12 Jun
2018
12 Jun
'18
11:03 a.m.
Hi All,
I wanted to report on a new engagement strategy that we've been using in
Ottawa these past two months which seems to be working really well and I'm
excited about! It's sending a personal email to new people as we add to
our email list. (Full disclosure - this is an idea that Alex DL from
Country Dance New York mentioned at the dance organizers discussion at the
Dance Flurry in 2017. I loved the idea at the time but it took a while to
implement.)
=====================================================
Before I get onto the idea and implemention ---> a question for the group!
Has anyone had success getting email addresses of most BRAND new people who
show up at their dance? Right now, we get new dancer email addresses in
two ways:
1. They sign up on our email sign up sheet at the front table.
2. They put their email address on the second dance free card AND check off
the box saying 'add me to your email list'. (So they actually have to have
come back a second time and hand in the filled-in card for us to get their
email address.)
... ... ... I'd love to be able to figure out a way to collect the email
addresses of more FIRST TIMERS without it seeming creepy.
========================================================
Anyway... here's what I wanted to share on adding new people to our email
list.
WHAT WE DID BEFORE:
We would collect email addresses through one of two ways (see above). We
would then go into mailchimp and add those email addresses. The new person
would get a form welcome email from us (carefully worded but in mailchimp
format). They would have to hit 'confirm' before being added to our email
list.
WHAT WE DO NOW:
I send them a personal email from my personal account (which looks very
different than a mailchimp message). I then go into mailchimp and add them
but check off that I already have permission to add them to the list. (I
also keep a photo record of them giving us permission)
WHAT WE ARE NOTICING:
- More email addresses are being added because people don't have to do
the confirmation stage. (Yes... we do have to keep proof of permission to
meet with Canadian email spam laws but the pick up is well worth it).
- We are getting a fair number of emails BACK from new dancers with
encouraging messages. They express how much fun they are having, offer
suggestions and even say they want to volunteer. For instance, I added
about 14 people last week and I got 6 responses back, two of whom offered
to volunteer!
I've included the responses we got last week as inspiration for y'all. It
is work to send the personal message and to respond but it's also exciting
and is part of building that sense of belonging for those new folks from
the start.
I've also included a copy of the "personal email" I've been sending
out.
Would love thoughts or suggestions!!!
:) Emily
in Ottawa, ON
==================================
Hi, we love to take part in your dances. It's a very fun way to exercise
and a great cardio workout. People are so friendly and supportive. The only
thing that I would suggest is adding a few more fans on the floor (or
walls?) Otherwise, everything else is great. Will be back for sure.
=======================
Hi, Yes, I did have a great time both times I went. Everyone was so
welcoming and I enjoyed the live band and the dancing was great. I have no
suggestions re improvements as I felt included in all the dances, even
though I was just learning. Have to miss the June 16th dance as I will be
in Victoria but plan on enjoying Contra
Dancing when it starts up again in the Fall.
Thanks for getting in touch. Appreciate the opportunity to provide input.
======================
Thanks!
I love how friendly everyone is, how accepting and willing to teach.
Everyone has made me feel very welcome, I've been to 3 dances now and will
definitely be back. I should have listened to Jane sooner and gone out
when she first suggested it to me.
If you need another volunteer anytime, let me know, I'm more then willing
to help out.
=============================
Thank you for your warm welcome!
Unfortunately we will be out of town on the weekend of June 16th, but we
will look forward to the next season.
We have nothing but positive things to say – even though we were new to
contra, we felt confident after the excellent instructions plus we enjoyed
the happy friendly smiles from everyone, and loved the live music.
See you in September.
======================
Thanks for all you do to make and keep contra fun.
I love how welcoming people are, the mix of ages and “types” of characters,
the non stop smiling.
Having zero dance or memorization experience, I would love if the calling
continued for the entire dance. Maybe for the first half of each event. Or
even if it tapered off starting with the whole first song being called and
then one round fewer each song, for example.
My fervent wish is to become very comfortable with contra Eventually and to
make it as absolute often as I can — and to stay the whole event. (Right
now I can only tolerate up to half of an event.)
I would be happy to volunteer either with set up or publicity committee etc
next season. Let me know how I can help.
See you June 16,
=====================
Hi XXXX,
Thanks so much for joining us at the contra dance this past Saturday. We
hope you had a great time!
