[Callers] Low numbers - slow starts

Callers -- I called last weekend (St Patrick's Day, and a very rainy night) and the dance was very slow to get started. By about 10 minutes after the starting time we had something five or six couples, with two first-timers among them. I let the first two dances run normal length, consciously, because I wanted the first-timers to get the experience of getting the dance long enoug to get it and no longer need calling. I think I was successful in that goal, but I heard that the experienced dancers were pretty bored seeing the same faces over and over. (By the third dance more people had turned up and it wasn't so much of a problem.) How do y'all handle this kind of thing? -- Alan -- =============================================================================== Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056 Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025 ==============================================================================