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Page 9 InCider Press December 2005 |
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An idea-generating COTS seminar was held in Omaha November 18-20. Four members, Terry Nanninga, Steve Fisher, Bill Hanson and I, had the opportunity to attend. New ideas were plentiful. We all are energized to share them. I had the opportunity to participate in the Class about marketing and public relations. The class was led by Lee Roth, Mid-Atlantic District - Hunterdon County NJ chapter. He has been the Marketing and Public Relations officer as well as President of his chapter. He has had considerable experience to share with us. As any good teacher, he asked what each of us wanted from the class and made sure that our requests were met. Here are some gems received from the class for us to contemplate: ▀ A chapter’s logo is its brand. ▀ How does a chapter measure its barbershop product and its improvement? ▀ Sing for Relay for Life and at community rallies. ▀ Take photos of performances for use by various print media. ▀ Thank members for their contributions, maybe with a BOTM (Barbershopper Of The Month). ▀ Develop a succession of officers for 1, 3 or 5 years and take future officers to COTS. ▀ Apply for grants to obtain music and learning tapes to prepare for singing in nursing and retirement homes ▀ If a chapter seeks grants from a governmental agency, barbershop chapters need to be considered an arts group (not a group of singing hobbyists). ▀ How about a fact sheet about the chapter’s and quartets’ performances, activities and the number of people sung to for last 18 to 24 months for use in seasonal promotions and grant writing. Develop chapter and quartet photos for different seasonal themes to distribute to key places in the community. Distribute during community performance events full colored post cards about the chapter meetings and performance such as the spring show, singing valentines or quartet availabilities ▀ Seek ways to have the cost of an ad paid by a sponsoring business company. ▀ Ask for a name of a prospective singer when attendees at the spring show complete theinformation card for drawing of a door prize. ▀ How to pay middle or high school choruses to sing in the chapter show – provide them with 50 tickets and let them keep the sales money for the school chorus needs. ▀ Have a Performance Agreement for every performance event, whether for a fee or not, so the sponsor is known, responsibilities for risers, microphones, warm-up areas are planned, promotional responsibilities are understood, and the performance fee is specified. ▀ Do things to let a new member know that “These guys will give you a chance.”For example have a 5– man quartet with the new singer so he has a good experience. ▀ Also, provide new members CDs about barbershop singing, two Valentine Songs in the repertoire, brochure information, expectations of members, photos of shows and quartets, types of performances during a year, and chapter procedures such as BOTY, show practice schedules, practice tapes, etc
Many other ideas were presented for any chapter to consider. I suspect it would be useful for a committee to evaluate the ideas and recommend appropriate ones for consideration by our Board and chapter.
Harvey Kiser VP, Marketing and Public Relations ♪ |
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Wow! COTS Was an Idea-Generating Seminar |
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COTS attendees taking a break from classes are Harvey Kiser, Steve Fisher, Terry Nanninga and Bill Hanson |
