Organizers

organizers@lists.sharedweight.net

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by via Organizers

In respose to Katy Heine's question: The Rochester NY weekly Thursday dance has a set rate for callers and bands, and we add a set travel honorarium for "Regional" and "Far" travel of $40 and $80. (special arrangements are made on occasion) There is a profit sharing after we cover expenses, so if the band and/or caller are drawing more people, they get more money. Break even is somewhere between 45-55 dancers. When we drafted this policy we considered that unless the band and caller are touring together, the caller generally has no say in how many folks are in the band they are paired with. (Of course they can decline the gig, but that's not really a "SAY") Our policy makes it so that regardless if the band has 2, 3 or 4 members, the caller gets paid the same. It seems to work for us. Your mileage may vary. The rationale is that the caller is doing the same job the whole night regardless of the number of musicians. If a band has more members, they can share the work...drop out for a time or two through the tune, so a set fee is practical. They are also probably carpooling, so the travel cost is less per person. Airfare or Busfare is one of the reasons for exceptions to the standard rate. Another reason for exception is a BIG name band, and a third reason is a touring Band+Caller pairing. We have been able to schedule touring bands from "FAR" in conjunction with other regional dances, so the traveling musicians are really traveling similar distance as a regional band to our particular dance, and this helps the travel honorarium cover actual expenses. They also are offered hospitality at the home of a dancer on the evening of the dance (and sometimes the day before or after). The policy does make it challenging to book larger bands, but we are now at the point with attendance that we are consistently paying slightly above the guarantee, generally about 55-60 dancers per evening. Highly weather dependent, and it is a weeknight dance so...we think that is ok...always want more! That said, we have had requests for equal pay for Band members and caller for larger events in the past, but not for the weekly dance series. Those larger events are waaay less frequent and the negotiation is not a burden. Bob

7 years, 10 months

Catapult: One-stop shop for the next big thing

by Rob Harper via Organizers

Catapult showcases up and coming, festival-ready bands and callers from around the country. It is built to provide them a stage. And to provide organizers like you a dance floor to check out the future wave of contra dance talent. In one place. At one time. Come to Atlanta to see 6 bands and 6 callers thrill you on the contra dance floor and wow you with their other talents across 24 hours of workshops. You may have never heard them, but you will. Join us over Memorial Day Weekend (May 26-29) to try them on for size and take one (or more) home for your local festivals and tours. Registration and all the details at www.catapultshowcase.com. ciao, rah -- Rob Harper thatrobharper(a)gmail.com (404) 307-3444

8 years, 1 month

Ottawa contra - newcomer handout and stickers

by Emily Addison via Organizers

Hi fellow shared weight members, Sharing a bit of information on two new initiatives we're trying at Ottawa Contra to retain newcomers/convert them to regulars. (This is a big focus for us right now.) *Newcomer handout:* A few months ago on the listserve, I mentioned that Ottawa Contra was working on a newcomer flyer... I finally have a PDF copy to share! This has been in the works for over a year so it's great to have it done and out in our community. Just as a bit of background, our goal wasn't to replace all the community support from the reular dancers, messaging from the caller and organizer (announcements etc)... instead our goal was to have a handout that would provide that bit more of encouragement and information that might bring back the brand new folks and get them to stick with it. We aren't trying to teach newcomers what contra dancing is (moves etc) but about how to become part of the community, that it's worthwhile to stick with it, etc. We hand the newcomer handout at the door along with the second dance free card. In particular, I wanted to thank Luke Donforth.... our committee referred to docs from lots of other communities and we got input from a fair number of callers. However, Luke did an amazing job at editing the messaging in the handout... better than our whole committee all combined! The handout's only been out for two dances so hard to tell what people think quite yet but we're happy. *Newcomer stickers:* This are going over VERY well. We have smiley stickers about an inch wide - different colours for folks to choose from. They can add this to their sticky name tag (have a little note to this effect on the name tag table). We have also started doing a short announcement at the very start of the dance welcoming everyone with special messaging especially for the newcomers. As part of that, we tell newcomers about the smiley stickers and that if they want to self-identify, experienced folks will particularly look for them. Our experienced folks already look for beginners but this way, the newcomers are VERY easy to spot and the stickers remind experienced folks in a fun way. And some beginners seem to feel more confident self-identifying while others don't need to use the stickers if they don't want. It's been a real win for beginners and experienced folks, adding to the welcoming environment. Always keen to hear more ideas about welcoming and including newcomers!!! :) Emily

