Hi,

I'm a fairly new organizer in Winnipeg Manitoba. There are some folk dancing groups here, such as international and English, who are familiar with contra dancing, and they have been the bulk of my attendees for the two dances I put on this season. I also do all the calling and hire/play in the band. It's certainly not a one man show, as I have had lots of help, from volunteering, to spreading the word about events, and great teachers along the way, but I AM the only person in the city promoting contra dancing to such an extent, or putting on contra-only events.

I have come up with a few ideas that are helping to build the contra dance community in this city:

1. I offer my services to other organizations as a dance fundraiser. I have put on a very successful fundraiser for a friend of mine doing missions work. You simply approach an organization, like a church or other community group, and offer to do a fundraiser for them. They do most of the legwork, like renting a hall, advertising the event, getting volunteers, and handling the money. I prepare (or arrange for someone else to do) the calling and the music. Viola. In this way, you're able to mix the group of people wanting to support the fundraising organization and the group of people who already like contra dancing and just want to have a good time, even if it means paying a little extra. Be aware: you typically get a very unexperienced crowd, and should program accordingly. Two other organizations have agreed to do this, which are set to happen in the fall.

2. Get in touch with other dancing groups and offer to do a "themed" week/month, where they take a small amount of time out of their regular schedule in order to try something new. Again, music of some kind must be provided, and calling. I have done this with the English dancers, and I volunteer teach at the international group, always contras. Other groups, like Scottish, or sqaure dancing, might be interested.

3. Other ideas might be to host a special dance in a public location, like a busy park or a university center, to get some exposure and get people talking and asking questions.  Generally, a younger crowd is more likely to attract more younger folk, but do keep it all ages and family friendly, as well. Get creative with your advertising. I'm not a social media buff, but making artistic handbills that make people wonder and intrigue them is a good technique. Host an event, like a typical house party, and make sure there's dancing and folk music, just to give people exposure. And of course, you must always put on a good show so as to not leave a bad taste in people's mouths. You want them waiting in anticipation for the next one. 

All in all, if you want to build, you have to reach out - in order to take in more people in, you have to give of yourself. Don't forget to let us know what's happening and how things are working out for you :) I'll do the same.

Greg

On Mon, May 16, 2016 at 8:10 AM, via Organizers <organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Admission Table "Cash Register"?
      (Claire Takemori via Organizers)
   2. building contra dance (Claire Takemori via Organizers)
   3. Re: Admission Table "Cash Register"? (Dan Pearl via Organizers)
   4. Re: building contra dance (Paul Pindris via Organizers)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 15 May 2016 14:01:09 -0700
From: Claire Takemori via Organizers
        <organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>
To: organizers@lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Organizers] Admission Table "Cash Register"?
Message-ID: <64AEC47F-7B5B-465A-A120-FA82C0A2FCD6@mac.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hi Don,

What the Bay Area Country Dance Society uses is a sign-in sheet for insurance purposes.  Each person signs in and checks the column if they are a BACSD member, not, or a student.  No mark hopefully indicates a student or under-income donation.  This ideally gives us a head count as well as indication of how many member, public, student rates were paid.  No current way to track donation amounts.


Claire (Campbell CA)


Message: 1
Date: Sun, 15 May 2016 15:36:47 -0400
From: Don Veino via Organizers <organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>
To: Lou Echeandia <lecheandia@aol.com>
Cc: A list for dance organizers <organizers@sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Organizers] Admission Table "Cash Register"?
Message-ID:
        <CAAJTtiKNd99_MOK6S8=vPKN6ybqm6F-rAp_4Y=B+8gixkDYeUg@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Thanks Lou, I like your gizmo!

We have a somewhat similar approach built into our accounting sheet (see
link below).

One side is for the door sitter's use and includes a tally area where they
make hash marks for attendance by type and record the various amounts
including the final cash box content at the end of their shift.

The back side is our committee accounting and talent, etc. payment records.
Each data element labeled with a [XX] code in bold on that sheet gets
entered into a google form -> spreadsheet for long term tracking and I've
built some basic error checking in there.

In my experience, the need to manually record the attendance is sometimes
forgot (particularly at the influx peak), resulting in deviation between
the counts and the final revenue. I usually end up back-calculating
attendance figures as a result.

Thanks again for sharing your approach!
-Don

Our accounting sheet is maintained at
http://mondaycontras.com/media/MonCon_Accounting.pdf

On Sun, May 15, 2016 at 2:17 PM, Lou Echeandia <lecheandia@aol.com> wrote:

