Thread: Has anyone sponsored a BellyDance SuperStars Workshop?

How was the experience and do you have any tips for sponsoring one of their workshops?
Are there any members of the Superstars right now that you feel fellow dancers would like to learn from?
I was asked to sponsor one of them for a workshop when they come to town in November and need some advice.

I cannot recommend my own teacher and mentor Sabah enough. She is a fantastic dancer, amazing teacher and all around sweet person. I'm going to miss her so much once she goes back on the road!

Originally Posted by mrsnj20

How was the experience and do you have any tips for sponsoring one of their workshops?
Are there any members of the Superstars right now that you feel fellow dancers would like to learn from?
I was asked to sponsor one of them for a workshop when they come to town in November and need some advice.

I have hired BDSS for the Vegas Intensive. I'm not sure it's entirely a good comparison for you, but I am familiar with their contracts and terms. My email is samira(at)bellydanceintensive(dot)com, and I'll do my best to give you a response, but you might need to be patient until after I'm done with the event this year (it's in 2 weeks).

Mostly, the best advice I can give is to sit down and write out a budget. Be prepared to work hard. I am pretty sure they are going to want payment in advance of the workshops. That's typical. I have no idea if they'll work with you on that or not. I've always paid in full 30 before the event.

Originally Posted by laura 2

I cannot recommend my own teacher and mentor Sabah enough. She is a fantastic dancer, amazing teacher and all around sweet person. I'm going to miss her so much once she goes back on the road!

I was thinking that Sabah might be good. I am still looking for a place right now to hold it. I'm wondering what the average turn -out is for one of the workshops.

hennayahenna on bhuz also sponsored them in Japan
you might want to contact her

Originally Posted by mrsnj20

I am still looking for a place right now to hold it. I'm wondering what the average turn -out is for one of the workshops.

The average turnout won't do YOU much good. What you need to get a handle on is how many folks will show up for YOUR workshop. In our area, workshop attendance predictors are:
1) Who the sponsor is (Folks have strong opinions about other folks, and rarely attend workshops sponsored by someone they've decided not to like)
2) The genre (Tribal a la RB is the most reliable draw)
3) The size of the sponsor's community (her students are the most reliable source of customers)
4) Competition for workshop dollars: two great workshops in similar genres one week apart from each other will force folks to choose... they probably won't go to both)
5) The economy; folks are more careful about spending money on workshops than they were 3 years ago
6) What folks will get out of it: people want to know more, dance better, perform better, make more money performing, meet new people, learn dance and acting skills, learn music skills. The more needs that are legitimately met by the workshop, the more potential students.

At this point, I'm already boring myself and maybe you too. Let me point you in the direction of an article by Samira (Las Vegas) published on oriental dancer website.
Producing Belly Dance Events, With Samira, producer of Belly dance Intensive .

Another aspect is to find out what the BDSS plan to do for YOU to make the workshop successful. Their website lists upcoming workshops during the tour, but the workshop descriptions have no links to the website of whoever is putting the workshop on, the descriptions are in a popup window and the formatting is minimal. Do they advertise your workshop to THEIR mailing list? Will they let you advertise the workshop at their show? Based on past experiences, can they tell you how many (or percent, whatever) students who are NOT on the sponsor's mailing list are likely to show up at the workshop? Stuff like that.

Originally Posted by maurazebra

Another aspect is to find out what the BDSS plan to do for YOU to make the workshop successful. Their website lists upcoming workshops during the tour, but the workshop descriptions have no links to the website of whoever is putting the workshop on, the descriptions are in a popup window and the formatting is minimal. Do they advertise your workshop to THEIR mailing list? Will they let you advertise the workshop at their show? Based on past experiences, can they tell you how many (or percent, whatever) students who are NOT on the sponsor's mailing list are likely to show up at the workshop? Stuff like that.

Thanks for posting that article link. It was interesting to re-read it 2 years later. I'm not sure there is much more I would add, except a bit more on licensing woes. LOL.

As far as the BDSS, I really wouldn't count on them to promote your event. They post stuff on their website, but they aren't always timely about it. In fact, they aren't really timely about a lot of their emails, etc. And I've never really seen them do email blasts for anything but their own events, which is fine.

I agree with Maura that you need to know your local market. While tribal is popular here in Vegas, I've also found that the Oriental workshops get more support and have higher attendance. Every market is different.

You can offer a free survey to your local community online using surveymonkey.com It's a great way to get feedback, but I'd caution you to not rely on the numbers exactly. If you ask people if they will attend an event, they will all jump up and down and say yes...but only a small percentage of those folks will actually attend. Nobody is ever registered until they've put money down (even a small deposit).

Offer payment plans if you are able to. Give yourself 6 months to plan (at least). Find a rocking deal for space costs. Hold a hafla in conjunction with the workshops. Sell bottled water and snacks.

I have sponsored a BDSS workshop before and definitely agree with what many people say here. If you know you will have solid local support, can find a fabulous deal on the location rental and give everyone plenty of time to plan (and pay) for the workshops, it could be worth it. We had Bozenka and the workshop was spectacular!

Please feel free to e-mail me at maryraks at gmail if you have questions! I'm happy to share my experience.