8 years, 1 month

Setting Up Accounts in Quickbooks

by Rich Dempsey via Organizers

Following a pointer from the minutes of the second *Puttin'* *on the Dance* conference, we have registered with TechSoup and are about to take advantage of their discount pricing for Quickbooks. We will be configuring it to support financial reporting for two weekly dance series and two special events with more complex expenses than the weekly series. In addition, we'll want to ensure it will easily report categories for IRS Form 990 filings which will also go to CDSS as needed to continue under their group not-for-profit status. Can anyone provide advice, tips, and/or pointers to good information that will help us set up Quickbooks right the first time? (or at least closer to "right" than we might have done naively. :-) ) Thanks! Rich Dempsey Country Dancers of Rochester

8 years, 1 month

Re: [Organizers] Organizers Digest, Vol 31, Issue 4

by Emily Addison via Organizers

Sorry that I've been slow on replying since my initial post. Consumed with family commitments. I've been catching up on what people have said and sounds like not much success. As per the question as to what boosting is - it's paying facebook money to feature your event/post. Here is some info: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/547448218658012 We haven't tried it for our local contra dance. It was my local community association that has done it twice for our events this spring. One was a spring cleanup where we usually get 40 people and we got 70... our biggest attendance ever. We don't think anything was different from what we've done other years (or weather) but maybe our memory is off. The thing with our community association is that the ad specifically targeted people within 1km to capture our neighbourhood only.... paid $10 for that one. This would be harder with a contra dance as you'd want to target your audience in a different way. (Supposedly there are various choices for targeting audiences but I haven't done it). Here is a comparison of five of our posts Post /// # of Post Clicks /// # of REactions, comments & Shares 1 / 42 / 11 2 / 7 / 0 3 / 132 / 78 THIS WAS THE BOOSTED ONE 4 / 6 / 0 5 / 14 /5 As you can see, the boosted one seemingly got a lot more attention. I have heard that the numbers can be off because of fake facebook accounts but given my limited knowledge, it's been really effective for my community association. Maybe we'll give it a try at Ottawa Contra and can report back. Anyway, good to know others haven't yet found it effective. And yes... .... so many other ways to reach out to new folks. Just checking out options! Emily in Ottawa > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 5 May 2017 15:13:55 -0400 > From: Don Veino via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > To: "organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net" > <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > Subject: Re: [Organizers] Facebook boosts > Message-ID: > <CAAJTti+x8xLC9mXgxKQcnqVcMwtTNy-z_urj- > b8JEqm-9NKQUg(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > I've tried FB boosting/Ads a few times for events locally. In summary, we > saw no return on the effort. And I do mean effort, as it is a relative > chore to set up the "boost" campaign (target audience, customized graphics > and copy, etc.) - at least the first time around. > > In my opinion, they have a pretty good scheme going - for FB. Their initial > estimated exposure never materialized with the actual campaign yet the > funds disappeared just the same. Their reports demonstrating "success" > (views/placements) I found to be very vague. Over a span of three > "campaigns", the only related post "likes" we got were from people well > outside our targeted audience and geography (e.g.: people in India don't > fit within 50 miles of Concord, MA). Follow up with new faces at the events > found no one sourced from the FB ads. > > We got better results from the local free toss-away "Action Unlimited" > weekly rag, via their free community events articles. I've found Craigslist > event listings have also worked - again for free. > > -Don >

