We’ve all been to them at least once or twice. As is stands, there are two major steppin affairs that have been able to pull close to 2,600 people from more than 30 cities at one time. Atlanta, Georgia’s Good Deeds International’s Heritage Ball and Rockin’ Rodney Mack’s White Party Weekend. Both of these sets are in ideal time slots with one being in February and the other taking place in June. Taking into consideration the amount of time, money and schedule changing that these events cause us to make, there may actually be an opportunity for ONE more gigantic steppers weekend affair on our calendar that can possibly rival these numbers.
I decided to take the time to write this mockup of what I see as being all of the elements necessary to draw the attention of those party seekers that are willing to sacrifice to attend it. I mean let’s face it…we can’t go to everything but we can go to the events that pull out all the stops for us.
Time of year and Location
February has the Heritage Ball, June has Rodney Mack’s White Party, Pete Frazier and the Gents have September and the World’s Largest. One event occurs in the south and the others are in the Midwest. Stay away from January (people recovering from Christmas and New Year’s spending). You definitely need a month to recover financially from large events so that leaves out March, April, and July That leaves October or early November as good candidates. It sure would be nice to see large affairs going on around the east coast in places like New York. For some reason it seems that the west coast parties are extremely costly to attend with plane tickets averaging around $400 round trip.
The Logistics of the City
Undeniably, Atlanta’s “one stop shop” mentality accommodates 97% of their out of towners based on the fact that if you are taking the plane ride in, you are walking right across the street to take the people mover train to your host hotel. If you are hungry, there are about 15 places in the airport that can accommodate everything your taste buds could want AND if you need small items, there are reasonably priced items you can purchase inside the airport. Did I mention that the venue is on site? If you just HAVE to go the mall, shuttles are provided to take you to and from them. If I don’t have to worry about how to get from point A-Z, I’m sold. If I have to go to a city and depend on car rides and taxis…well, that is going to cause me to have to come up off of more money that I may not necessarily want to spend. By the way, it’s okay to have your event in the suburbs. People will make the connection.
The Costs Involved
Corporate sponsors and constant fundraising is a must! A line item budget of close to $10,000 to $20,000 will be sufficient to pull off a stellar 3 day event of the over 1,500 people magnitude. Seriously!
No one really wants to spend inordinate amounts of money on anything in this economy. Your promotional group or you as the promoter will have to think of a way to factor in two to three nights in a hotel, admission to ALL parties, gas, bus and or airline tickets to $400 or less. It can be done if you seek the assistance of corporate sponsors to help keep your pricing down. For example, if you book 75% of a hotel with LOW priced party pre-reservation incentives, ask hotels to provide room rates of no more than $80.00-$90.00. If your sponsors are willing to donate dollars, use THAT money to cover the food costs at the venues if nothing else. In addition, ask for a number of complimentary rooms (around 10), discounts on food trays, and discounts on breakfasts or FREE breakfasts. Cleveland’s Dancin Dons and Divas have the free breakfasts plan down to a tee. Every morning at their Black Out Affairs, guests are treated to omelets, pancakes, fruits, etc. without having to get up, go out and get dressed. Remember, you want to develop the “one stop shop” mentality. You have to dangle a carrot in front of a person sometimes to get their attention.
The Venue
I think that we are all aware of the fact that we want to dance on floors that are wooden or marble, crack free and large enough where couples can step without bumping into other people. One thing that a lot of promoters don’t think about when they are selecting these venues is selecting venues that allow you to see the feet of steppers. For men and women this is extremely important. If I can ONLY see the top of a stepper, my view of the total package is skewed. There are venues in Cleveland, Toledo and even Detroit’s Shriner’s Silver Gardens that allows steppers to see a stepper in their totality. When we say we want our steppin community to improve, this is one way to do it. Show me the whole picture.
The Announcements during the Party
It is no secret that steppers don’t really like for a party to be interrupted during a set. It can be compared to someone throwing water on you while you are still sleeping. An option is to have a brochure placed on the tables with the sponsor groups’ picture on it with a small biography. In addition, if the group members can stand at the door and greet the guests as they enter and as they leave, then is it REALLY necessary to stop a party and have them take a bow? If I’m attending a set, I usually know whose set I’m attending ahead of time. If a presentation just HAS to be made, a one-time stoppage of 12:30am to 12:45am is acceptable. If an entertainer is invited to sing, don’t clear the floor; announce him while people are still dancing. Also, encourage your people to still step while he/she is singing.
The Food
This is where it gets tricky. If your city has a venue that allows for a reputable catering service to come in and put food out, this is what you need to have out between 9:30pm-10:00pm. Fried wing dings are a must! Tossed salad or celery sticks and carrots, pasta salad, or SMALL finger foods. As a person that caters on the side, let me tell you what I mean when I say SMALL finger foods. Potato chips served in individual small coffee filters, cream cheese inside cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese sticks cut in halves served in chafing dishes, candy mints in small packages, etc. These items are nowhere near as expensive as sit down meals. You can feed over a 1,000 people by spending only $500.00 if you know what you are doing.
The Guests
Steppin must still be respected by the ones that exposed us to the dance in the first place. This means that Chicago must have something to do with your set. You must hire a DJ, specific invited steppers, and media personnel i.e. Lamont Watts or Markie Bee. Jeff Clark, Terrance Pratt, Tracey Bivens, Ken Bedford, Cynthia Bean, Tonya Harris (website designer) are other names to consider because they can provide you or your group with exposure. Chicagoans have a STRONG following. You can’t get around that.
The Workshops
You and the instructors or “never taught before” instructors need to get together and select a male and female instructor with very similar teaching styles from Chicago i.e. Tyk Myn and Charnice, to come to your city at least 6-8 months before the mega set and have them give group workshops to your INSTRUCTORS, not students. By the time your major set occurs, your instructors will be ready to assist you in getting their students ready for your mega set. Your home town instructors are going to play a big role in helping you sell tickets so you should definitely treat them right. As you compile your guest list, you want to think about inviting people (not based off of competitions alone) but upon what makes them stand out in the dance. A group of about 10-12 should be invited from Chicago and then 5-10 standouts from OTHER major cities for balance. These invited guest steppers should NOT be conducting ANY workshops. I’ll explain why next.
In the above paragraph, I mentioned bringing in a couple of steppers from Chicago to teach your instructors. If you recall, these instructors have been coming to YOUR city for the last 6-8 months training your instructors. They would be the only ones who teach ANY workshops during this weekend. This cuts down on confusion immensely! Workshops have become a joke now in that many people feel they are being “duped” and swindled out of their money. Your initial instructors from Chicago will be able to ELEVATE your patrons to the next intermediate to advanced level because your TRAINED instructors will have a class base that is all similar. This is called homogenized instruction.
The Down Time
These are the times when we are not steppin. Give people something constructive to do and NEW. Offer these services FREE of charge with the suggestion to give $5.00 or more in tips per person.
Complimentary manicures and pedicures for men and women, BACK AND FOOT MASSAGES, shuttles to affordable shopping malls, a structured meet and greet networking game with male and female steppers in a room getting to know one another through conversation with no steppin music being played and with prizes offered. Steppin Aerobics that are age friendly based off the basic step, a taste fest (get your area restaurants to provide tiny morsels of what may be culture specific or popular in that region i.e. if the set is in New Orleans, catfish beignets, crawfish and Cajun rice might be served in the hospitality sweet all day. Some hotels or convention centers may allow this or may hook up something themselves. Put this on your list of requests when seeking venues.
The After Party
If your hotel has a main ballroom, then most assuredly they have a small one. Allow guests to travel upstairs to the smaller ballroom. Therefore, if they want to go into their rooms and change shoes they can do so without getting in cars and trying to find places in the wee hours of the morning. People tend to be hungry after sets that don’t have food, so food should be available to purchase even if guests don’t want to attend the after party at 2:00am in the morning. Get with some local eateries and set up delivery services of fried “things” or sandwiches to be delivered to the host hotel in bulk quantity or have several of your host and hostesses take food orders around 1:30am and have them go to the local chicken place or pizza place with the food orders. If all else fails, have one of your hosts or hostesses selling grilled hot dogs from one of the suites with a kitchenette. Allow guests to be able to purchase nice sized bags of chips, fruit, chilled juices, etc. I know that last point is illegal as all get out but sometimes you have to bend the rules to make your guests happy.
Marketing
Be prepared or have members of your group travel to at least 15-20 sets around the country with not only flyers in hand but videos marketing your event. They need to be professionally produced and sent out all over Facebook and through e-mails. In addition, try to connect with a local celebrity from your city who will help endorse your cause.
Giveaways
Ideas for souvenirs. If you want to be remembered, you have to smother me with love. Key chains, a picture spread on one of the national steppin websites, CDs with popular steppin music, pre-paid private lesson giveaways, a steppers kit (hand towel, lotion, powder, and gum/mints), and coupons to clothing stores, free local event ticket giveaways, etc. These items run the gamut.
Well, there you have it! While nothing is ever 100% perfect, this blueprint will definitely have you on your way to being able to compete with the Heritage Ball and Rockin’ Rodney Mack’s White Party. Promoters, are you up for the challenge?
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