Re: [Callers] Confirming Bookings - Best Practices?

[Rich Sbardella via Callers]

The American MWSD clubs/callers also use contracts, although seldom is a
deposit required.  In 25 years of club calling, I only had one bad
experience, where two callers were booked for the same dance.  I was
working 'graveyard" shift, so I willingly let the other caller have the gig
and returned home for a power nap.

The standard MWSD club contract had fees and variances, such as $125 plus
$10 for every square over 6.  It had contact information for the caller and
organizer, date, times, location, and music licensing requirements.  It
sometimes specified who would provide the sound equipment as well, and who
would be working with the caller.  Many clubs listed themes for the night,
for example 50s night, or Hawaiian Night.   "Contra Prom" would be one
theme used at a nearby contra dance.  These themes helped the caller pick
out music, dances, and clothing.

Contracts were a nice way for me to gather all my tax info at the end of
the year.

As I book more ONS and contra dances, I let the emails serve as a contract,
but they sometimes have a "tentative" feeling.

I also tend to post my schedule on Facebook, hoping that any irregularities
might be noticed.  Just last night someone told me that an upcoming dance
was not on my schedule.  There are reasons, but I will post it soon.

Peace,
Rich Sbardella
Stafford, CT

On Wed, May 11, 2016 at 3:54 AM, Kate Carpenter via Callers <
callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> I'm surprised you don't have contracts.
>
> I call for, play in and organise a Barn Dance/Ceilidh band in England. We
> always have a Musicians Union contract which states: date, venue, times,
> how much we're paid, how much deposit has already been paid (the deposit
> confirms the booking) and who the contract is with... Yes, it is a pain
> drawing up the contracts, but everyone knows the details. We don't have
> surprises on the night. We can still be flexible. We mostly play for
> weddings, anniversaries, fundraising... and although about half our
> bookings are repeats/recommendations we don't really know these people.
>
> My husband and I also play for Scottish Dance societies. This is a
> specialist area - more like your dance series, and we know these people,
> mostly playing for them every year/6 months and some dance weekends. I
> would trust them, but we still have contracts and deposits.
>
> Once someone has paid a deposit, they aren't going to casually forget
> about you, or book someone else.
>
> Kate
>
>
>
>
> > Date: Tue, 10 May 2016 21:01:32 -0700
> > To: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> > Subject: Re: [Callers] Confirming Bookings - Best Practices?
> > From: callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> >
> > The local series is good that way, with their confirmations. Those are
> > pretty close to the date, so I tend to follow the Check Their
> > Sites/Pages thing.
> >
> > Others in the region are pretty good with a run of communication to set
> > up and one to later confirm. Again with something closer to the date.
> > Again I'll do a check on the lead up, mostly by having a look on my own
> > for promo material.
> >
> > One dance series had the caller I was replacing still listed on the
> > site, so I wrote about a month and a half out so I knew if I was free to
> > rebook, do other things, or simply enjoy the evening as a dancer.
> >
> > With a series, where there's a bit of pattern to the behaviour I have
> > little concerns. Also the communication tends to be pretty good and
> > established.
> >
> > For one off dances I may do a bit more asking, esp. if there have only
> > been early enquiries.
> >
> > On occasion a "definitely want you" has fizzled, on other occasions what
> > appears to be a casual inquiry really was their idea of a firm booking,
> > for myself and the band.
> >
> > A band I do regular ONS work with (anniversary, wedding, fund-raiser
> > gigs) and I are seriously considering asking for a financial deposit for
> > some bigger one-off affairs. Esp. if there's travel, rental of
> > equipment, accommodation (that we must book) and such.
> >
> > So, mostly nothing earthshakingly different than what a number have
> > commented on.
> >
> > Cheers, John
> > --
> > J.D. Erskine
> > Victoria, BC
> > Island Dance
> > ___
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> > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
>
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>
>

Re: [Callers] Confirming Bookings - Best Practices?

[JD Erskine iDance via Callers]

The local series is good that way, with their confirmations. Those are 
pretty close to the date, so I tend to follow the Check Their 
Sites/Pages thing.


Others in the region are pretty good with a run of communication to set 
up and one to later confirm. Again with something closer to the date. 
Again I'll do a check on the lead up, mostly by having a look on my own 
for promo material.


One dance series had the caller I was replacing still listed on the 
site, so I wrote about a month and a half out so I knew if I was free to 
rebook, do other things, or simply enjoy the evening as a dancer.


With a series, where there's a bit of pattern to the behaviour I have 
little concerns. Also the communication tends to be pretty good and 
established.


For one off dances I may do a bit more asking, esp. if there have only 
been early enquiries.


On occasion a "definitely want you" has fizzled, on other occasions what 
appears to be a casual inquiry really was their idea of a firm booking, 
for myself and the band.


A band I do regular ONS work with (anniversary, wedding, fund-raiser 
gigs) and I are seriously considering asking for a financial deposit for 
some bigger one-off affairs. Esp. if there's travel, rental of 
equipment, accommodation (that we must book) and such.


So, mostly nothing earthshakingly different than what a number have 
commented on.


Cheers, John
--
J.D. Erskine
Victoria, BC
Island Dance

Re: [Callers] Confirming Bookings - Best Practices?

[Alan Winston via Callers]

Most of the places I call which take out of town callers have Facebook 
pages, web pages, etc, and I check those.  Several of those places have 
a standardized reminder email *they* send to booked staff about a week 
before - "We are looking forward to ...".   (At Palo Alto Contra, while 
I book most of the staff, somebody else sends that email.)