8 years, 1 month

Facebook boosts

by Patti Maxwell via Organizers

Hi ~ I am the organizer for Seacoast Contra in Newfields New Hampshire. We are a small-town group with a big heart :) I've boosted our dance with Facebook approximately 3 times. The budget I set was very low, as we're on a very tight budget ($15) We've polled new people how they found us...and we received no response from a Facebook ad. Most found us multiple ways, including signs we place near our dance a week before and a sandwich board outside the dance, referral from friends, posting on our FB page, email list and Meetup posts to multiple groups. Multi-faceted means of advertising our group has made it a viable dance. We just celebrated our one year Contraversary. Our group has grown steadily. I do think there is value in boosting our group....it gets us noticed, and planting that seed is essential. I think that a bigger budget for a larger group would be a great way to get noticed and bring in new dancers It just can't be the only way. Patti ~~~~~ Patti Maxwell Seacoast Contra at Newfields, NH Our website: www.seacoastcontra.com Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SeacoastContra/

8 years, 1 month

Re: [Organizers] Facebook boost

by Claire T via Organizers

I paid to boost a family dance at a free folk festival that I was calling. The only hits were from possible pedophiles..... really creepy appearing guys with only young cute girls as friends. So it does not help to boost kid activities. Claire Takemori SF Bay Area CA. Sent from my iPhone On May 5, 2017, at 8:17 AM, via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: Send Organizers mailing list submissions to organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to organizers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net You can reach the person managing the list at organizers-owner(a)lists.sharedweight.net When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Organizers digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Facebook boosts (Alexandra Deis-Lauby via Organizers) 2. Re: Facebook boosts (Laur via Organizers) 3. Facebook boosts (Patti Maxwell via Organizers) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 4 May 2017 16:13:42 -0400 From: Alexandra Deis-Lauby via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> To: carol.geisler(a)nyu.edu Cc: Emily Addison <emilyladdison(a)gmail.com>, Shared Weight Organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Facebook boosts Message-ID: <690C807D-5F60-4050-94EF-84838FD1936C(a)gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Boosting is when you pay Facebook to promote your event. Emily, can you clarify. Ottawa did try it and it worked? or a different local dance of yours tried it and it worked? Or none of the above? Sent from my iPhone > On May 4, 2017, at 1:30 PM, Carol Geisler via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > What is "boosting"? > >> On Thu, May 4, 2017 at 1:16 PM, Emily Addison via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: >> Hi Fellow Organizers, >> >> I was wondering if any of you have had boosted facebook events for your dances??? >> >> My local community association has done it twice this spring and we've seen significant pick up in our events. Given, we've got a very defined geographical area for our neighbourhood! >> >> Ottawa Contra is now thinking about trying boosting for a few dances but we're curious --- any success elsewhere??? >> >> :) Emily in Ottawa >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Organizers mailing list >> Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net >> > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net

8 years, 1 month

Facebook boosts

by Emily Addison via Organizers

Hi Fellow Organizers, I was wondering if any of you have had boosted facebook events for your dances??? My local community association has done it twice this spring and we've seen significant pick up in our events. Given, we've got a very defined geographical area for our neighbourhood! Ottawa Contra is now thinking about trying boosting for a few dances but we're curious --- any success elsewhere??? :) Emily in Ottawa

8 years, 1 month

is NEFFA LinkFest still active

by Jonathan Sivier via Organizers

Are the lists of various folk dance groups, including contra and ECD, on the NEFFA LinkFest "http://www.neffa.org/Top/" still being used? There appear to be quite a few dead links and I'm wondering if anyone is still updating these pages. Thanks. Jonathan ----- Jonathan Sivier Caller of Contra, Square, English and Early American Dances jsivier AT illinois DOT edu Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html ----- Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A: It depends on what dance you call!

