{"items": [{"author": "Phillip", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917004358792", "anchor": "fb-917004358792", "service": "fb", "text": "Other dances are down as well. I spoke with one organizer who indicated that it is happening elsewhere in the country as well. that said I noticed in the Lark Raven discussion the idea that it only impacted new dancers, who would soon get used to it. I find a lot of dances tend to directed by people who love dance, and seem to not understand the new dancer, or care much about them.", "timestamp": "1513721973"}, {"author": "Angela", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917005152202", "anchor": "fb-917005152202", "service": "fb", "text": "I still question whether National Politics are putting a damper on fun stuff; the timeline checks out.", "timestamp": "1513722238"}, {"author": "Angela", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917005152202&reply_comment_id=917005197112", "anchor": "fb-917005152202_917005197112", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I guess we'd need to find some dance attendance stats from an area that's much more conservative-leaning to check this, though!", "timestamp": "1513722280"}, {"author": "Marie-Mich\u00e8le", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917005152202&reply_comment_id=917011973532", "anchor": "fb-917005152202_917011973532", "service": "fb", "text": "→ The political situation has somewhat improved in Canada since the Liberals got elected 2 years ago, yet attendance is down in Ottawa and Montreal", "timestamp": "1513724951"}, {"author": "Jeannine", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917005152202&reply_comment_id=917014408652", "anchor": "fb-917005152202_917014408652", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I know I spend more of my free time now reading the news and going to protests.", "timestamp": "1513726344"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917005152202&reply_comment_id=917019678092", "anchor": "fb-917005152202_917019678092", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Yes, I've heard from other (non-dance) groups that their attendance is all down too, it seems really widespread. Anecdotally, I echo Jeannine -- more of my time is going to put out fires, or read about them, or be in anguish over them.", "timestamp": "1513729624"}, {"author": "Jeannine", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917005152202&reply_comment_id=917021479482", "anchor": "fb-917005152202_917021479482", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Yes, the anguish is very time-consuming.", "timestamp": "1513730373"}, {"author": "Jeannine", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917014703062", "anchor": "fb-917014703062", "service": "fb", "text": "I wonder if the BIDA attendance decrease is at all related to having more dances per month. How did the timing compare?", "timestamp": "1513726575"}, {"author": "Gianna", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917014703062&reply_comment_id=917061369542", "anchor": "fb-917014703062_917061369542", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I wondered this too", "timestamp": "1513753516"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917014703062&reply_comment_id=917076514192", "anchor": "fb-917014703062_917076514192", "service": "fb", "text": "→ We switched to twice a month on 2012-04-01, which is before both the attendance increase and decrease.", "timestamp": "1513772397"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432", "anchor": "fb-917020007432", "service": "fb", "text": "Another factor is that, social media publicity wise, right around that first downward inflection point, Facebook switched from inviting everyone in a group to all group events to a friends-of-event-maker invite. The events are still public, but maybe not reaching as many people. (Unless you agree to their new paywall and give $$ to \"promote\" your event.) Additionally and related, there's a drift away from FB and other platforms, but not ones that necessarily serve well for event promotion (eg insta and snap)", "timestamp": "1513729853"}, {"author": "unknown", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "→ unknown", "timestamp": "-1"}, {"author": "BDan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917026549322", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917026549322", "service": "fb", "text": "→ How much does it cost to promote an event? I don't love the idea of giving Facebook money, but if it's not too expensive maybe it would be worth trying for a couple of months.", "timestamp": "1513732137"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917027053312", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917027053312", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Same! But I also don't want people to not hear, and we do have a sizeable community that uses this platform... I can look into the pricing, give me a minute :)", "timestamp": "1513732436"}, {"author": "Marie-Mich\u00e8le", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917027821772", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917027821772", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I tried it for our last dance, you set the price you want. I devoted 15$ to advertise to people who like our page or are in our group and their friends. It had no notable effect, that dance was actually quite low in attendance", "timestamp": "1513732794"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917028600212", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917028600212", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Hm, so additional FB annoyances -- it seems you have to have a \"page\" with an @name and not a group (ours is older, so it's a group) to promote things. We'd need to make a new one, and have people all transfer over (and I worry we'd lose more people that way...sigh.) Anyway, from my own personal art page, here's what I see:", "timestamp": "1513733269"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917028969472", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917028969472", "service": "fb", "text": "→ We could make a page for announcements but keep our group, right?", "timestamp": "1513733486"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917029084242", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917029084242", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Advertising across all of MA seems not likely to work well; I think we want one of the second two options?", "timestamp": "1513733539"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917029393622", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917029393622", "service": "fb", "text": "→ It looks like we can't advertise just to members of our group, or contra dancers or something.
