[Organizers] Timing of Facebook invitations - Musicians

2 Apr 2013

I have a question for organizers who use Facebook to publicize
their dance events:  How far in advance of an event do you send
out a Facebook invitation?

Sufficient advance notice can give time for some buzz to build
as people get to see that other people have marked themselves
as "Going" or posted replies.  But with too much lead time,
people could decide not to plan that far ahead, and by the time
the event draws nearer they could have forgotten about it.  How
much lead time is a good compromise?

The frequency of dances might also be a consideration.  Sending
invitations two or three weeks in advance might make more sense
for a monthly dance than for a weekly dance.  I'm currently one
of the organizers for a dance that runs on 2nd, 4th, and 5th
Saturdays, so dances are usually two weeks apart but occasionally
only one week apart.  A similar situation would apply for a dance
that ran on, say, 1st, 3rd, and 5th Saturdays (or Wednesdays, or
whatever).  I know one series that runs on 1st and 3rd Saturdays
and 4th Fridays, so that about once ever seven years they have
consecutive dances on Friday, February 28 and Saturday, March 1.
Dances could also be closer-spaced than usual if a special-date
event is *added* to the calendar (instead of *replacing* a
regularly-scheduled dance).  Organizers could want to get timely
word out for whichever event happens second, but not want to
stomp on the earlier one.  With a calendar on a regular web page,
you can just list all the events, with as much or little
special emphasis on any particular ones as you choose.  But what
do you do about timing the Facebook invitations?

Thanks.

--Jim