Are you ready for the 19th?

[Paul F]

If anyone finds themselves at a loose end on Saturday 19th there is only one place to be!

Ceroc Manchester's Saturday Freestyle

We are taking freestyles in the NW to the next level.

8pm until 1am :what: (up to 5 hours of dancing)

The 2 floors have been polished : Main hall - Mainstream Ceroc
Newton Suite - Blues+Swing

The 3 DJ's have been buffed :D : DJ Alex, DJ Dave and yours truly. I will be taking a one hour slot of classic tracks and rare (but fantastic tunes)

Extended Jive Bar license all the way until 12:45 :drool:

Dance videos and games in the JiveBar

Dance cafe serving free ice-cream (no better way to cool down :wink: ) and of course we have free chocolates to keep you going.

30 minute 'alternative' lesson taught by me celebrating the Rio-Carnival!!!

Kingdom of dance on hand for all of your shoeing needs :grin:

Its gonna be great.

Tickets are £9 in advance , £10 on the door

As an added incentive we are giving away 10 free tickets to anyone travelling over 50 miles to the venue. Either use the website or contact me and get your request in early :)




Venue - Hyde Town Hall. For directions , see the website (www.ceroc-manchester.co.uk)

[Gus]

Tickets are £9 in advance , £10 on the door
£9?? :eek: :eek: Are you giving away free women or something?? Come on, the best venue in the North (Stockport Town Hall) only costs £8? All other venues costs a max of £7 for better venues? How can Ceroc Hyde justify charging more than even London?? Does it look like the evil grip of profiteering has finally taken hold? Sorry to sound churlish but I am NOT impressed! :(


We are taking freestyles in the NW to the next level.
Hmmmm ... think Cool Catz might have a view on that! :whistle:

[MartinHarper]

Maybe they're giving away free water?

[Gus]

Maybe they're giving away free water?At that price I'd want free Dom Perignon :wink:

[Paul F]

I understand your concerns.

The issue here is what people are getting for their money.
We are spending a great deal of time to make these freestyles very special.
This work takes time and money and, as a result, yes we do have to increase the price by £1. Trading this off against what people are getting means its an insignificant inrease.
If people dont want to pay it then its unfortunate we wont be able to welcome them but its up to the dancer at the end of the day.

Our freestyle nights are now known as fantastic nights with a great atmosphere and now we are going one better. :clap:

Saturday 19th is going further to bring so much more than normal freestyle nights.

I cant wait :nice:

[Gus]

The issue here is what people are getting for their money.
We are spending a great deal of time to make these freestyles very special.
This work takes time and money and, as a result, yes we do have to increase the price by £1. Trading this off against what people are getting means its an insignificant inrease.Yup ... its a question of what you get for your money. Dont get me wrong, I've tremendous repsect for what Chris and yourself have achieved at Hyde, but is you look at what you get I dont think there is any real comparison between Hyde's offering and that of the likes of established freestyle venues like Northwich and STH. Just compare the experience of the DJs, size and quality of the venues and quality of the dancers ... and on top of that you want to charge more money? Sorry, but thats doesnt compute. :sick:

At the end of the day the people pay their money and take pot luck. Only time will tell if the punters agree with your view that you are offering value for money.

[Tiggerbabe]

:drool: :drool: I'd pay £9 for a dance with Paul :wink:

[Paul F]

:drool: :drool: I'd pay £9 for a dance with Paul :wink:


:blush: :blush:

Oh stop :grin: Shame your so far away :tears: :tears:

[Paul F]

Yup ... its a question of what you get for your money. Dont get me wrong, I've tremendous repsect for what Chris and yourself have achieved at Hyde, but is you look at what you get I dont think there is any real comparison between Hyde's offering and that of the likes of established freestyle venues like Northwich and STH. Just compare the experience of the DJs, size and quality of the venues and quality of the dancers ... and on top of that you want to charge more money? Sorry, but thats doesnt compute. :sick:


Many venues have thrived having a room with some speakers. All we want to do is offer more than that. Its ashame you cant just be happy that some dancers may just benefit instead of attacking our venue and , i could be wrong, trying to disguise a possible bout of self-promotion :wink: .
As a side point it is worth pointing out that the money Chris makes from dancing goes back into dancing. He doesnt do this to make money.

