Help Promote Capoeira Espaco!!

[CapoEspaco]

Oi, como vai todos

I want to begin a new Campaign to promote Capoeira Espaco, but before I do, I wanted to know if anyone had any good ideas for promoting this Site and Helping it to grow in the Capoeira Community. Alot of people have Myspace, & Facebook and i've gotten some feedback in the past such as, "na i dont have time for another social network" I wondering about how we can attract more capoeiraistas to the network, and where we can promote so more people are aware of this site. I look foward to your feedback and support.

Muito Axe,
Compromisso

[bea]

i know it must be annoying for some people to join another social network, but i think the ones that are really enthusiastic about capoeira will come here even if they have myspace. i know i did =)
it's best if you ask all of us to help you promote through our friends for beggining. i sent the invite as soon as i made my profile here.
and don't give up if people reject you on one side.. simply go on.
you have my support, i will put the link to all my sites and my blog =)

axé!

[Highlander]

Oi Compromisso, Google are launching OpenSocial soon, which will be fully supported by Ning so that might offer more opportunities to grow. For example a Capoeira Espaco app could be written using the OpenSocial API and then made available on all the uspported social networks (Orkut, Ning, LinkedIN etc..).

[Traveling Bard]

Hmm...so far I have given the address to this page to the people in my class, and if I find someone on Deviantart or elsewhere, that seems to not only be involved in capoeira, but are really interested, I make sure I pass on the address to them again. I have also been promoting it on IMVU (if anyone is on that chat program, and makes a group, let me know...there don't seem to be many capoeirists there). Basically, word of mouth. I haven't been paying attention, as I don't have a website where I put lots HTML items, so I don't know if you already have this, but you could make some banners/buttons/flags/tags that people could put on their websites/myspaces ect that links to here.

[CapoEspaco]

Thank you all for your responses. So far i have been able to promote the site through Link Exchanges with websites such as: http://blog.bahia-capoeira.com/ , http://thecapoeirablog.wordpress.com/ , & http://www.capoeira4all.org/
I hope to find more websites that will be willing to engage in this virtual partnership.

Promoting at events and Batizados is defitely something i can do. I can print out Postcards with the Info, addess, and logo of this site. Hand them out at Batizados or Parties, but ofcoarse i could only do this with the permission of the mestre or group hosting the event. The only thing i question is, what can i offer them in return for allowing me to promote at their event? I have no clue. I dont know how or what i could possibly offer that would be beneficial to their cause.


Cabocla - the Capoeira topics idea is great. I'm not sure what else we could do thou to expand on this beside giving everyone the ability to create their own Groups. It doesn't have to be a capoeira group page, but a Group focus on one of the topics u mentioned. Yes it would depend heavily on the people.

Thank you, Traveling Bard - for promoting via word of mouth.

Maritaca - for your on going support and ideas (i'm really hoping to come across a solution to the language thing so far nothing) =(

Shane Mitchell - for the API OpenSocial thing, looks good i'll look into this.

bea - for sending out invites, and putting up links on your websites. I would like to know what website thou would be nice to see. Also maybe i could add your website to the link section hopefully if its capoeira related.

Obigados Tudo e muito Axe'

[Faisca]

I just started to use StumbleUpon to promote The Capoeira Blog. If everyone on here joined StumbleUpon and then gave Capoeira Espaco a thumbs up, it would start to spread that way. You could also add it to a social bookmarking site like Del.icio.us and spread the good word that way.

[Macaco Nova York]

patience young grasshopper !!

follow me ....
Capoeira is a complete art form. In it you can be a dancer, fighter, singer, musician, performer, make ur berimbaus you can be a craftsman, visual artist draw capoeira figures, and on and on. All can contribute to capoeira life. Digression - I challenge anyone to name a profession or job that one cannot channel capoeira through.

back to the point ......
Espaso can be a place where capoeiresta's display capoeira art, and the capoeira in our life, and how we put capoeira into our life. Some kind of angle like that. From humble works of art to the supertalented masterpiece. Make it comfortable for all to submit. site will be popular because 1. people will enjoy a place to "express themselves" and 2. some of the work will be really good, famous like and draw a following. Put that in you mission statement.

