Fireside Chat: Studio Directors & Teachers

Fireside Chat (Studios) - Q&A

Q: How does it make competitions more fair? Who are the people who have access to this information?

ICDR ANSWER:

A: Our danceID system locks dancers’ birthdates, allowing competitions to place dancers accurately at registration. 

When integrated with class‑management systems, a dancer’s danceID also validates their studio hours allowing for accurate leveling at competition. For example, a competition can accurately place a dancer in Novice or Intermediate based on that dancer’s actual studio training. Finally, competitions are able to create a verified history of a dancer’s placement and performance.

Access is limited to the parent/guardian of the dancer, the dancer themselves, Studio Directors who have been approved by the parent, and competition managers where relevant for the purposes of leveling and registration. Parents are able to delete their data and their dancer’s data at any time.

Finally, ICDR Support Analysts are criminally background checked and study privacy compliance as a core part of ICDR’s free service.

Q: How will you pursue this ?

ICDR ANSWER:

A: Slowly and steadily through conversations with Studio Directors, parents, Competitions and Convention owners, and, most importantly, Dancers. We are consistently overwhelmed with the amount of support and care the industry is giving ICDR and its mission. We have started by working with one of the biggest Competition Management solutions in the world to help them remove the names and places of training for thousands of dancers from the public internet already; and we’re only getting started.

It’s important to note that we are not going to be pursuing this through regulation or governance, we are strictly in pursuit of dancer safety. 

Q: Where does the data you collect reside and how is it kept safe?

ICDR ANSWER:

A: ICDR’s data is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and regionally distributed across North America to ensure consistent and stable access.  All data is encrypted at rest and in transit with strict access policies. It’s worth noting that ICDR is actively pursuing a comprehensive data sovereignty policy to ensure our community that their data is housed strictly within their Country.

Q: Are you asking 'us' to push parents to register their kids?

Q: Confused on how a service like this is “free”. It sounds great! But we all know there are always costs, especially when the info ICDR is protecting is very sensitive, and that costs money to protect! Where is this funding coming from?

ICDR ANSWER:

A: Only if you believe in what we’re building. Parents can self-verify and immediately gain more control over their child’s name and place of training being exposed online within platforms such as DanceBUG.

Our additional features such as participant accident insurance packages will be available on a per dancer basis through ICDR, starting in the fall of 2026. 

Q: Why does ICDR need to know what level a child is? That is not up to your company to decide for a competition, but directors and dance educators.  How does it make competitions more fair?

ICDR ANSWEly

A: ICDR actually won’t have an opinion on what the level a child is, but rather allow competitions to confidently know who is attending their event. Competitions will continue to set their leveling, and ICDR will verify the dancer’s historical training and performance data – creating fairer stages. 

Q: Who enters all of the data you intend to compile and protect?

Q: The many, many people who have access to children is hugely concerning in a database that is not necessary?

ICDR ANSWER:

A: Dancer data is input by parents and guardians when they join ICDR and affiliating with a studio can be initiated by a parent or through a simple link Studio Directors share. General studio and competition information is sourced from a series of resources including public data and technology partner integrations. Our goal is to make this as lightweight as possible on busy studio directors pre-populating existing data when and where possible. 

Q: Who would enter the info related to training hours and exam results?

ICDR ANSWER:

A: No one. This is pulled directly from the studio’s class management software.

Phase one: Online Safety.

Phase two: Fairness in Registration.

Phase three: Verified recognition & support. 

Safe. Fair. Verified.

Q: So, if I’m trying to register my studio for competition, and some of my parents have not registered their dancers, will I be unable to register those kids?

ICDR ANSWER:

A: There would be no issue completing your example registration. The only time that it would potentially create an issue is if the competition or event has stated it is strictly a verified dancers event, such as a nationals or similar premiere level event. All of the registered parents will be able to take advantage of the additional media security. 

Q: Sorry, you referred to it as a type of Insurance Policy.  Does this mean that you'll be doing a type of payout should a dancer's info get out after being connected to ICDR?

ICDR ANSWER:

A: No, we refer to insurance in two ways: the first being the additional insurance and athlete grade benefits we’re rolling out for dancers. The second being the additional protections that the ICDR’s danceID affords. 

Q: I'm very interested in hearing about ICDR's participant accident insurance.

ICDR ANSWER:

A: Stay tuned. Starting this Fall, a suite of optional insurance products will be announced, including Event Cancellation and Participant Accident options.

Q: If not all sign up - how does that affect my studio?

ICDR ANSWER:

A: At ICDR, we believe that safety is a right, not a privilege. Families that choose to verify can benefit from the protections of ICDR’s danceID and gain access to valuable future features. The Studio will benefit from additional Studio Director features as we roll them out, including our upcoming simple waiver system.