This past Saturday, out local Scottish Branch held its first ceilidh dance. Of the main group, I wouldn't call any of us ceilidh dancers; we're country dancers who do or did the classes and the technique and all of that. But the goal was to throw a fun event and bring in beginners, and the plans went forward, and...
...And I really wasn't sure that anyone other than the usual suspects would show up, and they would gamely dance and we would eat our tea and go home with hours still to kill on a Saturday night.
But it didn't go that way at all. It was a fun and successful evening and I think it's worth thinking about why and how it works.
-Put people in charge who like having a good time. With that alone, it's hard to go wrong.
-Get lots of people involved in the planning. Consult! It makes people feel needed and gives them a stake in the success of the evening.
-Get the word out - hang signs and balloons, send out press releases, offer to drive the students there
-Spread out the leadership responsibilites - give many people the limelight. We had the strengh and the variety of many callers. It worked and meant no one person had the stress and the responsibility of making things go.
-Mix it up. We didn't just dance. We did some dancing, we got some water. We had a song and more dancing, we broke for tea. This way, no one died in the sweltering hall or overdid it on the hard floor.
And more. And much to think about for next time, but the event was a winner. Thanks especially to Chrissy and Nora for making it happen. Definitely the start of something good...
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