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The Great British Skinny Dip - Diogenes Dips In
11 Jun 2012 11:41 AM |
Brenda Roberts
in Big Days Out
Everyone likes something for nothing, right? Here at Diogenes we’re the same, so when the opportunity to take part in a promotion with a national profile and a lot of publicity done for us, we jumped at it – it would have been rude not to!
Like many clubs, our recruitment enquiries are low during the winter months so anything that might boost these had to be worth a try. We organised three Great British Skinny Dip events on January 21 and February 4 and February 18 (at the time of writing only the first session has taken place – more of this later) and set out a clear plan to build on the national publicity with some local work. Let no potential organiser underestimate the scale of this work if it is to be done thoroughly! It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of networking, with many late-night email sessions eating up spare time.
Some 15 local newspapers were sent a press release, along with two local radio stations and a local community TV station, Bucks TV. Disappointingly, only one of these local papers picked up on the story, though our press release gave website, email and phone contact details for editors to get more information. We had expected a better return on the effort given that the press release was sent out during the ‘slow news’ period around Christmas. Perhaps BN’s promotional efforts now mean that naturism is now seen as more mainstream and a less newsworthy topic than previously? We have been ramping up our web presence, so we made full use of Facebook, Twitter and the BN Forum to get out the message. One of our members, Emma, is a prolific blogger and social media user and her high-octane publicity efforts were also put to great use in spreading the word.
To help us plan efficiently and keep track of numbers (our indoor pool, while lovely, is not huge) we decided at the outset to use online booking through our website. We have a talented web designer as a member and he designed an online form to capture all required information, including a
contact number in case of last-minute cancellation. While it presented a considerable workload, all emails from prospective guests were answered within 24 hours, with a follow-up reminder being sent out four days before the event. Our approach was to be as welcoming and open as possible throughout, particularly as the bookings began to come in and many guests indicated that they were new to naturism.
Just as we were getting a bit despondent on the media front we had a call from Bucks TV, who wanted to make a short film about us for use on their community TV website (www.buckstv.co.uk). Rather perceptively, Richard Carr, the managing director of Bucks TV, pointed out that he wouldn’t want newcomers to naturism to be faced with a TV crew! Therefore, we got together a group of willing members prior to the first GBSD session and Richard made a wonderful short film about us, even stripping off himself to join in! This is an incredible piece of publicity material for future use and really gives a good impression of our club. We had ten bookings for the January session, but the demon flu laid low half of the guests so we had five, the others all rebooking for one of the other events. On the evening, all our guests were given a warm welcome, with newcomers especially being put at ease. It has to be said that very little skinny dipping actually took place, but “The Great British Cake Scoff”, whilst more accurate, probably isn’t such a snappy title!
From our perspective, GBSD has been a roaring success as all five guests have either begun their membership application process or asked for a further trial visit. We have 12 people booked for February 4 and six for the 18th so, if this pattern holds, we will enjoy a truly impressive hike in membership numbers. It has been really pleasing to see newcomers to naturism applying for places – perhaps the branding of ‘skinny dipping’ is less scary than ‘naturism’? We have also reaped the effects of the Channel 4 documentary. Would we recommend other clubs take part? Unreservedly 'yes’: GBSD has been a fantastic initiative and one in which we will certainly take part again. To get it right takes hard work – the results won’t drop in your lap – but without any doubt it is worth it!
See http://www.bn.org.uk...y-dip-2012-r133 for further information.
Like many clubs, our recruitment enquiries are low during the winter months so anything that might boost these had to be worth a try. We organised three Great British Skinny Dip events on January 21 and February 4 and February 18 (at the time of writing only the first session has taken place – more of this later) and set out a clear plan to build on the national publicity with some local work. Let no potential organiser underestimate the scale of this work if it is to be done thoroughly! It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of networking, with many late-night email sessions eating up spare time.
Some 15 local newspapers were sent a press release, along with two local radio stations and a local community TV station, Bucks TV. Disappointingly, only one of these local papers picked up on the story, though our press release gave website, email and phone contact details for editors to get more information. We had expected a better return on the effort given that the press release was sent out during the ‘slow news’ period around Christmas. Perhaps BN’s promotional efforts now mean that naturism is now seen as more mainstream and a less newsworthy topic than previously? We have been ramping up our web presence, so we made full use of Facebook, Twitter and the BN Forum to get out the message. One of our members, Emma, is a prolific blogger and social media user and her high-octane publicity efforts were also put to great use in spreading the word.
To help us plan efficiently and keep track of numbers (our indoor pool, while lovely, is not huge) we decided at the outset to use online booking through our website. We have a talented web designer as a member and he designed an online form to capture all required information, including a
contact number in case of last-minute cancellation. While it presented a considerable workload, all emails from prospective guests were answered within 24 hours, with a follow-up reminder being sent out four days before the event. Our approach was to be as welcoming and open as possible throughout, particularly as the bookings began to come in and many guests indicated that they were new to naturism.
Just as we were getting a bit despondent on the media front we had a call from Bucks TV, who wanted to make a short film about us for use on their community TV website (www.buckstv.co.uk). Rather perceptively, Richard Carr, the managing director of Bucks TV, pointed out that he wouldn’t want newcomers to naturism to be faced with a TV crew! Therefore, we got together a group of willing members prior to the first GBSD session and Richard made a wonderful short film about us, even stripping off himself to join in! This is an incredible piece of publicity material for future use and really gives a good impression of our club. We had ten bookings for the January session, but the demon flu laid low half of the guests so we had five, the others all rebooking for one of the other events. On the evening, all our guests were given a warm welcome, with newcomers especially being put at ease. It has to be said that very little skinny dipping actually took place, but “The Great British Cake Scoff”, whilst more accurate, probably isn’t such a snappy title!
From our perspective, GBSD has been a roaring success as all five guests have either begun their membership application process or asked for a further trial visit. We have 12 people booked for February 4 and six for the 18th so, if this pattern holds, we will enjoy a truly impressive hike in membership numbers. It has been really pleasing to see newcomers to naturism applying for places – perhaps the branding of ‘skinny dipping’ is less scary than ‘naturism’? We have also reaped the effects of the Channel 4 documentary. Would we recommend other clubs take part? Unreservedly 'yes’: GBSD has been a fantastic initiative and one in which we will certainly take part again. To get it right takes hard work – the results won’t drop in your lap – but without any doubt it is worth it!
See http://www.bn.org.uk...y-dip-2012-r133 for further information.
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