Another ACDC Done!

ACDC 2011, our Advanced & Challenge square dance fly-in, wrapped up about 12 hours ago. Once we were home and the minivan was unloaded, I crashed. Hard. I just woke up and am tending to a few minor timely items before I head back to bed.

By my count of the registration check-in list, we had about 135 dancers. We had perhaps four no-shows who will be rolled over to next year. These numbers don't include people in our current Advanced class (about a dozen came for the A1 blocks), caller spouses and misc other comped VIPs. In short, it's a record attendance.

I'm crediting a large part of the improvement in attendance to (a) the vastly improved weather over last year's snowpocalypse which kept the airports & highways closed until very nearly the last minute; (b) an attractive slate of callers (Vic Ceder, Dave Wilson, Lynette Bellini and Linda Kendall), (c) some aggressive marketing and (d) the vastly improved economy. While the overall economy still isn't great, it is rebounding: early last year, we were still speculating about a double-dip recession.

Now we have to keep the marketing momentum going. BTW, next year's callers will be Barry Clasper, Clark Baker and Ett McAtee with a fourth caller yet to be announced... if that's not a dream team, I'm not sure what would be.

Our overall activity checklist and project plan worked pretty well, especially since we had very few wrenches (such as weather) screwing us up as we did in 2010. For my part, I received the key documents (dance schedule, restaurant guide, etc.) for photocopying with sufficient lead time --that's always a personal pet peeve. Earlier helps but on-time is good enough.

I drove down Friday afternoon with the minivan loaded with materials: three sound systems plus a backup, the bin of stationery supplies for the registration desk, the hand-outs & flyers, our personal luggage, cuyahogarvr and much more. Unlike last year, we didn't have to shovel out a parking spot in order to unload the contents. And thanks to nearby friends, we were able to store the minivan in their parking spot at their condo while they were away in Rehoboth Beach, DE, for the weekend, saving a pile of parking fees. We did get a $100 parking ticket after unloading the minivan however for supposedly not displaying the parking receipt in our windshield. I'm planning to contest the ticket: our receipt was clearly displayed in the windshield as indicated and I took photos to prove it. More news on that later.

kent4str and I have been accumulating a lot more square dance calling equipment over the past year. Some of the leftover 2009 IAGSDC convention funds were used by DCLS to purchase two speaker stands and a Hilton MA-150 amp/mixer. Along with our existing equipment, we now have chez nous: two sets of yak stack speakers, three yak stands, an additional speaker & stand, three Hilton turntables, one Hilton amp/mixer and cables for all. I'd like to acquire another yak stack and longer speaker cables this year for more flexibility but we have enough systems to run a typical three-hall festival without scrambling to borrow additional systems from local callers --and we have systems to lend out to other non-DCLS festivals as needed.

I know we raised about $700 on 50/50 ticket sales; I don't know how much we might have raised on our small fly-in raffle fundraiser but I'd guess about $200.

While we've used the Almas Temple, a Shriners' center, at 14th & K Streets NW for several years now, this was the first year we've used the Hilton Garden Inn, a block to the south. Reviews from various folks seemed to agree the hotel was very pleasant and comfortable. From an organizational viewpoint, the hotel staff were more flexible & approachable than the staff at the Crowne Plaza we had used in prior years. So far, there haven't been any major screw-ups on our master account --the Crowne Plaza was a nightmare on that point the past two years.

As a personal indulgence, we arranged a small group of friends to go to Skewers (mediterranean cuisine at 17th & P Streets NW) for dinner Saturday. There was much ribbing at my expense about how far we walked but I purposefully proposed a restaurant far enough away that we wouldn't be competing with a hundred other square dancers for the waiter's attention. And in reality, it wasn't a huge trek and the food & service were well worth the effort. Certainly, most folks made quite a dent in the bar's inventory with multiple martinis, variations on iced tea and mojitos! I also don't recall anyone complaining about the quick stop at Pitango Gelato on the way back to the dance hall...

kent4str and I hosted a GCA guest caller hour, 7:30-8:30pm on Saturday; I hosted the C1 hall while kent4str emceed in the Advanced hall. I hosted Ken Sale, Michael Levy, Dayle Hodge and Ett McAtee guest-calling; Kent had Chris Phelan, Abe Feldman, Osamo Miyabe and Drew Allan. My C1 hall went spectacularly well, and I believe there were good reports from the Advanced hall.

