{"items": [{"author": "Drew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114710421232", "anchor": "fb-10100114710421232", "service": "fb", "text": "I suspect you can get 90% of the equity gain at 50% the effort by shifting the benchmarks later. 200 tickets open, 50 lottery with the lottery draw date 30ish days before the event.", "timestamp": "1570454972"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114710421232&reply_comment_id=10100114710531012", "anchor": "fb-10100114710421232_10100114710531012", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Possibly! We should think more about what the exact numbers should be.", "timestamp": "1570455061"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114710421232&reply_comment_id=10100114710640792", "anchor": "fb-10100114710421232_10100114710640792", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Part of what I want, though, is not to have to deal with running a lottery unless it turns out demand is high enough that first-come first-served is unfair.", "timestamp": "1570455103"}, {"author": "Drew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114710421232&reply_comment_id=10100114714418222", "anchor": "fb-10100114710421232_10100114714418222", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Agreed, thus if at 30 days before the event you haven't hit the 200, you don't have to run a lottery. You could push it even further, 225 tickets and/or 45 days before, so that the lottery is even less likely but still there for a bit of equity.", "timestamp": "1570458393"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114710421232&reply_comment_id=10100114717122802", "anchor": "fb-10100114710421232_10100114717122802", "service": "fb", "text": "→ To me the unfairness of FCFS is around \"I went to register, but I didn't manage to do it in the first minutes/hours/days and then it was sold out.\" I don't think we need to still have tickets open close to the time, as long as we're up-front about how it works.", "timestamp": "1570459674"}, {"author": "Lindsey", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114710850372", "anchor": "fb-10100114710850372", "service": "fb", "text": "Interested in the results of this- NextGen had a similar registration trajectory. At least 30% of attendees registered in the last four weeks before the absolute cut-off date.", "timestamp": "1570455292"}, {"author": "Allison", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114710850372&reply_comment_id=10100114723090842", "anchor": "fb-10100114710850372_10100114723090842", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Lindsey don\u2019t know if on purpose but I like TRADjectory \ud83d\ude00", "timestamp": "1570463133"}, {"author": "Lindsey", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114710850372&reply_comment_id=10100114724827362", "anchor": "fb-10100114710850372_10100114724827362", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Not on purpose- editing now. I *just* entered the wild world of smartphones and am learning about \"ducking autocorrect.\"", "timestamp": "1570463878"}, {"author": "Ian", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114710875322", "anchor": "fb-10100114710875322", "service": "fb", "text": "I think the question you have to ask in the hybrid case is when do you hold the lottery, and what happens to people who sign up after that? In your case, if trends hold from this year, you would have to hold the lottery in late February or later to make people who were unhappy this year feel better. That feels too close to the event for me for people to make plans. (Like you said, Youth Traditional Song Weekend switched to a lottery when we started selling out within minutes, and we have a registration period of a few weeks about four months before the event, and then hold the lottery immediately. Anyone who signs up after the reg period goes on a waiting list, first come first serve.)", "timestamp": "1570455334"}, {"author": "Ian", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114710875322&reply_comment_id=10100114716898252", "anchor": "fb-10100114710875322_10100114716898252", "service": "fb", "text": "→ In your place, I'd probably keep the current FCFS system for this coming year and put whatever extra effort would have gone into creating and running a lottery into more and wider publicity; like Michael said below, the people to care about at this juncture are the ones who aren't connected enough to you/BIDA/whoever to hear about the dance in time, not the ones who didn't get around to it.", "timestamp": "1570459397"}, {"author": "Dean", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114711573922", "anchor": "fb-10100114711573922", "service": "fb", "text": "Unless the demand is really great it just seems like a Lottery is more unnecessary work. Just IMO. I help run a weekend(ironically the same weekend) and we do usually sell out(no walk ups allowed), we have people wanting to register at the last minute(as well as cancel).", "timestamp": "1570456102"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114712971122", "anchor": "fb-10100114712971122", "service": "fb", "text": "The purpose of the lottery is to prevent dancers who learn about the event two weeks later than other dancers, from losing out on that account. The purpose of the lottery is not to allow dancers to procrastinate and hold off registering until a month before the event. Dancers who definitely want to sign up for your event, and are willing to plan their lives around attending your event, should be able to apply early and be accepted. Dancers who want to wait and see who the caller and band will be in Greenfield for that weekend, before deciding which event they prefer, deserve to find themselves on the waitlist when they finally decide to attend your event. Set the lottery date one month after registration opens, first come first served after that date. Set up that policy now -- don't wait for the year that your event suddenly becomes more popular, and you then wish you'd announced that policy ahead of time.", "timestamp": "1570457233"}, {"author": "Penelope", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114714642772", "anchor": "fb-10100114714642772", "service": "fb", "text": "When does registration