> Hi, Don,
>
> Our dance organization has chosen a low tech solution that seems to have
> worked well.  We put together a cash box and four tally counters (shown in
> the photo) that yields statistics for correct count for attendance as well
> as a means for determining correct attendance recieipts - or at least an
> means of determining error.  The associated Dance Cash and Tally Box Record
> sheet provides a record and means of attaching any receipts for expenses
> that might have been necessary for the event, as well as the receipt for
> the cash deposit at the bank.
>
> Hope that is useful,
>
> Lou Echeandia
> Treasurer,
> Oakland County Traditional Dance Society  (OCTDS)
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Don Veino via Organizers <organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>
> To: A list for dance organizers <organizers@sharedweight.net>
> Sent: Sat, May 14, 2016 8:46 pm
> Subject: [Organizers] Admission Table "Cash Register"?
>
> Hey all,
>
> Do any of you have/use a program for your door sitters which acts as a
> cash register?
>
> I've done some research to find a suitable simple program or app and have
> not found one yet. Most of the truly simple ones are targeted at
> restaurants/bars. There are some ticketing applications but they're aimed
> at theatres, etc. and nothing inexpensive at all.
>
> Need to keep it super simple for the door sitters and am hoping to use a
> touch screen Android tablet as the interface. Would love to greatly speed
> up the tally and cash box/accounting process for the night, improve
> accuracy and potentially create single use volunteer passes on the spot.
>
> I've started hacking up something on my own but before I spend too much
> time there I thought I'd ask what others have done.
>
> -Don
> _______________________________________________



------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Sun, 15 May 2016 14:05:34 -0700
From: Claire Takemori via Organizers
        <organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>
To: organizers@lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: [Organizers] building contra dance
Message-ID: <EFC9D035-E973-48F0-84EA-F43FE8DF5B5A@mac.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

Hi everyone,

I just joined the list.  I?m a new programmer (I book band, caller, sound) for South Bay Contra in the Bay Area, CA.  I?m also helping lead the team of volunteers that manage the dance.

We are trying to turn our dance into a sustainable one, as the past was often only about 20 dancers and it was not making ends meet.

If you have ideas on how to bring new dancers, get advertising at colleges/schools,  create a dance that is welcoming and safe, I?d love to hear them!

I?m also interested in what signs & policies you have for your dance for dancer safety (Creepers, unfriendly comments, etc)

Thank you!   Looking forward to learning from your experiences!

Claire Takemori (Campbell CA)

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Sun, 15 May 2016 21:54:08 +0000 (UTC)
From: Dan Pearl via Organizers <organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>
To: "organizers@lists.sharedweight.net"
        <organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Organizers] Admission Table "Cash Register"?
Message-ID:
        <152418869.3059305.1463349248497.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

1. Unless one has a trained small staff to work the admission table, I would recommend going as low-tech as possible.
2. If you MUST have a breakdown between different classes (member/non-member, adults/kids, etc.) a tally works with reasonable accuracy.? If you want more accuracy, consider having TWO people work the table (especially if lines tend to build): one to do the cash, the other to take the tally.? An alternative would be to use numbered tickets (for a drawing during the evening) with different colors for different classes.? Just be sure to record the first number at the start of the evening!
3. Consider not bothering with the tally.? At the dance I help run, we have adult/youth rates and don't bother to take a tally.? We operate on a basis of trust with our door-sitters and the mix of adult/youth varies during the year in unsurprising ways -- we just don't feel like we need to capture that information.

4. Any system can be compromised by crooked door-sitter.? They can wink at their friends and wave them in for no fee.? They could pocket some money and not click the tally counter or put a tick-mark on the paper.? Anything!
In summary, I'd say a) don't collect data unless you need it; and b) K.I.S.S !
Dan
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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 16 May 2016 09:10:38 -0400
From: Paul Pindris via Organizers <organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>
To: Claire Takemori <cht@mac.com>
Cc: organizers@lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Organizers] building contra dance
Message-ID:
        <CAFwDPfjpWD2dac_KwNEZ5fX6GAqrsyj5Fp6YNEVWCr3gXKhKhA@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Claire, I have attached a brochure I put together for the contra dance in
Deerfield, NH, for which I took on the responsibility of chief organizer
this season. I am proud to say that this dance has doubled its attendance
since last season, from what had been an average of 35 dancers, to now
consistently drawing 70. I attribute our success to linking our monthly
dances to meetup groups -- online groups, typically of single people,
looking for events of all kinds where they can be active and meet others.
The one issue I had with these particular newcomers was that they were
unfamiliar with contra dance culture, so that there were some minor
instances of bothersome behavior which indicated a need for providing basic
information. I did a bit of investigation online about what other dances
around the country had in place to address similar concerns, and I also
polled my experienced dancers about what they considered important to
include. The end result of my efforts may be a helpful starting point for
you in what you are hoping to accomplish -- 2 pages, printed back-to-back
then folded into thirds, which makes for a compact brochure.

Best wishes with your work!

Paul Pindris

On Sun, May 15, 2016 at 5:05 PM, Claire Takemori via Organizers <
organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> I just joined the list.  I?m a new programmer (I book band, caller, sound)
> for South Bay Contra in the Bay Area, CA.  I?m also helping lead the team
> of volunteers that manage the dance.
>
> We are trying to turn our dance into a sustainable one, as the past was
> often only about 20 dancers and it was not making ends meet.
>
> If you have ideas on how to bring new dancers, get advertising at
> colleges/schools,  create a dance that is welcoming and safe, I?d love to
> hear them!
>
> I?m also interested in what signs & policies you have for your dance for
> dancer safety (Creepers, unfriendly comments, etc)
>
> Thank you!   Looking forward to learning from your experiences!
>
> Claire Takemori (Campbell CA)
> _______________________________________________
> Organizers mailing list
> Organizers@lists.sharedweight.net
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
>
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