Registration FAQ

What’s this about a lottery?: In past years we admitted people in first-come, first-served order. A few years ago we got a mad rush of registrations on the first open day of registration. We’re glad BtB is so popular, but some people who registered less than a week later found themselves on the waiting list. Our current system is a lottery to make the process more equitable. With a lottery, everyone whose registration is received by the deadline (April 1, 2014) will have an equal chance of getting in.
When will I hear about the lottery results?: We will wait about 10 business days after the lottery deadline in order for registrations or checks postmarked on the deadline date to have time to arrive. You should hear by the middle of April. We will try to E-mail everyone on the same day, but with such a large number of applicants, it is possible that some people will be notified later than others.
What if I register in time for the lottery but I don’t get in?: You will be placed on the waiting list in the order your name was drawn in the lottery. As space becomes available through cancellations and the like, the next person on the waiting list will be admitted. There is always turnover in registration and many folks who may be on the waiting list initially will get in.
What if you get my registration after the lottery deadline?: You’ll be added to the waiting list in the order your registration is received.
What happens if I register as a couple or a group with other people?: If you note on your form that you are “registering with” one or more other people, we treat you and those other people as a group that wants to be admitted together, or not at all. If your group is on the waiting list, when you get to the top of the list you will be admitted only when we have room for all of you. Please note that there is no admittance advantage to registering as part of a couple or group.
If I’m on the waiting list, can someone who registers after me be admitted ahead of me?: It is possible, in order to facilitate gender balancing, that we will admit individuals of the minority gender ahead of other people on the waiting list. We may also defer admitting couples in order to hold slots for singles to be admitted in proportion to their percentage of the applicant pool.
Can I improve my chances of getting in by volunteering to help?: Sometimes. Committee members and volunteers who take on key jobs get admitted automatically, of course. But it needs to be a key job; just being a generic volunteer will not be enough to get you off the waiting list. And you have to do the job, or we will not extend the privilege to you again. Contact the committee if you want to talk about what key jobs are still available.
Why do you ask about dance roles (lead, follow, both) if you don’t use them in the gender balance process?: We find it to be helpful information. It can be a tie-breaker, and it may play more of a deciding role in the future, if gender-free dancing becomes more of a societal norm.