Hi, I'm Marco. I co-founded DFW Young & Social, and I read every partnership request that comes in. There are a lot of them, so before you write yours, let me save us both some time.
The short version: we almost never partner with anyone. Not because we think we're too cool for it, and not because your thing isn't great. It's because of who this community is for.
Somebody asked you to fill a room, grow a list or get the word out. From the outside we look like a lot of people in one place who love doing things, so on paper, we're a dream.
But we're not a distribution list. We're a community, and the people in it trust us.
The second they start feeling like customers being sold to, we've lost the whole point. So before we work with anyone, two things have to line up.
Intention
Who is this really for?
If the honest answer is the people here, we can talk. If it's mostly for you, your business or your numbers, that's okay. It just isn't something we'll be part of.
Values
Do they match ours?
Create real connections, come as you are, and growth and gratitude. If what you do adds pressure, sells to people or makes anyone feel like they don't belong, it doesn't line up, however good the rest of it is.
Most requests miss on the first one.
None of these come from bad people. They're just looking for an audience.
A venue
"We'd love to host a singles night for you at our place!"
Like it says in our FAQ and most other places: we're not a singles group. Seriously. We're not that famous adult group that says it isn't one, then advertises the most marriages and kicks you out once you're married. Most people here come to make friends, and a singles night comes with expectations that open the door to all kinds of problems. It just isn't us, and we don't think it's the right way to build good relationships. Being friends, seeing each other often in casual, social settings and building that connection first is.
A restaurant
"Come do board game night at our restaurant!"
Thanks for the invite. First off, please read our rules and terms. Also, I'm Marco, nice to meet you. Second, our board game nights are huge, and our coffee hangouts are just as big. That means at least 60 to 80 chairs, tons of tables and extra staff on hand to handle it. We already have all of that, and we don't really know you or what you're about.
An app
"Let us list your events on our app, so your members can message each other there!"
But why? Not to be mean, but we don't really know you. If you'd looked at what we already do, you'd know we have several ways to do that already, plus a giant Discord server. So thanks for the offer, but please take some time to learn who we are before cold calling us.
A directory
"Be a trusted studio for kids!"
Honestly, it concerns me that you're asking an adults-only studio to be on a list for kids. I don't know if I can trust your list, and I worry for the parents who do.
An event organizer
"Could you share our event with your members?"
Howdy, friend. I don't know who you are, who sponsors you, what your values are, where your revenue goes, how the experience will go or what happens if things go wrong. Why would we promote your thing when we just met you today? Or when you've been in our Discord for six months and haven't said a word?
That goes for outside groups, individuals, businesses and events. So that's a no to:
Even the nice ones. Honestly, especially the nice ones, because those are the hardest to say no to.
Bring the club to your bar, restaurant or shop, maybe with a free appetizer or the first drink on the house.
I'll be straight with you: that isn't an invitation to be social. It's marketing.
You'd like a room full of the age group almost every business is chasing, and fair enough. But that makes it a market activation, and those start at
$2,000
And if you're offering us your space for free: that's kind, but we don't need a venue. We run close to 150 events a month in our own space in Farmers Branch.
Every real partnership we've had started with someone who was part of the community first. Our one sponsor, Rusty Ahmadi, came to things for a year before we ever talked about it, and we were the ones who asked him. He still shows up, still helps and still puts on free events for everyone.
Compare these:
"Can I host the event I run everywhere else and get paid for?"
"I love doing this. Could we do a free event?"
"I've been to a bunch of events and I talk on the Discord. People here seem like they'd really like this. What do you think?"
Only the last one is someone we already know. If this is the first time I'm hearing your name, we don't know each other well enough to partner yet.
Seriously, thanks for reading all of that. If you're not any of the above, and what you have in mind is really for the people here, I'd love to hear it. Write to us and pick "Partnerships and collaborations." We read everything.
Write to usMarcoCo-Founder, DFW Young & Social Club