At the first event (acetate badge holders), the caller requested that anyone who was an experienced dancer come up and get a badge to wear. As there were probably 150 people attending, from all over the country, it was helpful to see lots of folks wearing this. I had several newbies ask me for a dance as they felt it would be beneficial for them.<br><br>At the second event, the &quot;floor managers&quot; stood near the sets and interpreted the caller&#39;s instructions. For the Virginia Reel, my set had two of them, one at each end. The caller let this become self-guided after the first time through, relying on the floor managers to remember the figures. One FM turned away, and missed prompting the &quot;first corners do-si-do&quot; when her companion FM skipped it. (No one died.)<br><br>Often I will have a new partner inquire if I&#39;ve done this before. Um, yeah, once or twice. Back in the early 80s I remember a regular dancer who&#39;d always wear a T-shirt with a conversation-starter design (and no, not one of Steve Gold&#39;s toilet paper graphics). He&#39;d been to Worlds Fairs and other fun places. For the second ball I attended last weekend, I added an antique lyre pin to my kit, and that worked well -- new partners would see it and we&#39;d talk about playing music. <br><br>Since posting my question, I have found a source of replica ferrotype CW-era badges (custom designs available) and some other suitable things from the scrapbooking world. And cool graphics from the LOC (Library of Congress) dance manual site. <br><br>Playing at memorial events, I&#39;ve noticed all the veterans slathered with commemorative items. I&#39;m not wanting to create more business for the plastic engraved badge sellers (somewhere I have a &quot;yellow rock&quot;), but to assist the companionship of the room.<br><br>--Karen D.