At the end of the day its a commercial venture. If people dont come it wont succeed. If they do then fantastic, we can offer more next time.

[Gus]

Its ashame you cant just be happy that some dancers may just benefit instead of attacking our venue and , i could be wrong, trying to disguise a possible bout of self-promotion :wink: I've always been for more competition (though Hyde is too far away from Northwich to be competition) ... BUT I was a little unhappy in the suggestion you made that you are offering something more than what we already offer at Northwich and Cool Catz! If indeed you are providing a better product and the extra charge is justified ... then great and I will be the first to praise it. If it is more of the same ... be prepared to be called on it.

As a side point it is worth pointing out that the money Chris makes from dancing goes back into dancing. He doesnt do this to make money If Chris is making money he's doing better than me! I'm in it for the fun and long term to possibly make some cash .. but as I'm a long way from breaking even I wouldnt yet suggest I was in the Ceroc Rich class of the likes of Messr Roberts or Ms Woolfe. :whistle:

[djtrev]

Would it not be a better idea to wait until after the 19th before starting a turf war.
In the meantime if you are happy with competition(I am not wholly convinced) why not just wish them luck. :whistle: :whistle: :wink: :wink:

[djtrev]

Sorry Gus.

I have just read my reply and realised that it was uncalled for.I am sure your enterprises can hold their own against most competition.MY apologies.

Although I do think IT could wait until after the 19th

[Daisy Chain]

As an added incentive we are giving away 10 free tickets to anyone travelling over 50 miles to the venue.




Drat, I've just checked with RAC Routemaster and I'm 7 miles short. Now, if I were to take the long route and come via Diggle...

Daisy

(A Penny Pinching Little Flower)

[Gus]

Would it not be a better idea to wait until after the 19th before starting a turf war.
In the meantime if you are happy with competition(I am not wholly convinced) why not just wish them luck. :whistle: :whistle: :wink: :wink:

Just to clarify, my previous assertions have been:
I'm all for competition
I think the new Ceroc club in Wigan is a GOOD thing
Ceroc Hyde runs a good weekly classes and freestyles
IMHO I doubt that the new format is "taking NW freestyles to another level"
I think £9 is too expensive
My opinions count for Jack, the real test is whether Jo Public thinks its value for money
Personal views of course

[Minnie M]

For Southerners on the 19th !

Charity Modern Jive Event raising money for The By Grace Orphanage Nairobi at St Mary's Church Hall, Surrenden Road Brighton with DJ Jon Brett & Lesson by Nigel Anderson. 8pm until late, entrance £5

[CJ]

For anyone not doing any of these things, come and join me on Swedish slopes having a wee snowboarding sesh for the weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:yeah: :clap:

[Minnie M]

For anyone not doing any of these things, come and join me on Swedish slopes having a wee ..........!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Really really sorry - but my warped mind couldn't resist it :rofl: :rofl:

[CJ]

Really really sorry - but my warped mind couldn't resist it :rofl: :rofl:

Minnie, u can join me for a wee anytime!!

[Minnie M]

Minnie, u can join me for a wee anytime!!

Yep ! I asked for that :o

[Andy McGregor]

For Southerners on the 19th !

Charity Modern Jive Event raising money for The By Grace Orphanage Nairobi at St Mary's Church Hall, Surrenden Road Brighton with DJ Jon Brett & Lesson by Nigel Anderson. 8pm until late, entrance £5
This will be a fab night :clap:

This doo is to support "By Grace", the Niarobi Orphange charity that was going to lose out due to the cancellation of another organisers 50th Birthday bash in Hove. And the cancellation has been described by Peter Phillips in an email as follows;


I am really sorry but I discovered last week that another organiser (Jeff Jasper) is hosting another 50th Birthday party for his partner (another modern jiver) in the same venue on the same day at the same time Hove Town Hall has two dance halls. We had the upper hall they have the lower one! Although this is a private party with invite only admission. Naturally the invites are going to lots of local dancers

It does not seem correct to have two VERY similar events held in the same venue simultaneously one for charity with £10 admission, the other free.
It is not fair to make local dancers choose between similar dances ...