I got to dance some this year too. I didn't dance continuously: I've been in this biz too long to feel the need to jump into every tip at every hour. Besides, as a committee staffer, I knew this was largely a working weekend and set my dance expectations as such. That said, I was happy to be the eighth dancer to finish an A2, C1 or C2 square as needed, danced some fine C2 Friday & Saturday and attend the C1 & C2 workshops Saturday & Sunday. During my brief attendance at the A2 take-no-prisoners session --they needed an eighth to fill a square-- I'm happy to say ours was the only square left standing in the first tip. I do regret missing the C1 and C2 TNP hours; I would have liked to have at least observed them but duties required me elsewhere.

We had five cakes delivered from a local bakery as a bonus dessert serving on Saturday evening. I think I demonstrated admirable restraint by not diving in face-first when they arrived; indeed, I only approached the table after I was confident everyone else had a chance to enjoy some cake. Then I gorged myself. And again the next morning with the leftovers. :-)

We had a very nice late luncheon at the 1409 Playbill Cafe after the event was done and the halls were cleaned out. John Z. is contemplating looking for an alternate venue; I'm quite happy with the Playbill but it doesn't hurt to look around for attractive alternatives, just for variety.

Steve & Rich kept the water coolers full and hung the club banners. Abe handled coordinated raffle prizes and assembling the restaurant guide. Cissie managed cash, booked the callers, devised the dance schedule and solicited table volunteers. John Z. booked the halls, the hotel and the cakes. Michael M. handled registrations. I kept notes & timetables and worked on the audio systems and GCA hosting with kent4str. cuyahogarvr handled our arrangements for the cast party at the 1409 Playbill Cafe. Tonnes o' volunteers staffed the registration desk, provided out-of-towners with local advice and assisted in a hundred small details which made a world of difference.

I've already made some revisions to our restaurant guide as a boost to next year's event. I still need to make a financial report of my purchases & expeditures for reimbursement --some were ACDC related, others Harvest Festival related and yet others general club expenses. I'm looking forward to seeing the final financial statements. And we need to schedule a post-event committee meeting to summarize our results and to look to booking callers for 2013.

Another ACDC Done!

ACDC 2011, our Advanced & Challenge square dance fly-in, wrapped up about 12 hours ago. Once we were home and the minivan was unloaded, I crashed. Hard. I just woke up and am tending to a few minor timely items before I head back to bed.

By my count of the registration check-in list, we had about 135 dancers. We had perhaps four no-shows who will be rolled over to next year. These numbers don't include people in our current Advanced class (about a dozen came for the A1 blocks), caller spouses and misc other comped VIPs. In short, it's a record attendance.

I'm crediting a large part of the improvement in attendance to (a) the vastly improved weather over last year's snowpocalypse which kept the airports & highways closed until very nearly the last minute; (b) an attractive slate of callers (Vic Ceder, Dave Wilson, Lynette Bellini and Linda Kendall), (c) some aggressive marketing and (d) the vastly improved economy. While the overall economy still isn't great, it is rebounding: early last year, we were still speculating about a double-dip recession.

Now we have to keep the marketing momentum going. BTW, next year's callers will be Barry Clasper, Clark Baker and Ett McAtee with a fourth caller yet to be announced... if that's not a dream team, I'm not sure what would be.

Our overall activity checklist and project plan worked pretty well, especially since we had very few wrenches (such as weather) screwing us up as we did in 2010. For my part, I received the key documents (dance schedule, restaurant guide, etc.) for photocopying with sufficient lead time --that's always a personal pet peeve. Earlier helps but on-time is good enough.

I drove down Friday afternoon with the minivan loaded with materials: three sound systems plus a backup, the bin of stationery supplies for the registration desk, the hand-outs & flyers, our personal luggage, cuyahogarvr and much more. Unlike last year, we didn't have to shovel out a parking spot in order to unload the contents. And thanks to nearby friends, we were able to store the minivan in their parking spot at their condo while they were away in Rehoboth Beach, DE, for the weekend, saving a pile of parking fees. We did get a $100 parking ticket after unloading the minivan however for supposedly not displaying the parking receipt in our windshield. I'm planning to contest the ticket: our receipt was clearly displayed in the windshield as indicated and I took photos to prove it. More news on that later.

kent4str and I have been accumulating a lot more square dance calling equipment over the past year. Some of the leftover 2009 IAGSDC convention funds were used by DCLS to purchase two speaker stands and a Hilton MA-150 amp/mixer. Along with our existing equipment, we now have chez nous: two sets of yak stack speakers, three yak stands, an additional speaker & stand, three Hilton turntables, one Hilton amp/mixer and cables for all. I'd like to acquire another yak stack and longer speaker cables this year for more flexibility but we have enough systems to run a typical three-hall festival without scrambling to borrow additional systems from local callers --and we have systems to lend out to other non-DCLS festivals as needed.

