Greetings U.S. Affiliate Members!

I'm sending this today for three reasons:

1. To give you early access to the newly released CDSS Canadian Organizers' Report.  Check it out here . We hope you'll enjoy diving into this beautiful body of work. There's a summary of findings at the beginning, followed by lots of great graphs for you data geeks out there! We have learned much about Canadian organizers through this survey and we hope that you find the report results interesting and insightful.
    
2. To find out...do the results resonate with you as a U.S. dance, music, and song organizer? To make responding easy, we've created a very brief survey for you to fill out and you'll find it here. Your feedback matters! Please respond by April 13th as survey responses will be reviewed in April and will be an important piece of information as we craft our 5-year strategic plan. Thanks in advance for helping us out. 
    
3. We are looking at more ways to provide meaningful support to our affiliate partners. One idea that came out of the Canadian Report is for CDSS to send out organizer-specific emails four times a year to share ideas and provide opportunities for organizers to connect with each other. The email would contain links to resources and stories that you may find helpful. Please JOIN this new mailing list by  clicking here . We know that there are several email groups and list-serves already in existence for Contra Dance, English Dance, Song, Morris, and Open Bands. Our goal is not to replace those, but to provide a forum for organizers to discuss topics that affect everyone similarly. Our hope is to facilitate a national dialogue among all our constituents and Affiliates so that innovative and good ideas can be shared and explored!    

An introduction to the Canada report from author Emily Addison:

Given CDSS's goal of supporting local Traditional Dance Music and Song (TDMS) communities throughout the North America, the purpose of the study was to learn how to best support local TDMS organizers in Canada. The report has accomplished this!
 
The report has two sections. The first ten pages contain the main report while the following 40 pages present the findings of each survey question for those who want to delve deeper. The report describes who is organizing what throughout Canada. It also goes into depth regarding the strengths and successes of various groups, the challenges that organizers face, and the supports organizers currently need. One particular survey question (question 34 in the appendices) is particularly inspiring as it highlights organizers' impressions of how TDMS positively impacts individuals, communities, and the wider society.
 
Again, please consider joining our new organizer email list. If you have any follow-up questions or comments, please email me at katy@cdss.org and/or Emily Addison at canada@cdss.org. Emily has been working with CDSS  affiliates and organizers in the U.S. for years and is a wonderful resource!

Warm wishes to all,

Katy German