Hi All
A few times I promised to send round a script for securing pubs for crawls.
This is by no means the only way of asking, & everyone will have their own spiel, this is just vaguely what me & Janet say.
1. Ask to speak to the manager 1st, but in a relaxed smiley way so they don't think you're going to complain. This saves you saying your piece twice - once to bar-person & again to manager.
Only if they say manager isn't around do you say 'maybe you can help me.
2. 'I've got an unusual favour to ask (big smile)...
Me & my friends do a traditional English pub-based dance called rapper.'
(don't mention swords, mention it's 'designed for pubs' early on. Don't go into loads of detail about origins of rapper at this point unless they ask).
3. We go round pubs in different areas of London every few weeks & on xxDAYxx we're in this area. So we just wanted to check that it's OK to pop in here & do a quick dance.
(Say it in a way that suggests you're checking rather than asking permission, as if it's kinda standard for pubs to say yes).
OR for pubs we've been to before...
'you might remember we came in & did a little dance about xxMONTHSxx & got a great reception!'
4. If they ask for more info about what it involves underplay everything apart from how much punters like it...
'Its really easy - we do a really quick dance - about 3-4 mins, all we need is a tiny bit if floor space, & the music turned down for a couple of minutes. And we always get a really good reception from punters'.
5. If they say they don't have enough space we say...
'The dance is designed to be danced in really busy pubs, in tiny spaces. We hardly need any floor space.
We know this pub gets busy, so how about we rock up on the night, & if it's too busy to dance we won't. But if we (us & them) think there's a big enough gap we'll just do a quick one?'
Other tips:
It can be good to show them one of our films, or photos if they want to understand better what it is.
If they ask how many people say - just 5 dancers (I don't even mention musician now unless specifically asked).
Sometimes we say it's 'like Riverdance but even more high-energy - & we always get a really positive response from punters.' (Everyone knows Riverdance!) :-)
We don't mention the collecting unless they ask & we position it as
'We usually do a collection afterwards, so punters can show their appreciation. But if that's a problem we don't have to - mainly we just want to dance.'
If they say they don't have a licence for live music, say they don't need one - this is like a flash mob, no sooner have we started then we're done. (No idea if this is actually true, but if you say it with authority they tend to believe you, unless they're a Wetherspoons or Sam Smiths who have strict directions around this).
If they ask you to leave a written message for the manager, we try & capture the spirit if the spiel in it - just to get them 'excited'! So leave a very quick, 'fun' description of your request as well as contact details.
Also ask if you can call the manager back & when would be a good time.
MAIN POINTS TO GET ACROSS:
Really quick, no hassle for you, really good fun.
Say it like it's not a big ask & they might just believe you! :-)
Sent from my iPhone
Hi guys.
It's very late notice, but I may not be at practice tonight as I am
considering going home sick.
Is there some replacement that can be found or is someone bringing the
speakers again?
N x
Hello all,
I've managed to let an invite slip through the net from North Wood Morris. They have their day of dance on the 9th of May which we joined in with last year. They're based in Croydon and the day would be..well a day of dance! It is mainly a morris based day but it was good fun last year- I believe this was the one with a coach tour but i can't see anything about that on the invite, I'll try and find out. Either way I think we just need to get to and from Croydon on the day.
There is a feast in the evening and we can stay on the Friday or Saturday night although with it being so close I don't know why we would particularly.
If any of you get this before practice please consider the date so I can give them a response ASAP.
Cheers,
Becky
There's a discussion going on at The Nut's Facebook page about how to recruit for a team, but I thought you'd all be interested in what Frank Lee (who is often a DERT judge) has to say about looking like you're having fun! So, remember - shoulders, smiles and fingers. Or, in Sinead's more catchy phrase, teeth, tits and toes :-)
Ffion x
Please take a look at my blog on Welsh folk songs - caneuongwerin.wordpress.com
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2015 08:46:37 -0800
To: 164866403667090(a)groups.facebook.com
From: notification+f62=9zty(a)facebookmail.com
Subject: Re: [The Nut] Does anyone have any tips on recruitment?
