Austin Swing Syndicate general updates and announcements
Are we open on Thanksgiving? The answer is YES!
Since we won’t have our normal staff, the dance will be FREE, as it is every year. However, please consider donating to help cover the cost of renting the venue (yes, we still have to pay on Thanksgiving) and to support our year-round efforts as a local swing dance and music non-profit. You can also donate online here: http://austinswingsyndicate.org/donate/
Austin Swing Syndicate is getting a roomie! Starting Oct 4th, Four on the Floor (FotF) will teach progressive Swing dance lessons at 7pm and 8pm. This is your one stop shop to learn Lindy Hop, Balboa, and Collegiate Shag at all levels!
Grab your dance shoes and check out the schedule on their website. Hope to see you this Thursday!
More info below from our announcement on 9/12/18:
“Four on the Floor has been teaching Swing, Lindy Hop, Balboa and Collegiate Shag on Tuesday nights at the Fed for around 20 years. Now, we’re happy to welcome Four on the Floor to teach progressive classes before our Thursday night dances. We hope this change will allow our beginner and intermediate dancers easier access to more advanced classes at an already convenient time and place, bringing the level of dancing in Austin even higher.
As a result of this change, starting in October, the only class that will be included with our Thursday night dance will be our regular 8:15pm Intro to Swing class in the main ballroom. All other classes from 7-9pm will be taught by Four on the Floor and will include Lindy Hop, Balboa, and Collegiate Shag classes of all levels! These classes will be purchased separately from the dance admission and will be run by Four on the Floor. Our DJ’d side room and main ballroom schedule from 9pm-midnight will remain the same.
We hope you’ll make our new roommates feel at home during this time of transition. Welcome Four on the Floor!”
For the next two weeks, please enter the Fed using the side entrance facing 24th street. Due to normal floor maintenance in the Ballroom, social dancing will be in the Foyer, Parlor, Library, Art Gallery and Georgian Room on August 2nd and August 9th. You’ll get to dance in the fancy sitting rooms next to the beautiful old fireplaces and the infamous creepy doll collection.
Normal classes and dancing in the main ballroom will resume on August 16th.
The Austin Swing Syndicate Board of Directors elections start this week with online voting! Last week we had a great Town Hall where the candidates fielded questions from our members, and biographies were posted in the hallway before the main ballroom. Please click below for our candidates’ biographies and read on for more information about the election cycle.
Feb. 5th – Nominations open
Feb. 19th – Nominations close
Feb. 22nd – Election Town Hall (Biographies posted this week)
Mar. 1st – Online voting begins
Mar. 8th – In-person voting, polls close at Midnight
Mar. 9th – Election results (including exact vote counts) sent to members by email
Mar. 22nd – New Board first meeting
Elections for the four open Board of Directors spots will be held in March. Joining the board is a great way to give back to a community you love, help us decide what our next priorities should be, and get in on the inner workings of the organization. Plus you’ll get to hang with fun people, it looks great on a resume, and you get in free to our dances/events.
Being on the board is a two-year commitment. Officers (President, VP, etc.) are elected internally among directors once elected. The elections are run by the Elections Committee, a neutral group nominated by the current Board.
We hope you love dancing at the Fed as much as we do, and we’re grateful to the Austin swing dance community for supporting our weekly dance and events! Our rent is going up for the first time since early 2013 (the last time we raised our prices), so our door prices and membership rates will go up starting on January 1st, 2018. Special live music event prices will stay the same. Our next Town Hall Meeting will be January 18th at 8pm where we will provide a full financial report, and we’d love to see you there.
New prices
Regular dance: $5 members / $8 non-members
Membership rates: $30 students / $40 regular
The Austin Swing Syndicate is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and is entirely volunteer-run. Thanks again for dancing with us and supporting our mission of spreading the joy of swing dancing to as many Austinites as we can! Hope to see you out on the dance floor.
Featuring:
The Elections Committee would like to announce the beginning of the Austin Swing Syndicate 2017 election cycle.
The elections will be run a bit differently this year in order to align our practices with the law and the recommendations of our lawyer.
Key differences:
1. Members will elect seven board members without designating offices (President, VP, Treasurer, Secretary). Once elected, the board with then elect the officers from among the elected directors. This is required by non-profit law and our bylaws, but has not been applied in recent years. “Following inauguration of elected Directors, the Board shall select officers, including a President, a Vice President, a Treasurer, and a Secretary. The positions of President, Vice President, and Treasurer shall not be filled by minors” (Austin Swing Syndicate Bylaws, Section 3.04).
