Idea: Lightbulb moment of a creative idea the we start asking ourselves questions like: Is there an appetite for this type of event?
Whats your RECIPE for a successful event? Where does it start for you? Whats the process? Organising and running your own events are risky especially in this world climate… As most of our events are pitched to our own sub culture community and fringe public, we usually have an idea of the potential success of it from the get go, so, although still risky, we try to mitigate that risk by creating events that are exciting, interesting and we know people will want to come too.
Date: Whats the best date/timings for this event?
Venue: We look for a venue that can be transformative, cost effective and easy to work with. As most of our events are dance events and novelty/themed parties with live music, we are always looking for venues that have great acoustics, staging & lighting already there. It’s also a plus to have a licensed venue or ability to run the bar yourself.
Budget: Once venue and date are pencilled in we work out budget.. Once we know this figure we can work out ticket prices and how many guests we need to book to make it viable.
Entertainment: Absolutely essential to any of our successful events is the entertainment! Paramount! You pick a clanger of entertainment line up and you can forget next events success. Our formula is usually Headline Band, Amazing DJ & salt n pepper with extraordinary talent to tantalise and delight guests in between!
Vibe: Create the vibe/themed narrative from the get go.. from the release marketing, ticket sales, entry experience and continue on for the entire night right up to lights out as you wave goodbye to the last guest. Your Vibe will attract your Tribe!
Team: Create a great team around you to enhance the customer experience, to support you, to make everything seamless. A great team can trouble shoot anything without letting on that there is a problem.
Capture: A great Photographer and Videographer.. There is so much hard work that goes into events and you want to capture every moment of the fun of night so you can use this as a marketing tool for future events.
Ray and I from @SwingOnIn and @LindyCharmSchool have been delivering our own successful events as well as creating and managing events for Government, Council, Corporate and Private clients for 25 years. I can’t recall any failures. I can recall monetary losses, and many mistakes we have made but none of those events we would consider failures as we learned so much along the way and you know what? hand on heart, we can say whether its was 10 people of 1000 people every guest had a blast and went away saying, that was fun!
Here’s to many more successful and fun events for us and for all of you out there in the “Creating Memorable Events Space”
Anyone out there that has been to one of our events? Comment below on your experiences.
Our Happy Customers
Swing On In's Chrissy Keepence and Ray are two cool cats. Their vivacious personalities and enthusiasm really motivate students at all levels. From beginner to advanced, they treat each dancer...
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The Swing on In Dancers have been involved in multiple Bleach Festival’s events including the larg-escale production, The Inaugural Annual Dance Affair. They were an absolute hit. We love their...
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Working with Ray is a dream come true for organisers booking DJs or looking for entertainment 20’s – 80’s. He’s professional, reliable, fun to work with and delivers a brilliant,...
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We have had the greatest time learning to dance with you two. It's such a fun thing to do together, kind of our special time together each week which has...
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So much fun and filled with amazing friendly people!
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I have been dancing for 16 years both modern jive.rock n roll and swing and in my opinion Swing is the most social and energised of them all just one...
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The most friendly and welcoming dance group on the Gold Coast
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Just dropped in to Tuesday night Swing On In class and absolutely loved it! Fantastic teachers, fantastic dancers! See you next week.
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Fantastic ppl fantastic teachers and a whole lotta fun
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How lucky are we to have Chrissy & Ray Keepence teach us Swing Dancing right here in Bangalow.... Taught directly by Frankie Manning himself the grandfather of Swing Dancing, this...
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Ray and Chrissy are both truly gifted in their abilities to teach swing to any age group. There love of this genre is infectious and they keep classes exciting and...
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I can't thank the teachers Ray, Chrissy enough for bringing Swing Dancing into my life. They are wonderful teachers and it has become "my happy place" every week. I've also...
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Loads of fun, Ray and Chrissie are awesome teachers who always take the time to make sure everyone learns at their own pace. I never would have thought I'd enjoy...
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Swing dancing has opened my eyes to a whole new love that I didn't know existed! Ray and Chrissy's expert feedback and patient teaching style makes every class rewarding, exciting...
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I started going to swing on in 9 months ago and I plan to keep going it's lots of fun
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I never learnt to dance before I joined Swing on in. I totally enjoy the experience, great teachers, Ray and Chrissy, great atmosphere, very friendly, lots of fun
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We always have a great time at Swing On In dance classes. There's always lots of great dance moves to learn and heaps of friendly people to dance with.
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This time round we'll be taking our lindy hop to the dance floor replacing the comfortably familiar RnR
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I have always wanted to Swing Dance & Ray was such an awesome teacher. Everyone at the classes are so friendly & welcoming!
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Swing On In is awesome! Chrissy and Ray are excellent teachers and superb dancers, no matter what dance level you are at they are very welcoming. Highly recommended!
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As soon as I get to Queensland I will be there for sure! Chrissy and Ray are not only incredible people with hearts of hold they are also incredibly talented...
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Ray & Chrissy are both as amazing dancers and people. They are so passionate about everything they do. I'm absolutely mesmerised every time I watch them dance. They at an...
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Wonderful, talented teachers and both with a beautiful personality to match!
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Started Lindy Hop with Chrissy and Ray many years ago and they gave me the foundation on which to build my Swing dancing. Lindy Hop has taken me all over...
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Awesome peeps and great Lindy hop dancing for all ages!!!
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Ray and Chrissy are excellent teachers and make it a fun experience. Lindy Hop is in my opinion a life skill. Improvised social dancing is where it's at for me...
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With out a doubt the best dance group in Australia!!
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Do yourself a favour and learn about this stylish and spirited style of partner dancing with the best teachers I could imagine. I love Chrissy and Ray's energy and humour...
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Love going to class each week with Chrissy and Ray. Such fun, great exercise and you get to meet some wonderful people.
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Fabulous dancers, amazing (and most patient) teachers ;-p, incredible people! Wish they were able to get to Perth more often
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Great teachers and great fun. Highly recommended!
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Excellent classes, it's amazing what you can learn in one or two lessons, even with two left feet! Very welcoming and warm and as fun as you make it.
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Ray & Chrissy are both amazing dancers and absolutely delightful people. They are so passionate about everything they do, and open their hearts to assisting others in so many ways.....
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Expert helpful instruction, loads of fun, beautiful people, great exercise - what's not to love! And thanks for the inspiring clips from the original swing era.
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Fantastic........Chrissie and Roy are the Best! Always happy, always patient, a lovely friendly atmosphere and a pleasure to look forward to every week........Betty
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On Wednesday night at Bangalow Swing on In, I have a great time, smile all night, laugh at Ray's jokes and learn to dance at the same time. Our teachers...
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I was hooked after my first lesson! Amazing people and an amazing atmosphere! Ray and Chrissy are fantastic teachers. Something about swing really invigorates the soul. I guarantee that if...
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“We had the pleasure of working with Ray Keepence last year when he did a gig for our Surf Life Saving Club. Ray acted as a DJ and provided Music,...
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QT Gold Coast have been working with Swing-A- Billy Ray Dj Entertainer Services for over 3 years. Ray and his team consistently provide slick, professional entertainment for both our corporate clients...
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Ray Keepance has been my go to music man for 15years. He has provided music for all different occasions for us from birthdays, weddings, funerals, yes funerals. He has the...
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While he may go by the name Swing-a- billy Ray, he is no one trick pony. We have known ray for the past 17 years. Ray began working for us...
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