Ian Henzel Plan For Square Dance Recruitment

Type
Document || Winning Ways Story
Author
Ian Henzel
Date
2000-ish??
Links
Document PDF
Description

Ian Henzel is the creator of the Henzel Plan, which is a multi-phase, multi-armed approach to recruiting new people to join square dance clubs. The plan was originally sold to clubs by mail, and eventually entered the public domain (intentionally or unintentionally) at some point to surface as a PDF document on the US Square Dance Association (USDA) website.

This pamphlet provides information on the recruitment of new square dancers. For additional educational information on square dancing, contact the United Square Dancers of America Education Committee.

Document Introduction

Ian Henzel first introduced this square dance recruitment plan in the Chicago area to Chi Town Squares in the mid-nineties. Paul Waters, from Los Angeles, heard about it and introduced it to his group at about the same time. It works quite well in these areas where it has been followed to the letter. It should be noted that this plan is labor intensive and requires a dedicated person to oversee the operation and many more workers to implement the plan and keep it moving forward. There is a cost for mailings and phone calls and booth rentals at community functions if so desired. This recruiting plan can be implemented at the club level or regional level.

USDA was introduced to this plan by Paul Waters at the USDA sponsored round table held in Baltimore in January of 1999. It was attended by many national organizations interested in keeping our square dance activity alive and well.

The objective of the program is to build a list of possible square dancing prospects, then converting as many as possible to class members through personal contact. The whole program is based on personal contact. Statistics from Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Diego, where the plan is in full operation, show that for every 100 names on the list, probably 10-20 people will come to class at least once and 6-14 of them will actually take the class. This program yields about 10-20% conversion from list to class member.