Dance Survey Results 120313
Twenty-three (23) people completed the March 2012 DANCE QUEENS survey. Thank you to each of you who contributed. The survey was conducted so that the input was not traceable to an individual. You can see the detailed responses here. This note summarizes the data and I have added comments.
First, the number of people completing the survey was lower than I had hoped. Right now we have 379 DANCE QUEENS members and this is about a 6% rate of return. But, this is what we have to work with so here goes:
1. How many dance HUDs are you wearing right now?
0 HUDs - 5 responses
1 HUD - 8 responses
2HUDs - 7 responses
3HUDs - 1 response
4HUDs - 1 response
5HUDs - 1 response
Comments - Wow! It seems for many of us one HUD is not sufficient to do all we want. I have commented previously on using two HUDs. If anyone who uses two HUDs wants to share more detail of how they use two or more HUDs, I would love to post it to the blog. Compared to the September 2011 survey the percentage of people wearing two or more HUDs is increasing.
2. What is the name of your main dance HUD?
Huddles - 16
Barre - 3
Animazoo - 1
MLDU - 1
TIS - 1
Vista - 1
Comments - Huddles is still the most popular dance HUD. We are still working on our analysis of Dance HUDs and should have the work finished next month.
3. Approximately how many animations do you own?
10,000
7000
4000
2000+
2000
1500
1000
1000
1000
1000
900
800
750
700
500+
500
500
500
200-300
250
200
200
200
Comments - Another WOW! No wonder the world economy is in the doldrums ... all the money is going into dances. The median number from the September survey was 300 and now it is 800. Maybe it is the small sample size, but maybe we are dramatically increasing our purchases. If you are new to dancing, be aware that this addiction is expensive ... hahahaha.
4. Approximately how many animations did you buy in the last month?
100
100
100
50
50
50
20-30
21
20
20
15
15
10
10
10
6
6
4
0
0
0
0
One answer I couldn't understand
Comments - The median is about the same as in the September survey. One characteristic of the DANCE QUEENS membership is that the age of members seems to be relatively high. When we add new members, I always look at the profile and see that many new members have 2 to 5 years in SL. Being here that long means that these members probably have accumulated a lot of dances. Younger members generally have not had the time to do so.
5. What methods of dancing have you used in the last week?
Individual Dancing using your own Dance HUD - 17
Indivdual Dancing using a Dance Ball - 3
Couples Dancing using a Dance System (e.g. INTAN, TIS Pro) - 14
Couples Dancing using a HUD - 6
Group Dancing with you leading - 14
Group Dancing with someone else leading - 16
Show Dancing in a performance or practice for a performance - 12
Other - 1
I did not dance last week - 1
Comments - Well, it seems that we do everything except much dancing in clubs with the club dance ball. I am a little surprised that we do so much couples dancing with a HUD and will have more posts on this subject.
6. What is your favorite MOCAP Dance Maker and say why.
First is a listing of the frequency of mentions that each MOCAP maker received, followed by some key words:
MyAnimation - 5 - variety, store organization, owner responsiveness, quality, range
A&M - 7 - quality, usefulness, price, quality, variety, range, owner responsiveness, new dances
Henmation - 4 - price, quality, store organization, variety, range, new dances
Studio4D - 1.33 - price, quality
Animazoo - 1 -
TIS - 1 - quality, owner responsiveness
Comments - A&M and MyAnimation were first and second in the September survey. The big change this time is the improvement in Henmations' ratings. It is beginning to look like the 22 MOCAP dance makers in SL are separating into the top 3 and the 19 also rans. The reasons why the top three are successful are very similar.
7. What is your LEAST favorite MOCAP Dance Maker and say why.
Comments - Rather than repeat the remarks from the survey, I will let you read them. It seems that almost every MOCAP maker has made this list and one does not stand out. This might be good reading for the MOCAP dance makers to learn what people do not like.
