[hackpgh-party] Re: Initial wiki page up!

  • From: Mandy <steelgreypittsburgh@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: hackpgh-party@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2010 09:49:09 -0500

--> I guess what I'm trying to say here is that while I'd be OK with
taking drink tickets off the plate, I want it to be for good reasons,
and I'm very confused by Mandy's saying that it would cost us money.
At worst, drink tickets would be a net zero gain, no negative over
having the entrance ticket prices at $5; and potentially a positive
gain.  But I do understand that they could just be too fussy to deal
with, and perhaps we'd find that people are more likely to come if the
entrance tickets are $5. <--

*** Not saying it would cost us money, although it has the potential to if
not handled properly.  I am saying that it would be opening us up for
unneeded involvement, extra steps, and liability for the shop.  I also am
failing to see the value in a $5 cost when it's being redeemed for less or
nothing at all.  Potentially a positive gain for the shop?  Maybe, but why
milk non-drinking members for their funds?  And if this isn't run by OTB to
be an exact price for each drink that's paid for at the end of the night
instead of $5 per ticket, it's zero gain for the shop, and only gain for the
bar (which I think is unnecessary).  Running it that way, the only way the
shop would make money is if someone didn't turn in a ticket at all.  And if
the ticket is good for "a $5 drink or unlimited soda" - you're turning it in
to get the soda too.

--> The only thing I'm worried about for the latter is that here's the
issue: we want people to drift back and chat with us.  Are we going to
say, "Sorry, you need to pay before you get here?" Probably not.  But
given that, are people who paid to get back there going to be
resentful?  I'm trying to avoid this latter, and I'd like to do so by
putting a lot of niceties in for people who pay. <--

*** Totally agreed, we do want people to drift back and chat.  Not bothering
to ask them to pay?  Ludicrous.  Then why spend time marketing to the public
if only having members have to pay to get in?  Resentful if no one takes
money at the door?  Hell yes.  Everyone paid when they came in the door for
the Halloween Party.  Everyone.  Easy as that.  The party just has to be
interesting enough for them to WANT to pay.


On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 8:52 AM, gwen <gwenix@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> OK, we've gotten a lot of threads confuddled here.
>
> Teetolers would also get free drinks -- in their case, it'd be just
> free sodas all night instead of one free booze drink.  This may be
> independent of whether we use drink tickets, but we're dealing with
> perceptions here, and we can purvey the perception that a drink ticket
> is good for a booze drink of up to $5, or unlimited soda.
>
> We're being given access not only to the space, but their DJ/band
> equipment so that we can play our own music (including possibly having
> some live music).  As I pointed out in the other email, I'm leaving
> the specifics of this for later, but we do have nice options from what
> they're offering us here.
>
> I guess what I'm trying to say here is that while I'd be OK with
> taking drink tickets off the plate, I want it to be for good reasons,
> and I'm very confused by Mandy's saying that it would cost us money.
> At worst, drink tickets would be a net zero gain, no negative over
> having the entrance ticket prices at $5; and potentially a positive
> gain.  But I do understand that they could just be too fussy to deal
> with, and perhaps we'd find that people are more likely to come if the
> entrance tickets are $5.
>
> The only thing I'm worried about for the latter is that here's the
> issue: we want people to drift back and chat with us.  Are we going to
> say, "Sorry, you need to pay before you get here?" Probably not.  But
> given that, are people who paid to get back there going to be
> resentful?  I'm trying to avoid this latter, and I'd like to do so by
> putting a lot of niceties in for people who pay.
>
> It's not just drink tickets, btw.  I was serious about having a baking
> contest -- that would be a fun thing for us to do, and I could put
> ballots in the "You paid, thank you!" (OK, it won't be officially
> named that) goody bag for people who do pay.  If anyone has other
> ideas on what we can have as benefits of paying, I'd really love to
> hear them.
>
> (I haven't yet heard back from potential sponsors, but I'm hoping I do
> -- even if they don't want to sponsor but just send a bunch of
> promotional material, hey, GOODY BAG!)
>
> But yes, it's all about perception: How can we maximize the benefit of
> having paid to get into the party without too much effort or money put
> in ahead?  And keep in mind that since this is a fundraiser/members
> drive, we do get some leeway on the "we're doing this for the club"
> factor.
>
> I hope that makes more sense?
>
> I'd really like to come to some sort of decision on this so that we
> can move onto much more fun topics!  Like, "Should we do the baking
> contest?  What other fun activities can we pull out of our creative
> juices?"  :)
>
> On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 9:21 PM, Doug Philips <douglas.philips@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
> > On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 16:10, gwen <gwenix@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>
> >> I am OK with axing drink tickets, but I'd like to point out some
> >> misunderstandings here:
> >>
> >> 2) the equipment we're being lent at OTB is worth more than a few drink
> >> tickets.
> >
> > ?? I guess I missed that part of the conversation last night. Do you mean
> > use of the room or is there something specific that I didn't hear about
> (or
> > amn't remembering)??
> >
> >
> >>
> >> 3) not everyone uses a drink ticket, so we'd actually gain the money
> >> back for what is unused.
> >
> > I think Mandy's point is that folks who know they won't be using the
> drink
> > ticket will be disinclined to participate...
> >
> >>
> >> a $5 ticket.  The reason I haven't asked is because I don't care.  I'm
> >> OK with the bar profiting from us as well, because if this works out
> >> well, I'd like for us to have a good working relationship for the
> >> future.
> >
> > I agree, I'd rather it be a good experience for everyone involved.
> >
> >
> >>
> >> I just want to make sure the facts are straight here... because I see
> >> it as potentially a gain for the shop with little effort from us, and
> >> a good bone to throw to the venue for hosting us.
> >
> > Little effort, big reward, I agree with too.
> > I'm not sure how to judge the benefit to the shop with the perception
> that
> > teetotalers are getting the short end of the stick... Certainly when I
> > started coming to the shop mid-2009 there was a lot more beer drinking
> going
> > on than there is now, so the tenor of the members has definitely changed.
> >
> >
> >>
> >> Now, the $10 being steep during the holidays, that's also something we
> >> should discuss regardless of the drink tickets.  I don't have a good
> >> feel for that, because so many of the fundraising events I go to are
> >> in the $50+ range.  Our demographic is our members and our friends...
> >> would they more likely to come at what ticket price?
> >
> > Hmmm, well $50+ is definitely out my range of experience...
> >
> >
> >> I think we need a vote of some sort about what is reasonable here.
> >> Should I ask on the main list for a show of hands?  I'd phrase the
> >> question like this:
> >>
> >> Do you think you and your friends are likely to attend the holiday
> >> party if the ticket price is:
> >> 1) $5
> >> 2) $10 and includes a drink ticket
> >>
> >> Or should I set up a doodle poll with that?
> >
> > Getting feedback from members oft seems like getting blood from a stone,
> > doodle poll or email...
> >
> > Maybe ticket of $5, and then for $5 increments you can either get one
> raffle
> > ticket and one drink ticket, or two raffle tickets? I think if we can
> show
> > off the stuff we do, position this as a fund-raiser too (to soften the
> > clenched purse/wallet crowd), it could work. Esp. if we can have at least
> > one really cool item in each basket...
> >
> > I think we should try to get feedback from the membership, but I'm open
> to
> > talking about the options a little bit longer first...
> >
> > -D
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Gwendolyn R. Schmidt
>
>

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