Board Minutes

NEXT MEETING: ISDN’s Annual Meeting, March 8th @ 3 pm @ TreeHouse Studio, 119 S Cayuga St, 3rd Floor, Ithaca, NY. Public welcome!

ISDN Board Meeting, Monday January 12, 2026 @ 8 pm, hybrid in person & zoom

Minutes will be posted soon.

ISDN Board Meeting, Tuesday November 25, 2025 @ 8pm via Zoom

PRESENT: Diana Leigh (Vice President), Gretchen Herrmann, Emily Adams, Cindy Overstreet (minute taker for this meeting)

AGENDA

  1. The September minutes were reviewed and approved. 
  2. Debrief on the 2nd All Swing Dance Mix, Nov 19th, 2025
    1. We made a profit of $79.62
    2. All Swing Team – we have a new volunteer, Laure Kamp, to join the team to run these Monthly dances. 
    3. Line up Dance Ambassador volunteers for the Teaching Corner at next regular dance
    4. See if the speaker sound can be adjusted so doesn’t sound so tinny
    5. Have more Lindy music and less 50’s Rock-n-roll
    6. Make sure the recycle bin gets used and emptied for the next dance
  1. Dec Holiday Dance scheduled 12/17/25, 7-9:30 pm
    • Details agreed upon previously over email vote:
      • A collaboration with Diana Leigh’s annual holiday event
      • Price $15, $12 in advance, Diana will handle advance sales with her ticketing platform
      • The Treehouse Studio bar will be open
      • Rent is $63, plus $60 for the Treehouse bartender, for a total of $123
      • Diana’s band will play for a minimum of $300, then the next $100 after ISDN expenses, and the remaining profit goes to ISDN
    • Volunteers
      • Decoration Team – 1 volunteer so far
      • Food Team –  1 volunteer, maybe 2. They requested a budget. We discussed maybe about $125, but will ask Food Team for estimate
      • Set Up Team needs to be created, also to help band with gear up stairs
      • Further details, such as volunteer compensation will be sent via email for Board approval/ and or information
  1. ISDN’s calendar of events plan:
    1. Continue All Swing Mix Monthly Dances on Wednesdays at Treehouse Studios
    2. Ithaca Festival Dance in June (All Swing Mix dance canceled that month)
    3. Swingin’ on Cayuga in Aug or Sept (All Swing Mix dance canceled that month)
    4. West Coast workshop for Spring, details to be determined
    5. Noted that there will be a new monthly jazz swing event with live music organized by some musicians on Sunday afternoons, so for now, ISDN will not have Sunday dances
  2. Treasurer’s Report
    1. No new report, going forward the reports will be on a quarterly basis so they will not be impacted when/if Board meeting dates are changed. The 4th quarter report will be presented at the January meeting
    2. Current checking account balance is $1506.70, savings $600 plus
  3. CAP grant
    1. Emily will apply for the grant to support the Ithaca Festival and Swingin’ on Cayuga events
  4. Photography/video policy
    1. Our policy needs more detail to include social media postings.  
    2. Reviewed the current policy (as bullet item #5 of our Respectful Community Statement) which requires “explicit and expressed permission of participants”
    3. Agreed to draft a statement that all attendees will need to sign and circulate it to the Board for approval 
  1. Next Meeting: Discussed possible meeting times and suggested Monday, Jan 12th at 8pm for our next meeting. Reviewed that the annual meeting is currently planned for March 2026.
  2. The meeting was adjourned at 9:14pm

NEXT ACTIONS:

  1. The Holiday Dance Team (Diana and Cindy) will email further details to the board as needed
  2. A draft of the Photography/Video policy will be emailed by Cindy to the Board for discussion and approval in time for the December dance
  3. The January meeting time and date will be approved by the Board over email
  4. Emily will contact board members for info to support the CAP grant
  5. January meeting item: discuss dates for Swingin’ on Cayuga and contact the City of Ithaca early in the year so we can get a preferred date. 

ISDN Board Meeting, Thursday September 11, 2025 @ 8pm Via Zoom

PRESENT: Richard Andrulis (President), Diana Leigh (Vice President), Melanie-Claire Mallison (Secretary), Cindy Overstreet, Gretchen Herrmann