Though there are kludges like http://exfilproject.com/how-do-i-target-facebook-group.../", "timestamp": "1513733719"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917030291822", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917030291822", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff hmm, I'm not sure if having both would be helpful -- I think to promote the event, the page (not group) needs to create and then pay for it; and to invite all our group they'd have to like the page (or count on them being targeted by the ad). That seems worse than what we currently have. We'd probably need to transfer everything? I'm not sure, though!", "timestamp": "1513734173"}, {"author": "Angela", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917031554292", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917031554292", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I tried throwing $7 or something at Facebook to advertise, and that also didn't seem to work at all.", "timestamp": "1513734957"}, {"author": "Marie-Mich\u00e8le", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917034054282", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917034054282", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I *think* that if you link the group to the page you can choose to advertise to people in your group, at least I remember wording that sounded like that. Not that it helped us...", "timestamp": "1513735706"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917038156062", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917038156062", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Angela: what were you advertising and how did you target your campaign?", "timestamp": "1513737819"}, {"author": "Yaron", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917055606092", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917055606092", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I have sponsored or been involved with groups sponsoring things on FB a number of times, including both pages (for attracting eyeballs to the page) and events. $$ amounts were in the $25 range. Results were invariably pathetic. But the targeting was relatively broad, not a single group's membership.", "timestamp": "1513748974"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "→ this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1513773556"}, {"author": "Yaron", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917080995212", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917080995212", "service": "fb", "text": "→ There are numerous advantages to pages. E.g., you can post to FB \"in the name of\" the page (e.g. to boost your events or organization). Also I think a new-ish FB feature is that only group members can be invited to group events. (But a page still can't invite its Likers directly to events - people still have to invite Friends.)", "timestamp": "1513775244"}, {"author": "Yaron", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917081254692", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917081254692", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I will quantify a little what I meant by \"pathetic results\" above. FB would indicate that the promised # of ppl (say, 1000) were \"reached\", whatever that means - not completely clear - I'm guessing was displayed in their feed. Out of that, up to a *handful* would \"interact\" (click on something). Out of that, some *subset* (if any) would click Like or Going/Interested. I don't know if anyone ever showed up b/c of this.", "timestamp": "1513775491"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917083614962", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917083614962", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Yaron: how was the event targeted? The results you're describing wouldn't be surprising if fb were showing your ad to random people from Boston as opposed to people who've gone to your events and their friends from the same cluster.", "timestamp": "1513777268"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917094952242", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917094952242", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Henry, thanks that's very helpful! thanks!", "timestamp": "1513783570"}, {"author": "Yaron", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917123200632", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917123200632", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Yea, as I mentioned, you seem to be talking about narrower targeting (members of a given group). In these instances it was based on interests and geographical area.", "timestamp": "1513797159"}, {"author": "Angela", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917134547892", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917134547892", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff Kaufman: I was advertising art class I was teaching, to anyone local, with an emphasis on folks who had listed things like \"drawing\" in their public interests. In hindsight, I wonder whether limiting the outreach to a specific group was a mistake, but I got no interactions from the ads either way. I did get a student from putting a poster up at a bus stop.", "timestamp": "1513802421"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "→ this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1513825202"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917020007432&reply_comment_id=917631661672", "anchor": "fb-917020007432_917631661672", "service": "fb", "text": "→ here's the new page! Go on over and \ud83d\udc4dhttps://www.facebook.com/bidadances/", "timestamp": "1514075474"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992", "anchor": "fb-917024218992", "service": "fb", "text": "It might be because it's harder to find out when the dances are. I used to get notifications without having to think about it, but I haven't seen one in a long while. Without the invites or some type of publicity, it's hard to keep up with a schedule on a dance one doesn't prioritize so it falls off the radar.
I don't know if BIDA events still happen regularly or maybe less often and that's why I don't see invites?", "timestamp": "1513731444"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917024333762", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917024333762", "service": "fb", "text": "→ How did you used to find out about them?
(They're still on the first and third Sundays off every month.)", "timestamp": "1513731528"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917024443542", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917024443542", "service": "fb", "text": "→ There were fb events I would be invited to. Now, I actively look for events on fb for weekends/Fridays for the upcoming days to see what's going on and haven't seen a BIDA event in a long time. I thought they maybe stopped for awhile.", "timestamp": "1513731612"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917024658112", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917024658112", "service": "fb", "text": "→ We're still making fb events, but I think it's not working as well as it used to? For example here's the next one, on 1/7: https://www.facebook.com/events/126007021502286/", "timestamp": "1513731685"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917024762902", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917024762902", "service": "fb", "text": "→ (See Sarah's comment above)", "timestamp": "1513731709"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917025376672", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917025376672", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff Kaufman Thanks! Even weirder - some of my friends have rsvp'd Yes, which usually means it will show up in my news feed even if I'm not invited (this happens for other events).
If Sarah is correct, then it looks like your events are somehow \"disappearing\" even when searched for. Boo, fb.", "timestamp": "1513731784"}, {"author": "BDan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917026329762", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917026329762", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I also often have difficulty finding the Facebook events.", "timestamp": "1513732033"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917026359702", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917026359702", "service": "fb", "text": "→ They *should* still be showing up in the group posts (if you click to follow those updates maybe) and searchable too, because they're all public... But I agree, I've noticed that searching for x party or whatever is very convoluted at best, and sometimes the events do not show at all.", "timestamp": "1513732038"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917026494432", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917026494432", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Immediate solution thoughts: this likely means other less-serious contra dancers aren't seeing the events, either, which would result in decreased attendance. Is sharing the event something that might help so people see it? Fb shows me other dance events despite having taken several months off, and I don't know anything about the algorithm.
