Open Mic Poetry (Things I Learnt)

It may appear that I have an incoherent way of doing things, but when it works out, I feel satisfied.

I started hosting open mic poetry because I didn't like going out after work on the weekdays. The events usually start around 8 or 9 pm and run well into the night. Usually, I'm mentally drained after work and I need my sleep to get to work the next day. I couldn't find any on a Saturday in Fort Lauderdale area so I decided that I would host. I started hosting last year and I hosted this past Saturday, May 18. I learnt some things along the way:

Guaranteed attendance - by hosting, you know one (1) person who will definitely be there -YOU (most of the time). This past Saturday, I had more than one person and several people came after the event. I was asked if I asked people to RSVP when I sent out emails. I am thinking about my next invite if I should ask people to respond by email. However, another person told me a story of his friend, you had multitudes of people stating that they would attend and they didn't. I'm still thinking about it.

Concession - And I am not talking about popcorn and drinks. I am talking about asking people who told me they were interested in the event about day and time more suitable for them. Last year, my Saturdays shifted throughout the month (cf. this year, my event is on every third Saturday).

Buy In - "an agreement on a course of action." I liked the concession because I could plan better for every third Saturday. So I accidentally made other plans in April and had to cancel the event; I know better now! However, it seems that I forgot to do this "buy in" thing ...

Promotion - "Are you promoting?"..."Where are you promoting?" "Yes!" is my response. However, I make it pretty - I design my own postcards advertising the event. I keep it real -I drop some postcards in nearby libraries, place postings online at
http://poetry.openmikes.org
http://www.pw.org/content/open_mic_poetry
http://www.poets.org/calendar.php/

I tweet about it and post on facebook. Also I keep it cheap - Meetup isn't free!

Feedback - This is what I love about reading at open mic. As Wayne aptly said on Saturday that we writers tend to write in isolation so the reading allows you to mingle with other poets and get feedback. He had two excellent poems that he read, one he had entered into a contest about Miami. I also received some feedback that I will follow as I never realized how I pronounced certain words could be distracting: how I pronounced my "ing" words gives a distinct Caribbean flair (although my accent is faint) and my poem was on the beat era.
Take a listen then look at the words and give me your feedback.

Play Song