Open mic sign-up sheet

Working out the slots

A slot is the set plus the changeover: walking on, adjusting the mic, plugging in, and walking off. Two minutes is realistic for a singer with a guitar. Allow more for a full band.

Pick a slot length that divides evenly into the night. "7:30-9:30pm every 10 min" fits exactly. "Every 7 min" makes 17 slots with one minute left over, and Dibs tells you it left that minute out. Either way works, as long as you know where the night ends.

The starter list above has a featured act at 7:00, which gives the night a known start and the room time to fill, then 12 open slots.

Online, at the door, or both

An online list rewards regulars, who plan ahead, and can shut out the newcomer who walks in on the night. A common fix is to keep a few slots back:

1. Make the sheet with all the slots.
2. Lock two or three of them, say every fourth slot. Locked slots can't be claimed online.
3. On the night, add walk-ins to the locked slots by hand, first come, first served.

Say how it works in the description: "Ten slots online, four at the door from 7pm". It saves an argument at the sign-up table.

What to ask performers

Keep it to what the host and the sound person need:

• "Name to announce" as a short answer, which is often a stage name, not the name on their email
• "What are you doing?" as a choice: music, comedy, poetry, other
• "Gear you need" as a short answer: a mic stand, a DI box, a keyboard, a chair
• "Where can people follow you?" as a short answer, if the host shouts out acts

The answers show up on your dashboard and in the CSV, so the host can print a running order with names to announce and gear notes.

House rules that keep it fair

• One slot per person. Set the sheet to one sign-up per person, so nobody holds two times.
• Arrive by a set time. "Check in by 7:15 or your slot goes to the waitlist." Use check-in on the dashboard to tick off who has arrived.
• Swaps go through the link. A performer who's running late can move to a later open slot from their confirmation email, without texting the host.
• Reminders do the chasing. Dibs emails each performer two days before and on the morning of the show, with their time and a link to cancel. A cancelled slot goes to the waitlist, not to an empty stage.

A weekly night

For a regular Wednesday or Friday open mic, make one sheet per night and use "Copy for next time" to make the next one. Each night gets a fresh list, and the waitlist doesn't carry an old night's names forward. Share the next sheet at the end of each show, when the room is full of people who want to come back.

Talent show

A school or community talent show is the same shape with longer slots, usually 3 to 5 minutes an act plus time for props, and two extra shifts: a rehearsal slot for each act and a few backstage helpers. For school try-outs, where a judge picks who goes on, use the audition sign-up sheet instead.

Karaoke

Karaoke slots are short: most songs run three to four minutes, so "every 5 min" works. Add one question, "Song, artist and key", so the host can queue the track before you reach the mic. A one-per-person limit keeps the regulars from taking every slot. If the night runs long, make a second short sheet for round two.

A ready list

The starter list above is a two-hour night: a featured act at 7:00, then 12 ten-minute slots from 7:30. Paste it into Dibs, change the day and the times, lock any slots you want to keep for the door, and share the link. Performers claim a time with their name and email, no account and no ads.