22 Sep
2011
22 Sep
'11
1:34 a.m.
Greg's reverse psychology idea was used at Brown a few years ago, with those
"ants - pants - contra dance" flyers that have been copied many times now. The
flyers simply said "ants - pants - contra dance" with line drawings of the
first two, followed by the details of time, location, clean shoes, and a price. (Might
have been free for students). No details, so you had to go to find out what it was all
about. And it was posted everywhere so no one could miss it. That was one case where a
flyer seemed to have worked well. Perhaps people involved in that effort are on this list
now, and they might be able to provide a more complete (and correct!) description of what
happened.
Laur remarked on 9/22/2011 12:54 AM:
So what's the best way or ways to recruit younger
dancers. We have a college community, or more than one, here. I have tried to think how
to attract them but it all seems lame. The best I can come up with is a flash dance on
common ground. The colleges aren't geared to our types of music or dance so it's
hard to approach it from that aspect.
Ideas???
~
When I dance, I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can
only be joyful and whole, that is why I dance. ~Hans Bos~
~
> ________________________________
> From: Greg McKenzie<grekenzie(a)gmail.com>
> To: Caller's discussion list<callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 12:41 AM
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Recruiting new dancers
>
> Thank You Richard for this topic.
>
> You did a great job of describing the situation. Word of mouth is key. All
> of the other methods of "getting the word out" are ancillary at best and
> should be regarded as serving to support the word of mouth effort. Flyers,
> for example, are there to remind folks of what they heard from someone else
> and substantiate the reference they have heard. This is one reason I think
> flyers should be limited to only the vital information needed to
> participate. Flyers work better when they do *not *attempt to persuade
> anyone or tell them *why *they should attend. In a similar vein flyers
> should also not attempt to describe or define the dance. Assume that the
> reader has already heard about the dance from a friend or an acquaintance.
>
> Using some reverse psychology is important. If the reader thinks the flyer
> is "begging" for new participants it can be a turn off. In this respect
> small dances might consider setting an exclusive tone in the sense that it
> is a "best kept secret" rather than a poorly attended dance. I have seen
> this work for small dances in our area. When dancers "discover" a small
> dance and view it as a private secret other dancers become very interested.
> Some dancers will keep the secret for fear that lots of new people will
> destroy the "charm" of the small dance. This also works for newcomers.
>
> You are absolutely correct about the role of young people. Here in Santa
> Cruz, CA the area dance society has welcomed young people to become key
> players in the dance community. Several are on the Board of Directors,
> several are musicians at dances, and at least one is a caller.
>
> I don't, by the way, view this process as one of "recruiting" new
dancers.
> I view it as a way of opening the dance events to the wider community. That
> is a different perspective. If we view the dance as a community social
> event the goal shifts from one of attempting to convert newcomers into dance
> enthusiasts to one of simply opening the dance to a more diverse and
> interesting community of participants. An effort to "convert" people or
> "get them hooked" requires too much energy and is not consistent with the
> explicit message that "all are welcome" and "no experience is
needed."
>
> - Greg McKenzie