since chicago was mentioned in this post, i'd like to respond that i don't think that raising the door fee would have any effect on the quality of musicians for our dance. i booked the dances for the last 3 years and the only time i was turned down by musicians because of money was from out of town musicians, on only two occasions. we have partially rectified the situation by paying a 'travel stipend' in addition to the amount that we already pay out ot town musicians ($80/musician, $300 max per band). i am happy to say, humbly, that we have excellent musicians in chicago, and enough of them, that we restrict how often they can play, to give opportunity to more bands. paying the musicians more would not give us better musicians, because the better ones are already playing for our dances. i might add that even at the $50/musician that they are getting paid, it is still close to "charity" work that they come play for 3 hours.
i am proud of the fact that chicago has managed to keep the door fee low. occasionally there have been suggestions to raise it. i didn't hear any practical reason why, giving me the feeling that perhaps there is a certain pleasure in being able to charge more for something, and thereby feel better about being able to afford to continue going. or perhaps it is the seemingly natural tendency to want to increase money flow. another midwest dance has had more people coming to their dance than the room can accomodate. one person suggested raising the entry fee till the number dropped. happily they didn't follow that missguided suggestion. if one wants to think of contra dancing as a community affair, then it should be as affordable as possible. raising prices with the rational that other things also cost money puts contra dancing in the same category as for profit ventures. the only good reason to raise entry fees is that there is no way around it; no suitable halls are available for less than a certain amount, or musicians simply won't play for less than a certain amount, or no one at the dance knows how to run a sound system and someone has to be hired. in chicago the only paid help are the musicians and caller. this isn't to say that some things can't be improved at our dances, but only that none have them have been shown to be money dependant issues. attendance at the chicago dance has fallen over the last year. perhaps it would be an interesting experiment to just raise the door fee and see if that brings attendance up. jeffrey > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dave Cain > Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 5:15 PM > To: A list for dance organizers > Subject: Re: [Organizers] Price > > 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 > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Organizers mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Organizers mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