Peter booked his charity dance well before the other dance party was booked. This meant that the actions of Jeff Jasper have reduced the income of a needy orphanage :angry: So, to ensure the orphanage do not lose out due to the action of Mr Jasper I have organised an alternative charity dance. Please come and support it if you can - it's only £5. If you're travelling from a distance we have sofas/carpet available.

Peter has organised an alternative 50th birthday party in Hastings but has made no mention of donating the proceeds to the charity - but it is only £5!

[Tiggerbabe]

anyone travelling over 50 miles to the venue

Mmmn, only 300 miles from Monifieth to Manchester.........tempting, very tempting :hug: :hug:

[jivecat]

:drool: :drool: I'd pay £9 for a dance with Paul :wink:
:yeah:

[jivecat]

£9?? :eek: :eek: Are you giving away free women or something?? Come on, the best venue in the North (Stockport Town Hall) only costs £8? All other venues costs a max of £7 for better venues? How can Ceroc Hyde justify charging more than even London?? Does it look like the evil grip of profiteering has finally taken hold? Sorry to sound churlish but I am NOT impressed! :(



Well, nobody dislikes parting with hard-earned cash more than me and I didn't think it sounded unreasonable. As I read it I was thinking that it offered the atmosphere of a Sat night at a weekender but without the hassle of packing your suitcase.

After all, 2 floors, 3 DJs, ice-cream...... Clearly would cost more than the usual formula.

What's this about a max of £7 even for the better venues? Here in the E. Mids we are forking out £8 a go to Phil Roberts for a freestyle at the dingy (though atmospheric) Marcus Garvey Hall, with smelly toilets, dreadful sound and a rubbish DJ. And it's £7 for an ordinary weeknight in a utilitarian community hall in Leicester. Or £8 for a freestyle at a down-at-heel smoke-filled Railwaymens' Club - Wellingborough. And we are all paying up. :eek: :confused:

What was that about the evil grip of profiteering? And the Ceroc riche...?
Gus & Paul should both move down to the Midlands where the punters are gullible.

Mental note to self. Must support other MJ providers. I'll start with Pulse at Bulwell tonight.

[Clive Long]

<< cut >>

What's this about a max of £7 even for the better venues? Here in the E. Mids we are forking out £8 a go to Phil Roberts for a freestyle at the dingy (though atmospheric) Marcus Garvey Hall, with smelly toilets, dreadful sound and a rubbish DJ. And it's £7 for an ordinary weeknight in a utilitarian community hall in Leicester. Or £8 for a freestyle at a down-at-heel smoke-filled Railwaymens' Club - Wellingborough. And we are all paying up. :eek: :confused:

What was that about the evil grip of profiteering? And the Ceroc riche...?
Gus & Paul should both move down to the Midlands where the punters are gullible.

Mental note to self. Must support other MJ providers. I'll start with Pulse at Bulwell tonight.

Sounds like a business opportunity here Gus. :nice:
You say you like the smell of competition.

CRL

[Gus]

Sounds like a business opportunity here Gus. :nice:
You say you like the smell of competition.Take on Phil Roberts .... you are JOKING! :eek: I'm all for a bit of friendly competition but Phil R has crushed all opposition and runs the biggest franchise in the UK. I know him (a bit) and as the a philopsher once said, we it comes to competing with Ceroc Central "a mans got to know his limitations"!

I would love to see someone shake up things in that region but I dont know anyone who has managed to brealkthe Ceroc Central stranglehold. I have enough 'trouble' with the limited competition in mny area ... I dont really feel like commiting commercial hari-kari. Will be interested to see how the Pulse things goes though.....

