I recently wrote what proved to be a controversial post about proofreading and wanted to address some concerns, statements and recommended practices here.
First, proofreading can be hard. The day after I shared my post I didn’t realize my collaborator invite for Little Man Ice Cream had been removed so I completely missed their desired post timing when their audience is most active online. There were a lot of apologies in the emails that followed from me.
Also, the first first vinyl banner created for Swingin’ Denver went out as www.swingingindenver.com. Did you catch that? Swinging In Denver instead of Swingin’ Denver. I and the graphic designer were rushed and it was only caught during the printer’s proofing phase. By then, it was too late so I proceeded by purchasing a new domain name to forward to the correct one.
Proofreading is hard. It’s hard for many reasons such as spelling is hard, names are complicated and we’re rushed. If you’re a swing event organizer like me, you probably have a few things on your plate like a family, multiple contract positions (not a full-time dancer in contrast to what quite a few people think), and little time to do the work or delegate it.
But why does spelling matter? Why care about such details? For example, one organizer informed me after reading my post that they likely recently lost an event space due to advertising the wrong date and having peope show up at the venue on the wrong date. Another organizer didn’t realize URL strings were case-senstive so people clicking the link to register for their event opening day were led to a 404 page. As Sam Carroll also pointed out, you want good SEO. Those results can be diminished when you misspell social media hashtags and land with a less popular hashtag. Another company lost a very large marketing contract due to a litany of errors including incorrectly spelling tags wrong of companies they represented so people, if they clicked, would go to the wrong company.
Dream in generalities, live in the details. Part of my work background includes writing marketing copy for thousands of unique products where a misspelling can negatively influence if a person finds our product via search. It’s helped me in some areas and drives me crazy in others since the errors just seem to pop out. What helps me live in the details more is blocking out time to do quality work - blocking out time to write copy, transpose it to an event or a promotional image, and then to review it before publishing is absolutely crucial. It’s another reason I tend to do my writing work in a notepad, so it can be polished in one area before being copy/pasted elsewhere. And, if you’re not done or feeling like your work isn’t quite where you want it, give yourself another day.
So why don’t I volunteer my labor more to help organizers within the swing event space? I had quite a few organizers ask me to let them know when there are errors or shared their appreciation when others outside catch errors for them. On the other hand, I’ve also had organizers tell me that I shouldn’t ask them to elevate their standards, an active event attendee write “you use business/corporate language like you haven't been part of the shoestring-budget dance community for decades,” and an event organizer that habitually blamed their staff. While I enjoy volunteering my time and energy, I’ve also learned to be more protective of it and choose where I will feel rewarded by the experience, most often when I work with people committed to excellence. Plus, most events have a dedicated team of volunteers and I’d recommend assigning a detail-oriented team member to either proof content before or immediately after posting.
Furthermore, a portion of the swing scene event production community is based on free labor and that ought to be evaluated. The first few years I was swing dancing, I was volunteering my time teaching group lessons and private lessons, assistant teaching large outdoor classes, and performing across metro Kansas City. I made THOUSANDS for the ballroom studio owner. My reward was free classes there. Funny enough, when you’re teaching a lot for them, live 45 minutes and are a college student, you don’t have much free time. It took me a while to realize I was being exploited and that was an uncomfortable feeling to sit with.
But sitting with uncomfortable feelings has helped me grow and be cautious with where I donate my time, be better at providing boundaries or offering boundaries to be set with others I’m enlisting, and to take more time before saying yes. And sometimes it means walking away from an opportunity but I’m here to tell you that it’s okay and that “no” is a complete sentence.
So where are some common areas that you, the swing event organizer, should proofread before hitting SUBMIT or SEND?
Instructors names, Venues’ names, Sponsors’ names, Bands’ names etc. Names are tied to a person’s brand and identity. People and place with unique spellings also appreciate when you spell their name correctly. Take care of the names.
Hashtags. Most social media sites will auto-populate with how popular your chosen hashtag is. If results are really low, it’s likely misspelled or unique.
Discount codes. I’ve used so many unique discount codes over the years related to Groupon, Yelp, our upcoming Source event, Google Ads, Google Business Profile and have messed some up. It leads to dissatisfied customers, depressed sales and negative reviews. This is sometimes the first interaction you’ll have with a future customer and they won’t tell you that you screwed up.
Dates, times, location. People need to find you and arrive at the correct location on time. My Squarespace calendar is different than the Wordpress calendar events I publish for Little Man and different than Facebook events. It’s a lot to pay attention to but so crucial.
Your marketing copy. Because I’m also a guest in a Black cultural art form, I want to take extra care that I’m spelling the dance name’ and steps fully and correctly. The same goes for the names of the Elders, where they danced, any artist I might share, etc. As Taylor Madgett said “social dances have names.” Plus, your marketing copy, whether that is in the event description, an image, a digital ad, in newsprint, or your website, could be your first interaction with someone with you as an organizer.
Anyway, I hope this can be resource and helpful to some.