Sometimes, managing a club can be challenging and requires a variety of skills. These days, most of them involves a computer, which can be daunting. Here is a list of some of the skills and tasks we do as volunteers.
- bookkeeping and finances
- poster design
- advertising & promotion
- images & videos
- club newsletters
- dance planning
- membership
- roster distribution
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some easy-to-use programs that could make our unpaid jobs easier and less stressful. Enter a new initiative by Calgary & District to help build some tools or track down some really good, already existing, free software that can help. To kick things off, I created the first in a series of programs, called Roster. I hope to add more programs and content to this page in the coming weeks.
But I also require your help. I need you to let me know what your biggest pain points are with the volunteer work you do. Do you wish there was a program that could help? Do you spend hours trying to assemble a document or file an annual return? Let me know your ideas for tools that could help. Send your ideas and comments to info@squaredancecalgary.com All programs will be Free and Open Source. You are free to copy and pass on these programs to others.
ROSTER
Roster is a small program that makes a PDF document from the membership list. It can format the PDF in two ways: booklet (fold in half and staple in the middle) and normal letter. The booklet should be printed double-sided, but the normal letter version is full page and single-sided works fine.
Here are sample versions of the booklet and letter PDF files that the program generates.
You can download the documentation file separately.
You can download the program and documentation for:
Apple Silicon Macs
Windows, includes an SHA256 file to check that it’s official. Unzip to get the install file and hash file.
NOTE:
Apple version: the program is not code signed, which means your system security will catch it the first time you try to run the program. This behaviour is normal. When this happens, do not move the program to the trash, just close that window. Then, go to System Settings (the grey gear), then Privacy and Security, then scroll down near the bottom. After attempting to run the program, you should see it in the list. Click it and select Run Anyway. You will not be asked again. This only happens on the first run. For further information, please read the documentation file.
Updated: June 26, 2026