And I'll bet there are lots of great ideas out there.
I'll sum up my major points this way:
(1) Buy things, because next year people can still use them, but only
buy things that can be easily stored and carried. Don't buy
things that will cost a lot of money to maintain, because we
don't know how much money the club will have in future years.
If we've learned anything in the past six years, it's that the
club cycles between rich and poor.
(2) If you want to pay for a program for this year, propose it for
the budget. Bear in mind that in future years the club may not
be able to afford it.
(3) If you're looking for something longer term, make sure that it
can pay for itself, so that in lean years the club doesn't have
to spend a lot of money on it.
(4) Don't give the officers so much work that no one wants to be an
officer next year.
Scott Weitzenhoffer (two-left-feet@uiuc.edu) said:
> -Should we buy a VHS Camcorder?
Not a bad idea, if we've got money to spend -- which I hear we do.
> -Should we have more/cheaper workshops?
More yes, cheaper no. I think we shouldn't get into the habit of having
too many events that don't pay for themselves.
> -Should we buy more videos?
Yes, because they're likely to last and aren't that hard to store and
transport. In off years, they can be lent on a "pick 'em up at the
librarian's office" basis.
> -Should we buy a projection TV to show videos in class/practice?
Where would we store it? Who would be responsible for bringing it?
I can see bringing a small color monitor, which wouldn't be too much
for someone to store or carry, but a projection tv might be a bit much.
> -Should we go back to partially funding BYU/USABDA-Florida/etc. dance
> trips for members?
Yes, subject to budget constraints. That's something that the officers
should propose as part of the budget each year, since they'll know how
much the club can afford.
> -Should we pay for hotels/food/admission at comps?
Again, subject to the budget.
> -Should we increase the private lesson rebate?
For the first lesson, yes; after that, no. A few years back we had
David Lin booked during virtually all of his free time -- that's why
we started the tutor program in the first place -- and that was with
a $5 subsidy. It's getting people to go the first time that's hard.
After that, they'll either go back or not -- another five bucks isn't
going to be the issue.
> -Should we pay for transportation to other big
> dance workshops/festivals/comps?
Absolutely, if there's enough interest.
> -Club photos / Class photos?
Club photos yes, class photos no. People who are interested and involved
enough to want a photo are also interested and involved enough to be part
of the club, and a group photo is a good way to encourage that. You also
might want to think about having a group photo at the comp, as we've done
in past years.
> -Buy a van?
Who will store it? Who will maintain it? How will we pay registration
and insurance during the lean years?
> -pay for a professional show at our comp?
Propose it in the budget.
> -Formation team w/ costumes.
Formation team yes. Decide about costumes after we see how popular it
is and how committed people are to it. Remember, most costumes can't be
handed down, because next year's team isn't going to be all the same
sizes.
Mark Balzer (m-balzer@students.uiuc.edu) says:
>finding a volunteer to go thru our folder full of business card ideas,
>finalize one of them and have a few boxes of DI cards printed up, so
>we can start passing them out.
Good idea.
>buying a second channel for the wireless headset mic. It could serve
>as a backup for our existing mic, and we could use them both when we
>have m/f teachers who each have something to say while teaching a step.
Yes. Buying a small, easily stored, easily carried thing. I agree.
>arranging with the Illini Union Courtyard staff to let a group of DI
>members dance on the stage during lunch, 2-3 times a week for 30-45
>minutes. Have dancers teach a free salsa or swing or hustle lesson and
>hand out flyers. Reward the dancers who come out > twice per week by
>taking them to lunch in the ballroom after that week's final demo.
Great idea! Who volunteers to make the arrangements?
>We used to have a regular group of 20 people who would go to Chester St
>every Tuesday and hustle from 9-11. This has all but died. We should
>contact Chester St. and arrange to teach a Hustle lesson there from 8-9
>when the place is otherwise dead. ...
Sounds good.
>... having club outings to fun places full of young people dancing:
> - student nights at the Regent dances, or the Regent's new Salsa
> dances.
We used to do this, and it was pretty successful.
> - any of several HUGE country western dance clubs in Indianapolis,
>that feature live bands, huge floors and incredible atmospheres.
Could be fun.
> - go to Club Inta's (Chicago) early on a Tuesday night for Salsa
>lessons with Anyes.
Could be a great time.
> - road trip to a dance at another college.
Absolutely!
>change the room arrangement at dances - put tables and chairs on one
>end of the room instead of just having chairs around the perimeter.
I think we should leave decisions like this to the social chair. I
think Derek should be allowed to develop his own style. But I also
think giving Derek helpful suggestions is a good idea -- but there
should be an understanding that free advice is worth what he pays for
it (8-).
>a) have more dances, Fri-Sat night when people can attend; ...
Great! Who will run them? I imagine Derek is already feeling kind
of overwhelmed, having run two dances and two picnics, with two more
dances to go just this summer.
Remember, it takes very little work to run a dance badly, but a hell
of a lot of work to run one well. And a few well run dances are a
lot better than a lot of badly run ones. I think Derek has done an
excellent job so far -- so let's let him decide how much more work
he can afford to take on. And let's be careful not to scare off
people who might want to be officers next year.
>b) have an end-of-the class dance, but not in a big brightly-lit gym
>in the middle of the week,
I thought we were already doing that. The club's website says that
the beginner graduation dance is at the Regent.
>c) assign "greeters" at dances to meet new people at the door, welcome
>them, give them a list of club events, get their name/address so the
>club can send them info about next semester's events, talk to them a
>little bit, make sure that they danced,
Hey, if someone can motivate people to do this, I think it's a great
idea.
>d) at dances, have classes demo routines that they learned in their
>courses,
Again, if people can be motivated to do this, great.
>e) have performances by advanced dancers to entice new people to join
>and take the courses,
Sounds like fun.
>f) have an organized outing halfway through the class,
Great idea.
>g) do dance demos and teach mini-classes in the dorms,
Yes, we had good success with this in past years.
>h) get groups of people together to go dancing in campus bars where
>people normally don't partner dance - then hand out DI flyers to all
>who asked where we learned to dance,
Could work well.
In summary, I think there are lots of great ideas out there. Let's
encourage everyone to participate -- not just in proposing ideas but
also in implementing them.
Henry