Members DJ Swydez Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Okay, now a buddy of mine and I are considering throwing a sweet party at the beginning of the summer (tenative at this point... just tossing around ideas in our heads). Anyway, there is a club that we can rent out that has a capactity of 500 people... this is the real deal I mean this place has a full 20'x15' stage with large dancefloor and tons of lighting and sound equipment (which I get full access to), a coat room, a serving room, a VIP Room, two beverage counters with refrigerators, multiple TV's with cable channels, and a box office. The rental also includes a small staff of people (security guards, greeter, beverage counter person, etc). The rental of this place starts at $1500 goes up from there... I think my rental is gonna look more like $2000 or so after I add access to everything and am required to up the staff. I'm gonna hook up my DJ equipment and spin for part of the night and the rest of the time my computer and setup will be on auto-pilot as I will want to be out in the audience (since it will be my friends that come). I was originally thinking of doing it somewhere else, but the best part about this place is that it is meant to for parties and has everything we need! Plus, it has full insurance so I am not responsible if someone gets hurt, etc... My question to you guys is, does this sound like a good idea? How much would you pay to come to an event like this? (Keep in mind I am only 16 and my friends are around that same age so I want to keep it afforable and reasonable) Would $10 be a good entry fee? $5? $20? The party is going to be several hours long (probably 5 is my guess). Any suggestions? All help is greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 21, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 Bump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted March 21, 2007 Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 Sounds like a deal really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Al Poulin Posted March 21, 2007 Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 Wow, Adam, only 16? Impressive. You seem very mature for your age and your grammar is excellent. Keep it up. That sounds like a really cool party. Man, if I wasn't living here in Canada... and if I wasn't 30. I think 10$ is reasonable. Enjoy your youth...it goes by so damn quickly. I really miss being the DJ at teen dances - which was so much fun when I was a teen of course. Man life is sad sometimes... I love my family and 2 beautiful daughters but sometimes it would be fun to go back in time, if only for a day, you know, and party like if it was 1989. Have fun! Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Techno_Pagan Posted March 21, 2007 Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 I'm only 19 and have held quite a few successful gigs, my first was also at 16. The realistic way to organise ticket price would be to work out how much it costs, get a guest list together and then work out how much you would have to charge each person to break even, I'm assuming that you don't want to make profit. So if you managed to get capacity then you're looking at $4 a ticket just to break even on $2000, that's assuming that you can get 500 people to definitely come along. I always half the number so $8 a ticket would be my price and then inject any profit made into the next shindig you put on. Remember, always include printing costs (flyers, tickets etc) in your final outgoing. Alternatively you could put on a charity party, venues tend to give you reduced rates (sometimes free use if you have a golden tongue) if you give all the profits to charity, and that way none of your mates can accuse you of trying to make a quick buck from them. With charity gigs you tend to have tickets with all the charity stuff printed on them (costs money) or donation buckets all along the place (doesn't cost as much money as printing), just DON'T scam people and not give money to the charity. A 'mate' of mine did that round here and the police got involved and it wasn't pretty. Just a word of warning. Sounds like an awesome event man, you're only 16 so word should get around your school pretty quick and you should be able to fill it nicely. Good luck and always remember, if that plan falls through just tear it up whilst your folks are on holiday and blame it on your brother =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 21, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 Wow, Adam, only 16? Impressive. You seem very mature for your age and your grammar is excellent. Keep it up. Thanks man! for thinking I'm so mature... just for {censored}s 'n giggles... how old did you think I was? And grammar always one of my strong points in school and one of my "pet peeves" so I try my best to "get it right"... So thanks man that really means a lot! That sounds like a really cool party. Man, if I wasn't living here in Canada... and if I wasn't 30. I think 10$ is reasonable. Enjoy your youth...it goes by so damn quickly. I really miss being the DJ at teen dances - which was so much fun when I was a teen of course. Man life is sad sometimes... I love my family and 2 beautiful daughters but sometimes it would be fun to go back in time, if only for a day, you know, and party like if it was 1989. Have fun! Al So you think $10 is good? I was thinking that that sounds about right since you can go see a movie for about $10 now plus condiments so I mean who wouldn't pay that to go to a sweet party!? And I'm doing my best to enjoy my youth as you can see by DJing and partying it up... lol... I can't wait for college tho that'll be sweet... and I'm sure I can make lots of quick cash at all the parties there... plus college is just like frickin' awesome! And I really hope my friend and I can make this party happen cuz that would be totally awesome! Thanks for all the help Al! