[Organizers] Lower attendance this year?

[Brian Appleberry via Organizers]

Our dance (Queen City Contras, in Burlington, Vermont) is definitely reduced in attendance.  Some details:
Our dance is once per month, on the first Friday, year-round.A graph of average attendance in the last 15 years shows a peak of 100 exactly in the middle (2008 - 20010), with numbers around 57 on the edges (2003, 2016).  The rise and fall have been gradual and symmetrical.
I'm sure we could have better attendance if we had a perfect/fabulous hall and location, which we've never found.  (As soon as I win the lottery I will...)
14-1/2 years ago we switched from Saturday evenings to Friday evenings, due to venue problems.  Saturdays had higher attendance, but lost more money because the hall was a lot more expensive.We have more competition than we used to.  About 5 years ago the number of contra dances in Burlington went from 1 per month to 2 per month.  Also, many dancers who dance in Burlington also dance in Montpelier, where the number of dances went from 2 (sometimes 3) per month to 4 (sometimes 5) per month, about 1 year ago.
We have always supported attendance of children, by admitting anyone under 13 for free.  I think this definitely helps.  However, we have not had an "outreach" or in-school children's program since the founder of our dance was doing so back in the 1970's and 1980's.
The quality of our performers (and cost of performers) was intentionally raised during the "upswing" years, and we were also able to put some money in the bank at the same time that we started spending money on liability insurance and forming a nonprofit corporation (to help protect the board of directors, in the unlikely event of a law suite).We have continued to keep the quality of performers high, but we have now drained our bank account, moved to a less expensive venue, and just started reducing the average quality/cost of performers, in order to stay afloat.I don't know all the answers, but I am convinced that the key will be in the younger generations.  (I'm 67, so I'll be dancing for only another 20 years or so!)
-Brian Appleberry

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