2. We are transitioning to staggered two-year terms upon the strong recommendation of our lawyer. In order to start implementing this system, the three candidates who receive the most votes will be granted two-year terms on the board. The remaining four candidates will serve one-year terms, and their spots will be up for re-election for two-year terms in the 2018 election. Officers will be voted on internally by the board each year.
Feb. 8th – Nominations open
Feb. 23rd – Nominations close
Mar. 2nd – Biographies are posted, online voting begins
Mar. 9th – In-person voting, polls close at midnight
Mar. 10th – Election results (including exact vote counts) sent to members by email
Please email elections@austinswingsyndicate.org to declare your candidacy or if you have any questions. If you would like to nominate someone else, please copy the nominated party on your email. They will have to accept the nomination to be included on the ballot.
ALX 2016 is fast approaching and we’ll need to start planning asap! We’re looking for someone (or some people) to head up our ALX Committee this year. If you’re interested, please submit a proposal to the board at board@austinswingsyndicate.org. The proposal should include the following information at minimum:
– A schedule for the weekend
– Music plan (live bands, DJs, etc.)
– Venues
– Merchandise (T-shirts, stickers, etc.)
– Marketing
– Budget/Sales plan
– Rough committee deadlines
Please be as detailed as possible. If you have enquired with specific bands or venues about availability and/or pricing, please include this information in your proposal.
All proposals are due April 7th, 2016!
Candidates for election to the 2016 Austin Swing Syndicate Board are organized below in alphabetical order by position. Short candidate-written biographies and photos are included here for all candidates for President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary and At-Large (for which there are three open spots).
Elections will take place in person on March 17th at the Fed and online voting will open on March 10th. Stay tuned for more information!
Jennifer Banister
As a member of the 2015 Board Jennifer worked hard with the board and community members to help run the Syndicate and fulfill her campaign goals. She successfully completed all 3 of her campaign hopes: encourage more community volunteering, work with the board to resolve the financial incongruities, and create the Lindy Choir. Looking forward, besides community facilitation, Jennifer’s primary goals for 2016 are: to invite out of town bands to play at the Syndicate on occasion, encourage micro-workshops with visiting international/national level teachers and build stronger connections to encourage different creative groups around Austin. Leadership is about encouragement and community. As President, Jennifer will work to promote and champion the ideas and causes of the Board, ALX committee, volunteers and our community members. As a member of the Safe Spaces committee with people to help them feel safer. In 2016, Jennifer hopes to build a closer connection with other dance organizations to share information and tactics for safe spaces. “The Syndicate is home to a myriad of talent and as President, I will work to promote and nurture individuals and groups to take increased ownership of the Syndicate and closer connection with the community”– Jennifer Banister
Robbie Meshbane
I’m a very enthusiastic social dancer that’s excited to improve the quality of our dance scene. Since joining the Syndicate 4 years ago, I’ve served on the Thursday night staff, coordinated the housing during our annual event (Austin Lindy Exchange), and served on the board of directors. During my tenure as Secretary last year:
I’m super excited about running again for the Austin Swing Syndicate Board of Directors. If re-elected onto the 2016 board, I will continue my efforts and work to towards new goals for the Austin Swing Syndicate, which are:
Arnica Grace
I am honored to be nominated to serve as Vice President this year, thank you! Here’s a short introduction just in case we haven’t met out on the dance floor:
Growing, preserving, and evolving Austin’s Swing dance scene is my passion. I will use my experience running a non-profit organization to make the Austin Swing Syndicate fun and friendly for everyone. Building connections to open dance opportunities, I will keep our board on the pulse of the Swing Scene here in Austin.
As your Vice-President for 2016, it will be my commitment to keep our Thursday dances running smoothly at a fair cost. Coordinating the involvement of our organization and its members will make that happen. Our volunteers and board members are some of the nicest people I could hope to work with toward that aim.
After dancing around town to live bands for years, I was hooked on the Syndicate the first time I set foot in the Fed. I haven’t been able to kick that habit of Swing dancing since, nor would I ever want to! Instead, I have nurtured it. A few examples of how I have helped and continue to help grow our Swing community are:
I make things happen. I help everyone get it done. It will be a pleasure to work for you all in the capacity of Vice President here at the Austin Swing Syndicate for 2016. I’m happy to have been nominated to run for office. And now… let’s dance!
Dale Simpson
Dale Simpson was honored to serve as your Treasurer in 2015 and he would appreciate your vote to serve as your Treasurer again in 2016 on the 501(c)(3) Austin Swing Syndicate Board of Directors. His goal is to keep the weekly dances occurring so that we can maintain a robust swing dance scene here in Austin, Texas and introduce even more people to swing dance.