Attempting to brainstorm ideas to get this in front of eyeballs so people are aware and will attend.", "timestamp": "1513732083"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917026704012", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917026704012", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I create the events for Facebook and Meetup, and the change that I noticed was: first, only \"friends\" of the event creator (me) would get a direct invite. Then later, I started noticing with other groups I belong to that event invites would go out but not be a notification, and other things would populate the events calendar -- often ones with a subtle \"promoted post\" mark, showing that their org paid to have the event come first.", "timestamp": "1513732254"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917026828762", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917026828762", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Perhaps doing what Facebook wants and paying some per event listing per day would be a solution, though as mentioned in the original post, we are hurting for money.", "timestamp": "1513732347"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917027222972", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917027222972", "service": "fb", "text": "→ We're mostly hurting for money because we're hurting for attendance, though. Promotion wouldn't have to bring in very many dancers to pay for itself.", "timestamp": "1513732520"}, {"author": "BDan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917027607202", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917027607202", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Another idea (that another recurring event I go to uses) is to have a medium-sized group of people designated to send out invites. That way there is a lot more coverage without one person having to be friends with everyone.
Jeff, that was my thinking on paid promotion, too.", "timestamp": "1513732609"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917033146102", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917033146102", "service": "fb", "text": "→ yeah, I just checked: our group has 1382 members from the past 9 years of existing, and I'm \"friends\" with 275 of them. Most of the recentish events are only reaching about 300 people, skimming at the rsvps and inviteds.", "timestamp": "1513735473"}, {"author": "Gianna", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917061933412", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917061933412", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I've had a similar experience: somewhere along the way I realized I was only finding out about dances after they happened, or only because I'd see that a friend was attending, including ones I would have made a specific effort to go to (family dances, open band, specific bands or callers). I still have to remember to proactively look for those things, though they seem to show up in my feed more now - I haven't looked into why. Specific invites maybe? I'm not sure...also: I found out about BIDA from the guerrilla contras in Davis square which seem like they'd be better at reaching new and local dancers then the traditional indoor version...and of course...having a couple of kids definitely reduces the frequency with which I can attend, and since the immediate area is getting more expensive, the demographics (at least of Somerville and I'm sure it's true of Cambridge too) are shifting to more families in their 30s and 40s with young families than 20s without kids. That doesn't really explain the similar trends everywhere else though.", "timestamp": "1513753857"}, {"author": "Carl", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917087497182", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917087497182", "service": "fb", "text": "→ ...
I'm going to start sharing dance event notices to my timeline. Whether I'm going or not.", "timestamp": "1513779599"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917088051072", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917088051072", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Gianna: I just made a mailing list for announcing family dances: https://groups.google.com/forum/...
We already have one for regular dances https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/bida-announcements (which we hadn't been posting to regularly) and for open bands https://groups.google.com/forum/...", "timestamp": "1513779944"}, {"author": "BDan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917137811352", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917137811352", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Something else: I tried to invite people to the Facebook event for the next dance, and even though the event says it's \"public\" it appears that I can only invite friends who are members of the group. I don't know if that means that non-group-members can't see it at all, but regardless it makes it harder to get new people to come.", "timestamp": "1513803754"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917150635652", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917150635652", "service": "fb", "text": "→ BDan thanks for doing that, or trying! Rachel Sensenig told me the same thing earlier today -- I don't know why! We're going to try switching to page instead of group asap to see if it'll fix these issues", "timestamp": "1513809166"}, {"author": "BDan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917024218992&reply_comment_id=917155740422", "anchor": "fb-917024218992_917155740422", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I know there can be issues with creating events within groups vs. as an individual. I think if you create it as an individual or page, it does avoid this problem, but also makes it so that there's no easy way to invite all the group members. But since that's already not happening, it's probably a net win.", "timestamp": "1513811607"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917026579262", "anchor": "fb-917026579262", "service": "fb", "text": "Would it be possible to get access to the BIDA attendance data? I have some years\u2019 data for one of the Seattle dances, and it would be interesting to see if there\u2019s correlation.", "timestamp": "1513732142"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917026579262&reply_comment_id=917029862682", "anchor": "fb-917026579262_917029862682", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Emailed", "timestamp": "1513733912"}, {"author": "Mark", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917026713992", "anchor": "fb-917026713992", "service": "fb", "text": "I am starting a new series in Sonoma County, CA. in January. The first month of the year frequently sees significant increases in many dance communities. It will be interesting to see your numbers in January. Do you have any ongoing promotions of