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