Nick Williams
Nick Williams has been an active member of the Austin swing dance scene for several years. He’s thrilled with the fantastic collection of local jazz music and top-notch community his home town has to offer and wants to keep this core running strong for all to discover and be a part of. Nick has a background in music, sound, live events, and communication and is glad to have found a place in the community to do what he loves. He’s ready for another great year at the Austin Swing Syndicate — and as always, ready for some great swing dancing.
Kari Kron
I love dancing! After discovering Lindy hop in 2011, I have had the pleasure of dancing in several scenes throughout the world. I have been a part of scene leadership and volunteer groups for many years. One of my biggest organizational accomplishments is instigating the Texas Intercollegiate Swing Battle (TXISB): a workshop, competition, and social dance event hosted by our state’s college swing dance clubs. While in Houston, I started a group called Lindy Launchpad to promote learning, practicing, and performing Lindy hop as well as making the “social” dance community more SOCIAL.
If elected my objectives will be to work on outreach and community building for Austin Swing Syndicate. I would love to bring this amazing dance group farther in its goals to promote the continued existence and growth of swing dancing in Austin, Texas.
Phillip Wiemeyer
Phil was introduced to swing dancing in 2008 and has been a part of the scene ever since. He has traveled extensively to take part in exchanges as far as Seattle, Mexico City, Atlanta, Bogotá and to others exotic locations such as Nebraska. He even has taken 3rd place in competitions at least once! Phil has taught classes in Lindy Hop—including at the Fed—and enjoys spreading the joy that is swing dancing. He is interested in joining the board to continue to have a positive impact on the Austin dance scene. He wants to focus on building an inclusive and welcoming community, especially to beginners. When Phil isn’t dancing he us usually thinking about philosophy and wondering if dogs remember their dreams or if he used the em dash properly in this essay.
Nicole Currens
Growing up in Austin, music and dancing have always been part of my life. In 2017, I discovered the joy of swing dancing and I’ve been a regular at the Fed ever since. While I was a student at UT Austin I promoted lindy hop on campus by being an officer in the Texas Swing Dance society and performing lindy hop choreographies at university events. After the pandemic, I wanted to make sure the dance community came back swinging, so I became a regular volunteer and shift lead at the Fed, helping to make sure every Thursday goes smoothly. I’ve also recently begun teaching swing dance which has been an amazing way to share my love of the dance with others. Despite how much I love to dance, the real reason I keep coming back to the Fed is the incredible Austin swing dance community. I’m running for the board to give back to the community and help it become even better. As a board member, I hope to use my experience serving on other nonprofit boards to help create better policies and make sure the Syndicate will continue to be the heart of the Austin swing dance community. I plan to continue to promote the Syndicate through outreach, especially on the UT campus, as well as continuing to grow our community and make sure it’s inclusive and welcoming to everyone.
Amanda Eakin
Swing dancing and the community around it have brought so much joy to my life. On the board I’d like to help the Syndicate not just survive but grow, so more people can discover and enjoy what it has to offer. By day, I help young startup companies learn how to sell and scale. I’d love to apply some of the same thinking to the Syndicate so that dancers, musicians and members of the greater community all benefit from swing dancing becoming a bigger part of Austin culture.
Lon Nix
You may have seen me around the Fed as one of the volunteers, being an Ambassador, teaching a class or just having a chat. Over the past year I have become more and more involved and I want to continue to do more. Currently I’m serving as the marketing coordinator, helping to reboot the Ambassador program and just recently gave a History of Lindy Hop lesson at a local high school for Black History month.
I really want the opportunity to help the Syndicate increase its community outreach and become known for more than just a Thursday night dance. I would like to see us working with local bands and venues to bring the joy of Swing dancing and its history to more people and places and have fun doing it. I have a passion for getting to know people and working together towards a common goal and I think joining the board will be a great way to get to do that.
Rick Elrod
I’ve been involved in the swing dancing community for nearly 7 years,
and involved with the Syndicate for nearly 2.5 of those. I moved to
Austin right before the pandemic and immediately jumped into the
Syndicate, knowing that it would become my second family. Just months
after getting involved, I was named Equipment Coordinator and became
responsible for maintaining and organizing the Syndicate’s equipment -
particularly sound equipment. Over the shutdown, I coordinated and
implemented an overhaul of the Syndicate’s DJ sound rack in addition
to training new volunteers and attending board meetings to try to do
my part to ensure a smooth eventual reopening. After a previous board
member moved away, I was asked to step in and fill the open position
on the board. I accepted and after a vote I became a board member for
the remainder of the person‘s term. Since then, I’ve learned Shift
Lead and Houston duties so that I could play an active role in
reopening during a time when people trained in these roles were hard
to come by. However, that term is now ending and I am running to
remain on the board for a new full term.
In addition to continuing to oversee technical equipment for the
Syndicate, I would like to remain an active board member because I
think the Syndicate is well-positioned to grow and to advance swing
dancing, swing music, and swing history in our region, and I would
love to continue working with our wonderful community to make that
happen.