AGENDA

  1. The May minutes were reviewed and approved with minor corrections.
  2. Debrief on Swingin’ on Cayuga
    1. We made a small profit! Though it was partly because the cost of the food was donated.
    2. Still, the schedule was mostly appreciated. Perhaps start a little later in the day. Perhaps have a shorter break for the band.
    3. Discuss the 2026 date at our January board meeting so we can choose the day and month we prefer.
    4. Bring hand soap and toilet paper back up.
  3. Treasurer’s Report: We discussed the documents provided by Lanie our Treasurer.
  4. Next events:
    • Any kind of workshop is likely to happen in the spring since there is so much already happening this fall and Cindy doesn’t have the bandwidth.
    • A Sunday afternoon in November could work. Rich will look into timing. Library Place is $187.50 for four hours. Diana will assist.  
    • A January holiday dance seems successful. Melanie-Claire will help with this.
  5. Board Meetings: We are now shifting to odd-numbered months (still) on the second Thursday at 8pm. Upcoming dates will be November 13th and January 8th — with the Annual Meeting in March 2026. Perhaps in person? Make it a bigger and more public event.
    • Melanie-Claire will advertise the November board meeting via zoom to the entire list AND add this to the job description for the board secretary.
    • Agenda will be general – items we typically cover?
  1. ISDN List Serve: Melanie-Claire sent out two recommendations. Cindy motioned. Rich seconded. All approved.
  2. Volunteer/Board Member Recruitment: Handing over chunks of volunteer work. Just hand over the project – like the Food Goddesses at SoC – and next, decorating the holiday dance. Ask for ideas. Google polls to the list, i.e. we are thinking about a January dance, Would you attend? Would you volunteer? Etc.
  3. Rich proposed we move into executive session and Diana seconded. Began at 8:54p. Ended at 9:11p.
  4. The meeting was adjourned at 9:12 pm. 

ISDN BOARD MEETING, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, 8:00 p.m. via zoom

PRESENT: Richard Andrulis (President), Melanie-Claire Mallison (Secretary), Gretchen Herrmann, Diana Leigh, Emily Adams, Cindy Overstreet, Lanie Wilmarth (Treasurer, non-board member)

AGENDA

1. Approval of March Minutes: Melanie-Claire read over the March minutes. Cindy motioned, Rich seconded. Board APPROVED.

2. Treasurer’s Report: Lanie acknowledged Diana’s help in this transition. She presented her January 1st – March 31st report. The Board received the report.

3. Ithaca Festival Planning:

  • [a] Rich will be day of coordinator. 
  • [b] No one has signed for volunteer shifts yet, so MCM will send to the spreadsheet link to the entire list AND the dance groups AND say sign up RIGHT NOW. Add a PS, we need board members and donations! MCM will send a draft email to the ISDN board before sending it out to ISDN, since folks are generally concerned about language.
  • [c] MCM will ask Robin for invoice for Library Place and cc Diana.
  • [d] MCM will also email Michael with reminder, ask for details on his salsa set up and remind him he needs to arrange his own sound, DJ, etc., let him know Rich is on site on the day, ask his students to volunteer. CC Rich.
  • [e] We need to market the event itself once Diana updates the flier.
  • [f] The IF sub committee will zoom Wednesday, May 21, 8pm, to get caught up and make a final decision on the IF tent and info table.

4. ISDN’s Role in the Larger Ithaca Dance Community:

Cindy talked about bringing in other social dance groups under our umbrella and change our name to “Ithaca Social Dance Network”. Could be positive — expanding our outreach and community — but there’s lots to consider too. Money arrangements, not-for-profit vs. profit, bylaws, etc. Would our insurance cover others? SPONSOR rather than partner? Emily will ask around about sponsoring vs. partnering. Something like four classes over four weeks and then a social dance. That’s a useful model. Discussion and mulling will continue… Collaborating with Michael should definitely be pursued. But we are not ready for a Thursday Night Record Hop.

5. ONGOING ISDN CALENDAR

  • Items to plan every year….
  • JAN January Dance
  • JUNE Ithaca Festival
  • AUG Swingin on Cayuga
  • SEPT Fall West Coast Swing Workshop

6. Next Meeting:

  • A. Volunteer/Board Member Recruitment
  • B. SoC Planning for August 17th.

March 12, 2025 8:00 pm via zoom
PRESENT
Board Members: Cindy Overstreet, Diana Leigh (Treasurer), Gretchen Hermann, Melanie-Claire Mallison (Secretary), Rich Andrulis (President)

Others: Emily Adams

January Minutes: Correct “Lance Wilmarth” to Lanie Wilmarth. Diana motioned and Melanie
seconded – BOARD APPROVED.

ISDN Bylaws: The revised and adopted bylaws were distributed to the board on February 11th. No changes were suggested. Melanie-Claire moved to approve the bylaws. Cindy seconded – BOARD APPROVED.
a. We request that our webmaster put the new bylaws on the website.

Website Migration: With many thanks to Diana we now have a spiffy new website.
a. We need to keep an eye on content to make sure we stay up to date.
b. What criteria do we use for bands? Diana clarified — we list those bands we are willing to hire or have hired. We suggest Diana add this criteria to the website.
c. Reminder, isdn-chat-l is no more

Treasurer’s Report: Diana listed the ISDN assets, which included expenses for our upcoming west coast weekend; checking $800.17, savings $666.03.
a. Diana is ready to hand over the reins to Lanie after the weekend is over and the finances are settled.
b. Diana nominated Lanie Wilmarth as the ISDN Treasurer. Cindy motioned. Gretchen seconded. APPROVED.