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 21, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 I'm only 19 and have held quite a few successful gigs, my first was also at 16. Sweet... learning from a pro! The realistic way to organise ticket price would be to work out how much it costs, get a guest list together and then work out how much you would have to charge each person to break even, I'm assuming that you don't want to make profit. So if you managed to get capacity then you're looking at $4 a ticket just to break even on $2000, that's assuming that you can get 500 people to definitely come along. I always half the number so $8 a ticket would be my price and then inject any profit made into the next shindig you put on. Remember, always include printing costs (flyers, tickets etc) in your final outgoing. This what I'm attempting to do... I'm trying to see how much it is going to cost to rent the place out with all the extras we want and then see how much the final price is... but would you think $8-$10/ticket would be okay or too much? I want to make sure I don't go into debt at all on this party and I really am not looking to make a profit, just an awesome time! If I got 500 people to come that would mean $4000 @ $8/ticket and $5000 @ $10/ticket which sounds like more than eneough, rite? I think I could probably get at least 350-400 people there cuz I go to an all male school (not my choice - I was forced by my parents) with about 1000 guys, so if I got just the guys in my grade and told them to bring a girl to dance with I could get my 500 if they all showed... but I know many more poeple than that, so as long as the date was good I think I could fill the place nicely. And I am thinking of asking specific people at first and getting them to RSVP to me so that I know who is coming and the ratio of girls:guys is about balanced (or more girls), this way I could even provide the club with a guestlist so only those people would be allowed to come in... idk I'm still just tossing ideas around in my head and with my friend... And on the printing of flyers, which definately is a great idea, how much do those normally run for say like 1000 flyers? Is it really expensive? Did you just print something up on your computer using Microsoft Publisher or did you have the flyers professionally made up? Also, what info did you put on the flyer, like just date/time/location, or did you make some sweet ass flyers? Any and all help here is greatly appreciated! Alternatively you could put on a charity party, venues tend to give you reduced rates (sometimes free use if you have a golden tongue) if you give all the profits to charity, and that way none of your mates can accuse you of trying to make a quick buck from them. With charity gigs you tend to have tickets with all the charity stuff printed on them (costs money) or donation buckets all along the place (doesn't cost as much money as printing), just DON'T scam people and not give money to the charity. A 'mate' of mine did that round here and the police got involved and it wasn't pretty. Just a word of warning. That is also a great idea! I'd have to talk to the club and find out if they do charity events and if they would be willing to give me a discount on the rental. If they gave me a discount, I could lower the admission cost and get more people to come for sure! Plus, all my friends would think I'm sweet for throwing such a sweet party and not ripping them off... and all the girls mite think I'm sweet for donating to charity... so this sounds pretty good if I could make this work! Oh, and I would never think of scamming my buds cuz I know someone would eventually find out and I'd be screwed... Sounds like an awesome event man, you're only 16 so word should get around your school pretty quick and you should be able to fill it nicely. Good luck and always remember, if that plan falls through just tear it up whilst your folks are on holiday and blame it on your brother =) Thanks for all the help and kind words man! If this party does go down, I want to be sweet as hell and as big as I can make it! It sure sounds like I've got a good facility to use so it seems doable right now! Plus, I am the first of my buds to ever think of something as tight as this and actually try to make it work! This would be one hell of a time if I pulled it off the way I want to! And on the last comment, if only I had a frickin' bro to blame this {censored} on! That would be soooo awesome! Unfortunately, my bro is only 11 and my parents are like hard-asses, so I don't think they would believe me when I told them that my bro had a sweet-ass party at the house... too bad! Thanks dude for all the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Al