If you would like to share what you especially liked or didn't about your
experience, we always love hearing from new folks as we try to make the
dances as accessible and fun for new people as possible. (If we don't hear
feedback, we won't know what to work on!)
You provided your email and checked off that you'd like to be added the main
contra dance email list so I'll add you now. We send out one email a week
so just watch for those.
And here are few links in the meantime:
Our fun facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ottawacontra/
Our website: http://www.ottawacontra.ca/view/default.asp?home
I've also attached our beginners handout.
Our next dance is the last of this season.... it happens June 16th. We
start back up in early September for 2018-2019.
Welcome to Ottawa Contra and I hope you'll join us on the dance floor again
soon!
:) Emily
12 Jun
12 Jun
11:34 a.m.
Thanks Emily! Glad it’s working for you!
We have a first timer pass that is in two sections. We keep the half with
their name and email on it and the date they attended. They keep the half
with the date they attended and their name. I send an email to them
ideally within the first week I get it, with the date and info of the next
dance or two. We log the info into a spreadsheet and when they return
their pass, we log that as well so we know how many first timer passes are
being redeemed. I don’t currently send a second email after it’s been
redeemed, though they do get added to the email list automatically becuase
the pass says something like “by filling this out, you are agreeing to be
on our email list” In theory, if they don’t provide their email, they
won’t get the pass, though our door people are sometimes swamped every once
in a while and don’t check.
On Tue, Jun 12, 2018 at 12:03 PM, Emily Addison via Organizers <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi All,
I wanted to report on a new engagement strategy that we've been using in
Ottawa these past two months which seems to be working really well and I'm
excited about! It's sending a personal email to new people as we add to
our email list. (Full disclosure - this is an idea that Alex DL from
Country Dance New York mentioned at the dance organizers discussion at the
Dance Flurry in 2017. I loved the idea at the time but it took a while to
implement.)
=====================================================
Before I get onto the idea and implemention ---> a question for the group!
Has anyone had success getting email addresses of most BRAND new people who
show up at their dance? Right now, we get new dancer email addresses in
two ways:
1. They sign up on our email sign up sheet at the front table.
2. They put their email address on the second dance free card AND check
off the box saying 'add me to your email list'. (So they actually have to
have come back a second time and hand in the filled-in card for us to get
their email address.)
... ... ... I'd love to be able to figure out a way to collect the email
addresses of more FIRST TIMERS without it seeming creepy.
========================================================
Anyway... here's what I wanted to share on adding new people to our email
list.
WHAT WE DID BEFORE:
We would collect email addresses through one of two ways (see above). We
would then go into mailchimp and add those email addresses. The new person
would get a form welcome email from us (carefully worded but in mailchimp
format). They would have to hit 'confirm' before being added to our email
list.
WHAT WE DO NOW:
I send them a personal email from my personal account (which looks very
different than a mailchimp message). I then go into mailchimp and add them
but check off that I already have permission to add them to the list. (I
also keep a photo record of them giving us permission)
WHAT WE ARE NOTICING:
- More email addresses are being added because people don't have to do
the confirmation stage. (Yes... we do have to keep proof of permission to
meet with Canadian email spam laws but the pick up is well worth it).
- We are getting a fair number of emails BACK from new dancers with
encouraging messages. They express how much fun they are having, offer
suggestions and even say they want to volunteer. For instance, I added
about 14 people last week and I got 6 responses back, two of whom offered
to volunteer!
I've included the responses we got last week as inspiration for y'all. It
is work to send the personal message and to respond but it's also exciting
and is part of building that sense of belonging for those new folks from
the start.
I've also included a copy of the "personal email" I've been sending
out.
Would love thoughts or suggestions!!!
:) Emily
in Ottawa, ON
==================================
Hi, we love to take part in your dances. It's a very fun way to exercise
and a great cardio workout. People are so friendly and supportive. The only
thing that I would suggest is adding a few more fans on the floor (or
walls?) Otherwise, everything else is great. Will be back for sure.
=======================
Hi, Yes, I did have a great time both times I went. Everyone was so
welcoming and I enjoyed the live band and the dancing was great. I have no
suggestions re improvements as I felt included in all the dances, even
though I was just learning. Have to miss the June 16th dance as I will
be in Victoria but plan on enjoying Contra
Dancing when it starts up again in the Fall.
Thanks for getting in touch. Appreciate the opportunity to provide input.
======================
Thanks!
I love how friendly everyone is, how accepting and willing to teach.
