Has anybody had Event turnout problems????

dr h · Post by **dr h** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:53 pm

Jolly Wailer wrote:anyone saying they wouldn't go to a night on the principle of the flyer design seems like a right knob stay home then.

they did and i think thats his problem

passenja · Post by **passenja** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:54 pm

That's kind of how phoenix is man. It's really fickle. No offense man but I've lived there for 10 years and have never heard of you or your crew. Maybe a little more promoting and meet and greet might be in order. But it's a tuff and very discriminating crowd.

syhr · Post by **syhr** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 2:08 pm

i'd say make sure the venue is relevant to the line up / reputation of the night

Platonic a few weeks back had great line up but was more for the 'heads' - in a club the size of Cable, for an opening night, despite the music being excellent all night, the place was pretty much deadout from start to finish.

it probably didn't help that the only place i'd seen it promoted was in a thread in the events section of this forum

dubstee · Post by **dubstee** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 2:11 pm

Jolly Wailer wrote:its not like the dmz flyers are anything special tho.

A good flyer doesn't have to be flashy.

surface_tension · Post by **surface_tension** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 2:15 pm

It does help that it's DMZ throwing the party though, doesn't it?

I mean, some people put a lot of work into the flyers to make them flashy and some people put "Mala" on flyers to make them flashy enough that they need nothing else to shine.

jolly wailer · Post by **jolly wailer** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 2:18 pm

exactly, that was my point. flyers are for giving punters info on yr night. period.

it seems like people are equating flash with actual substance.. that was my point.

corpsey · Post by **corpsey** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 2:23 pm

Put this simple phrase on your flyer:

FIRST 500 LADIEZ GET IN FREE!!!

And watch the disappointed men pour in.

deamonds · Post by **deamonds** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 2:36 pm

i just pissed myself down the telephone to a client at work after that.

dq · Post by dq » Fri Jun 05, 2009 2:54 pm

Keep it simple. Have a straightforward concept, make the flyer and all of your communications reinforce the basic idea. Don't try and do too much because that will confuse people. And don't overhype yourself because that looks desperate. Lose the laundry list of genre and unnecessary stuff. Just give people a general sense of what you're about and have the music reflect that from the first record to the last. If the music is on point and the vibe is right people will come back and tell their friends, so don't worry if the first few aren't packed. Work with a venue that understands what you're doing and supports it (and has good sound). Try to offer something new and different, not just a rehashing of something that is already familiar to everyone.

Here I'm not saying do this exactly but I took your flyer and stripped it down to a very simple message which I think would make people more interested and curious to see what it's all about. But at the end of the day if the music's not hot the best flyer in the world won't make a difference, so that should be the first priority.

bdzzlr · Post by **bdzzlr** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:04 pm

For us, what works best is doing them more on a quarterly basis. Our attendance has gotten better at every show. We book solid talent, (however most kansas citians have NO idea who majority of the dubstep djs are until we tell them),

promote it well w/ dope flyers:

,

and constantly try to network and meet new people. Now, granted Kansas City is much smaller than Phoenix. And having lived in Scottsdale for a few years, I know it's a much different scene than KC, as well. But for myself, who tends to be involved in a few projects at a once, plus bf, brother and 15 closest friends also dj/promoter, it's impossible for me to commit to even bi-weekly or monthly events. I prefer not having the pressure of a strict schedule. It allows me to promote an event more on my level as well. I'm certain the change in attitude and stress levels on my part has carried over into the success of the events.

Keep pounding at it though. Figure out what works and what doesn't for your area. Certain things are standard tho... flyers are the first impression for any party, worth the effort and cost to do it proper and networking with your own and different scenes can only bring positive results.

seckle · Post by **seckle** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:11 pm

dq wrote:Work with a venue that understands what you're doing and supports it (and has good sound).

this would be right at the top of my list too. venue is so so important. sound too.

jolly wailer · Post by **jolly wailer** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:19 pm

despite my comments about flash not making a difference I'll definitly say that those kablammo! flyers are probably some of the most visually appealing things i've seen in time. Sick designs!

steppa · Post by **steppa** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:23 pm

i dont bother going to nights. its too dark

dubstee · Post by **dubstee** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:23 pm

seckle wrote:
dq wrote:Work with a venue that understands what you're doing and supports it (and has good sound).
this would be right at the top of my list too. venue is so so important. sound too.

The two most important things, other than DJs.

bdzzlr · Post by **bdzzlr** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:28 pm

Jolly Wailer wrote:despite my comments about flash not making a difference I'll definitly say that those kablammo! flyers are probably some of the most visually appealing things i've seen in time. Sick designs!

yeah... Sike does an amazing job!

http://www.sikestyle.com/

plastician · Post by **plastician** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:31 pm

Corpsey wrote:Put this simple phrase on your flyer:

FIRST 500 LADIEZ GET IN FREE!!!

And watch the disappointed men pour in.

hahahaha

cosmic_surgeon · Post by **cosmic_surgeon** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:41 pm

Tbh, I agree that a great flyer design doesn't automatically mean a good night, but it catches your eye and makes people take notice - plus it looks like the promoters give a shit enough to make the effort. Visuals are appealing, use them as another means by which to express the ethos of your event.

sub/stance · Post by **sub/stance** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:59 pm

yeah i def agree that when ure trying to sell something new/unknown to the masses, the 1st thing to take care of is the visual aspect, look for things that people can relate 2, be it hip hop heads, dnb heads or whatever. get popular djs in the area chattin about ure night, maybe a shout out on the local radio.

just make sure people get excited, it you're own shit aint getting you hyped, hows n e 1 else gonna feel it?

check out this flyer design, this was after about 4 months in the promotion game (with small turnouts). managed to get carhartt sponsorship (so people can relate to the style side of the night) and the design reaches out to all ends of the urban music spectrum:

we ended up gettin 450+ people thru on a thursday, n yes none of them had a clue who Reso was untill they left the spot!

step correct · Post by **step correct** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 6:29 pm

Do you guys already have a runnin' Rave or House scene? Instead of doing something from the ground up I've found it works much better in smaller towns to latch on the whatever other scene is getting big turnouts and make your parties an extension of theirs.
I've been doing dubstep nights here since 06 and you are gonna have a couple duds, that's just the way it works. I was mainly marketing to the outdoor rave/DnB/breakbeat crowd only at first figuring that would be the only people that would be receptive. A lot of those people do their own parties so there was some haters lol..but, our last couple shows however (took 2 years) had great turnouts and not only did all the party kids show we had tons of scenester and electro types and the whole downtown party crowd as well. Which is obviously due to dubstep's recent rise in popularity. Now I'm starting to see the lot of these kids down at parties in LA which is a very good sign. We keep our fliers semi simple and bring heads from LA or whoever might be in LA from nearby states.

vids :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrUoy6PSMHA

Not bad for a little beach town.

iron myke · Post by **iron myke** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 6:42 pm

Step Correct wrote:Do you guys already have a runnin' Rave or House scene? Instead of doing something from the ground up I've found it works much better in smaller towns to latch on the whatever other scene is getting big turnouts and make your parties an extension of theirs.

This.

Smog LA got it's jump from latching onto the Bassrush parties early on.

Being that Dubstep has a more approachable tempo then, say, DnB, you could introduce house/techno people to something they've never heard before.

Has anybody had Event turnout problems????

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