[8/13/2010 SteppersUSA Daily News EXTRA Edition]
NCSSD Special Edition
By Markie Bee
National Chicago Style Steppers Day
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It's One Day to go until the National Chicago Style Steppers Day Events and I'm going to try to wrap it all up with a special Steppers Beat edition.
The variety of events and activities on National Chicago Style Steppers Day (NCSSD) across the country tomorrow is mind boggling. There are picnics, BBQ's, Black Tie dinners, live video streams, proclamations, and did I mention stepping! They will all be happening in cities from Florida to New York to Seattle to Los Angeles and many cities in between.
Below you will see the list of NCSSD events which have been listed on SteppersUSA.Com there are other events, but the representatives in those cities never got the information to me. They may still submit their events so keep checking the perpetual steppers events calendar for updates (the final updates will take place on Saturday morning)
For those who don't know the history of how this day came to being, I wanted to give you a recap.
It all started with a Facebook Group Called Chicago Style Stepping founded by Markie Bee of SteppersUSA.Com. The groups purpose statement is; It doesn't matter if you're Old Skool, New Skool, or no Skool, East Coast, West Coast, Midwest or South. Across the country We're all Steppers 4 Ever! The dance is here for everyone to enjoy!
Once the group reached a milestone of over 3000 members Markie sent an email to all of the members suggesting a get together unlike other Facebook get-togethers in the Chicago style steppers genre. He proposed the group meet in multiple cities simultaneously and use modern technology via Laptops or smart phones to upload photos or video from each event to the group so everyone can see all of the events.
As the event planning continued, the idea occurred that this could become an event that should be all-inclusive and not limited to one Facebook group but to all steppers in all Facebook Groups, and pages dedicated to the Chicago style steppers genre.
Of course from there the idea went beyond the bounds of Facebook.
The National Chicago Style Steppers Day event idea grew from the thought based on the idea there wasn't a day where all people who step could celebrate the dance they love, and the people who make up the ever-growing community where ever they are across the United States thus taking it beyond the limits of Facebook, its Groups and pages.
The members of the group were invited to a conference call where ideas were tossed around and it was decided a poll of the members to decide the date of the event would be held. The date of the event was decided as a result of the poll as the second Saturday in August. This years event is Saturday August 14th.
 

More Below

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Bring your cameras and camcorders
Take lot's of Photos and make lots of videos and post them to Facebook, and YouTube, submit them to SteppersUSA and show the world what Chicago style stepping is all about! We have an opportunity like no other in the history of stepping as this is the first and largest coordinated national simultaneous steppers party in history so we need a complete record! Bring those cameras and shoot like there's no tomorrow!
There will be live streaming video too
We've asked organizations to give this a try and we're using Ustream.tv's free streaming service to stream live video from several locations across the country. At this late point I haven't received all of the links for all of the locations but a few of the streams are on this page and will go live during the respective parties.
The types of parties range from casual get-togethers, to weekend extravaganzas which include workshops, barbecues, picnics and black tie affairs. There are quite a few events listed below, but I didn't get all of the information in time from some cities to include their events in time to send this out today so keep an eye on the steppers perpetual events calendar for updates as late as tomorrow afternoon. The event doesn't have to be an "officially sanctioned event" to celebrate the dance. ALL individuals and parties and events can honor the dance by mentioning, celebrating and remembering this day.
Official Recognition
One of the main ideals we wanted to convey to the Chicago style steppers community is that our dance really is in the mainstream of life in the USA and although right now it is represented by a relatively small percentage of the population as a whole we had a need to take our rightful place and be recognized. As of this writing; proclamations by government entities have been written in DeKalb County Georgia, Seattle King County, and the proclamation sits on Richard M. Daley's desk awaiting his signature in Chicago.
Wait to see what next year has to offer!
I've already had discussions with several individuals about next years celebration and we'll be floating those ideas for the next few weeks after the event is in our rear view mirror so we have time to collect our thoughts to make the second Saturday in August a bigger and better experience for everybody. As you can see below, the clock is winding down so polish your dancing shoes, clean the duds and get ready to have one big steppers party!

The J.E.P. Productions Hotter than July steppers contest is now on sale and can be ordered online here. Or Right Here!

What are you doing on August 14th? Please GO STEP!

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