Everyone has made me feel very welcome, I've been to 3 dances now and will
definitely be back. I should have listened to Jane sooner and gone out
when she first suggested it to me.
If you need another volunteer anytime, let me know, I'm more then willing
to help out.
=============================
Thank you for your warm welcome!
Unfortunately we will be out of town on the weekend of June 16th, but we
will look forward to the next season.
We have nothing but positive things to say – even though we were new to
contra, we felt confident after the excellent instructions plus we enjoyed
the happy friendly smiles from everyone, and loved the live music.
See you in September.
======================
Thanks for all you do to make and keep contra fun.
I love how welcoming people are, the mix of ages and “types” of
characters, the non stop smiling.
Having zero dance or memorization experience, I would love if the calling
continued for the entire dance. Maybe for the first half of each event. Or
even if it tapered off starting with the whole first song being called and
then one round fewer each song, for example.
My fervent wish is to become very comfortable with contra Eventually and
to make it as absolute often as I can — and to stay the whole event. (Right
now I can only tolerate up to half of an event.)
I would be happy to volunteer either with set up or publicity committee
etc next season. Let me know how I can help.
See you June 16,
=====================
Hi XXXX,
Thanks so much for joining us at the contra dance this past Saturday. We
hope you had a great time!
If you would like to share what you especially liked or didn't about your
experience, we always love hearing from new folks as we try to make the
dances as accessible and fun for new people as possible. (If we don't hear
feedback, we won't know what to work on!)
You provided your email and checked off that you'd like to be added the
main contra dance email list so I'll add you now. We send out one email a
week so just watch for those.
And here are few links in the meantime:
Our fun facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ottawacontra/
Our website: http://www.ottawacontra.ca/view/default.asp?home
I've also attached our beginners handout.
Our next dance is the last of this season.... it happens June 16th. We
start back up in early September for 2018-2019.
Welcome to Ottawa Contra and I hope you'll join us on the dance floor
again soon!
:) Emily
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
11:52 a.m.
Very cool experience and something that is quite timely from my perspective
here in Atlanta.
So, before I came on, we had what in hindsight was a terrible practice (in
our implementation that is). We would give our new dancers "New Dancer
Cards" that also had a Get In Free (GIF) portion that the dancers could
return on their second visit. The dancers would fill out their name and
email address and would be given the GIF portion.
When I came on and another new board member looked at the data on these
cards for years, we found some unfortunate things. Our dancer return rate
based on returned GIF cards was <2%, i.e., only 2% of dancers who showed up
came back and returned a card (although that doesn't mean some dancers
could have returned but forgot their card). I believe we also did not
explicitly say that we would send people emails. So, when a new board
member attempted to send out emails to this huge list of new dancers
collected over the years (focusing on the most recent), Gmail's servers
flagged his account and blocked emails after the 2nd attempt at a mass
email. This very likely resulted from an excessive number of people
clicking "Spam" upon receiving them.
What we actually do now is use MailChimp and built our newsletter from
scratch. We provide a small tablet ($39 amazon fire!) with the MailChimp
Subscribe application up. It explicitly says we'll send 3-4 emails per
month. The dancer types in their name and email and clicks Yes/No to a "Do
you want to be emailed about Volunteer Opportunities?" question. It's still
a small emailing list (~70 dancers), but we have a read rate of ~50% and
have had 0 unsubscribes so far. As you hinted at, Mailchimp isn't the best
because it's not personal and even shows up in Promotions/Updates tabs in
GMail, meaning that it's more easily lost in alllll the promotional email
people get on their GMail accounts.
However, as a younger dancer, if I'm newly dealing with an organization,
the use of more professional tools like MailChimp sends a few good signals,
including "Hey, you are cool and hip and are more likely to value my
privacy/data integrity" (if I'm newly engaging with an organization, I find
that the less professional an organization looks, the more I worry that
they'll freely provide my info to others because we potentially don't share
the same privacy values) and "Hey, your organization is responsive to the
times" (not that following every trend is good, but when trying to build
communities of 18 year olds and 80 year olds and all ages in between,
there's always pressure to keep up with the times in terms of technology,
culture, etiquette, etc.).
Main take away (TL;DR): We use MailChimp, people sign up on tablets (oh
this also greatly reduces guessing at handwriting), and we are pretty
successful at getting newer and established dancers to view the emails
under this method, even if it is not as nice as the personalized
introductory email!