Poulin Posted March 21, 2007 Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 Thanks man! for thinking I'm so mature... just for {censored}s 'n giggles... how old did you think I was? And grammar always one of my strong points in school and one of my "pet peeves" so I try my best to "get it right"... So thanks man that really means a lot! So you think $10 is good? I was thinking that that sounds about right since you can go see a movie for about $10 now plus condiments so I mean who wouldn't pay that to go to a sweet party!? And I'm doing my best to enjoy my youth as you can see by DJing and partying it up... lol... I can't wait for college tho that'll be sweet... and I'm sure I can make lots of quick cash at all the parties there... plus college is just like frickin' awesome! And I really hope my friend and I can make this party happen cuz that would be totally awesome! Thanks for all the help Al! I figured you were young but somewhere around 25. I've seen childish responses and behavior more than once on HC and have often assumed it came from a know it all teenager but was more than surprised (more than once) when I found out the people in question were actually in their 40s or older.... Anyway, hope your party happens as planned and is a wild one, but doesn't get out of control... Peace, Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 21, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 Anyway, hope your party happens as planned and is a wild one, but doesn't get out of control... Peace, Al Yes, me too! At first I was just going to find a place that would rent me a huge room and bring in a ton of sound equipment and lighting and do it myself (hence some of the previous threads)... but after I found out how much work that would be and how much equipment I needed, I started searching for a place to rent and came across this place! This place is awesome because all I have to do is come, pay, and setup! I don't have to bring in 1000s of watts of equipment and lighting, it's all provided. Plus, I'm pretty sure the place is fully ensured, considering it is a full time teen club, so I don't have to worry about insurance or anything because the club should cover everything (since it is all their equipment and we are just renting the facility). Thanks Al for all the help and kind words! It really means a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Al Poulin Posted March 21, 2007 Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 I'm pretty sure the place is fully ensured, considering it is a full time teen club, so I don't have to worry about insurance or anything because the club should cover everything (since it is all their equipment and we are just renting the facility). Thanks Al for all the help and kind words! It really means a lot! What kind of music for this party? Mostly club music I imagine? - dance,trance, techno ? Will there be chips? Mmmm chips. Oh oh. time to go watch some TV with the wife. ''Would you get off Harmony Central and spend some time with your wife!'' Yes, dear.... But I'll be back later. (Of course) Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 22, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 What kind of music for this party? Mostly club music I imagine? - dance,trance, techno ? Will there be chips? Mmmm chips. Oh oh. time to go watch some TV with the wife. ''Would you get off Harmony Central and spend some time with your wife!'' Yes, dear.... But I'll be back later. (Of course) Al Yes... probably a mix of techno, trance, rock, pop, rap, hip-hop... basically anything that is on the radio, has a good beat, or my friends want me to play. I'll have my whole library there and will grant as many requests as I can, but I do not plan to be actually DJing, just lining up a playlist so that I can be out in the audience with my friends. And there will most likely be food (but that is still all up in the air). I can actually get the club to hire out the food if I want to, and have them get pizza, pop, chips, dip, etc. Basically, this club will provide w/e we need (as far as I can tell). Haha... well go spend some time with your family! (and I mean your blood family, not your HC family!) And I'll look for you later man! Thanks for all the help! And I'll keep all you guys posted as to what goes down if it happens... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted March 22, 2007 Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 Remember to factor in any costs that may come up. Food? Drinks? Decorations? If you're only charging at the door what it'll cost to rent the place, you'll be in debt by the time it's done! Make sure there aren't any other popular shows coming on the night you choose, either. One last thing... make sure it's available on the day you want at the price you want! Our local place here rents out for $1500... during the week... and then goes up a ridiculous amount on the weekend (somewhere near $5500)... but is much larger, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 22, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 Remember to factor in any costs that may come up. Food? Drinks? Decorations? If you're only charging at the door what it'll cost to rent the place, you'll be in debt by the time it's done! Make sure there aren't any other popular shows coming on the