Zimfest News Blog

Posts Tagged "community feedback/survey"

Zimfest Updates and 2024 Announcement

Greetings Zimfest community,

The Zimfest Board and I want to communicate with you all before too much time passes about plans for next year. We have, regretfully, decided not to try to produce an in-person festival in 2024. The reasons are many: you may recall that we had planned to hold Zimfest 2020 at The Evergreen State College in Olympia WA when the COVID pandemic hit. We also had hopes of going there in subsequent years, but their Conference Services informed us last year that they can no longer accommodate a group of our size during the summer. Due to the lack of planning for alternate sites, we have been in the position of hastily arranging in-person festivals at venues that are new to this Organizing Committee both in 2022 (Skagit Valley Fairgrounds in Mt. Vernon, WA) and this year (OSU in Corvallis, OR). Organizing for a new site (housing and dining details, registration, facilities, contractual obligations, etc.) is extremely time-consuming and a drain on the resources of the OC. There is currently no site (university or otherwise) lined up for next year. Rather than scrambling to arrange for a venue, we have decided to step back and take a break for 2024. The core of the current hard-working OC has been together for several years now and needs a rest; the ZA Board, with the support of the community, needs to apply its energy towards long-range planning for the future. We hope to work on a five-year plan in which all possibilities are on the table: moving to a festival every other year, alternating between agreed-upon sites in Oregon and Washington, etc.

Other comments:

  • Minutes for the Village Meeting will be posted very soon, for those were unable to attend. The decision to pause the festival in 2024 was made at the Sept. 10 board meeting, minutes of which will also be posted soon. While there will be no in-person festival, online and/or local activities may be considered.
  • As always, it takes (more than!) a village to produce Zimfest, and that includes our village hosts! Thank Yous for those who contributed to the 2023 festival have been posted here.
  • We appreciate your taking time to fill out the post-festival survey, and several members of the OC and board have gone through the responses. There are a number of useful suggestions which we hope to take up in the coming months. There are also some comments on issues that we had no control over. For example, more than one person complained about having to pay for a triple room that they didn’t need:
    • OSU Housing and Dining proved awkward for Zimfest to work with as most of their summer conference groups are youth camps. We were not notified of the distribution of rooms in our assigned dorm (McNary Hall) until just before we opened the registration system. At that point we were unhappy and frustrated to learn that most of the rooms were so-called “economy” triples, with elevated beds that our mostly-adult participants do not care for. We would need to contract for different dorms with more single rooms if Zimfest were to return to OSU.
    • Some survey respondents who were not renting rooms in the dorms had complaints about not being allowed access to McNary during concerts. All activities in and access to the dorms must be approved by the OSU Office of Youth Safety & Compliance. As access to the dorm stairwells and elevators (as well as outside doors) are controlled electronically, we had to negotiate to allow non-dorm residents access to the upstairs lounges while Zimfest workshops were taking place. The Youth Safety people were not happy about letting non-dorm residents into McNary, but allowed it for Zimfest 2023 workshops.
  • On a more positive note, most Zimfest participants and performers loved having all concerts outside on one stage. We took the opportunity to make all evening concerts by donation so that all Zimbabweans could perform during evening concerts without worries about visa restrictions, and were happy to see the supportiveness of concert attendees in paying the requested donations. There was a request, however, to move the mostly-Zimbabwean concert to Friday or Saturday so that more Americans (many of whom leave on Sunday) could enjoy it. We want you to know that few of the American bands were available to perform on Sunday—that is why we had more Zimbabweans performing then!

Thanks for reading, you will be hearing more from us soon!
Claire Jones, Zimfest Coordinator

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Post-Festival Glow and Refunds

Dear Zimfest community,

The OC is recovering their sleep and energy, and basking in the afterglow of the big family reunion that was Zimfest 2023. We have just started hearing from our OSU hosts and payees as well as Zimfest participants.

  • If you have not yet completed the Post-Festival Survey, please do so here. We want to hear from you whether or not you attended Zimfest 2023. 
  • You have until August 25th to apply for a workshop refund if you have credit due for a workshop that was cancelled, or if you chose to drop a workshop that was changed by Zimfest. You may mail the Refund Request Form that was available at onsite Registration, or write to registration[at]zimfest[dot]org to make your request. Please see the Workshop Cancellation Policy on the About Workshops page for a full explanation of policies concerning cancellation of workshops. Concert tickets, paid on a donation basis, were not refundable unless you had to cancel your Zimfest participation due to an emergency. 
  • Just breaking – Comments from OSU Landscaping: Please let the group that organized this know that they were a pleasure to work with and that we were happy to see that area come to life with people and music. It was a really cool event.

Festival Coordinator Claire Jones

 

 

Music Dancing Across Borders

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Zimfest 2023: survey, lost & found, and volunteer opportunities

Dear Zimfest Community,

Thank you so much for showing up strong at Zimfest 2023!

To all attendees–as well as those who could not make it this year–please complete this survey. Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and helps to improve the festival.

A number of items were left at the festival.  If you are missing anything, please reach out to Janis Weeks janis{at}zimfest{dot}org with a description so that we can return it to you.

Zimfest runs on volunteers; if you have any ability or interest in helping, please reach out here:

Thanks,

Alex Weeks
Board President

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Zimfest Online Viewing Ends Nov 9

Hello Zimfest community,

Here’s hoping that you, like me, are breathing a huge sigh of relief and looking forward to a rosier 2021!