your dance? Ask dancers to take fliers home to friends and other social groups?", "timestamp": "1513732269"}, {"author": "Lisa", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917026713992&reply_comment_id=917069697852", "anchor": "fb-917026713992_917069697852", "service": "fb", "text": "→ We get a boost of attendance during the first dances of the year around here too. Unfortunately, all the dances I go to have had a decline since the elections. A lot of organizers seem to be saying the same.", "timestamp": "1513764376"}, {"author": "Mark", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917026713992&reply_comment_id=917095900342", "anchor": "fb-917026713992_917095900342", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Our MWSD club is making a big push, ever since the election to say how important community is and why we have a dance....", "timestamp": "1513783938"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029568272", "anchor": "fb-917029568272", "service": "fb", "text": "Possibly we should be encouraging people to sign up for our mailing list and sending out email reminders? https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/bida-announcements", "timestamp": "1513733812"}, {"author": "Clara", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029568272&reply_comment_id=917043779792", "anchor": "fb-917029568272_917043779792", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I would appreciate email reminders, or maybe a Google Calendar that I can import into my own.", "timestamp": "1513740717"}, {"author": "Abigail", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029568272&reply_comment_id=917056893512", "anchor": "fb-917029568272_917056893512", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Google calendar is where it's at.", "timestamp": "1513749770"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029568272&reply_comment_id=917076584052", "anchor": "fb-917029568272_917076584052", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Specifically: https://www.meetup.com/BIDA-Contra-Dance/events/ical/", "timestamp": "1513772515"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029568272&reply_comment_id=917116818422", "anchor": "fb-917029568272_917116818422", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I made a nicer link: https://www.bidadance.org/ical", "timestamp": "1513794146"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029568272&reply_comment_id=917297930472", "anchor": "fb-917029568272_917297930472", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I think you should be trying to reach people through every means possible -- traditional marketing wisdom is that you need to reach people through three different forms of media in order to get them to respond. For return \"customers\", I'm sure there's a different rule, but redundant communication is your friend, not your enemy.", "timestamp": "1513888479"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029628152", "anchor": "fb-917029628152", "service": "fb", "text": "Another broad and uncontrollable factor is age bubbles within already dedicated dancer groups: one really populous dance generation is starting to somewhat age out, respectfully speaking, in terms of what they are able to do, as many are now between 70-100 years old. Another bubble is their children (hi) who are in many cases no longer \"youths\" in the same sense; they're busy, they've moved away, they have families. For a while there (the last 15 years?) I think we were experiencing an overlap and had everyone, and now it's sloping down again", "timestamp": "1513733824"}, {"author": "Laura", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029628152&reply_comment_id=917118200652", "anchor": "fb-917029628152_917118200652", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I wonder if contra has experienced the same trend as English dancing did and that international folk is experiencing now - for a long time, the form depended on the procreation of its members to generate new dancers. That's part of why you see such a big gap between generations in those communities. Now the progeny is moving on and the form has to figure out how to look beyond its own children.
I've always assumed that contra was better at that than other forms, but maybe there's more of it than I realized.", "timestamp": "1513794974"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029628152&reply_comment_id=917124158712", "anchor": "fb-917029628152_917124158712", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I would be surprised if even 25% of contra dancers got into it from their parents, though I haven't asked many people.", "timestamp": "1513797619"}, {"author": "Laura", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029628152&reply_comment_id=917125550922", "anchor": "fb-917029628152_917125550922", "service": "fb", "text": "→ That\u2019s why I assumed it was less prevalent in contra, but Sarah\u2019s post made me question", "timestamp": "1513798176"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029628152&reply_comment_id=917126204612", "anchor": "fb-917029628152_917126204612", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff Kaufman The Fireplace Set was basically started by people who \"got into it from their parents\" and their friends.", "timestamp": "1513798664"}, {"author": "Laura", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029628152&reply_comment_id=917127516982", "anchor": "fb-917029628152_917127516982", "service": "fb", "text": "→ That would be an interesting data set to look at. Percentage of second-generation dancers under 40, in each major subset of folk dancing.", "timestamp": "1513799496"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029628152&reply_comment_id=917127626762", "anchor": "fb-917029628152_917127626762", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Michael the \"and their friends\" was pretty significant though", "timestamp": "1513799588"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029628152&reply_comment_id=917127771472", "anchor": "fb-917029628152_917127771472", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Though I guess it doesn't matter whether the next generation is all offspring vs offspring pulling in groups of their friends: either way if you have an time at which there are few young adult children of dancers you'll see much lower attendance.", "timestamp": "1513799659"}, {"author": "Laura", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029628152&reply_comment_id=917127956102", "anchor": "fb-917029628152_917127956102", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I think that's something that the folk dance community has to look at. How do we pull in people who are not related to older dancers? And how do we pull in enough of them that they can hang out with each other and not feel left out that their peers already know each other? IMO, if we depend on The Offspring, that's not really sustainable.