Jonathan Roveto
Owner/Member
Fair Oaks Holdings, LLC
Cell: (470) 632-2523
PO Box 131
Smyrna, GA 30081
On Tue, Jun 12, 2018 at 12:03 PM, Emily Addison via Organizers <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi All,
I wanted to report on a new engagement strategy that we've been using in
Ottawa these past two months which seems to be working really well and I'm
excited about! It's sending a personal email to new people as we add to
our email list. (Full disclosure - this is an idea that Alex DL from
Country Dance New York mentioned at the dance organizers discussion at the
Dance Flurry in 2017. I loved the idea at the time but it took a while to
implement.)
=====================================================
Before I get onto the idea and implemention ---> a question for the group!
Has anyone had success getting email addresses of most BRAND new people who
show up at their dance? Right now, we get new dancer email addresses in
two ways:
1. They sign up on our email sign up sheet at the front table.
2. They put their email address on the second dance free card AND check
off the box saying 'add me to your email list'. (So they actually have to
have come back a second time and hand in the filled-in card for us to get
their email address.)
... ... ... I'd love to be able to figure out a way to collect the email
addresses of more FIRST TIMERS without it seeming creepy.
========================================================
Anyway... here's what I wanted to share on adding new people to our email
list.
WHAT WE DID BEFORE:
We would collect email addresses through one of two ways (see above). We
would then go into mailchimp and add those email addresses. The new person
would get a form welcome email from us (carefully worded but in mailchimp
format). They would have to hit 'confirm' before being added to our email
list.
WHAT WE DO NOW:
I send them a personal email from my personal account (which looks very
different than a mailchimp message). I then go into mailchimp and add them
but check off that I already have permission to add them to the list. (I
also keep a photo record of them giving us permission)
WHAT WE ARE NOTICING:
- More email addresses are being added because people don't have to do
the confirmation stage. (Yes... we do have to keep proof of permission to
meet with Canadian email spam laws but the pick up is well worth it).
- We are getting a fair number of emails BACK from new dancers with
encouraging messages. They express how much fun they are having, offer
suggestions and even say they want to volunteer. For instance, I added
about 14 people last week and I got 6 responses back, two of whom offered
to volunteer!
I've included the responses we got last week as inspiration for y'all. It
is work to send the personal message and to respond but it's also exciting
and is part of building that sense of belonging for those new folks from
the start.
I've also included a copy of the "personal email" I've been sending
out.
Would love thoughts or suggestions!!!
:) Emily
in Ottawa, ON
==================================
Hi, we love to take part in your dances. It's a very fun way to exercise
and a great cardio workout. People are so friendly and supportive. The only
thing that I would suggest is adding a few more fans on the floor (or
walls?) Otherwise, everything else is great. Will be back for sure.
=======================
Hi, Yes, I did have a great time both times I went. Everyone was so
welcoming and I enjoyed the live band and the dancing was great. I have no
suggestions re improvements as I felt included in all the dances, even
though I was just learning. Have to miss the June 16th dance as I will
be in Victoria but plan on enjoying Contra
Dancing when it starts up again in the Fall.
Thanks for getting in touch. Appreciate the opportunity to provide input.
======================
Thanks!
I love how friendly everyone is, how accepting and willing to teach.
Everyone has made me feel very welcome, I've been to 3 dances now and will
definitely be back. I should have listened to Jane sooner and gone out
when she first suggested it to me.
If you need another volunteer anytime, let me know, I'm more then willing
to help out.
=============================
Thank you for your warm welcome!
Unfortunately we will be out of town on the weekend of June 16th, but we
will look forward to the next season.
We have nothing but positive things to say – even though we were new to
contra, we felt confident after the excellent instructions plus we enjoyed
the happy friendly smiles from everyone, and loved the live music.
See you in September.
======================
Thanks for all you do to make and keep contra fun.
I love how welcoming people are, the mix of ages and “types” of
characters, the non stop smiling.
Having zero dance or memorization experience, I would love if the calling
continued for the entire dance. Maybe for the first half of each event. Or
even if it tapered off starting with the whole first song being called and
then one round fewer each song, for example.
My fervent wish is to become very comfortable with contra Eventually and
to make it as absolute often as I can — and to stay the whole event. (Right
now I can only tolerate up to half of an event.)
I would be happy to volunteer either with set up or publicity committee
etc next season. Let me know how I can help.
See you June 16,
=====================
Hi XXXX,
Thanks so much for joining us at the contra dance this past Saturday. We
hope you had a great time!
