail address to be kept private, then we will do our best to respect that wish. If you post a message to this list, we will put it on hold until a list administrator can look at it and repost it without displaying your E-mail address. If you'd rather just post directly (and expose your E-mail address to the others on the list), send a message to sfcw-2008-admin @ bacds.org to tell us so.

Welcome Letter (April 24)

SFCW Web Site has been updated (May 4)

All,

The SFCW Web page has been updated and improved.

• Updated schedule (small tweaks -- close to final)
  http://bacds.org/btb/schedule.html
• T-shirts and tote bags can be reserved online.
  http://bacds.org/btb/tshirts.html
• Explanations of our policies, and advice to help make your dance experience more fun.
  http://bacds.org/btb/policies.html
• Improved navigation.

Check it out.

And, as always, all official messages from the SFCW Committee (including this one) are archived on the web site at

http://bacds.org/btb/dancer-info.html

-- Jens Dill, SFCW webmaster.

Volunteering (May 7)

Balance the Bay runs on Volunteer energy.

Everything we've done to put the weekend together has been done by volunteer effort. Our committee members have worked hard already to make things ready to go on Friday night.

Now we need your help to make the weekend run smoothly.

Balance the Bay runs for 27 hours total over three days. Just manning the three desk jobs: registration, sales, and instrument check takes a minimum of 81 hours of volunteer time. If we divide that into 20-minute time slots, that's 243 volunteer slots for desk-sitting alone, not counting the times when we want to put extra people on, and not counting the other jobs at all.

We have about 200 people registered for this event. So, we're going to have to ask everyone to pitch in just a little bit. Everyone who comes to the weekend should be able to do at least one 20-minute desk-sitting job. We hope you'll be willing to do more than one.

If you've registered for a work-trade discount, we expect a bit more. You should sign up for at least three volunteer slots, and more if you're willing.

If you've already broken your back as a committee member, or if you've been asked to do one of the heavy lifting (i.e. sound assistant) or supervisory (i.e. T-shirt sales manager) jobs, then you are exempt from signing up for other volunteer slots. But you can if you want to.

Here's how it works. There will be a master sign-up board (or sheet or notebook or whatever I can fit it on) on the registration table when you arrive. There will be a post-it note with your name on it attached to your name badge. Paste that note into your chosen slot of the job board. Make another note if you want to volunteer for another slot. You can swap them around later on if you decide you need to switch for some reason.

If you talked to Karen or one of the other committee members about doing some particular job, please assume that you will have that job. Just put your name in that job slot when you register (I may find the time to pre-post your name, but I don't promise anything). In the unlikely event that all the slots for the job you want are taken, and you can't work out a trade, come find me (Jens Dill) and I'll help sort it out.

The summary, in case I was too confusing:

• There's a volunteer sign-up board at the Registration table.
• Everybody should volunteer for at least one slot.
• All work-traders should volunteer for at least three slots.
• Committee, heavy lifters, and supervisors are exempt.
• Anybody can sign up for extra slots.
• You can trade slots around.
• If you were offered a particular job when you registered, it's yours unless you want a different one, or unless I contact you and talk you into something else.

If you plan on working Setup, you need to show up early. We get into the hall at 4 pm on Friday. If you work at least one hour on setup, you are exempt from the volunteer board.

If you plan on working Cleanup, sign up for it on the board and plan on working from 4 to 5 on Sunday.

Thanks. It looks like it's going to be a great weekend. Happy Dancing!

-- Jens Dill
Volunteer Coordinator