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Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc.


Statewide Folk Dance Festival
MANUAL

Statewide Festival 2023

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CHECKLIST

CHAIR

▢  The Chair's first responsibility is to select a facility location
▢  Needs to be selected before the North Statewide so the next Statewide can be announced
▢  Obtain an artist's conception of the new Statewide logo and program cover
▢  Also must be finished before the North Statewide

ADS and FLYER

▢  Ads should be in the January issues of Folk Dance Scene and Let's Dance!
▢  Flyers should be ready for publication in the March issues
▢  Flyers (in small batches) should be mailed to all folk dance groups, with instructions to have them copied for folk dancers

INSURANCE

▢  Obtain insurance document for all of Statewide

FACILITY

▢  Select a location with a large wooden floor (about 3,000 square feet), preferably hanging, for a predicted crowd of 150 to 200 people
▢  A reservation of at least one year in advance needs to be available
▢  Adequate parking
▢  Access to restrooms
▢  Ample chairs
▢  Kitchen
▢  Space for vendors
▢  Space for registration desk
▢  Tables available for registration and for flyers, Folk Dance Scene, and Let's Dance!
▢  Publish directions to the facility

COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS

▢  Afterparty
▢  Bands
▢  Concert
▢  Contributions
▢  Decorations
▢  Donations
▢  Facility Manager
▢  Food and drinks
▢  Hotels (headquarters and local)
▢  Installation Lunch or Dinner
▢  On-site Registration
▢  Masters of Ceremonies
▢  Past President's Party (usually the immediate Past President)
▢  Pre-registration
▢  Programs
▢  Publicity
▢  Signs
▢  Sound Equipment
▢  Syllabus
▢  Treasurer
▢  Teachers
▢  Vendors
▢  Videographer (and equipment for recording reviews for DVD. Proceeds are usually split between the teachers, DVD producer, and Statewide.

VOLUNTEERS

▢  Airport pickup and delivery drivers
▢  Decorations
▢  Ice cream social
▢  Installation lunch or dinner
▢  Kitchen
▢  Sweeping
▢  Sound setup and management
▢  Registration

FORMS TO CREATE

▢  Advertisement
▢  Area Attractions
▢  Badges
▢  Band Contract
▢  Budget (both preliminary and final)
▢  DVD Order Form
▢  Event price list (for registration table) if events are to b sold individually
▢  Final Report
▢  Flyer
▢  Hanging, wrist, and or clip-on programs
▢  Host Hotel and Other Hotels
▢  Income and Report Expense Form
▢  Map and Directions to Hotel and Facility
▢  Past President's Letter
▢  Past Presidents List with contact information
▢  Pre-registration
▢  Registration
▢  Restaurants
▢  Schedule for back of nametag (small)
▢  Schedule for registration table (8.5 x 11)
▢  Survey
▢  Teacher Contract
▢  Teacher Photos and Biographies
▢  Website Information (including Teacher Photos, Teacher Biographies, Map, Directions, Schedule, Facility, Host Hotel, Oher Hotels, Sylabus, DVD, T-Shirt, Registration Form, Restaurants, Travel Times, Area Attractions, etc.)

DECORATIONS

▢  At least 2 hours for setup and 1 hour for tear down
▢  Contact Marshall Cates for Statewide posters of programs as wall decorations

HOTELS

▢  Arrange a host hotel
▢  Try to get concessions for reserving a block-free parking, comp room, etc.
▢  Find and publish other local hotels

SOUND EQUIPMENT

▢  Secure sound equipment

PROGRAMS

▢  Write for flyers to all groups in Northern and Southern Federations, and Camps
▢  Create dance programs
▢  Get dance program artwork
▢  Be sure to use diacrits in dance names
▢  Print programs for live music to hang on walls
▢  Print all recorded programs to hang on walls
▢  Print both schedules and programs for inserting in name holders and hanging by a cord or clip-on

TEACHERS

▢  Make sure teachers are NOT required to pay, but get ALL Statewide info
▢  Obtian one or more teachers
▢  Payment (out of town?). Usually paid at the end of Statewide. Treasurer should have check(s) available.
▢  Contracts
▢  Transportation
▢  Lodging
▢  Squares and rounds teacher — not always a part of Statewide, however.
▢  Teacher's table for CDs, books, etc.