[bigdjiver]

... What's this about a max of £7 even for the better venues? Here in the E. Mids we are forking out £8 a go to Phil Roberts for a freestyle at the dingy (though atmospheric) Marcus Garvey Hall, with smelly toilets, dreadful sound and a rubbish DJ. And it's £7 for an ordinary weeknight in a utilitarian community hall in Leicester. Or £8 for a freestyle at a down-at-heel smoke-filled Railwaymens' Club - Wellingborough. And we are all paying up. :eek: :confused:

What was that about the evil grip of profiteering? And the Ceroc riche...?
Gus & Paul should both move down to the Midlands where the punters are gullible... I tried to talk Phil out of the last price rise, however, attendances continue to rise, new venues continue to open. What I see is a well run business that continues to give me, and a geat number of other people. greater opportunities to enjoy myself. I intend to be at Wellingborough, and expect a good night.

[Gus]

What I see is a well run business that continues to give me, and a geat number of other people. greater opportunities to enjoy myself. I intend to be at Wellingborough, and expect a good night.I agree. Phil is a very capable businessman appears to take the view that giving the customer what they wants (to an extent) will mean long term profits. He has taken risks and developed an impressive infrastructure of venues and teachers. The fact that he is a businessman first and formost means that not everyone will like what he's done ... but who says that to be a dance promoter you have to be interested in the dance itself? (PS I'm not saying that Phil is NOT interested in the dance ... just that its not a given),

[Andy McGregor]

For Southerners on the 19th !

Charity Modern Jive Event raising money for The By Grace Orphanage Nairobi at St Mary's Church Hall, Surrenden Road Brighton Lesson by Nigel Anderson. 8pm until late, entrance £5

Mmmn, only 300 miles from Monifieth to Manchester.........tempting, very tempting :hug: :hug:
It's only 552.2 miles to Brighton and you could have a dance with Nigel :wink:

[Andreas]

I am sure to have mentioned before that Ceroc/MJ in the UK is too expensive anyway but have to support Gus' call that £9 is way over the top.

But I also agree with Paul: If you don't want to spend that money just don't go. Everybody has a choice there. My choice in that case would be a Salsa club where entry is only £5 or so. It is not that one is forced to go there.

[Paul F]

But I also agree with Paul: If you don't want to spend that money just don't go. Everybody has a choice there.

Hi Andreas,

Absolutely. At the end of the day its the dancers who decide. Its a shame we couldnt have kept the price down but with all the things we have in place and all the work thats gone into it we just couldnt keep it at the normal 7/8 pounds.

With only one day left im getting really excited. It looks like its going to be a record number of people for us at Hyde (and we had just under 300 for our xmas party!!)

For those of you who are making the trip to Manchester then I will look forward to a dance or two :wink:

[Paul F]

:wink:

I count myself so lucky i found dancing and , with it, some of the nicest people i have ever met :cheers:

[Tiggerbabe]

Hope you had a fab night Paul :kiss: :hug: when's the next party?

[Minnie M]

It's only 552.2 miles to Brighton and you could have a dance with Nigel :wink:

Well it was only THREE miles from my home and I DID have that dance with Nigel (had two actually) and let me tell you it was worth 300 miles :drool: :worthy: :worthy:

Thanks Andy and team - JB played some great choons and it was a great night, hopefully you made some nice money for the Charity too :flower:

[Paul F]

Hope you had a fab night Paul :kiss: :hug: when's the next party?

Thanks :hug:

It was absolutely awesome :clap:

All the rooms worked really really well. We managed to provide over 300 people with a safe and enjoyable night. Very tiring but very much worth it :grin:

We aim to go that bit further next month. Not sure of the date but i think we need to start preparing it now :wink:

[Clive Long]

Thanks :hug:

It was absolutely awesome :clap:

All the rooms worked really really well. We managed to provide over 300 people with a safe and enjoyable night. Very tiring but very much worth it :grin:

We aim to go that bit further next month. Not sure of the date but i think we need to start preparing it now :wink:

Congratulations.

:worthy: to all those who organise these events and make it look so easy (it isn't)

Clive

[TheTramp]

I am sure to have mentioned before that Ceroc/MJ in the UK is too expensive anyway
Hmmm. You're from New Zealand.

Did a quick check on average salaries and prices for Ceroc.

On a search, I came up with these figures for weekly household incomes in Auckland (£373), London (£711) and Outside London (£525).

