DanceCal.com FAQ

Why does this calendar exist?
Can I put this calendar on my site?
What kind of events will be added to the calendar?
What are the future plans?
What's a good promo text?
What's the domain?
What is the WAP version?
What are these "hide/only" buttons?
What if I want to search a more complicated set of dances?
Fusion?
What is the distinction between 'Workshop' and 'Exchange'
How come I still see Balboa events after clicking "hide" Balboa?
Blue Sex Change??

1: Why does this calendar exist?

After LindyExchange.com disappeared, we did not have a clearinghouse
for international events. Searching on google for a local calendar
or resource is one thing, but makes it impossible to see everything
that is up can coming by date. Here are some of our driving
motivations may help:

A) Content!
The designers were desperate for a calendar that made content a
priority. Finding information out about events shouldn't require
navigating fancy graphics or whatever layout the designer has chosen.
Events should be text and searchable, and easy to read. Information
should be immediately available. Content is king!
B) Features!
There are many possibilities that we wanted to see in a calendar.
As an example, the minimal WAP interface for viewing the calendar
from mobile phones. Being able to select time periods and choose
types of events to look at. Even changing how the week starts
so the calendar is easier to view. See "future plans" for more
ideas on what we'll be making available.
C) Blues!
To the best of my knowledge there was not currently a calendar
where you could see all the blues events available on a national level.
D) Quick Updates!
New events are usually posted within 24 hours, sometimes in minutes.
E) Configurability!
Prominent sites that want to include a calendar can have one
custom made to match their site, just contact me and let me know!

2: Can I put this calendar on my site?

Sure! If you run a dance site, then I suggest either linking
to the calendar directly, or, if you want to have actual calendar
content on your site, we can either help you create a custom calendar
that fits the rest of your site, or else you can just embed the
calendar into your page as an iframe:

As an example, see the embedded calendar at BluesDance.com

3: What kind of events will be added to the calendar?

This is only for special multi-day events that travelers from other
regions would want to know about. This is not a calendar
for one-day events, repeating events, events that only incidentally
include dancing, etc..

4: What are the future plans?

* More resources for event planners.
* Uploading of banners
* Auto-submission to Forums for overlapping events.
* More types of dances!
* Better local coverage - ability to see national events as
well as events within your "local area"

5: What's a good promo text?

Feel free to post to boards about this site. Suggested text:

Want to see all the dance events worldwide that you care about?
Want to look up events on your mobile phone?
Want a resource for Blues, Lindy, Balboa and Tango events?
Want an easy way to find all the info for your events
in one place with an easy to configure calendar?

The answer is now here with:

http://ExchangeCal.com/

That's a heck of a lot of events! You can show/hide
events by clicking on the menu at the top, or you can
just pick a specific dance to view with one of our
subcalendars, such as:

http://BluesExchange.com/
http://Lindy.ExchangeCal.com/
http://Tango.ExchangeCal.com/
http://BalCal.com/
http://FusionCal.com/
http://BluesCal.com/

6: What's the domain?

We actually have a few. Some (that have names of dances in them) will
initially only show the calendar for that dance. We're still trying
to figure out what our finally identity will be, until then you can
reach us at:

http://BluesExchange.com/
http://BalCal.com/
http://BluesCal.com/
http://FusionCal.com/
http://DanceCal.com/
http://ExchangeCal.com/

7: What is the WAP version?

You can go to our WAP site
to get just a simple, condensed listing of text information.

This is useful for, say, looking at the full calendar from a cell phone.

While the WAP site actually uses a simplified set of HTML instead of
true WML, most phones should be able to display the content. Let
me know if yours cant!

8: What are these "hide/only" buttons?

The "hide" button will remove the given dance or type of event from
the calendar (which can then be brought back by clicking on "show").

The "only" button is similar to clicking on "hide" for all other dances
or types, though you can have more than one "only" dance, for example
you can view "only Blues" and "only Tango" to only see events that contain
either Blues or Tango content.

9: What if I want to search a more complicated set of dances?

You can specify an expression in the URL using parentheses, '|' as
'or' and '+' as 'and' and '!' as 'not' with an example being:

http://dancecal.com/?showDances=((Blues|Fusion)+!Lindy)

Which will show any Blues or Fusion events that don't have Lindy.

10: Fusion?
There are plenty of people who are only interested in Fusion events
and are only looking at the Fusion calendar, and there are also
plenty of people who are not interested in going to Fusion events, we
want to make sure we have a calendar solution for both parties.

Some events have multiple dances, some events have Fusion. On the calendar
we treat an event as either multi-dance OR Fusion.

The way we determine the difference is simple and can cover most
cases. If you have multiple dances that are separate (such as an
event with a Lindy room and a Blues room) then just choose the
appropriate dances. Do not select Fusion just because you think
Fusion dancers will be coming, or your event will suddenly be
considered a Fusion event.

If you are mixing together dance styles and dance music, i.e.,
people aren't specifically dancing Dance Style X to Dance Music X,
then it's a Fusion event, and you select Fusion, you can select which
dances you are planning on 'Fusing' if you so desire, but it will be
treated as a Fusion event.

I recognize that many of the organizers in the Fusion scene are very
excited about and very good at marketing, but please don't market your
Fusion event as a non-Fusion event and please don't market your non-Fusion
event as a Fusion event. You'll only get unhappy dancers and you'll miss
out on attracting the dancers who are actually searching the calendar for
events such as yours.

And by the way, the Fusion world has started using the word 'Exchange'
differently than the rest of the dance scene - for the sake of this
calendar we're sticking to the orginal definition, so please read below:

11: What is the distinction between 'Workshop' and 'Exchange'

If it has classes in the daytime, then it's a "Workshop," plain
and simple. Some events may call themselves "Exchanges" by name,
but on the calendar we distinguish entirely by the presence of
classes. If an Exchange event only has one or two classes, as
a kind of "bonus" - then this is still an Exchange, but a series
of classes during the daytime should be classified as Workshop.

I understand that your workshop event may have the name "Exchange" -
and disregarding whether this is the proper name to use for it
(Fusion people seem to enjoy mixing up words as much as they mix up
their dances :-), you'll want to classify it was a workshop because
that way you'll be sure to be noticed by people who are looking for
classes.

For more information on the history of a "Dance Exchange" see the
wikipedia entry for the origin of the words (originally from the Lindy
community even though other dances such as Blues and Tango now
hold Exchanges as well):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_exchange

12: How come I still see Balboa events after clicking "hide" Balboa?

Many events support multiple dance types. Choosing to "hide" one
dance type (such as Balboa) will still show events that have other
dances, such as "Lindy, Balboa" events. We may come up with a
more complete interface to this in the future.

13: Blue Sex Change??

No no no.

Blues Exchange.

Please capitalize the second 'E'

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