How did the older generation get into it in the first place? It wasn't *their* parents...", "timestamp": "1513799756"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029628152&reply_comment_id=917150346232", "anchor": "fb-917029628152_917150346232", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Right, I think healthy critical mass of age distribution (aka a big part of bida's mission) is key. Another target example besides people age 12-35 is women age 35-55. If you have a dance with peers present, you're more likely to feel welcome and stay", "timestamp": "1513809068"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029777852", "anchor": "fb-917029777852", "service": "fb", "text": "Another local trend: uptick in blues, fusion, kizomba, zouk, bachata, west coast swing. Awesome! But more to go to, and choose from.", "timestamp": "1513733887"}, {"author": "BDan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029777852&reply_comment_id=917043699952", "anchor": "fb-917029777852_917043699952", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I'm not sure about all of those, but attendance at Bluesy Tuesy has been declining as well over the past year or so.", "timestamp": "1513740665"}, {"author": "Lisa", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917029777852&reply_comment_id=917069732782", "anchor": "fb-917029777852_917069732782", "service": "fb", "text": "→ It would be interesting to see if the decline is across the board for all social dancing, and when it started. I noticed it start around election time a year ago.", "timestamp": "1513764473"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917034119152", "anchor": "fb-917034119152", "service": "fb", "text": "One more thought that came up at the last meeting when we made a first pass at some of this: dance weekend popularity, and the competition that gives local, smaller, recurring dances. There seems (to me) to be a shift in big name events over the routine of \"this is my scene\" -- that said, some of the older, more established special sparkly weekends have been struggling with attendance as well for the past couple years (neffa, dawn dance, fall/snow ball...)", "timestamp": "1513735786"}, {"author": "Paul", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917036239902", "anchor": "fb-917036239902", "service": "fb", "text": "Just to confirm what you already know - I've spoken at length about this trend with organizers of the Montpelier dance. Just a few years ago, they were making a profit. Now they're barely breaking even, and lose money more often than they're comfortable with. They're going to experiment with a different pricing structure - sorry, I don't recall details. It goes into effect Jan. 1. Before it was a flat rate for all, they're switching to giving younger age groups a \"pay what you can\" option, something like BIDA.", "timestamp": "1513736732"}, {"author": "Dana", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917036239902&reply_comment_id=917040411542", "anchor": "fb-917036239902_917040411542", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Yes, we're switching to a $5 low income, $10 regular, $15 dance supporter tiered system. (We haven't raised admission for four years, and it's been at $9, so we're overdue anyway.) Our peak attendance was in 2014 or 2013 at an average of 150 dancers. Now we're down to 120 average. That's a sustainable number, but it has required some tweaking of systems to ensure that we continue to break even.", "timestamp": "1513738944"}, {"author": "Paul", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917036334712", "anchor": "fb-917036334712", "service": "fb", "text": "The organizers have confirmed this decrease in attendance in various parts of the country, including Glen Echo.", "timestamp": "1513736775"}, {"author": "Dave", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917036334712&reply_comment_id=917089343482", "anchor": "fb-917036334712_917089343482", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Our dances at Glen Echo started declining in attendance long before BIDA's, though-- probably around 2012 or 2013. It's been a steady downward slope, as far as I can tell, although Rick or Steven could probably provide more details.", "timestamp": "1513781047"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917036334712&reply_comment_id=917098001132", "anchor": "fb-917036334712_917098001132", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Dave I'd love to see a graph if you have the data!
(Or, if you have numbers but no graph I'd be happy to make one)", "timestamp": "1513784974"}, {"author": "Dave", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917036334712&reply_comment_id=917099373382", "anchor": "fb-917036334712_917099373382", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I don't-- I'm not on the Sunday committee anymore and neither dance puts the data anywhere public. If you'd like, I can email the people who would have that info and copy you.", "timestamp": "1513785629"}, {"author": "Perry", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917036334712&reply_comment_id=917104662782", "anchor": "fb-917036334712_917104662782", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Even the Friday night dance numbers have dwindled the past few years.", "timestamp": "1513787833"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917036334712&reply_comment_id=917123739552", "anchor": "fb-917036334712_917123739552", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Dave: that would be great!", "timestamp": "1513797505"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917036334712&reply_comment_id=917187846082", "anchor": "fb-917036334712_917187846082", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Dave: I\u2019d also love data if you get it", "timestamp": "1513825628"}, {"author": "Dave", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917036334712&reply_comment_id=917189627512", "anchor": "fb-917036334712_917189627512", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Ok, I'll pass it along to you if they send it to me (or I'm sure Jeff will be nice enough to do so if they reply just to him).", "timestamp": "1513826430"}, {"author": "Paul", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917036918542", "anchor": "fb-917036918542", "service": "fb", "text": "FWIW, I attend BIDA less often because I've chosen to focus on dances on Friday/Saturday nights. Going along with Sarah's theory about aging out, having to travel to a Sunday night dance and going to work the next day is getting harder. You haven't seen the last of me, but I can't say when I'll be back. FWIW (2), I am working at getting new dancers to attend BIDA. Besides social media, don't forget working on personal contacts.", "timestamp": "1513737026"}, {"author": "Renee", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917041993372", "anchor": "fb-917041993372", "service": "fb", "text": "Have you tried creating a recurring meetup group/event as well? As someone who just moved to a new area, I'm relying heavily on meetup to help me meet