Late Karaoke Card Submissions

[DaytonaKit]

I'd almost suggest holding two parties, but we're so bad about getting cards in at a decent time that would be a disaster.

Any suggestions for enforcing a card submission deadline? 

[Sean]

I'd almost suggest holding two parties, but we're so bad about getting cards in at a decent time that would be a disaster.

Any suggestions for enforcing a card submission deadline? 

That would work? No LOL

[Malia]

I'd almost suggest holding two parties, but we're so bad about getting cards in at a decent time that would be a disaster.

Any suggestions for enforcing a card submission deadline? 

Too bad everyone doesn't try DJ'ing just once, so they could understand WHY it's important to send them in early. 

At the last hour, IN ADDITION to putting the playlist together, the DJ may be... getting logged into SL, trying to find that tipjar/headphones/right pair of shoes in their inventory, getting the stream up, running sound checks, putting on house music, responding to the 12 IM's they've just received from karaoke folks, getting dinner or a glass of water, locking pets and family members out of the room, last minute toilet break, etc. 

Now add in checking email again and rearranging the playlist just minutes before the party is due to start due to late submissions.  So, the late cards definitely make a difference in the DJ's pre-show stress level. 

All of our DJ's are very kind hearted and will let the party start late and spin overtime rather than have any karaoke singer feel left out... but that is snowballing and getting us into trouble as karaoke grows bigger all the time. 
1 late card = no big deal.
5 late cards = 15 songs to rearrange/fit in.

* Allowing late cards definitely falls under "negative reinforcement", so one way to discourage this might be to ignore cards that are received late (IE, less than one hour prior to the party), or play them only in the final rotation.

* Try an earlier deadline, for example noon SLT, which would work for ALL party start times.

* Send a "get your songs in" reminder on Friday stating the deadline time.

[DaytonaKit]

Perhaps we could designate a day in which to start establishing a deadline, just to try it out.  And rather than saying "We won't play your songs if submitted past the deadline," we can say "We cannot guarantee your spot in the rotation if your card is submitted past the deadline."  As Malia said, some DJs dont' mind throwing in a later submission or request, while the newer ones might be more anxious about it.  Plus things happen that we can't always get them in.  For example, I didn't submit last week initially because I didn't think I was going to be in there, but then OOPS there I was. 

Karaoke has thrived since we've begun implementing flexibility within boundaries.  Let's make that the case here.

[Sean]

I do like the idea of a deadline and have been toying around with ideas in my head for a little while now.  If it comes down to it i can disable the submissions page after a certain time every week, but I'd rather not have to do that as I'll prolly forget to turn it back on LOL.

I had originally tried recording everyone's submissions to my hard drive for ease of playback, but with many submissions coming in within the last 1-3 hours before the party starts I found myself rushing to get it done in time for the party and couldn't start pre-music as early as I wanted to.  It really is a great way to make playing back the songs much easier and it also let me enter ID3 tags on the songs so those listening using Windows Media Player or Winamp or whatever see who is singing and what song they are singing.

A thought on how to do the deadline.  Say something like all songs submitted by noon slt on Saturday will be played this week and after that time all songs submitted will be considered for the following weeks party.  Which for some people it may mean submitting their songs a week in advance, but as a DJ I wouldn't complain about that at all LOL.

[Malia]

i can disable the submissions page after a certain time every week, but I'd rather not have to do that as I'll prolly forget to turn it back on LOL.

Heh...  I do that on my cell phone all the time!

I had originally tried recording everyone's submissions to my hard drive for ease of playback, but with many submissions coming in within the last 1-3 hours before the party starts I found myself rushing to get it done in time for the party and couldn't start pre-music as early as I wanted to.  It really is a great way to make playing back the songs much easier and it also let me enter ID3 tags on the songs so those listening using Windows Media Player or Winamp or whatever see who is singing and what song they are singing

Another DJ tip: a Gold membership on Singsnap allows you to create a playlist in advance for each rotation, much simpler than opening a tab for each song.

And rather than saying "We won't play your songs if submitted past the deadline," we can say "We cannot guarantee your spot in the rotation if your card is submitted past the deadline." 

I like this solution, it's straight forward but still allows for exceptions.  

[Sean]

Another DJ tip: a Gold membership on Singsnap allows you to create a playlist in advance for each rotation, much simpler than opening a tab for each song.

Looking at what you get with a Gold membership on Singsnap and how all the songs I want to sing are available for free its just not worth it to me at the moment.

[Sean]

Thinking about a fair way to do a deadline for a bit.  I'm thinking rather than a set time each week its based off of when karaoke is scheduled to start.  Something like songs must be submitted by 3 or 4 hours prior to the start time of karaoke.  i.e. If karaoke is scheduled to start at 6PM SLT then songs would need to be submitted by 2PM or 3PM.