Party / Event promotion.

[Jimmy Fuentes]

Hi I've been experimenting around with throwing parties. The audience its pretty much anyone under 18. I'm 20 by the way.

My first stab at it i manage to put a team of volunteers together including the DJ so all i invested was $200 (150 for the venue and 50 for flayers). The venue wasn't that great (to be expected for that price). With that said i ended up making $1,000 only charging guys a $5 entrance fee. So not bad for one night. Plus it was our first party ever. This type of ventures usually takes time to build a name and following more so than a regular business.

Now ever since then I've been having trouble finding a good location for a good price. Which game me the following idea.

Would it be possible to rent out a retail space for possibly a day? I do know they usually look for long term contracts but i figured if its not being used why not.

Also if they would agree to do so what would i need in order for the event to not get shut down by either cops or who ever.

What permits would i need? if any.
Any type of business registration needed to be able to charge? (even if its for one day)
No food nor alcohol would be available.

 

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[NHS]

I used to do it and all I can say is how I did it. For one we geared it towards a older crowd. We made deals with night clubs on nights they were normally closed or were very slow. Fly in one or 2 big name djs and then set my guys loose on myspace and flyering the area. I also made sure the DJs let people know were they would be and tell people on myspace. I would give them html code to paste into a email, myspace(yeah back during myspace days). We also did photography and art and hired alot of models for other projects so we would get them to post links as well.

My only mistake was doing it with partners. We all wanted to take a different route. I wanted to go mainstream. One of my partners now does burlesqe shows 4-5 nights a week and the other does industrial parties.

I really wouldn't go the cheap bastard route. You don't pay DJs and other talent and you get a bad name for yourself. Pay them well and make sure they do a little promoting for you. Even on bad nights I would pay the talent out of pocket if I had to. But that only happened 2 times. Rest of the time I made lots of money.

 

[Jimmy Fuentes]

I used to do it and all I can say is how I did it. For one we geared it towards a older crowd. We made deals with night clubs on nights they were normally closed or were very slow. Fly in one or 2 big name djs and then set my guys loose on myspace and flyering the area. I also made sure the DJs let people know were they would be and tell people on myspace. I would give them html code to paste into a email, myspace(yeah back during myspace days). We also did photography and art and hired alot of models for other projects so we would get them to post links as well.

My only mistake was doing it with partners. We all wanted to take a different route. I wanted to go mainstream. One of my partners now does burlesqe shows 4-5 nights a week and the other does industrial parties.

I really wouldn't go the cheap bastard route. You don't pay DJs and other talent and you get a bad name for yourself. Pay them well and make sure they do a little promoting for you. Even on bad nights I would pay the talent out of pocket if I had to. But that only happened 2 times. Rest of the time I made lots of money.

Well at the time i was like 17. So having a decent budget for all that wasnt an option. Also my audience go out on weekends, which is usually the best nights at any type of club or bar so getting them to let us do such event its nearly impossible.

 

[Jimmy Fuentes]

I do understand about paying the team and all that, which i dont have a problem with. The problem right now its the venue. I would need Something with a decent capacity (around 400 should be enough) and at a decent price.

I mean ive checked even civic centers and if your doing an event for profit they charge around $600 and the capacity is 150. At $5 a head i barely make any money if any. I do know uping the door fee would prob fix things but i want to keep eat fairly cheap.

 

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[NHS]

Little payoff
Huge risk

I would really think about it and modify your idea.

 

[Jimmy Fuentes]

Little payoff
Huge risk

I would really think about it and modify your idea.

the idea could be scaled at any time. concept remains the same.

What was your initial budget?

 

[NHS]

Well again I was dealing with clubs so they took all the risk. All I did was bring people to the club.

At first I would give the club 50% of the door but got it down to 20-30% once I had a track record. They made that same if not more at the bar. So I had no out of pocket expenses to the club. Most of my parties were in Newark NJ.

I did buy alot of props, stage equipment and build cages, poles, had costumes and lights. Generally I would put about 500 to 1k into creating the atmosphere I wanted. Another $500 for dancing girls. Then DJs could be anywhere from 200-1000. I tried to have all this money on me to pay these people before the end of the night. So I could be out of pocket as little as 1500 and as much as 4k.

The bigger the DJs the more you can charge. But you need a bigger place. Never had a place that would hold less then 500 people.

 

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[Guest3722A]

One thing you have to keep in mind with keeping it legal is that the building you use has to be in code with an *assembly* use. If the building isn't equipped to legally cater to an assembly, your parties most likely wouldn't be legal.

Commercial properties in general will be more expensive to use than say an industrial property. Industrial properties are generally half or less of the cost of a commercial property. Industrial properties in general aren't coded for assembly. Finding this type of situation will most likely take some research.

Also keep in mind that there are different grades of industrial and every city has their own way to term these levels but just for example purposes, a level 1 industrial property may be a low volume type location which you probably wouldn't fit in whereas a level 2 may allow for more freedoms. Something like a level 4 or 5 might be manufacturing hand grenades or something of the sort and you wouldn't be allowed in that district either!

So basically, for cost concerns and to be legal, I'd look for mixed-use industrial properties coded for assembly, in a level 2 or 3 district.

