ATS® Reunion Advice from the Hospitality Director

I am so excited that you decided to attend ATS® Reunion this year. I have been the Hospitality Director for this event since it started as ATS® Homecoming in 2015 and I really think the AZ venue is the best we have ever had and that you are going to love the hotel, the conference center and all of the event workshops and shows. So much wonderful advice has been shared on Facebook for new attendees and now I want to share my advice about how to make the most of this event as a new attendee or a regular.

As the Hospitality Director, I have had some unique and wonderful experiences. Terri, Dawn and I always share a room. We have adopted a sick dancer from the Czech Republic who got her reservation dates wrong, and in addition to providing a room, we were really great nurses. We have had 6 Brazilian dancers sharing our bathroom mirror for pre-performance make-up. Another time we hosted a group of international dancers (who were staying off site) so that they could shower and get ready for their performance inside the hotel. You don’t have to invite people you haven’t ever laid eyes on to share your room, but this blog is about encouraging you to…

Connect with people you don’t know! And not just the famous people, connect with the obvious beginner dancers and the troupe who is here traveling together and the lone dancer who doesn’t have anyone to partner with in the workshop. Step outside of your comfort zone and say hello, ask if you can join a group or sit at a table.

Now even as I advise this, I do so with some trepidation. Even at an event where kindness is obviously valued, every year I watch the dancer (in this actual example, one who is famous and still really got her feelings hurt) ask if they can sit down only to be told the seats are reserved. I hear my own troupe members talk about trying to dance with others in workshops in an effort to “mix it up” and having their overtures declined. I see people sitting alone at meals while groups sit beside them and don’t invite them to join. I see dancers who are really kind to the “big” names, but are inconsiderate or down right rude to the volunteer Work/Study staff.

I am asking you to do something that might be met with rejection, but I want you to do it anyway. You see, for every time you are met with a “this seat is saved” you will also be met with a Freddie Katz or a Gudrun Herald, both of whom opened their homes to us when Dayanimsa traveled to Germany— after only meeting us one time at this event. Gudrun and I have laid eyes on each other only a handful of times yet we decided to get matching tattoos. Those are the kinds of friends you make when you take that risk and keep taking it even after being rejected.

I also have an “ask” for those of you traveling with your people. And this is a hard ask as well. Sometimes, I feel really bad and guilty about not spending more time with my troupe when I am at this event. But please consider dancing with someone new in a workshop. Please consider inviting other dancers to dinner, or leaving your group to sit with someone entirely new at breakfast. Tell your people that you love them but you don’t want to miss out on the truly life-transforming part of this dance and this event… seeing your family—your siblings in dance who you haven’t even met yet— and learning about what brings them to this community of dancers.

I am an extrovert with incredibly thick skin so I know it comes easier for me that it will for most of you, so come to the hospitality table. Tell the Manager on Duty that you need to be introduced around or you need help connecting with others. We will help. I will help. You will recognize me because I have the necklace on that says “Not Terri.”

On Wednesday at 8 EST, Debbie, Ming, and I will be going live on Facebook to talk about our new Solo Match Program where we match dancers traveling alone with groups traveling together. I hope you will consider participating in this program. Your only commitment is to meet each other and dine together on Thursday night before the reception. Tune in to learn all the details!

Finally, I want to share free resources I have put together in the past for attendees. These workshops are some I created through the Belly Dance Business Academy. They sell for between $15 and $35 each, but I want you to have them for free because I am making a big ask today and want to do anything I can to make you successful should you decide to accept. Sleep for Bellydancers will help you think through this important aspect of self-care before and during this event. Networking for Introverts will help you manage this challenge I am issuing in this blog. Finally, Sustained Energy for Bellydancers is the online version of the Energy Management class I did last year at ATS® Reunion.

I am also including links to DeAnna Freeman’s blogs. Her generosity of spirit and free sharing of knowledge inspires me to be a better person and a better dancer. You don’t want to miss her blogs on Restoring at Reunion, Self-Care at Reunion, and Packing for Reunion.

I can’t wait to see you in January. If you see me and I look busy, stop and say hello anyway. There is nothing I would rather be doing than meeting you!