As Treasurer in 2015, he worked diligently to reconstruct the financial record of 2013 and 2014 and to file the 2013 and 2014 Tax Returns to bring our organization back into compliance with non-profit rules. He is also leading the effort to put in place a rigorous financial oversight program to prevent future disruptions to our financial record.
As a professional engineer and project manager in Environmental Compliance, Dale is comfortable with numbers, budgets, and boring (but effective) government regulations.
Dale has been a member of the Austin Swing Syndicate since taking his first beginner class at a Thursday dance in 2004. He has been an active volunteer for the Thursday dances for the past 12 years.
Dale has traveled nationally to attend events such as Swing Out New Hampshire and Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown in New Orleans. When he backpacked across the world, he danced in the swing dance scenes of Buenos Aires, Argentina; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Swing Camp Oz in Adelaide, Australia; and even ended up on a month-long tour of Tibet with a couple of swing-dancers from Austria.
Lizi George
I joined the 2014-2015 board to fill a vacant At-Large position near the end of the year and would like to continue working to enhance the Austin swing dance community experience. Since joining the board, I have served as an adviser to the election committee and have recently taken over the maintenance of our mailing lists. If elected for a full term as Secretary, I would focus on informing our membership and general public of special events through monthly newsletters and frequent updates to the website. I plan to improve the membership experience by exploring options to ease membership renewal and recognition. Socials with free food for members would also make a reappearance.
My past leadership experience includes serving as a member of the 2014 and 2015 ALX committees and as the president of my college living group. I have been a volunteer at the Fed since May 2014, usually staffing the 8pm or 9pm desk shifts.
Outside of dancing, I’m an electrical engineer and enjoy Celtic music, stand-up comedy and large sweaters.
Victor Celenia
I took up swing dancing in 2003 after having seen lindy hop for the first time in Orlando, Florida and have been dancing ever since. In Virginia Beach and Richmond, VA I was heavily involved in their scenes and in 2010, ran a monthly dance called the Southside Stomp that brought in instructors and dj’s from all over the northeast and midatlantic. At the beginning of the next year my partner and I ran a three day dance, workshop and competition event called By My Jazz Baby. Since moving to Austin I have been a DJ at the dances for the last four and a half years, become a swing bandleader for Snorky’s Rhythm Kings and the Waller Creek Vipers, and monthly dance organizer with the Waller Creek Stomp. I am extremely passionate about the joy and uplifting nature of the dance and its music. I believe that I can bring all of my organizing experiences and help the Syndicate keep moving in a positive direction towards growth, unity and support. All of our groups, organizers, and instructors have a place and an organization to call home and whose efforts will be supported. I look forward to continuing what previous boards have started and helping our scene be the best in the nation!
Robbie Meshbane
(see bio under President)
JP Navarro
Served as At-Large Member 2015-2016 with a focus on finding out more about community and volunteer concerns regarding Syndicate operations, and serving as the pro tem Marketing Director in charge of Syndicate signage and advertisement.
Hoping to serve as At-Large again for 2016, with the platform of rebuilding bridges between the dance organizations that make the Austin scene, such as Hot Rhythm Holiday and Austin Lindy Exchange.
Also, yearning to explore options for community outreach and events outside of the regular Thursday night dance, including charity based fund raisers, and contributions to university or college based swing dance clubs.
Agony Orr
I really enjoy swing dancing. I am glad that the Austin Swing Syndicate has made a great community and I want to help out by being on the board. If you like to swing dance too then you should vote for me.
Nick Williams
Nick Williams is excited to be running for the Board of the Austin Swing Syndicate this year. After extensive volunteering with the Syndicate, participation in community meetings, work with the Austin Lindy Exchange, and more recent involvement in new volunteer recruitment and coordination, Nick wants to increase his part in the dance community by serving as a Board Member. Nick is a parttime student, has experience in small business operation, and works with sound tech and event management in his day job. His primary goals this term are to support increased community involvement with the Syndicate, and to continue to promote greater communication with the membership –encouraging more of their voice to be heard; the Syndicate has been doing a fantastic job in this area, and Nick will be excited to help keep up the momentum.
The Syndicate is about people; Nick wants to make it easy for all to be a part of this truly awesome organization, and aims to continue to foster the great, welcoming environment it’s been long known for. Feel free to say hi if you see him on the dance floor!
Jin Young Cha
I am grateful to be nominated by Robbie Meshbane for the position of At-Large and for the opportunity to formalize my support of the Austin Swing Syndicate. I have attended and participated in many meetings as a general member, helped organize ALX, closed on Thursday nights, and welcomed newcomers.
My objectives are to: