Thread: how far out do you post your events on your site?

i mean things which are open to the public, like which dates you'll be at a given restaurant, or appearing in a show.
for example, if you live someplace where there are only a few events a year and work at a restaurant that doesn't have predictable rotation, would you post both June's restaurant dates and shows that aren't until September and October if you don't have anything in between? (assuming you will have other restaurant dates in between, just nothing specific that you can post yet)
would doing so be good publicity to let people know in advance of an event? or would it send the message that you're not in high demand?

Gigs are not the only important events in a dancer's life. Workshop and training that you are attending ( on a one-up or reoccurring basis), classes you are teaching, dance organization functions that you are attending; all these help to give the potential customer a better idea of who you are and why they should hire you.

I just updated my site with events through the end of August.

My main reasoning is just that i'm too lazy/busy to update the site more often than that. I'll *try* to get to it as often as I can, remove events that are past and add on new ones as they come up. But in case I get very busy and don't have a chance, at least I'm covered for the summer.

(I maintain four different websites -- and maintaining them is only a tiny fraction of my workload -- so I try to keep it all as easy on myself as possible)

For my classes, I keep my info as up-to-date as I can, which means through the summer at this time of year.

For events I produce, I give as much notice as possible, with the "bigger" event having a longer notification.

For example, Market at the Casbah ME Dance Festival, which is held each April, has a much longer lead time than does my much smaller workshop/hafla/swap meet event. I have already put the date for the 2011 Festival on the website, but won't otherwise advertise until Nov/December (5-6 months out). The hafla event is coming up August 14, 2010 and I just started putting info out earlier this week, so about 3 months ahead.

Fariha, I don't gig regularly at restaurants/other public venues, either; if I was to *advertise* those gigs on my site, I'd probably do it 4-6 weeks ahead, if I knew the dates that far out. I agree that the perception of how busy a dancer is can be problematic, which is why, given your situation, I'd wait to post my Sept/Oct gigs closer to the event.

Deborah

I added a widget to my website on the right hand side. It shows my performances, student recitals with my students, workshops that I'm teaching but also workshops/events that I will be attending.

The goal of my calendar is to show customers that I'm involved in dance in many ways. I also like supporting events from other dancers this way. Thirdly my calendar is never empty, because it shows the next five events. even if they are workshops I'm taking, it still supports my image of a dancer who is willing to work on her dance.

I agree with Deborah, the bigger the event, the earlier you can post it on your website.

I generally post public events on my website as soon as I commit to them. I don't worry about if there's a gap - many of my gigs are private events that would not be posted on my website.

Originally Posted by laura 2

I generally post public events on my website as soon as I commit to them. I don't worry about if there's a gap - many of my gigs are private events that would not be posted on my website.

This is me, too. My goal in posting performances is to invite the public, prospective clients, prospective students, and existing students to come see us in action.

So I don't post workshops I'm attending, or private gigs. When I post a hafla where we'll be doing only a short performance in a longer show, I state that too.

I can see where different goals would call for different types of listings.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

... My goal in posting performances is to invite the public, prospective clients, prospective students, and existing students to come see us in action.....

this is my goal as well. ^_^
thank you everyone. i've got some thinking to do ^_^

Originally Posted by Lauren_

This is me, too. My goal in posting performances is to invite the public, prospective clients, prospective students, and existing students to come see us in action.

So I don't post workshops I'm attending, or private gigs. When I post a hafla where we'll be doing only a short performance in a longer show, I state that too.

I can see where different goals would call for different types of listings.

That makes sense. I tend to post any dance event where I will be teaching or performing so that prospective students and clients can see at a glance whether I am available on the date of their event. If I will be unavailable for a specific time frame, I will post that as well, but not post the reason unless it is a dance event.

You know, thinking about calendar-type stuff showing what we're up to . . .

My husband and I are on a mailing list for a popular band here in southern California. Periodically, we receive a postcard showing their gigs for the next period of time. They include events that are public, so their fans can find them, as well as their private gigs (no info on those other than date and city).

These guys are busy. It's impressive how busy they are. So maybe Mekyria's idea of putting stuff we go to as well as stuff we do is something to think about.

*thinking*

Deborah

I should add that I'm an active member of our dance community, I write articles, hoste a huge website with info on BD and I published a book on BD costuming a couple of years ago.

Other dancers can quickly see where they have a chance of running into me or see me perform. It creates a stronger bond with the community.

Actually, Mahsati's website inspired me to embed a Google calendar on my site. It lists all dance related events of mine from classes that I am taking or teaching, workshops, special events and I even block out days if I have a private gig or am going on vacation. Best thing about it is that people can add it to their google calendar...so it's interactive.

