Cameron is working on the back gate repair / emergency exit process.
The insurance process is moving quickly now, so we're told. The landlords said they're fine with us reopening whenever we want, so now we're essentially on our own schedule regarding when WE'RE ready to open, assuming no catastrophic changes with the insurance progress occur.
This being the case, Aaron pitched that our first show back should be the Regional Justice Center show on 9/14, which is a show that was booked in the spring before any of this insurance stuff came up, and was moved to Mutiny before it announced since we didn't know 7C's future at the time. It's probably too big of a show for Mutiny, however, and 7C would be the best place to host it. It was booked by Adam Croft from Convulse Records, who is down to staff it with himself and his record label staff, and Aaron is onboard to run sound, so the show CAN function without any 7C volunteers necessary in case we don't completely have new volunteer protocol and teams in place by then (but giving us a month from now to get our stuff in gear should be enough time as well.)
Adam is also the one booking Convulse Fest on 10/8 and 10/9, which was also originally booked at 7C and they've been searching for another venue with no luck, and he has his own staff as well as Aaron onboard for that show too, so hosting it at 7C would also just depend on the building being ready more than anything.
Other than those, we could also do a 9-year anniversary show / "official grand reopening" in September if we want to, and/or we could do a soft opening with an all-local show a few days before RJC if we're ready by then / if we think that's a good/fun idea.
Beyond the fest in October, the only thing on the books is a show on 12/1, which is a reschedule from 2020, and we could easily just do these first few shows as long as the building is ready, and then if it seems like it's all too soon or too much, we could take the rest of October and November to continue to regroup and sort out new ways of operation if we need to, before doing any more "regular" shows.
If do host the RJC show on 9/14, the venue change announcement from Mutiny to 7C wouldn't take place until a couple days before the show, just to make sure we're absolutely ready and able to host it.
The group at the meeting unanimously voted "yes" on hosting RJC + Convulse Fest + Dec. 1st as our first shows back, with the options to discuss a soft opening before 9/14 and a 9-year anniversary show in late Sept., as long as Covid doesn't swoop in worse than it is now and make it unwise to reopen in Sept/Oct. at all.
We also floated the idea of doing these shows as backyard outdoor shows if covid does progress in a negative way and it seems that indoor shows are a bad idea but outdoors would be fine. Since the vote in-person at the meeting was unanimous, we'd like input from the rest of you here in the Discord, so if anyone who couldn't make this meeting has any opposition / opinions other than saying "yeah, let's do these shows,” let us know here and let’s discuss.
Collective roles:
-What has been the impact of people coming in and out, what worked and didn't work, etc as far as running shows and being involved?
--Aaron was the way through whom a lot of people came in, which was fine, but we need to create a system in which people can begin volunteering without having to talk to any one specific individual.
Downsides to how we used to do things:
-14-15-16 year olds training on too big of shows and being overwhelmed / underexperienced
-Volunteer burnout
-People leveraging their relationship with Aaron as a false type of social capital, and not listening to other volunteers, etc. Aaron's fired. No social capital can come from being friends with core volunteers.
We need to install a system that runs on its own with no one "leader" person necessary. We also want to encourage everyone to be equally involved instead of passively quiet and waiting for a "leader" or a "veteran/senior volunteer" to take initiative or approve of their initiative.
Volunteer vs "collective member."
-Distinction between the people who run shows and the people who run the space itself. People who come to meetings, manage calendar, maintain the space, etc, are part of the "collective", and if you just want to show up and run a show or two a month, maybe you're just a volunteer and don't necessarily need to want to be a part of the deeper collective itself.
Community in practice theory: not necessarily a hierarchy, but core people who have the ability to commit to being a part of things and train people, and more transient peripheral people who come and go, and who also could transition into more of a core-role.
Be assertive as a volunteer, we should reward assertiveness. If you see something that could improve the space, just do it! We'll all be stoked.
Quarterly roles assignments, i.e. commit to booking for 3 months and have no obligation to keep doing it after those three months for any reason.
Aaron's homework: create a list of everything he did as far as the space's daily / general operations over the last 7 years and let's figure out how to delegate all that to others so it's equally spread and doesn't fall on one person anymore. Define current duties and responsibilities. Aaron will have this done by the next meeting.
Question: Do we want to create defined roles that people can assign for themselves, with expectations clearly defined about what you will be needed to do as each volunteer position? Yes.
Each person has different skillsets and having these defined roles will be a great idea for keeping things on track, and each role can also be flexible. Not exclusive roles, certainly, but roles that are set for each position so that way people know what is expected of them in each position, even if they take on multiple positions.
Quarterly commitments in order to work in a well-defined role.
Role ideas:
Booking
Volunteer coordinating
Business management
Behind the scenes operations
We should put a section on Discord that breaks down expectations and practices for each position, a play-by-play of how to do what's expected and necessary for each role.
We should do an absolute minimum of shows, at least to start, and if the scene complains that they want more shows, they can step up and come be a part of things and make our volunteer pool grow, which can result in more shows.
We should also vet people before new volunteers get to be let into the inner circles where they have access to sensitive information.
We need to define and set behavioral expectations for volunteering:
We should create the positions of sound, door, and behind-the-scenes coordinators, who will train new volunteers for those positions.
Discord invites: Only to people who come to at least one meeting? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe just the position coordinators can send invites.
To volunteer:
-Train with one of the coordinators of your position for at least one or two shows before you start working shows on your own.
-Shadow with people on a show, read through requirements.
-Commit to two nights per month, whether it's working shows or cleaning / helping another way.
-Do we want to make volunteering 16+ or 18+?
Let's table this discussion, but we all generally seem to agree that we should have at least one 18+ sound person and one 18+ door person for every show, so no shows ever end up run fully by three 16-yr-olds or something.
4 volunteers per show minimum instead of 3: 2 on door, one on sound and JUST sound, and one on gate / overseeing the yard and showspace to deal with crowd issues so the sound person can stay focused on sound instead of having to double as crowd control.
To be a collective member:
-Come to at least one meeting in order to get involved and get added to that level of the Discord.
-Commit to your quarter
-If you can't make a meeting, reach out to position coordinator to get invited to the Discord.
Make sections in meetings, or specific meetings, about specific things so that people can come to meetings relevant to their area of interest / chosen position.
Promote next meetings to the public. At each meeting, have a 15-minute town hall that's open to the public at the beginning for things to happen with public input, and then we can break for 5 or 10, and people who don't want further input / involvement can leave.
Two meetings per month? One on weekdays and one on weekends?
Make discord public for certain channels, for promoting shows, discussing rules and expectations of bands and show-goers, and an admin would have to add people to the private internal discord channels after they come to a meeting and such.
Discord: Have people apply for behind the scenes roles and tell us why they want to do what they're applying for, so we can vet them before giving them access to sensitive information.
Mandatory polls channel? Good idea, but enforcing participation is the issue there.
Homework for Aaron before next meeting: Create list of what he did so we can spread it out among other collective members. Figure out who wants to book shows and create plans for a booking meeting to teach people how it works and how to do it. (Aaron pitched out-loud at the meeting what he would like to keep doing at 7C and what he would no longer like to do here, but since he was also the notetaker, that didn't get written down, and he'll just include it in his homework packet for next meeting.)
Regarding restorative justice and how we handle it vs how we point people to resources: Cameron has reached out to restorative justice practitioners so we can provide them as resources in necessary situations, and is waiting to hear back. 2 regularly-occurring meetings per month going forward. Second Monday and 4th Saturday or something? There will be a poll in the Discord about when these should be.
We also need to MAKE A VENMO ACCOUNT FOR 7C
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