11 - Accompanists: you better love'm

Summary

If you wish to attract as many participants as possible, you need a meeting site that is appealing to accompanists. However, a large number of accompanists requires the design of a special program for them. This is not a job to be taken lightly. Accompanists come with certain expectations; if they are disappointed – and this can happen easily – their mood will affect their partners. And you don't want this to happen.

Today, accompanists will be of either sex, a fact that requires some consideration. For example, male accompanists will not be interested in a lengthy fashion show (for outer garments), or in places where women try on and out everything from rings to shoes, handbags, belts and muu-muu. On the other hand, a local baseball or soccer game may not attract too many female accompanists. Also, the organizer may have to bow to tradition; for example, when the annual convention of an older society has a ‘hospitality suite’ with complimentary beverages, cookies etc. If you deprive the regular accompanists of that cozy place for their small talk, you may as well be dead. So, bite the bullet and pay for the dark fluid that is often mislabelled ‘coffee’ as well as soft drinks.

Misconceptions can easily initiate a chain reaction of complaints. At a meeting in a major city, older accompanists were disappointed that the downtown(!) convention hotel was not close enough to the main shopping area. The distance was about seven blocks, and that was not considered ‘walking distance.’ From this experience, it appears important to point out the distance between meeting site and shopping areas in the early announcements.