BANDS

▢  Make sure band members are NOT required to pay, but get ALL Statewide info
▢  Obtain one or more bands
▢  Payment (out of town?). At the end of performance, treasurer should have check(s) ready.
▢  Contracts
▢  Transportation
▢  Lodging
▢  Musicians table for CDs, books, etc.

CONCERT

▢  Make sure performers are NOT required to pay, but get ALL Statewide info
▢  Establish a length of time for the Concert
▢  Obtain performing groups
▢  Out of town? Payment? We generally do not pay fo performane, but maybe expenses.

KOLO HOUR

▢  Possibly have a Kolo Hour at sometime duriing Statewide
▢  Possibly only Croatian and Serbian dances for this Kolo Hour
▢  Preferably easy dances

PAST-PRESIDENT'S PARTY

▢  Responsibility of the immediate Past President
▢  Set time and date in conjunction with Statewide schedule
▢  Arrange for a room, either at venue or at hotel
▢  Food and drink for Past President's Party

CULTURAL TALKS

▢  Teachers?
▢  Others?
▢  Any equipment needed?

GOLDEN OLDIES

▢  Possibly have a "Golden Oldies" session for older dancers

BEGINNERS' SESSION

▢  Possibly have a session of teaching for beginners
▢  Possibly have a dance session for beginners

ICE CREAM SOCIAL

▢  Possibly have an Ice Cream Social
▢  Obtain ice cream
▢  Obtain bowls, knives, spoons, napkins

KAFANA

▢  Possibly have a separate Kafana, although this may split the crowd, which is small to begin with.
▢  Obtain live music for Kafana
▢  Food and drink for Kafana

AFTER PARTY

▢  Possibly have an After Party

SPONSORS

▢  Obtain local sponsors for displaying their information

RESTAURANTS

▢  Obtain local restaurant discounts
▢  Publish directions to restaurants

VENDORS

▢  Make sure vendors are NOT required to pay, but get ALL Statewide info
▢  Balkan Bazaar, North Carolina
▢  John Filcich, Festival Records
▢  Marge Gajicki, Folk Motif
▢  Anthony Ivancich, chair massage

SWAP TABLES

▢  Solicit donations of costumes, books, etc.
▢  Obtain one or more volunteers
▢  Tables
▢  Clothes racks
▢  Money box

COSTS

▢  Establish costs for various items on schedule

DANCE PROGRAMS

▢  Request lists of dances from groups in North and South
▢  Develop scheduled programs from the lists
▢  Include a Hambo — not a requirement but usually happens
▢  Possibly nclude an all-request program

INSTALLATION LUNCH OR DINNER

▢  Obtain a room
▢  Obtain food and drink (catered?)
▢  Table decorations
▢  Sound equipment (if necessary)

KITCHEN

▢  Coffee
▢  Tea
▢  Water
▢  Cups
▢  Markers
▢  Snacks (either at kitchen or outside of kitchen)

MAINTENANCE

▢  Be sure a maintenance man is available

SCHEDULE

▢  Make sure 8.5x11 printed schedules are available for registration table

DONATIONS

▢  Solicit donations of food and drinks from super markets

SIGNS

▢  Have direction signs to the facility to put outside the location

REVIEWS

▢  Select a special time for teacher reviews to be recorded on video

BUSSES

▢  Consider suggesting the rental of busses to bring Northern California people down to the South. This may not be workable as we couldn't make it work fot the San Diego Statewide.

T-SHIRTS

▢  Maybe arrange to have T-shirts made

SYLLABUS

▢  Solicit dance notes from the teachers EARLY
▢  Make up the syllabus
▢  Put it on the website

WEBSITE

▢  Have all information on website early

OTHER

▢  Anything special happening that can be exploited? The following was created by Marshall Cates




Statewide Folk Dance Festival
MANUAL

Revised Friday, August 11, 2017

CHAIR

A Chair, location, and theme need to be decided on before the North Statewide so that the next South Statewide can be announced at the North Statewide. Artwork should also be created. Sometimes a location is found or tradition picks a location before a chair is selected. However, usually a person agrees to be chair and their first responsibility to to secure a location.

LOCATION

The dance facility needs a wood floor of about 3,000 square feet for a predicted crowd of 150 to 200 people with access to restrooms. A reservation of at least one year in advance needs to be available. Adequate parking, kitchen facility, space for vendors, and space for a registration desk all must be considered, but any one of theses that are missing can usually be overcome.