I know we raised about $700 on 50/50 ticket sales; I don't know how much we might have raised on our small fly-in raffle fundraiser but I'd guess about $200.

While we've used the Almas Temple, a Shriners' center, at 14th & K Streets NW for several years now, this was the first year we've used the Hilton Garden Inn, a block to the south. Reviews from various folks seemed to agree the hotel was very pleasant and comfortable. From an organizational viewpoint, the hotel staff were more flexible & approachable than the staff at the Crowne Plaza we had used in prior years. So far, there haven't been any major screw-ups on our master account --the Crowne Plaza was a nightmare on that point the past two years.

As a personal indulgence, we arranged a small group of friends to go to Skewers (mediterranean cuisine at 17th & P Streets NW) for dinner Saturday. There was much ribbing at my expense about how far we walked but I purposefully proposed a restaurant far enough away that we wouldn't be competing with a hundred other square dancers for the waiter's attention. And in reality, it wasn't a huge trek and the food & service were well worth the effort. Certainly, most folks made quite a dent in the bar's inventory with multiple martinis, variations on iced tea and mojitos! I also don't recall anyone complaining about the quick stop at Pitango Gelato on the way back to the dance hall...

kent4str and I hosted a GCA guest caller hour, 7:30-8:30pm on Saturday; I hosted the C1 hall while kent4str emceed in the Advanced hall. I hosted Ken Sale, Michael Levy, Dayle Hodge and Ett McAtee guest-calling; Kent had Chris Phelan, Abe Feldman, Osamo Miyabe and Drew Allan. My C1 hall went spectacularly well, and I believe there were good reports from the Advanced hall.

I got to dance some this year too. I didn't dance continuously: I've been in this biz too long to feel the need to jump into every tip at every hour. Besides, as a committee staffer, I knew this was largely a working weekend and set my dance expectations as such. That said, I was happy to be the eighth dancer to finish an A2, C1 or C2 square as needed, danced some fine C2 Friday & Saturday and attend the C1 & C2 workshops Saturday & Sunday. During my brief attendance at the A2 take-no-prisoners session --they needed an eighth to fill a square-- I'm happy to say ours was the only square left standing in the first tip. I do regret missing the C1 and C2 TNP hours; I would have liked to have at least observed them but duties required me elsewhere.

We had five cakes delivered from a local bakery as a bonus dessert serving on Saturday evening. I think I demonstrated admirable restraint by not diving in face-first when they arrived; indeed, I only approached the table after I was confident everyone else had a chance to enjoy some cake. Then I gorged myself. And again the next morning with the leftovers. :-)

We had a very nice late luncheon at the 1409 Playbill Cafe after the event was done and the halls were cleaned out. John Z. is contemplating looking for an alternate venue; I'm quite happy with the Playbill but it doesn't hurt to look around for attractive alternatives, just for variety.

Steve & Rich kept the water coolers full and hung the club banners. Abe handled coordinated raffle prizes and assembling the restaurant guide. Cissie managed cash, booked the callers, devised the dance schedule and solicited table volunteers. John Z. booked the halls, the hotel and the cakes. Michael M. handled registrations. I kept notes & timetables and worked on the audio systems and GCA hosting with kent4str. cuyahogarvr handled our arrangements for the cast party at the 1409 Playbill Cafe. Tonnes o' volunteers staffed the registration desk, provided out-of-towners with local advice and assisted in a hundred small details which made a world of difference.

I've already made some revisions to our restaurant guide as a boost to next year's event. I still need to make a financial report of my purchases & expeditures for reimbursement --some were ACDC related, others Harvest Festival related and yet others general club expenses. I'm looking forward to seeing the final financial statements. And we need to schedule a post-event committee meeting to summarize our results and to look to booking callers for 2013.