people/find activities. If I'd never heard of contra dancing, I might check it out if I saw it on meetup.", "timestamp": "1513739726"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917041993372&reply_comment_id=917042537282", "anchor": "fb-917041993372_917042537282", "service": "fb", "text": "→ We're on meetup: https://www.meetup.com/BIDA-Contra-Dance/", "timestamp": "1513740110"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917041993372&reply_comment_id=917042577202", "anchor": "fb-917041993372_917042577202", "service": "fb", "text": "→ (which costs us about $7/dance)", "timestamp": "1513740131"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917041993372&reply_comment_id=917126334352", "anchor": "fb-917041993372_917126334352", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff Kaufman Is that money better spent than the same amount spent on FB \"boosting\"?", "timestamp": "1513798756"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917041993372&reply_comment_id=917151029862", "anchor": "fb-917041993372_917151029862", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Michael yes, we regularly reach people (and new dancers) with Meetup, it stays", "timestamp": "1513809250"}, {"author": "Don", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917041993372&reply_comment_id=917544705932", "anchor": "fb-917041993372_917544705932", "service": "fb", "text": "→ FB \"boosting\" is like feeding bills into a shredder. I've tried it several times and the best statistic they can give you basically amounts to \"I showed your thing next to some other stuff a random person who kinda possibly fits your criteria skipped over\". ROI was negative each time I tried it, despite careful time and effort put into the \"campaign\" as they call it.", "timestamp": "1514013792"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917041993372&reply_comment_id=917545938462", "anchor": "fb-917041993372_917545938462", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Sarah good to hear!", "timestamp": "1514015573"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917041993372&reply_comment_id=917545963412", "anchor": "fb-917041993372_917545963412", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Don interesting. I've heard better reports from someone; after the holidays are over I'll ask her what her methods are.", "timestamp": "1514015641"}, {"author": "Don", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917041993372&reply_comment_id=917725778062", "anchor": "fb-917041993372_917725778062", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Michael I'm interested in what you find out. I carefully crafted an audience, limited geographically. The few \"responses\" which were reported were from people *in other countries*. As others have mentioned, if we could simply pay a small fixed amount to have a guaranteed-delivered invitation to our existing group members I'd be happy. But noooo, that's too simple and measurable. :(", "timestamp": "1514139913"}, {"author": "Andrew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917045082182", "anchor": "fb-917045082182", "service": "fb", "text": "My money is on generational. I know that's the case for me: having a little kid makes it much harder to dance.", "timestamp": "1513741088"}, {"author": "Andrew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917045082182&reply_comment_id=917046484372", "anchor": "fb-917045082182_917046484372", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Also I moved farther away. But I miss BIDA and want it to flourish and I'll be back when I can!", "timestamp": "1513742238"}, {"author": "Kristin", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917073704822", "anchor": "fb-917073704822", "service": "fb", "text": "Do you have data on the particulars of the decline (new vs longtime dancers, etc.) or just overall numbers. I know part of your decline is that I don't seem to get to BIDA dances anymore (though I am still aware as they pass me by).", "timestamp": "1513769967"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917073704822&reply_comment_id=917076683852", "anchor": "fb-917073704822_917076683852", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Only overall numbers, sorry!", "timestamp": "1513772656"}, {"author": "Kristin", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917073704822&reply_comment_id=917180430942", "anchor": "fb-917073704822_917180430942", "service": "fb", "text": "→ No apologies needed, I was just curious. I guess I've been dancing so long I always expect their to be ebb and flow at dances.", "timestamp": "1513823605"}, {"author": "Carl", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917082721752", "anchor": "fb-917082721752", "service": "fb", "text": "...
I don't have an explanation for the decline, but I think we are failing at retention of newcomers and I attribute part of that to lack of education.
The lesson at the very beginning of the dance is great for those few who make it, but lots of newcomers show up after that.
If there were a 'refresher' lesson at the break, (and I think it should focus on 'sharing the center' or 'giving weight' so that people are less likely to continue doing the lean-in swing and the walk-around allemand) I think it would be a big help for the late newcomers.", "timestamp": "1513776601"}, {"author": "Robert", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917097686762", "anchor": "fb-917097686762", "service": "fb", "text": "I have to say I was shocked at the low attendance at last Sunday's BIDA.
The JP dance has had its ups and downs in attendance, with the trend in recent years being mostly down. We got over 50 people at the first dance of the current season (that's a lot, for us, although when I first started dancing there 20 years ago it would have been relatively small), but after that we went back to our usual 30-35. Needless to say, we have no idea why we got that spike.", "timestamp": "1513784877"}, {"author": "Gianna", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917097686762&reply_comment_id=917099133862", "anchor": "fb-917097686762_917099133862", "service": "fb", "text": "→ It's also the holidays, and I know I make it to fewer \"regular\" events this time of year. Not that that explains the overall trend.", "timestamp": "1513785474"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917097686762&reply_comment_id=917102177762", "anchor": "fb-917097686762_917102177762", "service": "fb", "text": "→ yeah, we're all \ud83e\udd13\ud83e\udd13 so we did compare attendance data from last year around the holidays, too; there's always a decrease while students are gone for vacation and parties abound, but given the surrounding gradual decline too, it was much more noticeable.", "timestamp": "1513786702"}, {"author": "Lisa", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917097686762&reply_comment_id=917103769572", "anchor": "fb-917097686762_917103769572", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Robert, our Queen Mum, Chris Ricciotti called the opening dance of this season. Have you noticed any change in