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

[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.