open? ;)", "timestamp": "1570458554"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114714642772&reply_comment_id=10100114717312422", "anchor": "fb-10100114714642772_10100114717312422", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Penelope not sure yet; need to figure this out first!", "timestamp": "1570459871"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114714642772&reply_comment_id=10100114717347352", "anchor": "fb-10100114714642772_10100114717347352", "service": "fb", "text": "→ And nail down a few other things, like capacity, pricing, and what exactly we'll ask on the registration form", "timestamp": "1570459906"}, {"author": "Penelope", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114714642772&reply_comment_id=10100114719532972", "anchor": "fb-10100114714642772_10100114719532972", "service": "fb", "text": "→ well, I don't want to miss it! <3", "timestamp": "1570461220"}, {"author": "Nix", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114724997022", "anchor": "fb-10100114724997022", "service": "fb", "text": "To me, I think it would feel feel worse if I was the ~200th person to sign up and didn't get in off the lottery than if I was the ~300th person to sign up under FCFS. The system also seems complicated enough that some people would misunderstand it or be otherwise confused. I think I would recommend FCFS and try to communicate if registration is filling up especially quickly.", "timestamp": "1570463962"}, {"author": "Nix", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114724997022&reply_comment_id=10100114725615782", "anchor": "fb-10100114724997022_10100114725615782", "service": "fb", "text": "→ To be clear, I think it especially feels bad to be the ~200th person who didn't get in if others who signed up a little bit earlier got in from FCFS. Things feel different if it's a lottery from the start.", "timestamp": "1570464324"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114724997022&reply_comment_id=10100114731229532", "anchor": "fb-10100114724997022_10100114731229532", "service": "fb", "text": "→ The announced plan would be something like: \"The first 150 tickets are FCFS. If these sell out within a month we lottery the second 150, otherwise the second 150 are also FCFS\". Does that still feel worse?", "timestamp": "1570467809"}, {"author": "Elizabeth", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114754852192", "anchor": "fb-10100114754852192", "service": "fb", "text": "How long after registering would people find out if they had tickets? My big concern would be holding the weekend open for a long period without knowing if I would actually get in.", "timestamp": "1570477200"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114754852192&reply_comment_id=10100114755610672", "anchor": "fb-10100114754852192_10100114755610672", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Elizabeth for the FCFS portion people would find out right away. For the lottery portion, if we decided to do one, we would announce the draw date in advance.", "timestamp": "1570477565"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114754852192&reply_comment_id=10100114776553702", "anchor": "fb-10100114754852192_10100114776553702", "service": "fb", "text": "→ If the draw date is a long ways in the future, you have the problem Elizabeth is talking about.
But if the draw date is soon, you have sort of the same problem as FCFS (people don't have much time to hear about it or have to act quickly).
This makes me think a lottery is only a good solution if registrations would fill up in minutes or days.
Trying to give people a month is an awkward amount if time. If the lottery would only be open for a month, then the lottery isn't helping much AND the entrants have to hold the date for a whole month.", "timestamp": "1570486009"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114754852192&reply_comment_id=10100114796483762", "anchor": "fb-10100114754852192_10100114796483762", "service": "fb", "text": "→ David the proposal is that the first half of tickets are FCFS, and we only do a lottery if they sell too quickly", "timestamp": "1570494043"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114754852192&reply_comment_id=10100114796967792", "anchor": "fb-10100114754852192_10100114796967792", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff Kaufman right, I know. My comment is meant to explain why I think the lottery makes sense if \"sell too quickly\" is minutes or days, but not if it's a month.", "timestamp": "1570494271"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114754852192&reply_comment_id=10100114797092542", "anchor": "fb-10100114754852192_10100114797092542", "service": "fb", "text": "→ If a month is selling too quickly then I'm skeptical that the lottery solves any real problem without creating too many others, because of the bind I mentioned (lottery open too long gets you Elizabeth's problem, too short is very much like not having a lottery).", "timestamp": "1570494364"}, {"author": "Holly", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100114903344612", "anchor": "fb-10100114903344612", "service": "fb", "text": "I prefer lotteries only when the event sells out in the first week of registration being open. I would spend the extra effort on advertising, if the problem was that people don't know about it.
I say this as someone who held off on committing to the event last year because I didn't know my schedule, and when I got to the point where I could make a decision it was sold out. I planned other things for my weekend rather than trying to get onto the wait list. Having a lottery wouldn't have changed my actions. I don't begrudge the spots going to people who are able to commit to the event.", "timestamp": "1570550413"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100121045984712", "anchor": "fb-10100121045984712", "service": "fb", "text": "We decided to go with \"if we sell half the slots in the first week we'll trigger a lottery for the rest of the slots\". We opened registration today, so I'll know in a week what happened! https://www.beantownstomp.com/register", "timestamp": "1573508050"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/10100114710012052?comment_id=10100123033287142", "anchor": "fb-10100123033287142", "service": "fb", "text": "I now think \"treat all registrations in the first 24hr equally\" would be better: https://www.jefftk.com/p/hybrid-lottery-update", "timestamp": "1574375009"}]}