FacebookFrank Lee commented on Tom Sennett's post in The NutFrank Lee 6 February 16:46 Just be really good at what you do. Look like you're having fun. It's RAPPER, so don't be stiff and starchy. Get some fun into it and make it look like you're enjoying it. Don't pretend it's dead easy - it needs to look like a challenge, oh yes, and one other thing, make it look like its fun. If the audience isn't stamping and clapping, and cheering at the end, either you're not doing it right, or you're dancing at a Conservative party conference. If they are, recruitment will take care of itself. Mingle with the audience and be approachable, chat to them, don't be hell-bent on getting to the next pub. Make it look like you're having a good time. (Got the message yet? - I'm giving away DERT judge's secrets here for your benefit!) If that lot doesn't work, you might as well give-up I reckon. Oh, and the age thing, the team that got me hooked must have been in their 70s. I was 12. 'Nuff sed.Comment historyEdwin Dyson6 February 14:01Offer to dance at your local ceilidhs in the interval. All team to attend in kit, dance with people and hand out marketing materialFfion Mair6 February 13:25Lots of good suggestions already. I just looked at our current team list to see what recruitment method has been most successful for us. Over half of our members were part of a Morris side or clog team before joining Tower Ravens. Almost half had danced rapper before with another team (mostly university and youth teams). Therefore making yourself known in the folk world is very important – going to festivals and days of dance, being present on social media, getting in local press.
We hold workshops once a year, just after the uni term has started. We once danced at a uni freshers ceilidh to get recruits but it didn’t work (at least not directly). Only one person has ever turned up to a workshop on spec – everyone else has come because they already knew someone in the team so I agree that getting your friends to come along is important, and that having a dedicated beginners day makes them feel welcomed.
We do carry business cards with us on dance outs and get several people saying they’re interested in joining. This has actually never materialised. One person did join us after seeing Thrales dance which, again, shows the value of getting other teams to be your friends!Edwin Dyson6 February 13:11It is Paul, but sadly the most time and labour intensive. Hence talking to people in the pubs on crawls.Paul Davenport6 February 13:10We've done schools work, recruitment drives etc. the thing that works best is word of mouth and one-to-one persuasion.Edwin Dyson6 February 13:06Fiund a local business that's shit hot on twitter etc, ask them to be your sponsor for a nominal sum. Get them to help promote you.View all commentsOriginal postTom Sennett6 February 12:48Does anyone have any tips on recruitment?
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Hello to those coming to Cecil Sharp House next week -
I was thinking - since our main number 3s will not be with us for Tuesday (which means we probably won't be doing a tumble) how about we do the Beadnell dance instead?
The reason I suggest this is because as part of Flo's exhibition there will be a painting based on the Beadnell rapper team. Therefore to do the dance seems apt!
Just a thought...
Laura
Hello all,
Just a reminder that there is a practice this Sunday starting at 2 and carrying on into the early evening.
I would recommend bringing food of some sort, the plan is to stay until around 7 without a specific dinner break and then we can all get home.
The other dates are Saturdays where, for obvious reasons, we can start earlier and leave earlier, I just think it's worth staying a little later since we can't stay until 2.
Everyone is welcome to come to the practice but the focus is very much on bringing people of to speed on the new dance, if you haven't previously worked on the new dance you probably won't get a chance to on Sunday- after this we can hopefully start dancing it out!
See you all on Sunday or Monday,
Becky xx
Hello,
Thanks for a good practice last night. I think we had a total of 14 people! Both dances are starting to look a little tidier and Westerhope is also getting longer :-)
On Sunday we'll work through the 'need to decide' and 'need to perfect' columns on the new dance document (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MxSLGDyWD2HE4MiG92Eneehd0Dvg6QqyBpk…) probably starting at tits and working backwards. We'll save popcorn and tumbling for near the end because I don't want us to get too tired or injured at the beginning of the afternoon. Well, I don't want us to get injured at all if possible! We can also work a bit on the styling of the double stepping.
On Monday we will spend some time making sure Jubilee (or Beadnell - does anyone have a preference?) looks decent for our performance at Cecil Sharp the following day. I'd also like to make sure Jo can get through the new dance as I will be away the following week (16 Feb).
Cheers,
Ffion x
Someone left two silver rings and a watch on the mantlepiece at practice tonight. I've got them and will bring them next week. Let me know if they're yours and you need them back sooner! X
Morning all,
Thanks for a great crawl last night. I think I counted 6 pubs and 9 dances, 3 of which were Westerhope and one of which even had a successful backlock ;-) congratulation to Laura W on her first dance out. There were lots of good comments from the crowds, such as "How do they do that?!", but my favourite was definitely "have you come out of Wolf Hall?"
Here's the video I took of the final Jubilee http://youtu.be/IgPJ3D7exNg. I think it's a good dance so I've made it public. Let me know if you want me to made it private.
Hope you all have great weekends and see you on Monday!
Ffion x