attendance when he calls?", "timestamp": "1513787396"}, {"author": "Robert", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917097686762&reply_comment_id=917103934242", "anchor": "fb-917097686762_917103934242", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Lisa: That's a metric I hadn't thought of applying. I don't have the data to check past instances.", "timestamp": "1513787535"}, {"author": "Lisa", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917097686762&reply_comment_id=917104957192", "anchor": "fb-917097686762_917104957192", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Does Bob or John Hawley?", "timestamp": "1513788045"}, {"author": "Robert", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917097686762&reply_comment_id=917105266572", "anchor": "fb-917097686762_917105266572", "service": "fb", "text": "→ John might.", "timestamp": "1513788205"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917097686762&reply_comment_id=917127796422", "anchor": "fb-917097686762_917127796422", "service": "fb", "text": "→ \"I was shocked at the low attendance at last Sunday's BIDA\"
I think it was a combination of generally lower attendance lately with at least three parties that draw from the same group being on the same evening.", "timestamp": "1513799712"}, {"author": "Kathy", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917140525912", "anchor": "fb-917140525912", "service": "fb", "text": "It would take a lot of information for me to figure out the cause of this, but to throw you one possible explanation: The level of conflict between the genders seems to have increased a lot during the time period you're looking at. Maybe people aren't in the mood for dating or romance.", "timestamp": "1513804952"}, {"author": "Robert", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917140525912&reply_comment_id=917147137662", "anchor": "fb-917140525912_917147137662", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I'd be surprised if a significant number of attendees at contra dances are there primarily for \"dating or romance\".", "timestamp": "1513807437"}, {"author": "Kathy", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917140525912&reply_comment_id=917150056812", "anchor": "fb-917140525912_917150056812", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Robert Hmm. Do they partner into gendered \"couples\"? If it's usually a man and a woman dancing together, the problem might just be a sense of distrust or hostility between genders which makes things unpleasant. Also, given that humans are highly motivated to mate, I lean toward thinking that just about everything is used as a means to romance (or at least sex) by a significant proportion of humans.", "timestamp": "1513808996"}, {"author": "Robert", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917140525912&reply_comment_id=917150825272", "anchor": "fb-917140525912_917150825272", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Usually but not always. (I think I danced with two women all night.)
And the JP dance, which has been suffering the same gradual drop-off as everyone else, is and always has been specifically gender-role-free.", "timestamp": "1513809225"}, {"author": "Bil", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917163983902", "anchor": "fb-917163983902", "service": "fb", "text": "I love BIDA. But it's easy to get left out. Folks tend to stick together and it's tough to actually talk to people you don't know. The rush for the next dance is similar. If you don't find a partner right away, you'll probably sit out. And I dance both sides, so my \"potential partner pool\" is large. I don't have any solutions, just that observation.", "timestamp": "1513816043"}, {"author": "Robert", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917163983902&reply_comment_id=917166334192", "anchor": "fb-917163983902_917166334192", "service": "fb", "text": "→ BIDA is better in that respect than Concord, for what that's worth (not a whole lot).", "timestamp": "1513817210"}, {"author": "Andrew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917163983902&reply_comment_id=917190261242", "anchor": "fb-917163983902_917190261242", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I'm a bit shy and slow to ask people to dance, so I suffer from this too. But BIDA works hard to maintain a friendly community...if you've got ideas for ways we might address this, we (I say we even though I haven't been on the board in several years and, as per the original topic, haven't been dancing much recently...) would love to hear!", "timestamp": "1513826977"}, {"author": "Sean", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917578273662", "anchor": "fb-917578273662", "service": "fb", "text": "It may be worth talking to other prominent dances in Massachusetts (Concord, Rehobeth, etc) and ask them about attendance.
I myself am at school so I\u2019m not able to come. But from what I have seen is that there was a large group on mid/late 20-somethings from a few years ago that don\u2019t seem to be going to dances anymore.
I also think that BIDA does face a clique issue. It\u2019s not as bad as Concord\u2019s fireplace line, but it\u2019s noticeable.", "timestamp": "1514044101"}, {"author": "Lisa", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917578273662&reply_comment_id=917674316192", "anchor": "fb-917578273662_917674316192", "service": "fb", "text": "→ We've seen a decline at Rehoboth on the past two years, including the Brown University group of dancers. When the Providence dance that was near the Brown University campus was ended, and a new dance started in Pawtucket, the students stopped coming to dances altogether, including the Rehoboth dance. Numbers are down, but it's still a vibrant dance.", "timestamp": "1514112527"}, {"author": "Claire", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917592385382", "anchor": "fb-917592385382", "service": "fb", "text": "They say that bringing friends is the best way that most dances get new folks. Have you tried promoting that?
I was thinking of trying a promo with bring two friends and get a coupon for free future dance. We also already run a free first time with the Intro lesson that folks come for.
I also made business cards that promote the free first time for dancers to give to friends.
SF bay area is also seeing decrease in dancers. Mostly in the aging out crowd, esp at weekends and camps. But also due to other dance forms.
I feel that on west coast where most people have not even heard of contra, that the average person is afraid of dancing. Compared to 100 years ago when everyone danced and every community had some music and dance to celebrate. \ud83d\ude1e", "timestamp": "1514051916"}, {"author": "Claire", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917592385382&reply_comment_id=917592704742", "anchor": "fb-917592385382_917592704742", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Oh and the clique thing is really hard for new dancers. I don\u2019t know to fix that. I\u2019m pretty new and it was hard to break in as I\u2019m not and extrovert.