And don't forget about adequate parking as not all assembly allowed buildings are prepped with it.

 

[Jimmy Fuentes]

One thing you have to keep in mind with keeping it legal is that the building you use has to be in code with an *assembly* use. If the building isn't equipped to legally cater to an assembly, your parties most likely wouldn't be legal.

Commercial properties in general will be more expensive to use than say an industrial property. Industrial properties are generally half or less of the cost of a commercial property. Industrial properties in general aren't coded for assembly. Finding this type of situation will most likely take some research.

Also keep in mind that there are different grades of industrial and every city has their own way to term these levels but just for example purposes, a level 1 industrial property may be a low volume type location which you probably wouldn't fit in whereas a level 2 may allow for more freedoms. Something like a level 4 or 5 might be manufacturing hand grenades or something of the sort and you wouldn't be allowed in that district either!

So basically, for cost concerns and to be legal, I'd look for mixed-use industrial properties coded for assembly, in a level 2 or 3 district.

And don't forget about adequate parking as not all assembly allowed buildings are prepped with it.

I was aware of such. What i was wondering was if it applies to a one time thing or temporary events.

I had actually found a space perfect for it the only thing that wouldnt pass the code was the bathrooms. The capacity of the place for assembly would have needed 2 separate bathrooms with 3 stalls each and the space had 1 bathroom i think ( 1 toilet 1 sink) so building such wouldnt of been worth it. Plus it would of taken too much space.

So questions are:

Do all the codes apply for a one time event?

Is there any way to get around it? (maybe lowering the capacity approved, porta potties, although i think they mentioned the bathrooms needed to be indoors)

What if there's some sort of business already open in the retail place, would i need to re-inspect the place? Example art galleries tend to have open spaces. Could i just do an event there?

 

[Guest3722A]

I was aware of such. What i was wondering was if it applies to a one time thing or temporary events.

I had actually found a space perfect for it the only thing that wouldnt pass the code was the bathrooms. The capacity of the place for assembly would have needed 2 separate bathrooms with 3 stalls each and the space had 1 bathroom i think ( 1 toilet 1 sink) so building such wouldnt of been worth it. Plus it would of taken too much space.

So questions are:

Do all the codes apply for a one time event?

Is there any way to get around it? (maybe lowering the capacity approved, porta potties, although i think they mentioned the bathrooms needed to be indoors)

What if there's some sort of business already open in the retail place, would i need to re-inspect the place? Example art galleries tend to have open spaces. Could i just do an event there?

Just from what you're saying about the restrooms, it doesn't sound to me like it is set up for assembly use. Handicap access/setup in restrooms (and other) and handicap parking spots are signs that the property can be used for an assembly. The men's restroom at the minimum needs one toilet and one urinal and I believe two toilets need to be in the women's. You're going to need to research for this info online or through phone calls with the city's building dept. though to be specific because every city is going to be different. Portajohns are acceptable but they would need to be vented to the outside somehow which if you ask me is more trouble and cost than it's worth.

Actually going down to the building dept. of the city may be a good starting point for you because chances are the city will most likely want to get paid as well and may require some form of temporary license. I'd suggest going down there and asking questions.

As far as a one night event that has the possibility of using the property on other occasions, in this current commercial real estate environment, I wouldn't be surprised if the larger cities in your area have 10s (or even 100s) of thousands of unused sq. footage in industrial AND commercial districts with owners who would be more than happy to partner/contract your limited use. Don't be afraid to drive around and knock some doors and make some phone calls here and explain your situation to see if you can come to an agreement.

Last, your event is going to need to be insured somehow. There are companies out there that will work with you on this and are affordable OR maybe the property owner will let you ride on his. I'm not quite sure how this works but you will need it.

Chances are, there's an owner out there somewhere (with the right personality) who is already set up for what you're looking for with insurance and use requirements, and, who will work with your budget. It's a numbers game. You just have to find them.

I hope this has been helpful, please keep us updated on your progress and findings.

 

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[Chicago457]

I did this on a large scale. $20 a head. 1000+ person parties, 25 girls promoting getting guest listed. 10k+ facebook invites sent out and 5k flyers passed out

Last event made 17k profit. 10k of it was in cash the rest online ticket sales. The bar I did not get to collect off of as that was all the venues money.

Very lucrative. Very high liability and drama which is why I stopped for the most part. Look at the venues paperword and a lot of them really don't have the licenses they should and it all kind of flys under the radar leaving you liable if something did go wrong. Some venues are better than others. I still do concert halls every once in a while. Kind of over that scene (Lots of druggies and sketchy people). But it does payoff and can be done legitimately.

Note: I never did a party without real police officers at the door/people that get hired out by the police district. If you do this without off duty cops you are putting yourself in great danger of getting arrested/fined. The venue should know cops for you to hire out.

Oh and financially wise if you are on a budget you can pay everyone either half down at beginning or 100 percent down at 10:00/end of party when you have cash flowing in the door. But you have to be positive that you will be able to pay everyone or people will be mad. The venue I almost always put a deposit down.

 

[GuestUser152]

Thanks for everyone who has been a part of this thread. Have been considering this quite a bit myself and found this all very helpful.