If you would like to share what you especially liked or didn't about your
experience, we always love hearing from new folks as we try to make the
dances as accessible and fun for new people as possible. (If we don't hear
feedback, we won't know what to work on!)
You provided your email and checked off that you'd like to be added the
main contra dance email list so I'll add you now. We send out one email a
week so just watch for those.
And here are few links in the meantime:
Our fun facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ottawacontra/
Our website: http://www.ottawacontra.ca/view/default.asp?home
I've also attached our beginners handout.
Our next dance is the last of this season.... it happens June 16th. We
start back up in early September for 2018-2019.
Welcome to Ottawa Contra and I hope you'll join us on the dance floor
again soon!
:) Emily
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
1:47 p.m.
Hi Emily,
I think I’m veering off from your question a bit, but one thing we found worked was to
have known, trusted, members of our dance community recommend other people they thought
might be interested, and give us their email addresses. We then included them in the next
dance announcement with a note saying that their name had been recommended and to please
let us know if they would like to be added to our regular list, or if they didn’t want to
receive more notices. It seemed like it worked pretty well. Nobody seemed upset about it,
though a few did let us know they’d prefer not to be on the regular list at that time.
Good luck!
Delia
On Jun 12, 2018, at 12:03 PM, Emily Addison via
Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi All,
I wanted to report on a new engagement strategy that we've been using in Ottawa these
past two months which seems to be working really well and I'm excited about!
It's sending a personal email to new people as we add to our email list. (Full
disclosure - this is an idea that Alex DL from Country Dance New York mentioned at the
dance organizers discussion at the Dance Flurry in 2017. I loved the idea at the time but
it took a while to implement.)
=====================================================
Before I get onto the idea and implemention ---> a question for the group! Has anyone
had success getting email addresses of most BRAND new people who show up at their dance?
Right now, we get new dancer email addresses in two ways:
1. They sign up on our email sign up sheet at the front table.
2. They put their email address on the second dance free card AND check off the box
saying 'add me to your email list'. (So they actually have to have come back a
second time and hand in the filled-in card for us to get their email address.)
... ... ... I'd love to be able to figure out a way to collect the email addresses of
more FIRST TIMERS without it seeming creepy.
========================================================
Anyway... here's what I wanted to share on adding new people to our email list.
WHAT WE DID BEFORE:
We would collect email addresses through one of two ways (see above). We would then go
into mailchimp and add those email addresses. The new person would get a form welcome
email from us (carefully worded but in mailchimp format). They would have to hit
'confirm' before being added to our email list.
WHAT WE DO NOW:
I send them a personal email from my personal account (which looks very different than a
mailchimp message). I then go into mailchimp and add them but check off that I already
have permission to add them to the list. (I also keep a photo record of them giving us
permission)
WHAT WE ARE NOTICING:
More email addresses are being added because people don't have to do the confirmation
stage. (Yes... we do have to keep proof of permission to meet with Canadian email spam
laws but the pick up is well worth it).
We are getting a fair number of emails BACK from new dancers with encouraging messages.
They express how much fun they are having, offer suggestions and even say they want to
volunteer. For instance, I added about 14 people last week and I got 6 responses back,
two of whom offered to volunteer!
I've included the responses we got last week as inspiration for y'all. It is
work to send the personal message and to respond but it's also exciting and is part of
building that sense of belonging for those new folks from the start.
I've also included a copy of the "personal email" I've been sending
out.
Would love thoughts or suggestions!!!
:) Emily
in Ottawa, ON
==================================
Hi, we love to take part in your dances. It's a very fun way to exercise and a great
cardio workout. People are so friendly and supportive. The only thing that I would suggest
is adding a few more fans on the floor (or walls?) Otherwise, everything else is great.
Will be back for sure.
=======================
Hi, Yes, I did have a great time both times I went. Everyone was so welcoming and I
enjoyed the live band and the dancing was great. I have no suggestions re improvements as
I felt included in all the dances, even though I was just learning. Have to miss the June
16th dance as I will be in Victoria but plan on enjoying Contra
Dancing when it starts up again in the Fall.
Thanks for getting in touch. Appreciate the opportunity to provide input.
======================
Thanks!
I love how friendly everyone is, how accepting and willing to teach. Everyone has made
me feel very welcome, I've been to 3 dances now and will definitely be back. I should
have listened to Jane sooner and gone out when she first suggested it to me.
