All of these recruitment ideas are articles I have written during 1997. These ideas were used for my publicity presentations to the Kentucky Callers Association and the Indiana Callers Associations. Several of these articles were published in The American Square Dance Magazine during 1997.

We need more people getting on the recruitment bandwagon. If everyone would set a 3 or 4 year plan to continually contact the general population of people, each year the numbers would grow. People just need to be consistent and persistent.
Statement of Fact: If there were enough people filling every dance hall, we would have No Problem.

Recruiting Ideas: No time better to plan than the present.

The best recruiting time is fast approaching us and we must plan, prepare and take action. Starting Memorial Day through National Square Dance Month, there are many opportunities to have wide spread exposure in your communities.

Goal: To attract the attention of Non-Square Dancing Folks. Most of us experienced dancers have exhausted friends, family and co-workers. We need to target the greater population of people who are very unaware of the fun they could be experiencing. We need to give them a positive image. No matter what list or level we may aspire to, Let us bring a new community of people into our activity and again fill all levels (Remember One Size Does NOT fit All).

Tools: Video Monitor, Flyers, Coupons, Business Cards, Posters, Brochures, Magnets, Balloons, Buttons, Ribbons, Promotional T-shirts, Street Banners, Parade Floats, etc.

Events to Target: Parades, Community Festivals, Church Festivals, County Fairs, Cultural Events, Store Openings, School Carnivals, Taste of (Community Name), Founders Day, Community Picnics, Company Party or Picnic, Sports Outings, etc.

Places To Target: Libraries, Community Centers, Churches & Religious groups, Chamber of Commerce, Schools, Large Businesses, Local Clubs or Associations(Jaycees, Knights of Columbus, Parents Without Partners, Scouts, etc.), Doctors & Dentist Office Waiting Room Tables, A Booth at a very large Flea Market or Trade Show, Telethons, etc.

Let 1997, 1998 & 1999 be the years to Promote, Promote, Promote. Let us use this as our battle cry. I personally would like to see square dancing make it into the next century.

While we still have the manpower and time - Let us have a goal to be positive and bring back the numbers of people into the activity we love.

Let us promote year round and have classes available for people who cannot start in September.

Let us keep all the levels - Community Dance Programs (CDP) through Challenge Dancing. If we bring in lots of people, not all will fit in the same peg. Like I said before One Size Does Not Fit All. Some people only want to have Fun and are limited on time available to take classes-CDP. Some like the challenges of the different levels of achievement-Basic through Advanced and Challenge.

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