However, I also have a more concise performances for the GP page that lists events about 3-4 months ahead of time. The latest performance up there is in August.

ETA:
Performance page: Andalee Belly Dance - Performances
Calendar page: Andalee Belly Dance - Calendar

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

Actually, Mahsati's website inspired me to embed a Google calendar on my site. It lists all dance related events of mine from classes that I am taking or teaching, workshops, special events and I even block out days if I have a private gig or am going on vacation. Best thing about it is that people can add it to their google calendar...so it's interactive.

maybe this is because my grandpa was a police officer and i'm paranoid, but do you worry about stalkers with your private schedule (vacations, etc) up there? or someone seeing that you'll be out of town and robbing your house while you're away?

either way, i don't think i can pull that off, although i think it's a great idea when you actually HAVE a schedule. (lucky people.... living in cities.... ^_~)
I've talked to some other dancers around here. one gig a month is really busy for even the best in this area. (i mean tried out for the super-stars and has a loyal Arab fan base kindda best. this is why a couple of dance organization events in September (i checked the dates again. good thing! ^_~) are "big" enough to make me consider posting them)

i think it's really interesting how everyone has different strategies depending on how busy and what your region is like. maybe as we talk about this it'll be helpful to post a little about the dance climate you apply your strategies to?

Originally Posted by raqFariha

maybe this is because my grandpa was a police officer and i'm paranoid, but do you worry about stalkers with your private schedule (vacations, etc) up there? or someone seeing that you'll be out of town and robbing your house while you're away?

I tend to list those things as either "busy" or "unavailable" rather than "vacation/out of town" and most random random web searchers won't know whether that will mean my house is empty or whether I have a full family still at home. I don't consider it any more of a risk to me than having my weekly class schedules listed. In either case, people will know that I am not home at a specific time, but not necessarily that my house is empty or where I live. It is always a good thing to keep in mind, though!

Originally Posted by raqFariha

maybe this is because my grandpa was a police officer and i'm paranoid, but do you worry about stalkers with your private schedule (vacations, etc) up there? or someone seeing that you'll be out of town and robbing your house while you're away?

either way, i don't think i can pull that off, although i think it's a great idea when you actually HAVE a schedule. (lucky people.... living in cities.... ^_~)
I've talked to some other dancers around here. one gig a month is really busy for even the best in this area. (i mean tried out for the super-stars and has a loyal Arab fan base kindda best. this is why a couple of dance organization events in September (i checked the dates again. good thing! ^_~) are "big" enough to make me consider posting them)

i think it's really interesting how everyone has different strategies depending on how busy and what your region is like. maybe as we talk about this it'll be helpful to post a little about the dance climate you apply your strategies to?

I guess I haven't had any vacations to put down, but I do mark private gigs and block out those times. BTW I am in a large-ish metro area.

Originally Posted by raqFariha

i mean things which are open to the public, like which dates you'll be at a given restaurant, or appearing in a show.
for example, if you live someplace where there are only a few events a year and work at a restaurant that doesn't have predictable rotation, would you post both June's restaurant dates and shows that aren't until September and October if you don't have anything in between? (assuming you will have other restaurant dates in between, just nothing specific that you can post yet)
would doing so be good publicity to let people know in advance of an event? or would it send the message that you're not in high demand?

Okay, to be specific: Public events that are upcoming in the next month or two are on the front page. All events (including the beginning dates for class sessions) are on the events page, which has a link to it from the front page. The class schedule is on the classes page.

If you are not in high demand, and you know you are a good dancer who is learning and performing and participating as much as you can, then banish all insecurities. It would definitely be BAD publicity to not advertise your precious occasional gig :) Make your website an interesting, lively, informative place to visit. Enjoy your website, visit there often yourself :) and stay the course.
IMO

Oh, man. I would never even TRY to put up a website that lets people know when I'm available and when I'm not, because my availability is so much more complicated than just whether I'm gigging or not!

Most weekend nights are scheduled out weeks and weeks ahead... Theater tickets, dinner dates, plans to go camping, nights my favorite band is playing, art openings, etc etc etc etc. But if a gig opportunity arises.. well, I might be available and I might not. I need to know more about the gig first. LOL

Regarding the privacy issue: I put unavailable in certain blocks. It saved me from the 'we need a bellydancer during christmas/new years eve' inquiries, as I wanted to spent those days doing other things then dance :)

If I have other reasons why I'm unavailable, I don't put them out there.

I don't use my real name on my BD site (or other dance related fora, etc) and I tried thinking as a stalker/burglar by searching high and low for more personal information. I was glad to fail finding that information.

I post up-coming events that I'm attending (all, although not the specifics of a private gig, I'll just say private gig) AND events nearby that I'm not attending. This gives my students opportunity to see what's going on outside of MY life.