[I once did book somebody way ahead of the booking cycle and then lose 
track, so it was a really good thing that person wrote me and said 
"don't see myself on the calendar; what's up?"  Since then have taken 
measures to be sure it doesn't happen again.  Had to apologize profusely 
and sincerely to everybody involved and then rebook one of them.]



If I haven't had separate confirmation I send them an "I'm really 
looking forward to ...  Has anything changed since the last time- same 
hall?" kind of email.


-- Alan


On 5/8/16 12:18 PM, Don Veino via Callers wrote:
What do folks do to ensure dance booking contacts remember that 
they've booked you?


I just had my second booking in a row in a certain geography forget 
that they had booked me. What's curious is that in both cases these 
dances approached me by email (I could understand it maybe if it were 
the other way around?), we had an exchange where we clarified the 
dates, etc. and confirmed we were all set. We agreed to connect again 
with any final questions on program, accommodation, etc. as we 
approached closer to the date. The first case turned out to be rather 
comical in their confusion - the second I can't figure out.


So, short of calling/emailing monthly, what do YOU do to ensure folks 
remember their booking commitment with you?


Thanks,
Don


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Re: [Callers] Confirming Bookings - Best Practices?

[Aahz via Callers]

On Sun, May 08, 2016, Don Veino via Callers wrote:
>
> What do folks do to ensure dance booking contacts remember that they've
> booked you?

One way is to ask questions somewhere around a month ahead of time: "any
special occasion?", "who's the band?", etc
-- 
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6http://rule6.info/
  <*>   <*>   <*>
Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html

Re: [Callers] Confirming Bookings - Best Practices?

[Mark Jones via Callers]

My practice was to confirm, as an organizer, with proofing the flyer.
If the band contact and caller confirm their approval of their listing on
the flyer six weeks to three months ahead of time, then we all know what is
in the schedule, and that there is publicity for the event. The reciprocal
confirmation request is, on the caller / band's part "let's see your flyer"
for the date.

~Mark Jones


On Sun, May 8, 2016 at 4:00 PM, Amy Wimmer via Callers <
callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> I'm one third of a dance organizing team. The person who does our
> bookings of bands and callers has frequent brain farts. My husband
> (3rd part of team) and I have had to make hasty repairs many times. I
> try to stay in the loop of email transactions, but that isn't always
> possible, depending on how our booker contacts people. I would advise
> trying to find whether there is more than one person you could
> contact, and copy them all with all your correspondence. Better odds.
> -Amy in Seattle
>
> > On May 8, 2016, at 12:19 PM, Don Veino via Callers <
> callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> >
> > What do folks do to ensure dance booking contacts remember that they've
> booked you?
> >
> > I just had my second booking in a row in a certain geography forget that
> they had booked me. What's curious is that in both cases these dances
> approached me by email (I could understand it maybe if it were the other
> way around?), we had an exchange where we clarified the dates, etc. and
> confirmed we were all set. We agreed to connect again with any final
> questions on program, accommodation, etc. as we approached closer to the
> date. The first case turned out to be rather comical in their confusion -
> the second I can't figure out.
> >
> > So, short of calling/emailing monthly, what do YOU do to ensure folks
> remember their booking commitment with you?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Don
> > ___
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> > Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
> ___
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> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
>

Re: [Callers] Confirming Bookings - Best Practices?

[Amy Wimmer via Callers]

I'm one third of a dance organizing team. The person who does our
bookings of bands and callers has frequent brain farts. My husband
(3rd part of team) and I have had to make hasty repairs many times. I
try to stay in the loop of email transactions, but that isn't always
possible, depending on how our booker contacts people. I would advise
trying to find whether there is more than one person you could
contact, and copy them all with all your correspondence. Better odds.
-Amy in Seattle

> On May 8, 2016, at 12:19 PM, Don Veino via Callers 
>  wrote:
>
> What do folks do to ensure dance booking contacts remember that they've 
> booked you?
>
> I just had my second booking in a row in a certain geography forget that they 
> had booked me. What's curious is that in both cases these dances approached 
> me by email (I could understand it maybe if it were the other way around?), 
> we had an exchange where we clarified the dates, etc. and confirmed we were 
> all set. We agreed to connect again with any final questions on program, 
> accommodation, etc. as we approached closer to the date. The first case 
> turned out to be rather comical in their confusion - the second I can't 
> figure out.
>
> So, short of calling/emailing monthly, what do YOU do to ensure folks 
> remember their booking commitment with you?
>
> Thanks,
> Don
> ___
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> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net

Re: [Callers] Confirming Bookings - Best Practices?

[Linda Leslie via Callers]

I check their dance web page to make sure that I am listed. Many dances have 
their schedules up several months at a time, so it is usually easy to check. It 
there is no web page or FB page for the dance, then I definitely email them a 
week or so before.
Linda

On May 8, 2016, at 3:18 PM, Don Veino via Callers 
 wrote:

> What do folks do to ensure dance booking contacts remember that they've 
> booked you?
> 
> I just had my second booking in a row in a certain geography forget that they 
> had booked me. What's curious is that in both cases these dances approached 
> me by email (I could understand it maybe if it were the other way around?), 
> we had an exchange where we clarified the dates, etc. and confirmed we were 
> all set. We agreed to connect again with any final questions on program, 
> accommodation, etc. as we approached closer to the date. The first case 
> turned out to be rather comical in their confusion - the second I can't 
> figure out.
> 
> So, short of calling/emailing monthly, what do YOU do to ensure folks 
> remember their booking commitment with you?
> 
> Thanks,
> Don
> ___
> Callers mailing list
> Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net