So Compromisso it seems you have magic in making websites, so your art / creative will be to creating a social network site that has the kind of functionality that allows people to express their art. hook it up.

Clearly the main forms of digital expression are text, photo and video. It may be as much a matter of just branding the site as one were capoeira art, thought, and whatever else occurs. For example a "greatest zen in the roda moment" in profiles. I think it would actually be interesed to read thought peoples answers to that. Post a top ten list based on viewers rating. See it's just text but it would be unique enough, and capoeira specific enought to interest.

Me my magic is to talk a lot (yes i talk a lot) about cosmic and quantam capoeira, so I'll start an espaso blog which will become super famous thus promoting espaco beyond you wildest dreams.

deal.
Macaco de Nova York

ps. speaking of promoting do me a favor and send this video link to whoever and post it wherever you can
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKVEvGtvGnA

[Pipoca]

I'm on Myfamily, Myspace, Facebook, and Orkut...but they are all just for talking to old friends. I've been looking for a good on-line community with lots of Capoeiristas. I'll do all I can to promote this site. It has a clean feel to it and is very well done. I don't spend much time on the Internet but what time I am on, I spend on these kinds of sites or checking the news. I have a feeling I'll be on here quite a bit more than the other sites now :) lol.

[Joaninha]

Hey Compromisso,

Have you made a facebook group for Capoeira Espaco? Even if people don't join that group, they'll find out about this site while looking for other capoeira facebook groups, and if people do join the group the word will spread to all the capoeiristas on their friends lists.

As for promoting at capoeira events, if they are open rodas or in public places (like parks), I would say that you don't need permission (technically you are doing the same thing that group is doing, only they are handing out flyers to the public and you are handing out flyers to them, in public), but of course it's always better to get it out of courtesy and to maintain good relations. In that case, you could offer advertising space, for example promoting that group or mestre's event on the homepage for a certain period of time.

And while we're on the topic, I could do a link exchange with you as well, for my blog.

As for the Portuguese, I know Wordpress has several plug-ins that let people translate their blogs into different languages, so perhaps there is something like that out there that would work for this site.

Finally, if you are into MySpace, you could create an account called Capoeira Espaco and just start adding capoeiristas as friends like crazy (or, depending on how you feel about this, I've heard of things out there that automatically add friends for you at ridiculously high paces). Then they will find out about this site right away, and like facebook, everyone they're connected to on MySpace would see you/the site in their friends list.

Then there's just posting in forums like capoeira.com, anywhere there are capoeiristas already congregated for capoeira online; they'll be most likely to join since they're already doing something similar. Or you could also exchange links/advertising space with online capoeira stores.

Oh and for attracting/keeping capoeiristas, maybe you could create sections on the site that are private spaces for each capoeira group/academy, where they could post class schedules, display/manage event calendars, discuss issues, make announcements, hold "online meetings"...if this happened and a teacher or someone decided to use that feature, everyone else in their group would definitely be compelled to join.

Anyway, I hope at least some of these prove to be helpful! Good luck!

-Joaninha

[Faisca]

Joaninha, I like the MySpace idea, and I think I might actually do that for The Capoeira Blog.

[Joaninha]

Cool, I hope it works!

[Jasmim]

I think the best part of the site is that it is capoeira-specific where I can learn how to improve my game by seeing what everyone else is doing. I love the connection to resources like the Capoeira Blog, great videos and pics from all over the world...and the best part is I can ask advice from the capoeiristas in those videos and pics about how to execute different moves. It's a social networking site, yes, but I think it's more about expanding my capoeira knowledge. Maybe that would be a good angle to emphasize for people who don't want just "another social network."

Axé!
- Jasmim