Sister SF: Article: Promoting Events: Part 1

Promoting Events Part 1: Why? Where? When? Who?
By XJS and Amber

Not enough gigs? Throw your own event and DJ every week!
Not enough cutthroat competition in your life? Throw a house party in San Francisco! Enjoy nervous tension, dealing with drunkards (or worse) and massive financial uncertainty? You should be a promoter!

All kidding aside, nothing beats the rush of throwing a successful event - be it a club event, rave, bar night or private party. The thrill of seeing potentially hundreds or thousands of people having a good time and knowing it was partly due to your hard work is immense. Whether you're in it just for the satisfaction of putting on a great event, or even if you're hoping to turn a profit, the right promotions are critical in getting you there - promotions bring people! You might even make some good cash, too, and if you also DJ, the DJs who you invite to spin may repay the favor with gigs galore. But will it be the party they're talking about for years to come, or a miserable night spent looking down the street wondering if anyone's going to come in and dance, and questioning how in the hell you're going to pay the DJs?

Promotion is the key - that is, organizing every last detail, letting people know that you're throwing an event, and making it sound like a Great Night Out. It's a good bit of marketing, a lot of planning and a dash of entrepreneurial flair all rolled into one.

Why?
Events are thrown for many reasons - celebration, a remembrance, a showcase of talent, or just an all out good time. Being mindful of the reason your are going to all this effort keeps you focused. If you have a "bottom line" regarding your goals and aspirations for this event, share it with the people you are working with on the event so that you all know what you're working towards.

You may find that it works best to throw a benefit event for your first time as a promoter. This can take a lot of the stress off the event, as it turns the focus to a higher goal than just partying, and to a good cause. Choose a charity as the recipient of your profits and work with them to promote the event. Venue owners, DJs and other event workers are likely to give significant discounts for their time and this translates into bigger profits for your chosen charity. Attendees are also more likely to pay a higher cover charge if the recipient is a charitable foundation of some type.

If you make some cash and can hand over a good donation, you'll even get a tax deduction receipt. Warm fuzzies all round! Sister has enjoyed working with the likes of www.RAINN.org, www.SFLNC.org, Breast Cancer Action (www.bca.org) and HEAR (www.hearnet.com) to raise money and awareness for issues we feel strongly about - parties don't have to be commercially oriented to be successful.

You and whose army?
You can't throw an event on your own unless you have more hustle than a cheap porno. OK, it's possible, but why kill yourself? Get a friend or two you can work peacefully with and split the duties. Talk about responsibilities and money matters beforehand (How will decisions be made? Who pays for what and how will they be repaid?) Get coordinated, have a meeting, and keep up communications.

Where?
First you need a venue - a place to throw this merry little shindig. If it's a big one-off event maybe you'll need a bigger space. Do you think you need room for 700 of your closest friends, or just 170? Don't forget that it's better to be too crowded than not busy enough - 170 people rattling about in a huge warehouse venue is pretty sad, but in a bar it's a good crowd.

You'll want to have an honest chat with your chosen venue's owner or manager about their expectations of the night. You will want to use a contract to secure the details of your chat, so there are a few questions you need to ask:

What are you paying to use the venue? Any deposits? What's the bar guarantee? (i.e. Does the venue have a minimum in bar sales that they need to take to make the night profitable for them?) Or do they need a percentage of the door? Or both? Also, do they need a deposit to secure the night?

Does the venue provide security staff? How is security selected, or what agency provides security services?

Does the promoter have to pay all or part of the cost of security? Will security check IDs? Collect cash? Stamp hands? How many security guards does the venue require?

What staff will the venue provide, if any? Someone to work the box office? The coat check

Does the venue provide any fliers? Newspaper ads? Any other kind of promotions to take a little of the weight off you?

What decorations, lights, projectors, and so on does the venue provide, and what do they not provide that you may need to rent?

All of the above questions will give you an idea of how much the venue side of this event is going to cost you. Now is a good time to envision the "worst case scenario": are you really able to fulfill a $4,000 bar guarantee should it come down to it? How will you cover the full guarantee if-heaven forbid-the event should bomb? Think through the commitment before you close the deal with the venue.

Choose a day - any day
The date you choose for the event is pretty critical. Generally, Sunday through Tuesday nights are hell to promote: nobody goes out those days unless it's for a good reason. Fridays and Saturdays are pretty easy, and if your venue has already got a crowd that just shows up every week no matter what, you shouldn't have any worries.

Booking DJs.
Well, now that you've got the actual venue taken care of, and presumably got a date set, I am sure you've been thinking about the DJs. OK, I am sure that's what you thought of first, really. Obviously you know your talent, and how to plan the night so that the genre(s), style and experience of your DJs keeps the dance floor busy and the event on fire. Your local DJs will probably forgo a contract, and will play for very little pay or even free, but unrecognized local DJs will create less of a draw to your event. An out of town headliner can be expensive, what with flights and hotels, but you *may* be able to negotiate a headliner booking that fits your budget-or get creative and share those costs with other promoters in and around your city by getting additional bookings for your headliner DJ.

Point of promoter etiquette: say you're throwing a party on Friday night at the local dive. You hear Paul Oakenfold is coming to town to spin at another club on Saturday. You immediately call up Paul's manager and say "Hey - can Paul spin at my show on Friday?" If Mr. Oakenfold's manager says yes, then expect to hear from the promoters of the Saturday night club. They won't be happy!

You see, some contracts are exclusive, meaning they are meant to secure the talent's services for one appearance in a city within a certain timeframe. This is so that everyone goes to that event, and the promoter makes a profit from his or her investment. DJs (and their managers) have been known to try and get around that and make more money on one trip by playing at more events, so beware - you should check with the DJ's booking manager and other promoters to be sure you don't step on toes.

Other things you may need to sort out are work visas for foreign DJs, details of hotel requirements, riders (special food, drinks or equipment the DJ needs/wants/will throw a fit unless you provide), and flight details. These can be negotiated with the DJ's manager or booking agent. When booking out of towners give yourself as much time as possible to sort out all these details. And don't make assumptions about a DJs' preferences in regards to accommodations and so on - you might be sorry. When in doubt a quick phone call will determine whether or not DJ Fluffypants is happy to share a cushion on the floor with your dog or not.

The bottom line: Planning is crucial. Watch out for the second part of this series - Throwing a Party: How?