<p> Barbershop Harmony Society, 110 7th Avenue N., Nashville, TN 37203-3704 www.barbershop.org Land-O-Lakes District - LOL home page: www.loldistrict.org 1,000 Lakes Division –Probe Member Our fifty-ninth year – January, 2016</p><p>Chorus Events: December 6 ~ Amery Stroll January 15-16 ~ Leadership Training Academy in River Falls ~ sign up to go with Larry Fisk January 23 ~ YIH festival at Amery HS all day ~ Concert at 4:30 PM January 30 ~ Ladies Night TBA April 29-May 1 ~ LOL District Spring Convention/Contest Mankato, MN October 8 ~ Annual Show at Amery HS 2016 Music List</p><p>The music committee has finalized the repertoire for the upcoming year. We appreciate the response on the "straw poll" that we took at practice a few weeks ago. While we didn't go exclusively on the vote of the members, it certainly helped solidify some of the choices. We couldn't always go with the straight vote because our singouts require a mix of largely up tunes (can't have many ballads), plus we need some variety and numbers that the audience recognizes. So here's a look at the repertoire, church songs, plus some early show songs for next year:</p><p>Repertoire: America The Beautiful Back In The Old Routine Bare Necessities Be Our Guest Can You Feel The Love Tonight Hello, My Baby I Don't Know Why Let's Get Away From It All Midnight Rose Sound Celebration Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah</p><p>Church Songs: Battle Hymn of The Republic Beautiful Savior I'll Fly Away This Little Light Medley</p><p>Show Songs: Battle Hymn Daydream How Do You Do It I'll Fly Away Smile</p><p>So now you can sort your music when you have some downtime during the holidays! And Happy Holidays to you and yours!</p><p>Mark N., Music VP</p><p>Lunch List 1.18.16 Larry Fisk 1.25.16 Clint Gjerde 2.1.16 Ken Gonske 2.8.16 Peter Kwong 2-15-16 Archie Lessard 2-22-16 Ken Mettler 2-29-16 Duane Morris 3-7-16 Mark Nelson 3-14-16 Steve Osero 3-21-16 Carl Peterson 3-28-16 Gary Peterson 4-4-16 Neil Pickard 4-11-16 Alan Salmela 4-18-16 Harley Schaefer 4-25-16 Bryan Shobe Our Officers for 2016 President: Chuck Williamson Sec/Treas: Larry Fisk VP Marketing & PR & Bulletin editor: Ken Mettler VP Music: Mark Nelson VP Membership: Jon Buss Asst. Music Dir. & Webmaster: Karl Wicklund Music Director: Steve Swenson Members at Lg.: Alan Salmela, Bryan Shobe, Neil Pickard Other chorus functions Young Men in Harmony: Steve Osero Birthday/Anniversary cards: Clint Gjerde Performance Coordinator: Dan Valentine 2016 Show Chairman: Bryan Shobe Librarian: Bryan Shobe Music committee: Steve Swenson, Karl Wicklund, Dan Valentine, Mark Nelson</p><p>QUALITY PERFORMANCE IS YOUR #1 PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOL by Roger Tarpy from Mid’l Antics I’ve recently reviewed some material that BHS published on recruiting new members. According to their research, • 54 percent of the new members joined because someone asked them. • 33 percent joined because they saw or heard a barbershop performance. So much for all the money we spend on newspaper ads, radio and TV commercials, and grocery store posters. If we wish to recruit new members, apparently we need to ask them personally or confront directly them by singing for them. (Just in case your publicity guy is feeling unappreciated, however, BHS does note that ads in the local media may well serve to raise awareness about our hobby, so don’t give up on them entirely.) Anyone who has read articles in the Mid’L Antics over the past few years can surely guess that one persistent theme—the greatest imperative for any chorus is to sing and perform at a high level—applies quite directly to the issue of recruitment. The first thing to recognize about recruiting is that the music is important. Think for a moment about the 54 percent who arrive at your rehearsal doorstep because they were asked by one of your members. They surely don’t see your group simply as a vehicle for socializing. The primary “business” of the group is singing, and, presumably, that’s why they attended your meeting and not that of a bowling league. What about the 33 percent who arrive at your rehearsal because they heard you sing in public? Same story. They obviously have an interest in singing (and were sufficiently impressed with your performance) or else they wouldn’t bother showing up. OK, they’re interested in music, but do we have a say as to whether these folks return on the following week? Sure we do. I’m guessing that all of them, especially the good musicians and thus the more desirable candidates, are much more likely to vanish forever if we sing poorly. So ... the best way to grow membership is simple and incontrovertible: Impress the guests with your good singing, and make sure this happens at your public performances. That being said, here are a few BHS guidelines that will help us accomplish this latter goal more effectively. First, the optimal situation for singing in public is when the audience members are sitting down and they’re there explicitly to hear you. Sure, the performance may occur after a dinner has been served, or in an area that’s been set aside from an otherwise unsuitable environment such as a local carnival, but sitting down and listening to you constitute the minimum conditions for giving a good show. Second, the gig must allow you to sing at your best—on risers, with a full and balanced chorus (as opposed to “whoever can make it”), and in uniform. Anything less means that you’ll not only deter a potential member from attending your next rehearsal, but also that you’ll promote the general belief that barbershop singing isn’t anything to admire. If you can’t meet these two fundamental requirements for a sing out then, according to BHS, you probably shouldn’t be doing the gig at all—nothing really positive is likely to result from doing such a show. But, if you do meet these criteria, then your chances to make a good impact on potential members, as well as the general public, are enhanced. Here are a few additional points to keep in mind: • Don’t sing too many ballads. Sure we love them, but most audiences don’t have the intense focus that’s required to appreciate a good barbershop ballad. Unless it’s done exceptionally well, singing a barbershop ballad runs the risk of sounding very dated and even hokey. • Don’t sing your “contest set” expecting that your audience members really care that you competed with these songs last spring. All that stuff is your priority, not theirs. • Involve the audience in a sing-a-long using familiar tunes. This gives them a chance to engage in our hobby (sort of ) and it provides you an opportunity to see which men are singing with gusto – potential Barbershoppers! • Keep the patter to a minimum and make sure it’s fast-paced. Be careful about telling jokes; barbershop “in-jokes” are, of course, the worst. • Tell the audience about our hobby, but keep it brief. Say it’s an American musical art form, sung a cappella, scored in four parts, and maybe use a Barberpole Cat to illustrate, but do not bore them with details. • If you want to make a pitch, then stress that barbershop is easy and fun, and that the guys on stage are amateur musicians who can make terrific music when singing together. • Above all, make sure that the music is, indeed, terrific.</p><p>Supercharging Your Chapter -Paul Ellinger </p><p>Perfect Ways to Fail • Doing exactly what you have always done. • Do cattle calls from the stage. • Be the guy that doesn’t participate! • Do it for a little while and then stop. • Measure how many new members you get. (Remember, it’s participation and effort driven! Those lead to the successes!) • Have successes and then stop, resting on your laurels. • Not measuring improvement which leads to successes. • Choose the wrong things to measure. • Don’t spend five minutes at EVERY rehearsal working on your invitation!</p><p>Perfect Ways to Succeed! • Work at making the 5 minutes of practice a part of EVERY rehearsal. • Work at encouraging EVERY man to take part in the 5 minutes. • Measure what percentage of the members made a contact. • Measure how many members obtained a phone number. • Maintain a database of contact numbers. (If they don’t become members, they will be your audience for future performances.) • Measure how many follow up calls were made and put them on a follow up as necessary. • Wear name tags to every rehearsal. (It’s good for reminding people that we need to grow and it’s good for when people do start coming through those doors!) • No matter how large or small, share successes! These do’s and don’t’s are, of course, geared to the Turbo Charge program. However, whether a chapter adopts the program or not, the principles still apply. Need information about the Supercharging Your Chapter program and Turbocharging Your Growth? How about learning about these programs, maybe Growth doesn’t just happen. It takes a conscious effort by EVERYONE, not just a few— or one. How many men have you talked to about this great “hobby” of our—Barbershop singing?</p><p>OBTUSE HUMOR by Bill Vockell 1. ARBITRATOR: A cook that leaves Arby’s to work at McDonalds. 2. AVOIDABLE: What a bullfighter tries to do. 3. BERNADETTE: The act of torching a mortgage. 4. BURGLARIZE: What a crook sees with. 5. CONTROL: A short, ugly inmate. 6. COUNTERFEITERS: Workers who put together kitchen cabinets. 7. ECLIPSE: What an English barber does for a living. 8. EYEDROPPER: A clumsy ophthalmologist. 9. HEROES: What a guy in a boat does. 10. LEFTBANK: What the robber did when his bag was full of money. 11. MISTY: How golfers create divots. 12. PARADOX: Two physicians. 13. PARASITES: What you see from the top of the Eiffel Tower. 14. PHARMACIST: A helper on the farm. 15. POLARIZE: What penguins see with. 16. PRIMATE: Removing your spouse from in front of the TV. 17. RELIEF: What trees do in the spring. 18. RUBBERNECK: What you do to relax your wife. 19. SELFISH: What the owner of a seafood store does. 20. SUDAFED: Brought litigation against a government official. 21. INNUENDO: Italian Suppository. 22. BIGAMIST: An Italian Fog. Enjoy Life. . . Laugh a Little</p><p>Monday Night Review by Jon Buss - 1-12-16</p><p>1. Songs have been chosen for show. Music and tracks available 2. Ladies night Jan. 30 at Shoreview. $15.00 per person 3. Competing April 30 in Mankato Kyle Hammers will coach us. 4. Remember every Monday is a guest night. A special evening will be announced when the temp gets to 20 degrees above. 5. New shirts will be shown next Monday night. 6. YIH Festival is coming together. Put Jan. 23rd on your calendar to attend the performance at 4:30 pm. You will enjoy it. 7. Please attend when you can. We miss you. Lunch list: 1/18/16 Larry Fisk - 1/25/16 Clint Gjerde - 2/1/16 Ken Gonske </p>