COMMITTEE POSITIONS

Facility Manager: Someone to be the interface with the facility primarily as the event nears. Questions as to decorations, tables, restroom supplies, chairs, etc. can be handled by the facility manager.
Treasurer: Either a separate treasurer, who opens an account to handle income and bills and then closes the account when the event is over. In this case the Federation needs to make an advance of $1,000 to Statewide to pay for deposits, teacher travel, etc. Or the Federation Treasurer can handle the money.
Decorations: The facility needs to be contacted to see what is allowed. There may be a short time for decorating so the Decorations person should recruit a small working committee to help with installation. At least 2 hours are needed for set up, but 1 hour is sufficient for tear down.
Pre-registration: This person receives the mail-in registration forms and prepares the registration packets for early registrants. They also keep track of auxiliary purchases such as T-shirts, DVD, Installation lunch/dinner reservations. The committee may decide to use badges for event control in which case they are prepared ahead of time.
On-site Registration: This person will set up and control the registration desk. They also must recruit people to man the desk for desired times. There usually is the need to handle cash as some people will want to attend statewide on a walk-in basis without pre-registering.
Exhibition/Dance Concert: If it is decided to have a dance concert, then the concert chair needs to contact and decide on performers and address music, microphone and order issues. Also decide on the performance space and audience space.
Vendors: The coordinator for this activity needs to contact vendors for their availability, then needed space, then coordinate with the facility coordinator to see and allocate what space is available. Also, must address table and chair needs.
Publicity: Publication in local news space has not proved worthwhile, but this person would coordinate early references to the upcoming Statewide and would coordinate the publishing of registration material in Folk Dance Scene and in Let’s Dance magazines as well as distributing flyers and registration materials to the member clubs, both South and North.
Headquarters Hotels: A person needs to canvas the area for suitable hotel space. Parking, ambiance, distance to the event, all need to be considered. Frequently by reserving a block of rooms, either a complimentary room can be acquired or reduced parking may be had. The Statewide budget shall provide a room for each teacher and the Presidents of the South and North Federations.
Teachers: This person prepares a list of possible teachers. The statewide committee comments on this list and usually provides an ordering of preference. The Teachers Chair then contacts the teachers and comes back to the committee with a cost estimate to include fee and travel expenses. The selection and reservation of teachers should be done very early.
Dance Programs: There will be several dance sessions using recorded music. The program chair should contact member clubs to get their lists of popular dances, contact the bands if any for their play lists, and create a play list for each event that uses recorded music. When planning the number of dances needed, remember to allocate time for some review and dancing of the dances taught during the Statewide institutes.
Video DVD: A Videographer is needed to shoot the raw video and someone to process the files into a finished DVD. We have traditionally given each teacher $5.00 for each DVD sold, the rest is used to cover the cost of production and possibly compensation for the production expertise.
Band: If it is decided to have a band(s), a person suggests a list of choices to the committee which creates a preference list. Also, a budget line is created. The bands then are contacted for availability and cost.
Afterparty: Depending on the facility, the hours available, the location, an onsite or off-site afterparty may be desired. A person in charge will need to settle on a location and facilitator.
Syllabus: The teaching institute will need to produce a syllabus. Most people now rely on some sort of electronic versions. Someone need to gather these versions and post them at an assessable site. It is desirable, but not always possible to have the syllabus provided by the teachers reviewed by someone who knows the dance.
Equipment: Someone needs to be present who is familiar with the sound equipment (usually, computer, microphones, mixer, and speakers) to trouble shoot any glitches that happen.
Masters of Ceremonies: With the advent of computer-driven MC's, jobs have been reduced to pushing a buttion and pronouncing the name of the upcoming dance. Someone is needed to start and pause and stop the music.
Signs: From banners declaring a folk dance festival to which way to the restrooms, it is good to have a person in charge of signs.
Hospitality: Someone local to go to nearby establishments to solicit contributions. Restaurants may give discount coupons in exchange to listing their name and location at the dance vent. Local businesses sometime contribute ice cream, pastries, coffee, cookies, etc. in exchange for a displayed thank you.
Installation Lunch/Dinner: The Federation Vice President is responsible for organizing the Installation of new officers event (lunch or dinner). The food and drink is usually catered and is by pre-registration only. At this event, the officers from the South and North are installed. A new Past President receives their pin. Any awards are made, and the next Statewide is announced. The cost for this comes from the Federation budget.
Past President's Party: This event occurs at Statewide, but is not the responsibility of the Statewide Committee. This is the responsibility of the immediate Past President. However time in the schedule must be made for the event.
Food and Drinks: Some snacks and drinks for general consumption are appreciated. When parking is an issue some Statewide Committees have arranged for boxed or catered lunches to be made available on site by pre-order. If there are suitable restaurants near by, the on-site food may not be necessary.