I do go around at the break and ask new dancers if they want to join our email list. I ask them to come back. I give them a handout after the lesson with tips and contacts if they have comments and asking them to keep trying.
Ive heard that inclusive Afters is pretty key to building a community.", "timestamp": "1514052208"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917592385382&reply_comment_id=917599096932", "anchor": "fb-917592385382_917599096932", "service": "fb", "text": "→ We do have an ongoing promotion where if people bring a friend new to contra they both get passes for the next time, but I think people are less aware of it than they used to be.", "timestamp": "1514055726"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917592385382&reply_comment_id=917613148772", "anchor": "fb-917592385382_917613148772", "service": "fb", "text": "→ One of the things done in the swing community is if you bring someone who is new or if you dance with someone who tells you they're new (and if you don't recognize someone you usually ask about this anyway), then you help them find a dance partner for the next dance. So, if I partner up with someone and I find out they're new to the dance - a few dances or this is their first - I'll grab a friend or someone I know who is friendly after our dance ends and ask them to dance with \"my (new) friend so-and-so who is new to [contra]\".
This works awesome, and it actually feels pretty good to have someone ask you on the other end to be the next partner-up. It's great on both ends, and feels good to be a welcomer/ ambassador.", "timestamp": "1514064262"}, {"author": "Claire", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917592385382&reply_comment_id=917619211622", "anchor": "fb-917592385382_917619211622", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Sarah Loves this ! How did you get folks started doing that? Just announcements?", "timestamp": "1514067886"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917592385382&reply_comment_id=917620264512", "anchor": "fb-917592385382_917620264512", "service": "fb", "text": "→ No, we just decided amongst ourselves. There's a huge part of swing culture that's about recruiting newcomers and welcoming people in. One of the major dances started having a volunteer position, around 10 or so years ago now, for several people per dance who would take a designated 30-60 min and only dance with people who were new or they didn't recognize and welcome them in. In exchange, the volunteers got in for free or reduced admission.
Then, it grew from there with people bringing friends and asking their friends/favorite partners to dance with them, and through discussions at parties we realized that dancing at least 2-3 dances per dance night with only newcomers was a way of investing into our community. So, I guess it started out more sanctioned and grew organically through intention.", "timestamp": "1514068488"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "→ this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1514132392"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917592385382&reply_comment_id=917709221242", "anchor": "fb-917592385382_917709221242", "service": "fb", "text": "→ CDH?", "timestamp": "1514134708"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "→ this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1514142043"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "→ this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1514142094"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917592385382&reply_comment_id=917730164272", "anchor": "fb-917592385382_917730164272", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I was pretty sure you didn't mean Contradancers Delight Holiday, since a pass that expired after one month would be pretty silly.", "timestamp": "1514142187"}, {"author": "Audrey", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917592385382&reply_comment_id=917791351652", "anchor": "fb-917592385382_917791351652", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Henry CDH FTW!", "timestamp": "1514171043"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "→ this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1514172242"}, {"author": "Robert", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917592385382&reply_comment_id=917849065992", "anchor": "fb-917592385382_917849065992", "service": "fb", "text": "→ The Jamaica Plain dance also gives out second-dance-free passes, and they don't expire. I don't have stats on how many of them actually get used.", "timestamp": "1514216091"}, {"author": "Claire", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917592385382&reply_comment_id=917862628812", "anchor": "fb-917592385382_917862628812", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Robert the rest of the dances in this area use the 2nd dance free card and no one has stats on them. But I\u2019d heard that you get more new folks when it\u2019s free to try and they come back if they like it on their own.", "timestamp": "1514221188"}, {"author": "Mark", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917626277462", "anchor": "fb-917626277462", "service": "fb", "text": "I\u2019m starting a brand new gender neutral series 1x a month. Hall and guaranteed minimums for talent covered by the local CDSS affiliate. They have been most helpful with online access and publicity in their print version. There was a dance there but it ended in September. We will have a full sliding scale, so free admission doesn\u2019t really matter. (If someone hands us a bill, we ask how much change they want. I have been networking with press releases, flyers in all the cool hip spots, CSA\u2019s, organic farms, cohousing centers, art resource and places like Habitat for Humanity, teen health centers, LGBT centers, local dance venues, MWSD LGBT club promo, coffee shops, school GSA\u2019s, the JC and local university, calendar entries in four separate publications, fliers specifically for musicians: to build our community band, and commissioned Sam Bartlett to do his signature art with non binary people and mixed gender clues on the characters. Sadly I\u2019ll be out of the country on the night of the first dance... but I have high hopes.", "timestamp": "1514072061"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917631601792", "anchor": "fb-917631601792", "service": "fb", "text": "Hey y'all! Following the above and fascinating conversation hinging on the social media aspect of this, we've gone ahead and created a facebook Page (linked to our Group) and hopefully once folks go over and click like/follow, they'll be directly invited to events. Spread it around, please and thank you! https://www.facebook.com/bidadances/", "timestamp": "1514075417"}, {"author": "Claire", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/916996110322?comment_id=917631601792&reply_comment_id=917670478882", "anchor": "fb-917631601792_917670478882", "service": "fb", "text": "→ how did you link to your group? I tried to make a page from a group and didn't figure it out.....", "timestamp": "1514103808"}]}