Hi Emily - Could you send us the version of your original email that was sent out and a version of the new email that is individualized and that got such a good response?
On Tue, Jun 12, 2018 at 2:47 PM, Delia Clark via Organizers < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi Emily, > I think I’m veering off from your question a bit, but one thing we found > worked was to have known, trusted, members of our dance community recommend > other people they thought might be interested, and give us their email > addresses. We then included them in the next dance announcement with a note > saying that their name had been recommended and to please let us know if > they would like to be added to our regular list, or if they didn’t want to > receive more notices. It seemed like it worked pretty well. Nobody seemed > upset about it, though a few did let us know they’d prefer not to be on the > regular list at that time. > Good luck! > Delia > > On Jun 12, 2018, at 12:03 PM, Emily Addison via Organizers < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Hi All, > > I wanted to report on a new engagement strategy that we've been using in > Ottawa these past two months which seems to be working really well and I'm > excited about! It's sending a personal email to new people as we add to > our email list. (Full disclosure - this is an idea that Alex DL from > Country Dance New York mentioned at the dance organizers discussion at the > Dance Flurry in 2017. I loved the idea at the time but it took a while to > implement.) > > ===================================================== > Before I get onto the idea and implemention ---> a question for the group! > Has anyone had success getting email addresses of most BRAND new people who > show up at their dance? Right now, we get new dancer email addresses in > two ways: > 1. They sign up on our email sign up sheet at the front table. > 2. They put their email address on the second dance free card AND check > off the box saying 'add me to your email list'. (So they actually have to > have come back a second time and hand in the filled-in card for us to get > their email address.) > ... ... ... I'd love to be able to figure out a way to collect the email > addresses of more FIRST TIMERS without it seeming creepy. > ======================================================== > Anyway... here's what I wanted to share on adding new people to our email > list. > > WHAT WE DID BEFORE: > We would collect email addresses through one of two ways (see above). We > would then go into mailchimp and add those email addresses. The new person > would get a form welcome email from us (carefully worded but in mailchimp > format). They would have to hit 'confirm' before being added to our email > list. > > WHAT WE DO NOW: > I send them a personal email from my personal account (which looks very > different than a mailchimp message). I then go into mailchimp and add them > but check off that I already have permission to add them to the list. (I > also keep a photo record of them giving us permission) > > WHAT WE ARE NOTICING: > > - More email addresses are being added because people don't have to do > the confirmation stage. (Yes... we do have to keep proof of permission to > meet with Canadian email spam laws but the pick up is well worth it). > - We are getting a fair number of emails BACK from new dancers with > encouraging messages. They express how much fun they are having, offer > suggestions and even say they want to volunteer. For instance, I added > about 14 people last week and I got 6 responses back, two of whom offered > to volunteer! > > I've included the responses we got last week as inspiration for y'all. It > is work to send the personal message and to respond but it's also exciting > and is part of building that sense of belonging for those new folks from > the start. > > I've also included a copy of the "personal email" I've been sending out. > > Would love thoughts or suggestions!!! > > :) Emily > in Ottawa, ON > > ================================== > Hi, we love to take part in your dances. It's a very fun way to exercise > and a great cardio workout. People are so friendly and supportive. The only > thing that I would suggest is adding a few more fans on the floor (or > walls?) Otherwise, everything else is great. Will be back for sure. > > ======================= > Hi, Yes, I did have a great time both times I went. Everyone was so > welcoming and I enjoyed the live band and the dancing was great. I have no > suggestions re improvements as I felt included in all the dances, even > though I was just learning. Have to miss the June 16th dance as I will > be in Victoria but plan on enjoying Contra > Dancing when it starts up again in the Fall. > > Thanks for getting in touch. Appreciate the opportunity to provide input. > > ====================== > > Thanks! > > I love how friendly everyone is, how accepting and willing to teach. > Everyone has made me feel very welcome, I've been to 3 dances now and will > definitely be back. I should have listened to Jane sooner and gone out > when she first suggested it to me. > > If you need another volunteer anytime, let me know, I'm more then willing > to help out. > > > ============================= > Thank you for your warm welcome! > Unfortunately we will be out of town on the weekend of June 16th, but we > will look forward to the next season. > We have nothing but positive things to say – even though we were new to > contra, we felt confident after the excellent instructions plus we enjoyed > the happy friendly smiles from everyone, and loved the live music. > See you in September. > > ====================== > > Thanks for all you do to make and keep contra fun. > > I love how welcoming people are, the mix of ages and “types” of > characters, the non stop smiling. > > Having zero dance or memorization experience, I would love if the calling > continued for the entire dance. Maybe for the first half of each event. Or > even if it tapered off starting with the whole first song being called and > then one round fewer each song, for example. > > My fervent wish is to become very comfortable with contra Eventually and > to make it as absolute often as I can — and to stay the whole event. (Right > now I can only tolerate up to half of an event.) > > I would be happy to volunteer either with set up or publicity committee > etc next season. Let me know how I can help. > > See you June 16, > > ===================== > Hi XXXX, > Thanks so much for joining us at the contra dance this past Saturday. We > hope you had a great time! > If you would like to share what you especially liked or didn't about your > experience, we always love hearing from new folks as we try to make the > dances as accessible and fun for new people as possible. (If we don't hear > feedback, we won't know what to work on!) > You provided your email and checked off that you'd like to be added the > main contra dance email list so I'll add you now. We send out one email a > week so just watch for those. > And here are few links in the meantime: > Our fun facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ottawacontra/ > Our website: http://www.ottawacontra.ca/view/default.asp?home > I've also attached our beginners handout. > Our next dance is the last of this season.... it happens June 16th. We > start back up in early September for 2018-2019. > Welcome to Ottawa Contra and I hope you'll join us on the dance floor > again soon! > > :) Emily > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net > > > > <>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<> > > Delia Clark > PO Box 45 > Taftsville, VT 05073 > Office/mobile: +1-802-457-2075 > [email protected] > www.deliaclarkconfluence.com > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net > >
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