night you choose, either. One last thing... make sure it's available on the day you want at the price you want! Our local place here rents out for $1500... during the week... and then goes up a ridiculous amount on the weekend (somewhere near $5500)... but is much larger, too. Oh, I know about the costs, that's why I'm thinking of charging around $8-$10/person because I think I can get at least 300 people to come, which put me at least around $2400, and I think I may be able to get more people. Who knows, but costs are definately being considered heavily so I know how much to charge because I definately do not want to go into any debt over this. And that's a very good point you mention about other events. I'll have to check to make sure there aren't any upcoming shows or concerts in my area on the night I choose. Thanks for the tip! And on the price and date thing, I will definately make sure the club is available before picking a final date, so I don't have any issues. And the club is only rentable Sunday-Thursday because Friday and Saturday they are open for business. So between Sunday and Thursday, the rental cost always starts @ $1500. Thanks for all the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Techno_Pagan Posted March 22, 2007 Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 Haha I have been thinking of going pro, but I haven't so far. As for flyers I wouldn't know prices for you as I'm in the UK and generally things are much more expensive here than there. Also it depends on how many colours and whether you want a design etc. One tip is use your school, we made 350 tickets 100 flyers and 50 posters for free by just scamming our art department, probably not a brilliant example to set you but it worked and saved us a ton of cash. If you don't want to rip your art department off you should definitely use their computers to design the tickets/flyers/etc because they will have Paint Shop installed and most printing places will want a jpg file if you are going that route. $5G would be more than enough if the club costs $2000 but you should definitely see if there's any hidden charges just in case. Are you looking to have like an open bar type thing? Or will it just be people getting tickets and paying for bevys at the bar? Another thing is to work out how much your deposit covers you for, I organised a thing for a mates birthday in a hired room from a pub and didn't account for the fact that all her mates (like me) were metal heads, one got wasted, saw his chick cheating on him and trashed a bathroom. I had to pay that out of my own pocket because only Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 22, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 Haha I have been thinking of going pro, but I haven't so far.As for flyers I wouldn't know prices for you as I'm in the UK and generally things are much more expensive here than there. Also it depends on how many colours and whether you want a design etc. One tip is use your school, we made 350 tickets 100 flyers and 50 posters for free by just scamming our art department, probably not a brilliant example to set you but it worked and saved us a ton of cash. If you don't want to rip your art department off you should definitely use their computers to design the tickets/flyers/etc because they will have Paint Shop installed and most printing places will want a jpg file if you are going that route. I'll see what I can do about using our art department and computers, but we don't have a huge one so that may not be as easy... That's pretty sweet that you got all that stuff printed for free! I definately want to print up tickets tho because I want to know exactly how many people are going to show up and I can then make a guestlist for the greeter people at the door. And thanks for the tips on the printing, I'll see what I can do about the designs and format. $5G would be more than enough if the club costs $2000 but you should definitely see if there's any hidden charges just in case. Well this is good cuz I want to make sure I have more than enough cash to pay for everything cuz I want to throw a sweet party, but I definately do not want to go into any debt. Are you looking to have like an open bar type thing? Or will it just be people getting tickets and paying for bevys at the bar? I think drinks are covered by the club, but I'm not exactly sure. This is a very good point and I'll have to contact them to find out. Another thing is to work out how much your deposit covers you for, I organised a thing for a mates birthday in a hired room from a pub and didn't account for the fact that all her mates (like me) were metal heads, one got wasted, saw his chick cheating on him and trashed a bathroom. I had to pay that out of my own pocket because only Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted March 22, 2007 CMS Author Share Posted March 22, 2007 Some things.... Find out for certain whether *you* as a minor, can book a party there. Personally I'd make that a "NO" if it were my club....if you don't come up with the $2000, they don't have recourse with you, but would go after your parents, who can claim ignorance of the entire thing. Find out what the payment/cancellation dates are. If you have to come up with the full $2000 a month in advance, you might have trouble. If you get really