If you need another volunteer anytime, let me know, I'm more then willing to help
out.
=============================
Thank you for your warm welcome!
Unfortunately we will be out of town on the weekend of June 16th, but we will look
forward to the next season.
We have nothing but positive things to say – even though we were new to contra, we felt
confident after the excellent instructions plus we enjoyed the happy friendly smiles from
everyone, and loved the live music.
See you in September.
======================
Thanks for all you do to make and keep contra fun.
I love how welcoming people are, the mix of ages and “types” of characters, the non stop
smiling.
Having zero dance or memorization experience, I would love if the calling continued for
the entire dance. Maybe for the first half of each event. Or even if it tapered off
starting with the whole first song being called and then one round fewer each song, for
example.
My fervent wish is to become very comfortable with contra Eventually and to make it as
absolute often as I can — and to stay the whole event. (Right now I can only tolerate up
to half of an event.)
I would be happy to volunteer either with set up or publicity committee etc next season.
Let me know how I can help.
See you June 16,
=====================
Hi XXXX,
Thanks so much for joining us at the contra dance this past Saturday. We hope you had a
great time!
If you would like to share what you especially liked or didn't about your experience,
we always love hearing from new folks as we try to make the dances as accessible and fun
for new people as possible. (If we don't hear feedback, we won't know what to work
on!)
You provided your email and checked off that you'd like to be added the main contra
dance email list so I'll add you now. We send out one email a week so just watch for
those.
And here are few links in the meantime:
Our fun facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ottawacontra/
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/ottawacontra/>
Our website: http://www.ottawacontra.ca/view/default.asp?home
<http://www.ottawacontra.ca/view/default.asp?home>
I've also attached our beginners handout.
Our next dance is the last of this season.... it happens June 16th. We start back up in
early September for 2018-2019.
Welcome to Ottawa Contra and I hope you'll join us on the dance floor again soon!
:) Emily
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>
Delia Clark
PO Box 45
Taftsville, VT 05073
Office/mobile: +1-802-457-2075
deliaclark8(a)gmail.com
www.deliaclarkconfluence.com
11:38 p.m.
Hi Emily - Could you send us the version of your original email that was
sent out and a version of the new email that is individualized and that got
such a good response?
On Tue, Jun 12, 2018 at 2:47 PM, Delia Clark via Organizers <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi Emily,
I think I’m veering off from your question a bit, but one thing we found
worked was to have known, trusted, members of our dance community recommend
other people they thought might be interested, and give us their email
addresses. We then included them in the next dance announcement with a note
saying that their name had been recommended and to please let us know if
they would like to be added to our regular list, or if they didn’t want to
receive more notices. It seemed like it worked pretty well. Nobody seemed
upset about it, though a few did let us know they’d prefer not to be on the
regular list at that time.
Good luck!
Delia
On Jun 12, 2018, at 12:03 PM, Emily Addison via Organizers <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hi All,
I wanted to report on a new engagement strategy that we've been using in
Ottawa these past two months which seems to be working really well and I'm
excited about! It's sending a personal email to new people as we add to
our email list. (Full disclosure - this is an idea that Alex DL from
Country Dance New York mentioned at the dance organizers discussion at the
Dance Flurry in 2017. I loved the idea at the time but it took a while to
implement.)
=====================================================
Before I get onto the idea and implemention ---> a question for the group!
Has anyone had success getting email addresses of most BRAND new people who
show up at their dance? Right now, we get new dancer email addresses in
two ways:
1. They sign up on our email sign up sheet at the front table.
2. They put their email address on the second dance free card AND check
off the box saying 'add me to your email list'. (So they actually have to
have come back a second time and hand in the filled-in card for us to get
their email address.)
... ... ... I'd love to be able to figure out a way to collect the email
addresses of more FIRST TIMERS without it seeming creepy.
========================================================
Anyway... here's what I wanted to share on adding new people to our email
list.
WHAT WE DID BEFORE:
We would collect email addresses through one of two ways (see above). We
would then go into mailchimp and add those email addresses. The new person
would get a form welcome email from us (carefully worded but in mailchimp
format). They would have to hit 'confirm' before being added to our email
list.
WHAT WE DO NOW:
I send them a personal email from my personal account (which looks very
different than a mailchimp message). I then go into mailchimp and add them
but check off that I already have permission to add them to the list. (I
also keep a photo record of them giving us permission)
WHAT WE ARE NOTICING:
- More email addresses are being added because people don't have to do
the confirmation stage. (Yes... we do have to keep proof of permission to
meet with Canadian email spam laws but the pick up is well worth it).
