Hello organizers,
Someone posted the following to the Shared Weight Callers list, and I thought it was actually more relevant to the organizers. So here it is. I, for one, cannot imagine doing such a gig as a performer - at least not more than once - and am shocked that an organizer could be so utterly thoughtless. Perhaps this will start a conversation about what we, as dance organizers, ought to have as "best practices," especially for the sakes of our performers (without whom we would have no dance.) Chrissy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ website www.chrissyfowler.com dance series www.belfastflyingshoes.org > > Here is a minor episode for the "gigs from hell "annals. Imagine someone asks > you to dinner. They ask you to bring the food. However, they won?t tell you > where they live or what time dinner starts or what sort of food the guests > might enjoy. When you try to contact them, they are out of town. > ? > I was invited to call in a neighboring state with a fine band from my state. > The drive would take the better part of a day and we knew that we wouldn?t > come anywhere near making gas money. However, many callers and bands are > willing to do ?charity? work for new contra communities. Generally when > callers/musicians travel, they like to maximize what they offer and will do > afternoon music/dance workshops, often for free. When we were first booked, > we offered a variety of free workshops. After a month of receiving no > response, we brought this offer up again with the caller/organizer who > invited us. After three more months, another prompting email query brought a > response that the caller/organizer basically didn?t have time to bother. > ? > Twenty four hours before the dance, we had still not been informed of where > the dance was or what time it started. The last email (2 months previous) > from the "host" said they were looking for a new hall. Lack of information on > where we might stay and the fact there was a potluck before the dance had us > spending money on a pricey meal and motel in the tourist town. The > caller/organizer would not be around due to another gig. > ? > An enterprising band member finally called a local musician and got a rough > idea of where the dance was to be held. What fun?.5 generous and experienced > folks, willing to lose money, driving a 2 day round trip to help a new > caller/series. Nothing about the word "host" applies in this case. > ? > So, in order to turn a rant into something constructive, I have composed a > bare bones "invitee" form to be sent to guest bands/callers shortly after the > invitation is accepted so that new callers/organizers who care about their > dance communities might meet the basic requirements of a host: > ? > Dear _________(caller,band) > Thank you for agreeing to be part of our contra experience. > ? > Our dance starts at __, with the pre-teaching starting at ____. > ? > The hall is located at___(map link) and will be open by_____. > ? > Your sound person will be_____. > ? > Usually we have about _____(number of dancers), with about ___% being > experienced; of course we may have an influx of newcomers. > ? > ?Our dancers are generally (comfortable/not comfortable) with a hey/contra > corners in the first half. > ? > Generally, we dance until____PM, then have a break and resume dancing > until____PM. > ? > Our dancers enjoy a (waltz, polka, hambo, swing) (before, after) break and at > the end of the dance. > ? > We have arranged for you to stay with ______. Their phone/email/address > is_______ > Or > Below is the contact information for reasonably priced motels near the dance > hall > ? > We will be able to pay you_$_______. > ? > For more information about dance logistics, you may contact me (or ___) at > _____. > ? > Please let us know in advance what you will need in terms of microphones, etc. > ? > Thank you for bringing your expertise to our dancers. > ? > For additional goodwill, we suggest that the "host" get the following things > right in communication/publicity: Spelling of the caller?s name and the > band?s name, where they are from, the date for the gig (these things slipped > by in our case). A thank you email would be frosting on the cake. > ? > Hope this helps! > > _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/210850553/direct/01/
