Comments, please: "The first rule of goth club is..."

[mrph]

In the style of the gigging thing post, and prompted by a recent thread elsewhere...

What advice should be in a FAQ/guide for someone trying to organise a new goth club? Possibly in an area that hasn't got an active scene, or perhaps just somewhere that has a niche in the market for a good trad/cyber club.

And what about care and feeding of your club once it's up and running? Any long-term issues to consider?

Slashgoth has recently had a story on this subject too (here), but the response was a little muted.

Opinions? Comments? Witty comebacks about herding cats and hopeless causes? :-)

Comments

[compilerbitch.livejournal.com]

Talk to poetman about it. He's probably offline at the moment due to some crazy walking across America stunt, but he's a veteran of having organised a number of goth clubs. If you don't know him already, tell him I sent you! :-)

This goes for fetish clubs too

[purplerabbits.livejournal.com]

Do Not use the words first/best/only in your publicity, in case there was once a splendid club in the area and you manage to piss off the people who ran it, who will be a big part of your potential clientele.

Try not to steal someone else's name, or alter the name of previous splendid club by a few letters.

In fact do your research and don't tread on toes - bearing in mind that pointy boots make toes harder to tread on...

Re: This goes for fetish clubs too

[purplerabbits.livejournal.com]

Of course that should have said easier to tread on. Duh.

[dj-steve-rbn.livejournal.com]

Good flyers help - they don't have to be glossy - just nicely designed with all the most important information included. It's much better to flyer directly into someones hands, rather than just leaving piles of flyers on tables in clubs/pubs or in shops (although you should do this too). Posters are good too - put them everywhere you can think of (usually anywhere even vaguely alternative - even HMV and Virgin etc if they let you).

Let any local listings papers, newspapers, radio stations, websites, uni and college magazines/papers etc know about the night. Do this via a properly made up press release.

Try to do the odd special event (launch parties etc) and simply keep on advertising.

Generally, it's not accepted to flyer a club which runs on the same night and time as yours.

HTH

[diffrentcolours]

Start off small and work up. Most goth clubs won't make much money, but if you can sell it as a way to bring in more punters on a quiet night, that may be enough to win over a reasonable venue. Don't charge much unless you can get away with it - if you have a door charge at all (some venues will pay your DJs in exchange for increased bar sales), make sure it's in the sub-fiver region.

Promote, promote, promote. Everywhere and anywhere. Advertise in local alternative pubs and shops (but ask permission) and other club nights. Do reciprocal flyering arrangements with other clubs, particularly local ones. If you have a local e-mail list, spam it. If not, create one - it can be a useful tool for your potential punters to organise lifts etc. to your night. Quantity is generally preferable to quality on flyers, provided you've got all the important details. Try to put the dates of the next few nights on the one flyer, this will increase the lifespan of the flyer and may save it being binned.

Post playlists, photos, and anecdotes on the Web - this is part of the promotional experience, and lets people get a feel for the club without having been there, which can reduce the intimidation factor. Play many requests. Get the music balance right - enough classics that boring people go, enough interesting new stuff that cool people go.

Listen to feedback. Put clipboards out in the venue asking for music requests and feedback, don't rely on punters having your e-mail address or knowing who you are. Try to get the venue to organise drinks promos, if possible.

For long-term issues, variety is key. Small competitions, raffles, promotions, guest DJs, etc. can all be fairly cheap but interesting. Take advantage of special occasions like Halloween, have fancy dress parties. Change the decor in the venue occasionally. This all takes a little effort but will pay off well.

[dmh.livejournal.com]

First piece of advice: "Are you sure you don't want to be an indie kid instead? A lot less hassle in the long term."

[sogoth.livejournal.com]

Much as I'd like to chime in with all this "remember to flyer and advertise" stuff... it never worked for Church of Madness. Ever.

We spent a fortune on flyers and getting them out to loads of places and we never saw one single new person appear from it all.

We put on bands and flyer/spam for those and no bugger ever travels for them either... [/moany rant]

[deeply-spurious.livejournal.com]

There *are* people out there who *will* come out if the right buttons are pushed often enough...

Enthusiastic, intelligent and relentless promotion is 80% of the battle.

...and on that note

[mrph.livejournal.com]

...rule # 24653. If the organiser/dj can't make it and appeals for soemone else to cover for him/her, you're going to immediately take a drop in attendance. Especially if they don't get a chance to follow that up by loudly and enthusiastically confirming that the night is going ahead and naming whoever's covering...

[Had a rather quiet Heresy tonight, for that very reason]