HOW TO START

Find a location and chair
Form a committee of those who will have jobs to do
Develop a tentative schedule
Teaching in the morning
Festivals in the evening
Bands?
Exhibition?
Afternoons
More teaching or
More festivals or
Exhibition, specialized dance programs
Reviews
Installation event
Catered food and drinks on site?
Ice cream social?
Afterparty?
Cultural corners?
Ending time
T-shirts?
Create a budget
Package cost.
What is available besides package? By day? By session? by event? Consider the work load of the on-site registers and the need for admission control if each event is individually priced.
If the location is convenient then pre-registration will be low and walk-ins high. If location is isolated then there will be more pre-registrations than walk-ins.
Adjust budget for bands and teacher costs.
Settle on package and event costs so that the registration forms can be produced and distributed at least 2 months before the event.


The following is from the 1989 Standard Operating Procedures.

STATEWIDE FOLK DANCE FESTIVAL COMMITTEE

The annual Statewide Folk Dance Festival shall be sponsored on an alternating basis, by mutual agreement, with the Folk Dance Federation of California, Inc., in northern California. Currently, the Statewide Festival is held in the South during "odd" years and in the North during "even" years. The Statewide Festival location and the date shall be approved by the Council sufficiently in advance of the festival date so that an invitation can be extended at the preceding Statewide Festival in northern California.

The Chairperson(s) of this Committee shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the Council no less than eighteen months and preferably two years before the festival date.

Recommended sub-committees are Advertising, After Parties, Art and Flyers, Bar-B-Que/Picnic, Business Manager, Callers, Concert, Dance Programs and Recording, Decorations, Door Control, Exhibitions, Facility Liaison, Hospitality, Installation Banquet, Institute, Masters of Ceremony, North-South Coordinator, Past Presidents' Party, Property Management, Publicity, Registration, Secretary, Signs and Banners, Sound, Statewide Advisor, Technical Advisor, and Vendors.

The President, as ex officio member, has voting privileges on this committee, and shall be notified in advance about the date, time, and place of each meeting.

The Statewide Advisor shall be a member of the committee.

Whenever possible, the current Federation Treasurer, Director of Publicity, and Institute Committee Chairperson shall serve in the same capacities on the Statewide Committee.

The Federation Vice President shall chair the sub-committee responsible for the event at which incoming Federation officers are installed.

The immediate Past President shall chair the sub-committee responsible for the Past Presidents' Party.

In order to maintain continuity from term to term, it is recommended that part of the Committee be reappointed each year and that the Chairperson shall have served on the Committee previously, or shall have had similar experience.

Monies from the Federation general fund shall be advanced to Federation Committees, upon request, with Council approval.

A working fund may be provided to a Committee as needed with Council approval. Any additional income over expenses (surplus) shall be returned to the general fund.

The treasurer (known as the Business Manager) for the Statewide Festival, shall maintain separately posted Statewide account books. All Statewide sub-committee expenditures shall receive prior approval from the Chairperson(s).

The Chairperson shall attend and give an oral report at each Council Meeting.

DECEMBER: The list of dances to be used in the program shall be published by December 20th. The Dance Program Committee should be aware that several dances are done differently in North and South and avoid these dances in the selection of the Program. Northern dance leaders should be consulted about dances which are popular in their groups so that a reasonable number of these can be incorporated into the program. Copies of the completed dance list (not necessarily in program order) shall be widely distributed in both Federations sothat teachers can teach or review the program dances. The list should reach the northern Federation office by December 26th.

JUNE: All bills shall be turned in to the Treasurer within thirty days after the festival so that a financial report can be prepared.

The Chairperson(s) shall give a final report, including attendance and finances, at the September Council Meeting if possible, but no later than the next following Council Meeting.

The Statewide Committee shall compile a complete report, including minutes of its meetings, budget information, samples of printed materials, and recommendations for future festivals. This report shall be provided to the next Statewide Folk Dance Festival Chairperson(s).

JUNE: The Committee chairperson(s) shall review this section of the Federation Standard Operating Procedures manual. If amendments are considered advisable, they shall be submitted to the President for review and approval by the Board of Directors prior to their final incorporation into the manual.