"First Time Dancers get in Free" Promotion Results: For five weeks this winter we ran a special promotion at the Downtown Amherst dance that all First Time Contra dancers get in free. The results were impressive:
Jan 29 -12 Feb 26 - 10 Mar 5 - 20 Mar 19 - 8 Mar 29 - 9 Total new dancers: 59 Avg: 11.8 Median: 10 Overall attendance was normal meaning the variations in "Free" numbers was not affected by the band as far as I could tell. Many of the new dancers said they would be back and in fact I saw quite a few of them both at subsequent dances in Amherst and at Greenfield. Some came early in the promotion and then brought friends the following week. Our organizing committee has discussed various options to draw new dancers, primarily "First Time Free" and "Second Time Free". The "Second Time Free" option gives you more feedback about how many returnees you are actually getting; the "First Time Free" simply lowers the bar to the ground and is harder to resist (friend to friend). (We also included the option for anyone who might have tried contra once or twice a long time ago to be considered "First Time" but I don't know that anyone came in saying that.) Our series averages 75-85 total each week with a range of 60-160 depending on the band. The median is definitely under 100 but has gradually increased over the last almost four years. I think the promotion was a tremendous success and we're having an ongoing discussion about whether to try "Second Time Free" for a while or just implement "First Time Free" periodically. For programming reasons, I don't think it makes sense to have it for every dance, especially dances that will be extremely full, such as if Elixir or PeM play or if it's a techno contra (which has other issues for beginning dancers). However, we might pick a month or a block of dates and do it again periodically. Sincerely, Will Will Loving Founder & Programming Director Downtown Amherst Contra Dance http://amherstcontra.org