Couldn't find a price for Ceroc in Auckland, but a class night in Wellington (where I assume the average income is probably lower) is £5.70. I believe a class night in London is £7, and most of the rest of the country £6 (it is in Scotland at least).

Which means that as a percentage of weekly earnings (see figures below), Ceroc is more expensive (on a relative (to income), rather than absolute scale) in NZ than it is in the UK.

Auckland - 1.528%
London - 0.985%
Rest of UK - 1.14%

Of course, these figures should be taken with a bit of a pinch of salt. Just like every other statistic :D

Interestingly, it was very difficult (Well, actually, I didn't in most cases. which is why I had to guess the London price! Maybe a little more perseverance would have got me the figure....) to find the cost of class nights on either website (UK or NZ). For people searching, who haven't been before, you'd think that the price of a Ceroc night would be mentioned at least.

Oh, yes. And I know I'm sad. Please don't bother to point it out... :rolleyes:

[Northants Girly]

And I know I'm sad. Please don't bother to point it out... :rolleyes: No you're NOT sad. You are just like the rest of us spending time doing stuff that means putting off doing stuff we really should be doing like fixing shelves, tidying our houses, gardening, ironing . . . . . . coursework ;)

[TheTramp]

No you're NOT sad.
Debateable. But thank you :hug: :flower:

You are just like the rest of us spending time doing stuff that means putting off doing stuff we really should be doing like . . . . . . coursework ;)
Please don't remind me. 750 word problem assessment to hand in on Wednesday, and I haven't even printed out the problem yet :tears:

[Andreas]

Oh, yes. And I know I'm sad. Please don't bother to point it out... :rolleyes:

:cheers: Don't be silly ;)

~4.50 quid would be more like the max I used to pay for party nights and classes were mostly 3.80-3.50 converted. Of course is the income lower in NZ but the costs of living are significantly lower, too. At the end of the day it was cheaper ... well, in my world anyway :D


As you say, the statistics are not accurate and I am sure we could find equally many points pro and con the other's arguments :rofl:

----

That reminds me. Did they actually charge you in NZ at all? There is a different reason for asking that. In the UK (London anyway) it appears to be policy that only UK teachers have free entrance to classes, which - to my knowledge - is not the case in NZ.

[TheTramp]

:cheers: Don't be silly ;)

~4.50 quid would be more like the max I used to pay for party nights and classes were mostly 3.80-3.50 converted. Of course is the income lower in NZ but the costs of living are significantly lower, too. At the end of the day it was cheaper ... well, in my world anyway :D


As you say, the statistics are not accurate and I am sure we could find equally many points pro and con the other's arguments :rofl:

----

That reminds me. Did they actually charge you in NZ at all? There is a different reason for asking that. In the UK (London anyway) it appears to be policy that only UK teachers have free entrance to classes, which - to my knowledge - is not the case in NZ.

I got the price for classes in Wellington from this website:

http://www.ceroc.co.nz/indexMain.html

And a quick search to get an up-to-date currency conversion rate gave me the cost of classes as £5.70 (actually, when I went back to Thomas Cook (in conjunction with American Express) just now to check, they inform me that the up-to-date exchange rate is $2.45 to the £. Which means that Ceroc classes in Wellington now cost £6.12). Doesn't say on the website how much the freestyles cost. Interesting that it's so much cheaper in Auckland (or Hamilton/Rotorua) than in Wellington!! Allegedly. I will agree that there's a cost of living thing to be taken into account, which is way too hard to work out though! :wink: :flower:

I'm not a Ceroc teacher (just a lowly affiliate), so I have to pay for Ceroc classes in the UK anyhow (except in Scotland, and it usually works out that most people don't charge me these days, which is nice). I didn't have to pay in NZ as I was doing demo's at the two party nights that I went to there.

[Andreas]

just now to check, they inform me that the up-to-date exchange rate is $2.45 to the £. Which means that Ceroc classes in Wellington now cost £6.12).

hehe ... I just converted the prices I was familiar with at xe.com, that is where my numbers came from.

I have only once been in Wellington for Dancing (last May) and, as a teacher, did not need to pay. So I am not too familiar with their prices myself.

Sorry, we are hijacking this thread :blush: