YDW Registration Statement and Survey

Registration, Communication, and Some Data

We know many people are disappointed that they didn’t get into this year’s event and are frustrated that the window for doing so was so short. Others are annoyed that they didn’t know registration had started. As a Committee, we’ve tried to communicate broadly and effectively about the registration timing and process. This year, we announced the registration dates on May 10 to our email list (which includes all previous YDW attendees plus anyone who has joined the list on our web site), posted on our Facebook group around the same time, added registration information to our web site as soon as we had it finalized, and made several more Facebook posts as the opening of registration approached. We are genuinely sorry if you didn’t know when registration was starting. We are also genuinely sorry if you didn’t know registration would fill up in less than 24 hours; we expected to fill quickly but were caught off guard by how fast it actually happened. Please let us know in the survey if you have ideas about how we can spread the word better in the future.

We’ve also heard the concern that filling up fast is an indication of a YDW “in crowd,” or that it excludes newcomers from attending. We are happy to report that this doesn’t seem to be a major problem in practice. Here’s what our records show:

  • In 2012 40% of registrants will be coming to YDW for the first time. In 2009, 2010, 2011, new campers were 66%, 52%, and 48% respectively.
  • After 2012 only 10 people will have attended every YDW, which includes 4 committee members; 30 people will have attended 4 out of 5 YDWs; and 35 people will have come for the last 3 years straight (2010, 2011, and 2012).

Still, we’re always striving to make YDW more accessible and welcoming, especially to new people; this is something that’s very important to us, and we value your thoughts on how we can do even better.

Supply and Demand
One idea that many people have suggested is to increase the size of the weekend. We’ve discussed this option in the past, and generally agreed that our current size (around 160 people, including performers, committee, and crew) works well for the weekend for two reasons

  1. it helps us achieve the community-building and networking aspects of our mission; and
  2. we’re not sure that a larger venue exists that would meet our needs for dance space, affordability, cooking our own meals, and housing a larger group (believe us, we called a lot of them last year in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene).

Therefore, for the foreseeable future there will be a limited number of spaces at YDW, and in any given year not everyone who wants to will be able to attend. That’s frustrating, to be sure.

However, if we take a step back and think about what this trend means, it’s really exciting. In the last five years we have built a strong community of young people who are passionate about traditional dance and music, geographically diverse but closely connected, and generally talented, friendly and awesome. We think the current supply and demand problem offers all of us an opportunity to spread the excitement and energy that has built up around YDW far and wide into the broader dance community.

Here’s what we mean: One of our goals since the beginning of YDW has been to encourage young dancers to be more involved in their local communities. Maybe we can’t all attend YDW every year, but we can use our passion, our connections, and our talent to enliven dance weekends in our home communities. We can show up, bring friends, volunteer, organize, and apply that amazing YDW energy to making our local scene more vibrant. Think about what you love about YDW — whether it’s the open mics, the tabletop conversations, the fun dancing, the friendly vibe — and see if you can help generate that wherever you are.

Perhaps there are existing events in your region that would be just as wonderful as YDW if you and a group of dance buddies showed up and brought some YDW energy to the floor. For those in the Northeast we’ll get the ball rolling by suggesting a few upcoming options:

The Survey, and the Future

We are discussing registration systems for next year, and it’s very likely we’ll do things differently. We cannot overstate how much we value your input and advice to help us find the best solution. We appreciate all the suggestions you’ve already made, and we will take all of these ideas into consideration. Please also follow the link below to take our survey on the registration issue. We want to hear from EVERYONE, including people who got in and those who didn’t, about how we can make it better next year. Your feedback has always helped us improve YDW year-to-year, and this is no exception.

YDW Registration Survey