We’re looking for hosts!! If you have some spare space at your place, and would like to make friends with some dancers from another city, please get in touch: hosting @cambridgelindyexchange.co.uk
If you are in need of hosting, you will get an opportunity to request hosting when you register. We will make every effort to host everyone who registers, but please note that hosts will be assigned on a first come-first serve basis, and to those who are from outside of the UK by preference.
What is hosting?
Hosting is the lindy tradition of providing sleeping space for visiting dancers. The first lindy exchange was run like a school exchange program between dancers from Chicago and San Francisco, with dancers from each city each taking a turn at looking after the dancers from the other city, and showing them round their local scene. These days lindy-exchanges are run in a many-to-one relationship, but the custom of providing accommodation for visiting dancers remains. It’s one of the reasons that the lindy-hop world forms a tight-knit community, and is one of the most fun parts of an exchange.
What should I expect to provide as a host/What can I expect as a guest?
A host commits to hosting their guest(s) for the Friday and Saturday night of CLX. Any other nights are subject to negotiation between host and hostee. Hosts are not hotels: a host will always provide sleeping space, access to a bathroom, and breakfast, but anything on top of that is a much appreciated bonus!
How do I make sure that everything runs smoothly and we all have fun?
- Share important information in advance. Nobody likes to be surprised at the last minute. Specifically, establish whether the hostee needs to bring air mattresses, pillows, sleeping bags, and towels, and whether the host’s home includes anything that is likely to trigger allergies in the hostee.
- Remember that you are all staying in a house not built to hold this number of people, whose other residents may not be lindy hoppers. Flexibility about when you eat, sleep, and shower makes life easier for everybody. (Flexibility about when in the day you shower, we mean. If you decide to be flexible by not showering at all, you will not be popular.)
- Be willing to compromise about what time you arrive at and leave the venues and activities. You may well be sharing a key, so try not to keep everybody waiting, or force them to leave just as they’re starting to enjoy themselves. It is often worth agreeing plans before you arrive: you don’t want to stay late waiting for everyone else only to find that they only stayed to wait for you.
Tips for hosts
- Get in touch with your guest before the exchange to give them your address, swap phone numbers, and arrange when and where you are going to meet up.
- Make sure your hostee knows whether they need to bring sleeping equipment and towels.
- Explain to your guests how to get to the venues and to your house. Unless you are planning to drive them everywhere, an email containing google maps and bus timetables is useful.
- If you have a spare key you can lend, that makes life easier for everybody, particularly if you have several guests.
- Provide breakfast and preferably caffeine in the mornings. Unless you want to provide lunch and dinner as well, give your hostees tips on where they can eat.
Tips for guests
- Remember that you are a guest in somebody else’s house: don’t hog the bathroom, eat them out of house and home, or injure or offend their pets/offspring/housemates.
- If you haven’t been told you can touch/use/eat something, please don’t!
- Remember that your host may be involved in volunteering at CLX, have other commitments that weekend, or simply need some quiet time. Don’t be offended if they don’t spend every moment of the weekend glued to your side!
- Most people in Cambridge don’t own a car and get around by cycling or walking. If you’ve got a bike, it’s worth bringing one, and be aware that your host is unlikely to be able to taxi you to and from the venues.
- A small gift or thank you card is always appreciated.
Have fun! Let us know if you have any problems.