8 years, 1 month

Re: [Organizers] Query: Tools to search for stale links (was Re: is NEFFA LinkFest still active)

by James Saxe via Organizers

On Apr 26, 2017, at 1:33 PM, Jack Mitchell <jmitchell.nc(a)gmail.com> wrote: > There is an extension for Chrome that will go through and check links for a particular page. > https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/link-checker/aibjbgmpmnidnmagaefh… > > I ran it on the NEFFA Link Fest and this is what I got (or at least is the first screen): > Purple is sites that couldn't be reached, and red is not found messages of various types. Thanks for this information, Jack. The screenshot in Jack's message shows part of the page http://www.neffa.org/Top/Festivals/index.shtml In the screenshot, we see 6 purple links, 14 red links, and 31 green (good?) links. Of the 31 green links, the three nearest the top are internal to the LinkFest, leaving 28 external links not detected as bad by the link checker. However, closer examination reveals that about half of those 28 links are in fact stale. Below is a rundown on the definitely stale ones plus a couple questionable ones. Let me emphasize that my point is *not* to whine to NEFFA/Dan about the LinkFest not being maintained, nor to to whine about the (former?) owners of the target pages of the bad links. My point is to illustrate some of the varied ways that links can go stale, and to ask whether there are automatic tools that can do a better job of detecting them. Belgium - World Festival of Folklore http://come.to/schoten Redirects to a page in the domain www.realtor.com Canada - index http://www.festivalfinder.com Site is apparently under construction: "Welcome to FestivalFinder.com a Diverse, Festival Listing Site – Coming Soon!" (but what does "Soon" really mean?) Versions captured in the Internet Archive from May 1997 through June 2015 seem to have been working. Canada/Alberta - Calgary - Hispanic Performing Arts ... http://www.geocities.com/~hispanicarts/ Redirects to https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com (as do other geocities sites) England - Chippenham Folk Festival</A> - In Chippenham http://members.aol.com/chippfolk/index.html Redirects to an AOL login page. If I got an AOL account and logged in, it might indeed take me to a page having something to do with the Chippenham Folk Festival. I'm not about to try. KY - Gray Hawk - Stringbean Memorial Bluegrass Festival - ... http://www.geocities.com/stringfest/ Redirects to https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com Netherlands - index http://www.euronet.nl/~trio/ Last updated 31 May 2011. However, it doesn't seem to claim to have any regularly updated calendar information. It just has a bunch of links (some good, some stale) to other sites. PA - Elmhurst - Endless Mountains Blues Fest - ... http://www.blues101.org Now a page full of text in some Asian language. TN - Sevierville - Bluegrass in the Smokies - ... http://www.BluegrassInTheSmokies.com The banner at the top says "Bluegrassinthesmokies.com" but the contents are stuff about bodybuilding and ads for tree services. (I am not making this up.) UK - Ipswich - International Country Music Festival - ... http://www.minifest.co.uk/ Goes to a page soliciting offers to buy the domain name. United Kingdom - Stirrings' Folk Festival Newsletter http://www.stirrings.co.uk/folkzone/index.html Goes to http://www.stirrings.co.uk which appears to advertise live music for weddings and other event. The current content deems very different from in Internet Archive snapshots from 10 years ago or so, which show the online version of a folk, roots and acoustic music magazine. USA - CA - Napa Valley Music Festival - Three days in September http://www.napafest.com "... The owner of napafest.com is offering it for sale ..." USA - CA - Old-Time Fiddlers' Convention - also has singing, ... http://www.fiddlersconvention.org/dpage.php?page_id=1 "This Account has been suspended." USA - CT - NOMAD (NOrtheast Music And Dance) Festival - ... http://www.nomadfest.org/ "No NOMAD Festival in 2008" -- and if there has been one since then, the organizers seem to have have been darn quiet about it on the web. USA - index - Festival Finder http://www.festivalfinder.com Supposedly under construction (see "Canada - index" above). USA - MA - Boston Folk Festival</A> - Mid-September http://www.bostonfolkfestival.org/ The site, which seems to be administered by radio station, WUMB doesn't appear (at the time I write this) to show any info about a mid-September folk festival, though it does show info abut registration being open for summer acoustic music weeks in July and August USA - MA - Greater New Bedford Summerfest - ... http://www.barrel-of-music.com "BUY THIS DOMAIN The owner of barrel-of-music.com is offering it for sale ..." Oddly, one link marked as red by the checker seems to be good: movable - Folk Alliance Conference - Yearly conference for ... http://www.folk.org --Jim

8 years, 1 month

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