Some of you may recognize this question from the PVCD (Pioneer Valley
Contra Dance) list on Yahoo Groups.
How do you balance the price you charge for the evening of dancing with
attendance? Charge too much and you loose people. Charge too little and
you have trouble paying the performers and the hall. Do you charge a
sliding scale based on ability to pay? Or student/senior status?
On the PVCD list, a student sent a message complaining about the rising
prices at some dances and the lack of a student rate at others. She
complained that she and her friends could not dance as much as they
wanted to. The response ranged from "right on!" to "think about the
musicians!" to "grow up and decide how to spend your money". (I'm
paraphrasing.)
Last month (after much deliberation) I raised the price of my Mill City
dance from $7 to $8, but added a "young person" price of $5. It's too
soon to know if it's had any affect or not. Last month I had a couple
less people than usual, but due to the price increase, the amount that I
had to pay the band was the same. The other dance in town is still
charging $7 as well. When I took a survey in the sign-in book earlier in
the summer, I asked if people were willing to pay the new price
structure. I got about 10 yeas and 2 nays. I should also mention that I
do not have a gate person and payment is on the honor system. However,
the tally pretty closely matches my quick count from the microphone
during the evening.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Chris Weiler
Goffstown, NH
