RentAcrowd

[jackbrazzo]

i think your right Hutch - nice one.

[Hutch]

i think your right Hutch - nice one.

Just sayin'

I can only imagine trying to throw a shindig in London. I'd be thinking castles, and crumpets sprinkled with some regretamine LOL!!

[CBLVSN]

You're doing it wrong.

Get out of the bar and into your own private venue. Have your own bar. Take more time to organize something special and try and do something different. Having the mindset of booking more Djs to bring more people never works and is setting yourself up for failure. Build around one headliner you like with the best supoorting cast possible. Like someone said involve more people outside your group. Find a good sound guy if you don't have one on the cheap and look harder for sick venues. I do all of this above with my friends and we break even 3/4 times.

P.S-If you are playing house/techno get the fck out of the club/bar!!

But even if he sets up his own venue, he still faces the problem of nobody really knowing his name/brand. Nothing is worse than having your own venue and nobody is really there apart from the 5 friends that made it. Like I said before, the most logical step to solve this would be partnering up with a promoter thats well known throughout town. Once you are able to establish a name/brand, then you can start your own night solo.

[laurens]

start ur night with lowest budget possible,
copy your flyers in the supermarket, they will stand out from the others for their 'diy' approach(run away without paying )
depend on the goodwill of the dj's to play for free (its not like anyone else is paying upcoming dj's like yourself so do the same).
bring ur own mixer and decks so u only have to rent some speakers.
get an original location without any bad vibes attached to it (failed partys, bad crowd,...). make sure u can be break even with a small crowd (say 50 ppl) for atleast 7-8 editions.

entrance fee as low as possible, 2 euros for example is a nice gesture to your audience and they will be happy to pay it.
dont get mixed up on this but people are happily paying 84 euros for a dance festival with 90000 people including swedish house mafia and other complete BULLSHIT but paying 8 euros support for an independent party seems like asking for a dog to write his name, they just wont do it, or atleast bitch about it to their friends wich is bad publicity.

and last but not least: BE OUT THERE!! not only with flyers and posters but go out a lot, get to know the local 'incrowd' and make sure u and your friends and supporters tell people that YOUR party is the COOLEST sh!t in town (even if its obscure hypno techno or whatever).
for people that are not into this music u have to make em believe that your party is not to be missed, they wont be knowing any of the dj's anyway so its not just for the music (although we all wish it was). and do not underestimate this, this is 75% of your possible attenders and the crowd that usually pays the most for drinks etc.

there's probablye more advice to be given but this is my personal experience for so far

[John Clees]

sometimes it just happens that you can't get a hall full. It doesn't always come down to promotion, sometimes people just don't feel like coming out,.

very very true..

one year I had a fund raiser for the homeless and the place was packed here in detroit and went until 5 a.m. this was one week before st. pa-tricks day (a huge drunken celebrated weekend).

the following year, I threw the party (close) to St. Patricks day but more specifically it was the weekend after and it was completely dead. If I had to choose it came down to the actual weekend I choose to do it. after a festival weekend and/or after a HUGE party weekend.. most people chill the following...

sometimes having fun IS the most important thing and finding a formula that will not stress you, finding just the right venue, and the right people to work with is the most crucial part. learn from your experiences. as with life everything is a trial and error.

[Hutch]

But even if he sets up his own venue, he still faces the problem of nobody really knowing his name/brand.

[stevësto]

its because minimal tech deep house whatever the fck you want to call it 4-4 is dead. play uk funky!

[Menno]

Me and some friends organise parties here in antwerp too, never made any loss
we always try to find exclusive locations, not locations where other people do parties cause than you're just one of the other parties that do something there...
also we try to keep it cheap, find good connections, use your own turntables etc.....
also i found out, you really need to work out a concept, make you're flyer in a way so you attract that kind of people you want on your party...
works fine here, couple of weeks ago we did a party on a boat with we play house, great success....
think exclusivity is the magic formula to success...

edit: i organise it together with laurens
and hutch, you're right