As per the request of one of the DanceNet readers, here are copies of the past ramblings of the DanceNet Webmaster.
These group mailings take up a lot of my time. I usually use only two lines from press releases so having to read all the text just wastes a lot of my time. I usually put them at the bottom of the pile to process. Newsletters are even worse because they usually contain the same information from the previous week so I have to waste time reading them again and then checking to see if I've already typed it in. These, too, get pushed to the bottom of the pile.
As you can guess by now, press releases and newsletters get a very low priority from me. And if I run out of time before I get to these mass mailings? Well, that information probably won't get published on the website on time.
If you want to make sure I pay attention to your note so I can add your information to the calendars, address the email to *me*, as in "please add this to your website, Benson" in the subject line. And keep the content of the email short so I can figure out in a few seconds if it's something I already got or need to deal with right away.
Oh yeah...things that go out to group mailings like Yahoo Groups or similar things like that is not the same as sending an announcement to *me*. There's no guarantee that I'm on any particular mailing list. And don't expect me to be a regular on any "forum". Do not make announcements in a discussion forum like the one on It's All Swing or Swing Monkey and expect that information to magically appear on this website. I honestly don't have the time to spend on those forums and this website is not my job so there's no incentive for me to follow those forums.
If you're in the dance business and your business changes (for example, you move or stop running your dance business), you should see what websites link to your website or even mention you. If you stopped running a regular dance, it'd be considerate of you for your customers to make sure you get taken off any websites that mention your dance venue. After all, you wouldn't want them showing up to closed doors at your former venue.
Also, I recognize that a lot of you still aren't Internet-savvy yet. The fact that you're listed on the Internet doesn't mean you're listed on this website. Some other websites have copied the information from this website without any intention of maintaining it so they'll be listing your venue long after you've gotten out of the business. Do not assume I have anything to do with that other website. It'll be your responsibility to contact other webmasters to get your information updated on their websites.
There's no denying DJ Mez's place in the chronicles of swing dancing in the Boston dance scene. Dan took over Thursday nights in the mid-90's in the ballroom of the Veronique restaurant on Longwood Avenue in Brookline and started up the weekly West Coast Swing dancing at Vera's Rhythm & Blues Club.
Vera's moved to the VFW in Cambridge and somewhere around 1998 or so, Vera's switched Lindy Hop and became Swing City. Anyone who's ever gone there can remember how wildly successful that has been.
In the entire time, Dan's business sense brought about a major marketing campaign to bring in new dancers into the local community which was the major reason why Swing City was so popular for so many years. Many dance studios in the Boston area probably owe Dan Mezrich for the work he did to bring new dancers to Swing City where they found out about places where they could take dance lessons so they could dance at Swing city.
I hope you will join me in supporting Swing City.
If you run dances and/or teach classes, please read the frequently asked questions. I tend to update this website Sunday night or early Monday morning. I would really rather not see new information Monday morning for something happening that week because that means the dance promoter is *expecting* me to drop everything just to make sure their information is on this website in time for their customers to see it. I almost always ignore those notes.