sick a week before and can't postpone without penalty...major bummer. Find out for certain if the venue really is fully insured. Get the details. Make sure you as the "promoter" are not on the hook for "minor" damages like puked carpeting, broken chairs and bathroom stall doors, etc...that can really add up. Get everything...absolutely everything, in writing. By rights to protect yourself and your family, there should be a written contract, signed by your parent, that states every detail clearly. I wish you lots of luck with organizing this. It's a major endeavor, and really good practice for booking bands and sound gigs, and generally dealing with the type of people in this business. Be careful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted March 22, 2007 Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 Insurance? Who'se got the insurance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted March 22, 2007 Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 damages like puked carpeting, broken chairs and bathroom stall doors, etc...that can really add up. Another biggie: Will there be alcohol? I'm assuming since you're 16 that there won't be, and that'll make a huge difference... much less liability if nobody's drunk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 22, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 Insurance? Who'se got the insurance? I'm assuming right now (yea I know ass/u/me) that the club has full insurance as it has been open every weekend for years here in the D and is sponsored by tons of radio stations... I don't think it is illegitimate but ya never kno... I'll find out if they have insurance or not. Oh, and my company Dynamite DJs is an L.L.C. company so I'm pretty safe there too (even though it will not be affiliated with this party)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 22, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 Another biggie: Will there be alcohol? I'm assuming since you're 16 that there won't be, and that'll make a huge difference... much less liability if nobody's drunk. There will not be alcohol because the place does not even serve it and does not allow it in the place. Also, all people who enter the club are scanned and searched for alcohol, drugs, weapons, etc. along with their bags and purses... so no one will get anything like that in... And yea I'm guessing that will save me a lot of trouble and will keep everything running smoothly for the most part... Plus, I am only inviting people I know... I am most certainly not making this a "Hey, walk in off the street and party with us" kind of party... I'm thinking of printing up tickets and selling 500 of them to my buds and girls that I know so that I can just tell the greeters and security to only let those people with tickets in the place... Do you guys think this is a good idea? Thanks for the tip tho! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted March 22, 2007 Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 Often, YOU as the promoter will be required to provide insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 22, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 Often, YOU as the promoter will be required to provide insurance. ooooo... r u serious? why is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted March 22, 2007 Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 Because it can be VERRRY expensive, and nobody wants to be liable for another person's risk. YOur show = your risk, the club will have it's own insurance as an umbrella but the rate will be far lower if there is a promoter's insurance that names the club as additionally insured with respect to the specific show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Techno_Pagan Posted March 23, 2007 Members Share Posted March 23, 2007 In my general experience the club takes responsibility for anything to do with the club ie something that they provide {censored}s up and someone gets hurt then they are responsible. Drugs/booze etc that falls on your head, but all you gotta do is ask the venue, they will be more than happy to have a meeting with you about this sort of thing if you are dropping that sort of coin to hire a place out. Seeing as the light and sound is provided by them then most of what COULD go wrong will be on their head. But just make sure you know where you stand. Good luck getting laid Edit: There's probably a vast difference in laws between here and the US and also each state has different laws (is that true or did I make that up in my head?) so check it out. Putting on a gig (I know this is just DJing but it's the same sort of vibe) is a major ordeal and usually a lot of stress, and once you've taken the first step and booked the place there isn't much chance of backing out, and as soon as you book the place you walk out and get a phone call telling you something has gone wrong and you've only got 3 weeks to fix it, and as soon as that gets fixed you will have a day and then something else will go wrong etc (it's so much worse when bands are involved and start cancelling) so be prepared for the stress ball that is promotion. On the up side, that one night is so rewarding that it is totally worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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