Gay Callers Association square dance caller school

[bjarvis]

The GCA has formally announced their caller school for May of 2007. We have it annually in the days preceding the IAGSDC convention (Denver, CO, this year). Many thanks to the All Join Hands Foundation for their sponsorship, allowing the GCA to make deep discounts in the tuition costs and offering scholarships to prospective new callers who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to attend.

The application forms and further news will be on the web site in the next couple of weeks.

Comments

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

Both Monday & Tuesday are sold out at the convention host hotel. Does the GCA have recommendations for other accomodations during GCA school?

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Officially, I'd have to refer this to Chi Chi; as GCA VP, the caller school organization & activities are in his realm of responsibilities.

Unofficially, I'd be surprised if the GCA would want to encroach into the area of accomodations. Making side deals or recommendations would be tricky at a distance. It's also a form of scope-creep which makes the VP job even more difficult. Tim, bless his heart, did a fantastic job for years; Chi Chi is new at it. My perception is that he already has his hands full, and he needs to be working on Cleveland's 2008 caller school simultaneously.

Of course, Red Rocks & Purple Mountains, the Denver convention committee, has a contract with the hotel; if it is like any other hotel contract, the convetion gets a number of freebies (dance halls, courtesy lounges, gratis rooms for staff callers, etc.) which are contingent on the number of room-nights actually purchased & credited; if the GCA attempts any sort of side deal with either the Hyatt or other nearby hotels, we risk undercutting the convention committee's room credits and thus creating a potentially devastating financial burden.

I think the better approach is to nudge the GCA Prez & VP to contact Jorge directly to pressure them to negotiate a larger room block so all caller school attendees can be under the same roof. I'm going to write the GCA board immediately to urge this be done as soon as possible so we can hope for a positive result before the xmas holidays.


Did I mention that kent4str, rlegters, tdjohns and I are staying at the Hampton Inn & Suites? :-) It's not that we couldn't get a room at the Hyatt when we made our bookings... the Hyatt lacked rooms with two queen or king beds so we couldn't room together.

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

I've nudged, and now I got you to nudge. Thanks!

I got to see Ron & Troy (way too briefly) last weekend, and they mentioned staying elsewhere for a kent4str-length bed. :-)

Update: Jorge asked for my dates, and he'll take care of me individually. (Mr. Squeaky Wheel.)