- We are getting a fair number of emails BACK from new dancers with
encouraging messages. They express how much fun they are having, offer
suggestions and even say they want to volunteer. For instance, I added
about 14 people last week and I got 6 responses back, two of whom offered
to volunteer!
I've included the responses we got last week as inspiration for y'all. It
is work to send the personal message and to respond but it's also exciting
and is part of building that sense of belonging for those new folks from
the start.
I've also included a copy of the "personal email" I've been sending
out.
Would love thoughts or suggestions!!!
:) Emily
in Ottawa, ON
==================================
Hi, we love to take part in your dances. It's a very fun way to exercise
and a great cardio workout. People are so friendly and supportive. The only
thing that I would suggest is adding a few more fans on the floor (or
walls?) Otherwise, everything else is great. Will be back for sure.
=======================
Hi, Yes, I did have a great time both times I went. Everyone was so
welcoming and I enjoyed the live band and the dancing was great. I have no
suggestions re improvements as I felt included in all the dances, even
though I was just learning. Have to miss the June 16th dance as I will
be in Victoria but plan on enjoying Contra
Dancing when it starts up again in the Fall.
Thanks for getting in touch. Appreciate the opportunity to provide input.
======================
Thanks!
I love how friendly everyone is, how accepting and willing to teach.
Everyone has made me feel very welcome, I've been to 3 dances now and will
definitely be back. I should have listened to Jane sooner and gone out
when she first suggested it to me.
If you need another volunteer anytime, let me know, I'm more then willing
to help out.
=============================
Thank you for your warm welcome!
Unfortunately we will be out of town on the weekend of June 16th, but we
will look forward to the next season.
We have nothing but positive things to say – even though we were new to
contra, we felt confident after the excellent instructions plus we enjoyed
the happy friendly smiles from everyone, and loved the live music.
See you in September.
======================
Thanks for all you do to make and keep contra fun.
I love how welcoming people are, the mix of ages and “types” of
characters, the non stop smiling.
Having zero dance or memorization experience, I would love if the calling
continued for the entire dance. Maybe for the first half of each event. Or
even if it tapered off starting with the whole first song being called and
then one round fewer each song, for example.
My fervent wish is to become very comfortable with contra Eventually and
to make it as absolute often as I can — and to stay the whole event. (Right
now I can only tolerate up to half of an event.)
I would be happy to volunteer either with set up or publicity committee
etc next season. Let me know how I can help.
See you June 16,
=====================
Hi XXXX,
Thanks so much for joining us at the contra dance this past Saturday. We
hope you had a great time!
If you would like to share what you especially liked or didn't about your
experience, we always love hearing from new folks as we try to make the
dances as accessible and fun for new people as possible. (If we don't hear
feedback, we won't know what to work on!)
You provided your email and checked off that you'd like to be added the
main contra dance email list so I'll add you now. We send out one email a
week so just watch for those.
And here are few links in the meantime:
Our fun facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ottawacontra/
Our website: http://www.ottawacontra.ca/view/default.asp?home
I've also attached our beginners handout.
Our next dance is the last of this season.... it happens June 16th. We
start back up in early September for 2018-2019.
Welcome to Ottawa Contra and I hope you'll join us on the dance floor
again soon!
:) Emily
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Delia Clark
PO Box 45
Taftsville, VT 05073
Office/mobile: +1-802-457-2075
deliaclark8(a)gmail.com
www.deliaclarkconfluence.com
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15 Jun
15 Jun
9:26 a.m.
Hi Emily,
We have a stack of these slips on the desk and get everyone to fill one in:
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Dancing for Fun
Name(s): ______________________________________________________________
Please send me e-mails about dance dates, venue changes, closures, cancellations, etc.
E-Mail (CAPITALS): _____________________________________________________
How did you hear about us? ________________________________________________
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
I don’t send individua notes out, just add them to my Mailchimp list.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England <mailto:john@modernjive.com> john(a)modernjive.com
01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
<http://www.modernjive.com> http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events &
DVDs
<http://www.contrafusion.co.uk> http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
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5 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
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Alexandra Deis-Lauby -
Carol Geisler -
Delia Clark -
Emily Addison -
John Sweeney -
Jonathan Roveto