Community Cultural Celebration
Gathering meeting minutes
Oct 14, 2006
Gathering opened at 10:00 am, Karen Hawkins (recording secretary)
Attendees: Mody Botros, Sally & Jon Chappell, Joan Emerson, Ruth Glantz, Karen Hawkins, Judy Randall, Virginia “Jinx” Staples, Nancylou Stiles
Ruth led us in prayer and a song (“They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love”).
Treasurer’s Report by Sally Chappell –balance $682.23 of which $203.71 came from donations/water/bumper stickers at the Celebration, outstanding bills include $232.00 to Mody for costs of trophies, balloons & helium, $666.15 to Bridgton United Methodist Church for copy costs and postage, it was suggested and approved to send a $50 money gift to the Gwich’n Tribe Steering Committee as a thank you for Peter Solomon speaking at the Celebration, Nancylou made a motion which was approved to present the Bridgton United Methodist Church a check for $400 to defray the printing costs, Sally called the bank and determined the checking account is free and has no minimum balance
Discussions about the Celebration (praises and concerns)
* A special thanks to Joan Emerson for all her dedication to collecting wonderful door prizes
* Ruth suggested that all donators and presenters be sent written thank you’s, she offered to write them
* Nancylou read a letter from Joanne Morse (as she was unable to attend this gathering) containing praises and comments
The following comments were expressed vocally:
Repetition of redundant information became annoying
Too many meetings – suggestion to form sub-committees
Cultures attending should be solidified by May and not attempt to wait until summer to finalize information
More outreach in the community was encouraged
LRTV needs to be involved
Remuneration to presenters was discussed – pros and cons of payment
Exposure to a culture through multiple experiential genres was better received than just listening to a lecture
Shortening the number of days was encouraged (presentations by all cultures in a 2 day time frame) perhaps considering the town hall for the event
Cultures already requesting to participate in next year’s event: Franco-American, Russia, Puerto Rico, Italian, Native American, Afghanistan, Irish
“Letter of intent” contract needs to be rewritten
After the discussion a potluck luncheon was enjoyed by all
The following comments were expressed in writing (on slips provided by Nancylou) and were for review only. The members of the Gathering made no decisions for next year, as it was thought that should be left to next year’s gathering members:
Publicity:
Could have more – LRTV
More advertising in newspapers
Should be more publicity before event (Bridgton News did a good job)
Excellent publicity especially by George Brandt
focus need to be on cultures from the start of PR, lack of coordination, TV & Radio non-existent, newspaper coverage other than Bridgton News was spotty at best Publicity was extremely successful
Well done but LRTV should have been involved
What did we do wrong:
Community outreach in building a diversified team – community buy-in
Not enough publicity coverage in the Bridgton News, The hours of the Celebration may have been too long
We should not pay the cultures, it’s a privilege for them to come
9 consecutive days was too long a period of time, held during the supper hour, which is not family-friendly
Holding the events at church
Maybe having it less than a week next year – what do you think?
Need better organization, less days, eliminate repetitiveness, confront the school system about not supporting the event
What did we do right:
Good teamwork and lots of attention to meetings
Holding it in one location
The idea itself is great
Exposed community to cultures that exist within our community and beyond
Followed through and had the event, overcoming obstacles as they occurred
Provided excellent presenters/incentives to attend/food appropriate to the culture, prepared very well with ample publicity
I think everything went well and right on time
Comments on organization:
Needs improvement, better communication
Quite well, could have sub-committees
Too formal for me, also it was by luck that I got involved, recruiting more people for organizing will be a plus
Structure was loose which is good for team building but not the greatest for functions, team leaders for each event was a good idea, less micromanaging, fundraising & publicity were poorly coordinated and lacking, commitments made sooner for cultures & event structure would have greatly enhanced publicity
Friday’s plans evidently did not go as planned
I think was successful
Comments on the public:
Wish more people came to events
Well received, people were courteous
Public support in Bridgton takes time – response was good for the area we marketed
?
Public, what public.. not too many as expected but people that showed up were very pleased, I think
Received well
Very pleased to know it was advertised so well
Comments on cultures:
Great presentations!, good information, well presented
Marshall Islands/Artic Peoples – should not have been broken into segments, Uzbekistan – very good!, Afghanistan – excellent, Nigeria – poor, Native American – excellent, German – excellent, Tim Wilson – excellent but somewhat spoiled by complaints about younger generation “Blind leading blind” comment NOT appreciated
I liked the music of the diverse cultures, I went to the German and Irish and found it entertaining as well as educational
Quality of presentation varied, experiential events appeared to have more impact, local cultures need more attention
Different cultures next year
Some cultures were great on teaching about “culture” some others weren’t about teaching or bringing up issues
I think the comments on the cultural event were, with the people I talked with
What should we do differently next year:
Less days, better organization, people need to work more together on the presentations and fundraisers
Avoid paying for the presentations, avoid September because of country fairs, avoid weekdays, avoid a church site
I really don’t know
No comment
Keep hours of celebrations to 3 hours
What should we keep the same for next year:
Cultural exposure is a good thing
The meetings were at a good time and good attendance
Keep Nancylou as the director!
No comment
Our faith that the CCC is very useful for Bridgton people
Everything in order I think except to shorten the time
Enthusiasm, general idea is good
Gathering closed at: 12:00 pm Next Gathering – Feb 10, 2007 from 10:00 am – noon, Nancylou suggested we meet at least 3 times before Memorial Day Weekend to plan for next year’s event, we were encouraged to canvass for more volunteers to help next year