Menu
You have a video which features your side. You think it will be helpful to support your sides recruitment work. But how do you ensure that it attracts viewers (many videos are little watched!) And how do you ensure that your videos are watched by potential dancers and musicians, including those who may know little about morris and other forms of traditional dance?
The document “Videos to Support Your Side’s Recruitment Events” provides some examples of recruitment videos which have been used by Morris Federation sides.
In this document we assume that you have a video (maybe a member of the side took the video; it was shared with your side by someone who watched your dance or perhaps it was a video made for your by the Morris Federation). This document suggests ways you can maximise the impact of the video.
Here are some suggestions for ways of using your videos:
Short videos which provide information about your side are ideal for use on the Morris Federation’s Teamfinder service.
As an example the Teamfinder profile page for Hicca Hoodlums contains a “TeanVideos” tab which contains videos hosted on YouTube which the side has added to their profile.
Since Teamfinder profile pages are typically highly ranked searches by Google (and similar search engine) will often find a profile page (especially if rich descriptions are provided).
Viewing this video will not only give the viewer a feel for the side and their dancing – it also provide location and similar details.
If your side has set up a Bluesky account (which in November 2024 is generating a lot of interest) put do not want to invest time in regularly posting content (especially in winter months!) you could upload a short video (<60 seconds and <50Mb in size) – possibly as a ‘pinned post’, so that it will always appear at the top of your posts (and note that you can have more than one pinned post).
A good example of this can be seen on the Wild Moon Bluesky Bluesky account – when people visit the account they will see a 30 second clip of the side dancing which contains detail of where they are based and how to find further information.
You may have uploaded your video to either your personal YouTube channel or your side’s channel (almost 50 sides have listed a YouTube channel in their Teamfinder profile).
But did you know that you can also make use of ‘playlists’? For example you could have a playlist of your best dances, a playlist of previous year’s and perhaps a playlist taken at practices (which, if you wanted, could be unlisted so other’s can’t see it unless you give them the link).
The Rivington Morris YouTube account provide a good example of this: the account only hosts a single video but playlists, grouped by date, provide access to videos of the side taken by others (including the Morris Hub Tube account) and uploaded to their YouTube channel as shown below.
Document published: 28 Nov 2024
This document is available with a Creative Commons Sharealike (CC-BY) licence. In brief, this means you can copy and make changes to this document provided you give acknowledgements to the author/publisher. A suggested wording for acknowledgements is:
This document is based on the "Dissemination Channels for your Side’s Videos" document by Brian Kelly, Comms and IT volunteer with the Morris Federation.
Subscribe for news about The Morris Federation and morris related activities. Available for all.
