Between The Covers – Nov 11

Jenn Cohen | November 1, 2011 | 0 Comments

“How much are tickets? Screw that!”

by Torch

Come on people, this is a time of empty pockets; people are pissed off and poor. How do you get people to your event? First off, cut the door price, $10-12 maximum for any event. If you charge too much to get in the door, people won’t come. Ten bucks at the door means you can still get a drink at the bar, one drink leads to two and then the venue is making some scratch. Twenty dollars at the door will almost guarantee an empty room and a bummer of a night. It is simple math, think in ATM money, $20 increments – so if I pull out $40 bucks and spend $10 at the door, that means I can blow $10 to $30 at the bar depending on how much fun I am having. Definition of fun – great music, lots of people dancing and talking. … In order to have “fun” you have to get them in the door!

The overcharging at the door is a crucial mistake many new event planners make. OH, but it’s a charity event! People should be supporting the cause. Uh … no. When you start out by taking a twenty at the door, and then have donation drives going on, silent auctions, and full-blown open auctions, people get tapped out fast. Now figure in the guilt factor; Bob here has no money to drink and donate so if he has a drink he feels guilty about not donating or tossing in two dollars and leaves. If he donates, he is bummed because he wants a drink too, now he is stone sober, silent, staring down the band and will leave early. Make donating simple, have an online donation station set up and then the donation doesn’t have to be cash, it doesn’t have to come out of the ATM budget, which can still go to the bar!

Most people think of the overall expense of the night. So, knowing that ahead of time, no matter how great your talent is that you are offering, if you can’t get people in the door, your event will fail. Offer the public a deal up front – say, four bands, ten bucks, one great cause, and people will come.

Skip trying to entice people to come with chicken wings and pizza rolls, it always looks cheap and kind of gross no matter how pretty the plastic forks are. People will be left thinking, “Dang, I paid $20 for this?” Food adds a huge expense that doesn’t dress up an event. Even if you have food donated, you need someone to serve it, provide plates, etc, and clean up after the mess, not to mention the mystery meatballs found stuffed in the planters and kicked under the stage. If you want fun food ask a specialty catering truck if they would like to come park in front of your venue and sell outside.

Not everyone will or should work a charity event for free. If you have bands working for free then be sure to let them sell their merchandise and keep the proceeds so maybe they can make up the gas money. I personally think the bands should be paid for your charity event. How many times are most other employed people asked to do their jobs for free? The venue is sure to cover its time, the venue staff don’t work for free, a sound company won’t work for free why should the talent (the ones who really bring in the crowd) work for free? The band is the greatest marketing tool for getting the word out. “Well, if I pay everyone, how will I raise money for the cause?” Get the people in the door with a low entrance price and they will come, thus they will donate, dance, drink, and hopefully donate some more.