Hi Folks,
This is an interesting issue.
I actually think that charging too little can ultimately result in
fewer dancers. Here's why: If you charge enough that you will be able
to pay an attractive amount to performers of a reasonable caliber and
draw, you will hopefully develop a strong following based on the
quality of the experience over time. If dancers think "great music"
and "fun dance" and the performers think "good pay" and "good vibe",
you start to get a winning combination, but it takes time. At the
Burlington QCC dance (which I help organize), our primary goal is to
pay performers as well as possible while keeping the door fee
reasonable.
I'd say the Chicago dance could stand to raise its door fee a couple
of bucks and start to channel whatever extra income there might be to
the performers. There will be an eventual return on investment. In a
sense you are creating a value added product, or hopefully so.
I've been a dedicated dancer for many years, and most of the time
I've been able to afford going to the dances I choose to go to, but I
also know that dancing is one of the greatest joys in my life, and
I'd happily work an extra hour or two a week, or cut somewhere else
in order to dance. I guess for me its a matter of priority, and the
cost to me has always been worth it. I know it can be hard for some
students, but I guess I think that ANY evening out is going to be at
least as expensive as the fee to a dance, so it seems reasonable,
especially for what you get: excellent community, great live music,
good exercise, and a really positive experience.
We help create what we love by supporting the institutions that
foster what we care about.
Cheers,
Dave Cain
Waitsfield, VT
On Oct 16, 2007, at 10:56 AM, [email protected] wrote:
chicago charges $6 per person. no discounts for students, though
young kids
(below 12, as i remember) don't pay. it has been this rate for several
years. local musicians get $50 each with a band max of $200, and
caller
gets $50. no one else is paid. hall is $150. in the past some
evenings would
make money, some lose. there are occasional grants. over the last 8
months
attendance as fallen, so now most evening lose money. remains to be
seen
what will happen with this situation.
in chicago, considering the general cost of entertainment (a beer
is $3-$5),
there hasn't been much comment about the price. more of an issue
here is
transportation. more students might come, but don't have cars to
get to the
dance. taking combinations of trains and busses at 11:30pm can be
discouraging. or living 1-1.5 hours drive away can seem daunting
after a
days work.
jeffrey
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chris
Weiler
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:09 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Organizers] Price
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
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