8. What is your favorite non-MOCAP Dance/Animation Maker and say why.
Comments - Most people answered that they do not use non-MOCAP dances or did not answer. The few who did mentioned KUSO and Kamala.
9. What is the most useful part of DANCE QUEENS and please say why?
Here are the key words - Well run and organized; dance database; group chat; the blog; interaction with other dancers; all the information; show information; a place for answers; dance central
Comments - The blog came about in part because of the last survey. It seems that this has been a useful way to get information to people. All of the areas mentioned take effort to keep going and I am glad that people are finding them useful.
10. What is the LEAST useful part of DANCE QUEENS and please say why?
Two items were mentioned:
1. Dance sequences
2. Spam in chat
Comments - Dance sequences were cited in the September survey also as not being useful. I do not get much feedback on them and would like to know if I should stop sending them. The reasons I send them out are several:
1. To help beginners learn about sequencing
2. To show the different ways that dances can be used
3. To show the variety of dances (categories and styles)
4. To show the variety of dance makers
5. It's fun for me
As far as the spam in chat is concerned, we have pretty well stopped non-dance chat and eliminated those who send non-dance advertisements to the group. I realize that sometimes a subject in chat will get off topic, but I am willing to have a little useless chat to keep this means of communication open to all members.
12. What is one idea you have for making dancing in SL better or more fun?
Some of the ideas are:
1. I would love if there were stores in SL specifically devoted to dancers besides the dance maker's stores such as ones that might offer props, stages, clothes, accessories and other such useful things ....just for dancers.
2. I wish there was a way to use only part of an animation - sometimes an anim will have the perfect move I want for a particular routine, but it's 20s into the loop, and the beginning of the loop sucks. :/
3. Even though there are tons of dances I would like to see more expressive slow, non sensual dances. I dnot knnow if tha would make it more "fun" because dancing in sl is already such a treat for me.
4. I wish Linden was more careful about IP replacements. I'm sure I've had dances I GOT FROM THE MAKER replaced, and when they replace I wish they'd make sure to tell me the name of what they replaced every time. Also, I'd prefer that they address the problem with the person who sold the ripped dances instead of wasting my money.
5. For groups too see other groups and show an interest in each other more. I still find when I see something advertised in DQ at a time I can get to it is often the same couple of people visiting shows.
6. Group involvment!
7. hmmm... anyway to cut down on the lag during performances :)
8. Less lag would be nice, audiences that remove resizers in hair, shoes & jewellery and that don't wear massively primmed flexi attachments or poofters.
9. I miss your classes. I liked getting together with folks who dance all types of dance and learning from all of them. It's fascinating. I also loved the choreography shows. I would love to have a regular gathering of the minds:)
10. that a monthly meeting is held for social reasons at dance queens central so we can all get to know each other better
11. For dancers to chill out and stop taking it all so seriously. Lag and the need for more imagination in dancing
Comments - On item 1 I will add a section to the Dance makers page with a listing of stores that sell props, equipemnt and costumes.
On item 2, I think I have a way to do this and need to test it. It will be laborious but possible.
On item 3, Dance Makers, listen up. hahahaha
On item 4, this has been the subject of some recent posts on illegal dances.
On item 5, I wish more people used the calendar for entering their shows. It is a bit of an effort to set up your group's calendar, but once done it is available for all to see. Contact me to learn how.
On items 6 and 10, We have had two choreography shows and I am planning more events like that. I did try to have weekly get togethers, but the attendance was very poor. If you have specific ideas, let me know.
On items 7 and 8, I am exploring using two sims for the next DANCE QUEENS Dance Festival in July. We have identified things you can do to reduce lag, but at this point I am afraid its a part of our life.
On item 9, I will schedule more classes not only for beginners, but advanced classes. I will also invite members to teach subjects that I can see they excel at.
On item 11, hahahah. I think we all can agree that dancing is for fun.
xxx
Nottoo