Monday November 9th is the last day to register for the final set of Zimfest Online presentation recordings. If you haven’t taken advantage of our online offerings, take a break from election news and politics in the next two days to learn a bit more about Zimbabwean music and story-telling! Don’t forget to send us feedback on any  presentations you attend by completing the online evaluation form (write us at online{at}zimfest{dot}org if you need help). 

The Zimfest Online Engagement Task Force will be taking a short break before pondering what form Zimfest might take in 2021 as the COVID pandemic continues. If you have ideas for us, please write to online{at}zimfest{dot}org or the ZA Board at board{at}zimfest{dot}org.

Stay well, stay safe, take it easy!

Zimfest Online 

 

 

(P.S. – have you seen the newest installment of our Zimfest is Family feature? It includes the newest member of the Zimfest community!)

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Post-Festival Blues

Greetings Zimfest community,

Zimfest 2019 has come and gone and I, for one, have now caught up on my sleep after four days of incredible music and gathering with new and old friends!

Why are we blue? We want to hear from you! The Post-Festival Survey is open on the website and we’d love to hear your feedback: what did you like and what didn’t you like about Zimfest 2019 at Western Oregon University. If you didn’t make it to the festival this year, there is a question for you too – we’d like to hear why you didn’t come! 

The Zimfest Association Board of Directors will be meeting soon to make a final decision on Zimfest 2020. We need your input.

If you would like to offer to help organize the next festival, please email board{at}zimfest{dot}org or contact Claire directly at claire{at}zimfest{dot}org. 

Thank you, Tatenda, Siyabonga!

Claire and the 2019 Organizers 

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Introducing the Zimfest Code of Conduct

Dear Zimfest community,
This year’s post-festival survey included two separate comments alleging sexual misconduct or assault either at the festival or elsewhere by persons known to the Zimfest community. The Zimfest Association Board of Directors takes these allegations seriously and wishes to follow up on them. In the interest of facilitating safe and non-threatening environments at future festivals, the ZA Board has generated a policy statement addressing sexual and other forms of harassment: the Zimfest Code of Conduct. The purpose of the Code, which applies to all Zimfest participants (including performers, teachers, volunteers, staff, and other attendees), is to ensure that the festival is an inclusive, welcoming, and safe space free from harassment and/or abuse. All Zimfest applicants will be requested to read the form and share with band mates or others for whom they are applying. The Zimfest Code appears here on the website.

The Code includes options for reporting complaints of sexual and other harassment. The ZA Board has followed up with one of the respondents who made sexual abuse allegations within the 2018 festival survey. The second comment was totally anonymous, and we have no idea who the complainant is, or the alleged perpetrator or the alleged victim. If you or someone you know made the anonymous comment and wishes to provide further information, please call or email any of the individuals designated to receive complaints in the “Reporting harassment and other complaints” section of the Code.

Thanks for your attention. We will have more feedback on the 2018 festival survey in the coming weeks along with news about the 2019 festival. Look forward to applications for Zimfest coming online on January 2!

On behalf on the Zimfest Board,
Claire Jones, Festival Coordinator

Music Dancing Across Borders

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Village Meeting and September Board Meeting Minutes

The Zimfest Association board of directors has posted minutes from the Village Meeting at Zimfest 2018 and the September 9th board meeting.

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Zimfest 2016 Survey

Another fabulous festival is over; Zimfest 2016 is now history. If you were there, please take the Zimfest 2016 Survey at https://goo.gl/forms/lF7glY8e5a0R4aC83

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Calling all Zimfest Old Timers

Greetings,
The Zimfest Association Board of Directors is very interested in hearing how future Zimfests can better meet the needs and desires of experienced musicians and long-time Zimfest participants. At this year’s festival, The Board will be hosting a discussion on Saturday August 13 at 11:45 a.m.in the Backstage Room in Valsetz Dining Center to hear your feedback on this topic. Please join us, bring your lunch, bring your ideas, and help contribute to stronger Zimfests in the future! This is a lunch meeting, so get your food in the cafeteria at Valsetz and then come back out towards the entrance and turn left into the Backstage Room.

Hope to see you there!
Zimfest Association Board of Directors

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Zimfest 2015 Survey

We hope you were able to attend Zimfest this year. (If not, we look forward to seeing you at a later Zimfest!)

Thank you for coming to Zimfest 2015! We all hope you had a wonderful time. As we have done in past years, we would like to hear about your experiences so that we can make Zimfest better in the years to come. And to make that easier for you, this year’s survey is much simpler than in the past. Please take a few moments to share your thoughts about what works and what can be better. You are also welcome to share any other thoughts you have about Zimfest or Zimfest Association. We welcome your input!

https://zimfest.org/overview/survey/

Thank you!

2015 Zimfest Organizing Committee
Zimfest Association Board of Directors

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Zimfest 2014 Survey Summary

Zimfest 2014 Survey Comments Synopsis has been posted on the ZA Blog.

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Workshop Proposals for Zimfest 2014 in Tacoma, Washington

Zimfest teacher and performer applications opened January 15th. We are waiting for your applications! In the surveys filled out at Zimfest 2013, some of you said you wanted a wider variety of workshops on cultural topics. If you are a teacher, we want to hear your ideas! Go to http://2014.zimfest.org/applications/

If you are a student of Zimbabwean music, would you attend a workshop to learn Shona or Ndebele and discuss the culture behind the music? How about a panel discussion on preserving intangible culture of which music and language is a major part?

Let us know!

—Zimfest 2014 Organizing Committee

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