  • Note; Lanie will not be a board member and her email address will not be added to the board admin email list, but she will be treasurer and provide regular reports.

Follow up on Facebook postings: Concern for non-swing events appearing on our Facebook pages. Just say no? Only post once? Will discuss at our next meeting (May 14th).

Public attendance at board meetings: If we are including ISDN at large, we need protocols for handling non-board members.
a. Diana provided an article about public attendance at 501C3 board meetings. ISDN is not subject to Open Meetings Law, so we don’t have to follow those rules. However, since we usually want to encourage more participation, we do have open meetings. Therefore we should have a policy about it. MCM will work up for next meeting.

2025 Calendar:
FIRST: Ithaca Festival 2025, May 29 – June 1 — MCM will lead but cannot attend.
a. Start with info from Cindy and Diana.
b. Rate for non-profits at venue
c. Live band? DJ Dance?
d. Lessons?
e. Sell snacks at the dance? Restaurant sponsors?
f. Fund raiser?
SECOND: Swingin’ on Cayuga 2025, September 7th or 14th — Diana will reserve the Stewart Park pavilion for the day. More details to come.

New Board Member: Rich made a motion that we add Emily Adams to the ISDN Board. She agreed. Cindy seconded. APPROVED. Yippee!!
a. MCM will add Emily to Admin-L.

Upcoming West Coast Swing Workshop with Mango & Moriah: Lansing Community Center (will be four days after meeting, so this is just last-minute check in to make sure we have everything covered):
a. Need a board member 6:45-8:00. MCM. (Emily can give MCM a ride to @ 6:30p and
MCM will find a ride home after.)
b. Kate will bring snacks. Rich can help. Cindy will coordinate.
c. Emily will take care of water.
d. Please bring box fans!
e. Volunteers, please arrive at 11:30a.
f. Rich, please bring our sound system!
g. Insurance rider? No one asked….
h. 1⁄2 page for ISDN printed out for workshop = 50; MCM and DIANA

  • 1⁄2 page for ISDN:
    • Website
    • Facebook x 2 = what are they for and why use?
    • E-list
    • Logo
    • Venmo & PayPal

Other Business: MCM reminds folks to please add their ISDN files and folders the Google folder with their name on it. She will sort!

Next Meeting: Wednesday, May 14th at 8:00 pm.

January 8, 2025
Present:
Board Members: Cynthia Overstreet, Rich Andrulis, Gretchen Herrmann, Melanie-Claire Mallison, Diana Leigh
Erica Herman has resigned from the Board

Approved minutes from November 6, 2024 meeting

January dance
Committee: Cynthia, Diana
Scheduled for January 26th, 2pm to 6pm (Sunday afternoon) at Library Place
Experiment for timing and location and offering a paid lesson ahead of time.
2-6 pm @ Library Place, 105 W Court St, Ithaca, NY (entrance on Cayuga St)
2:00 pm – West Coast Swing Cool Moves (Intermediate) with Cindy Overstreet
2:45 pm – Introduction to Swing Dance (Beginner) with Lesley Greene & Robbert VanRennese
3:30 – 6:00 pm – Live Band Dance with The Pelotones!
2 pm class: $12
2:45 pm class: FREE
Dance: $15
All-in pass: $25
Rich to coordinate volunteers

Pavilion rental for SoC
Set date and general hours to be able to rent. Preference for September 14th
Future meeting – need to consider costs. Need to decide if we should shorten hours

Document Inventory
M-C is sorting through archives of ISDN documents. Recommendation to make sure to add Year to any poster/flyer
M-C: will scan interesting documents and create a google folder to store those documents
Rich: add meeting minutes to that folder

ISDN Facebook
Currently dominated by non-Swing events. Would like to limit to Ithaca or Swing events.
Diana to propose suggested verbiage to put on Facebook group for rules to post to the group.

Treasurer’s Report
Current balance in

  • Checking account = $1132.86
  • Savings account = $665.97

By-laws
By-laws committee: M-C, Diana, Rich
After discussion by the board, by-laws were amended. Board agreed to continue to review by-laws at next meeting to address remaining questions. All questions/revisions need to be provided to the board by February 9th, 2025 so they can be approved at March 12th meeting.

Elections

Slate:

  • President: Rich Andrulis
  • Vice President: Diana Leigh
  • Secretary: Melanie-Claire Melanson
  • Interim Treasurer: Diana Leigh

Slate passed by unanimous vote of the board. Lanie Wilmarth has agreed to be Treasurer but does not want to be a board member (see updated by-laws). Will be voted in soon, probably next meeting.

Next Meeting: March 12, 2025