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[5/13/2008 SteppersUSA News]
Serious Steppers Promotion
By Markie Bee
I
guess when I read the Cynt's 2 Cents column in Cynthia Bean's
newsletter last night, it hit a raw nerve in some way, shape or
another. Don't get me wrong, I do basically agree with much of what
Cynthia had to say. But I don't feel any of us should ever tell
anyone to give up on a set that isn't performing. Every set can
be successful. Smart promoters don't end sets, they re-tool and
re-invent their sets or parties. They talk to the public and really
listen. Great promoters work with the location they negotiated with to
have the party at. If the people who run the location are not willing to
help make your event a success, it probably makes sense to relocate the
event. Many of the bar and club owner/managers I've dealt with usually
give a regular weekly event a few weeks anyway (over the last few years
at the very least, the clubs want to see immediate cash flow. If they
don't you're out the door).
Granted, there are many people who say they can do an event but don't do
proper planning. To produce a great event takes time, patience and
pre-planning. If you (and you should) have a contract with the venue,
did you take the time (and expense) to take it to an attorney to (at the
very least) protect yourself, and to give yourself some options?
Cynthia posed some great questions in her article, I'll try to give what
I feel are the best answers; "Should you get club members that will
help you plug and kick out the ones that just joined your group to get
into parties for free and not carry a plugger at all?" By all means
you should make membership contingent on a persons ability to promote
the set. Some people are great at plugging others can be taught and yet
others can do other things in support roles like getting the word out to
web sites, and newsletters (promoting to the promoters). "Should you
change your DJ or have a guest DJ?" According to the
ChiSteppers
2007 Demographic Survey, "steppers report that the DJ is the most
important factor that influences where they decide to step". you be the
judge! "Are you cordial to your guest? Do you thank them for their
support?" I think this is so important I'll probably write a column
at some point just on this factor. If you don't communicate with the
people coming to your event, you won't know why they came in the
first place. "Or are you just sending out an e-mail thinking that's
enough to get people to come out. How far in advance do you plug for
your party? 2 weeks? 3 weeks? 4 weeks?" I'm a strong proponent of
getting the word out as early as possible and keeping people updated
consistently using every tool I can find. Email, Text messaging,
plugging, using websites, newsletters, your hook-up at the radio
station. Just make a plan, follow the plan, if it doesn't work...
re-think and re-tool the plan and make it happen. That's what's called
being an entrepreneur!
Recent : Serious Steppers Officially official Keeping the Wheels Turning New Features Debut Today Rise of the South Why It Makes Sense Now Part 3 Why It Makes Sense Now Part 2 Why it Makes Sense Now Chicago Style Stepping Updates Chicago Style Priorities Change Divided they Fail or Not? Catching the Beat Catching the Beat Part 2
If you or anyone you know has any photos, footage or information about
or from any Steppers contests for the
History of Stepping Project,
I'd love to add it to what we have. It's Your History! OR
If you have a personal recollection concerning stepping or if you care to help
with the
History of Stepping Project in any manner, please
Send us an email.
Steppers Community
Definition Added
Cross Reference Word
Index Added
Multiple Definitions Added
Definitions Page
2006 3-G's Contest results added
Timeline Updated
Steppers Compete 2003
Timeline Updated
The Dungeon in Chicago in the 1970's
See the Personal Recollections Page
Take the May Poll
Do you consider yourself to
be a serious stepper?
Take a look at our You
Tube Steppers Video page and rate some videos (Seven
pages now) SteppersUSA.Com sells Steppin' DVDs from across the Steppers Community.
Click Here to view the listing
or
send us an email
if you would like to include your DVDs on SteppersUSA.Com The SteppersUSA Daily News and SteppersUSA.Com are both
daily
publications which update continually. We accept and publish Steppers
classes and workshops, Daily events, weekly events, monthly events,
special events, steppers news, requests for information which we can't
answer but our visitors may have an answer to. All of this makes us the
most complete listing of Steppers information available anywhere. Send
your submissions and pluggers or flyers to us at
webmaster@steppersusa.com TODAY!
Sunshines Class on NBC 5's Nude Hippo
Added to You Tube: May 2, 2008
Buy It Now On SteppersUSA
For
those of you who promote and submit events to SteppersUSA you may have
noticed we've added some new features. Some are for security purposes
like the captcha coding. Other changes are to make the
Events Submission
Form a bit more uniform and hopefully a bit easier to use. An
important addition is a three choice question where you choose... If you
sell advance tickets, can they be ordered on line? The choices are a
simple yes, no or Contact me about customers ordering tickets directly
from SteppersUSA. This FREE service by SteppersUSA
can help you increase
your advance ticket sales all from one place. Think about it. Thousands
come to this site every day looking at events and making plans. It's
convenient for the customer and you make money! Don't have a FREE Pay
Pal business account? Not a problem!
Just click Here! Even if you already have a website it only makes
sense to add a Pay Pal Button to SteppersUSA to increase the possibility
of a sale. Customers can use any credit card including Visa, Master
Card, Discover, American Express, or their Pay Pal account or directly
debit their bank account. It's safe, secure, and easy. SteppersUSA will
not ask for any personal or financial information or access to your Pay
Pal account. We will only ask for information related to your button. As
I said before SteppersUSA will not charge for this convenient service.
Both you and your customers have everything to gain! Do you have
suggestions to make SteppersUSA even better? Please Send us an email.
Please copy the message below and send it on to as many steppers as you can please!
This is an open message to ALL steppers. Please share it with as many people as possible.
As many of you may already know I started a new web
site for the benefit of the greater steppers community. It's called
The History of Stepping Project. I wish to encourage you to add your
knowledge to the timeline. If you know anything about stepping, please
share this with the public on this site. We are looking for all
information related to stepping from it's beginnings to the present. The
information literally includes everything from clubs and bars which held
steppers sets and parties to contests and the participants and results,
to when different steppers organizations and classes started, who the
instructors were and are; Musical bands, and artists, DJ's, radio and
television personalities, Movies, videos, and photos… literally
everything stepping.
Creating an accurate historic timeline will go a long
way toward helping the community take the next step in its logical
progression as it continues to grow nationwide and will become a
valuable resource for all in the future.
Your input, your knowledge and your effort have made the dance what it
is today. Don't you feel your place (and your organization's) in the
timeline is well deserved? I do!
Please send an email to your members or readers inviting them to
participate. Place a link on your web site also please. All support is
appreciated!
The effort requires more than just posting the information. The need for fact checkers, people willing to do some research exists in this important ongoing project. Just a few minutes a week can make a difference.
Thank You for your time!
Markie Bee
The History of Stepping Project
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Tuesday May 13, 2008
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