Pix from Friday OM, Oct. 30, 2009

[Tingly]

^^ Yeah! I am amazed that my one year anniversary of playing there is coming up.

I am wondering what to do, to "celebrate" it, if anything?

Would it be unprofessional to give the staff a cake or something? But they sell cake there, so that doesn't sound like too good an idea.

???

[Roger L.]

Maybe you could order a cake from there, get a big sheet cake. They would probably give you a discount and offer very small pieces to the crowd and tell them there's more where that came from . . . for a price. Might sell more coffeee and drinks, if not more cake and other goodies

[Tingly]

^^ Maybe that's a good idea. 'Don't think they make that kind of cake there, tho.

I just found out that, due to regulations, they cannot have a "full kitchen." That's why they are struggling. They can't take advantage of the morning commuter "coffee with eggs-on-a-roll" trade. (#$%^%$ "venue issues"!!!)

Also, I am concerned about turning my silly anniversary into something commercial, and sorta saying "Hey, it's my one year anniversary, now buy something from us, you beeyatches..."

[Brian Krashpad]

Haha, I wouldn't have any prob with turning it to the commercial advantage of the house one bit!

At any rate, looks like a fun night and good times. Thanks for the pics.

I keep telling myself I need to do an open mic sometime. Never have.

[Tingly]

^^ I would encourage you to do it. Just be as prepared as you can, and not just musically. How it's run, the type of acts a place gets, stuff like that is crucial, too.

[Roger L.]

Actually Tingly, I encourage you to make a commercial thing out of it . . . I'd put up fliers a couple weeks in advance and invite everyone to your "one year anniversary party" tell them it's to celebrate all the great times that you've had with all the great patrons. . . tell to come and join the fun.

[Squizz]

You should try to get Auk to one of these before he escapes of to Texas.

[Brian Krashpad]

Originally Posted by Tingly

^^ I would encourage you to do it. Just be as prepared as you can, and not just musically. How it's run, the type of acts a place gets, stuff like that is crucial, too.

Oh yeah, if I ever were to do it, I'd definitely go down to the venue and scope it out first at least once if not multiple times. I'm not much of a singer but I'd do originals I felt comfortable with, or as comfortable as I could be without a band behind me. Back in high school they had an interdenominational group called Young Life that I and a couple other guys would play guitar at every week, but it was group singing, and no vox mic'd. That's more or less where I first learned to play in quasi-public, but an open mic without the singalong factor is somewhere I've yet to tread.

I know it'd help me overall as a performer, but between church band and rock bands, it's hard to make time.

[Tingly]

Originally Posted by Roger L.

...Actually Tingly, I encourage you to make a commercial thing out of it . . . I'd put up fliers a couple weeks in advance and invite everyone to your "one year anniversary party" tell them it's to celebrate all the great times that you've had with all the great patrons. . . tell to come and join the fun...

Actually, THAT does sound like a very good idea. But I don't know if I can go "that far." It seems that I would be making it "all about me."

To my detriment, I am just not built that way...

[Brian Krashpad]

Originally Posted by Tingly

Actually, THAT does sound like a very good idea. But I don't know if I can go "that far." It seems that I would be making it "all about me."

To my detriment, I am just not built that way...

Oh man, marketing yourself is such a big part of playing out. And more importantly, you'd be helping a venue that seems really cool.

A couple years ago, my main band had it's 10th anniversary. I figured I could work that angle to get some press coverage in the local paper, and I was right. But what I did was tell people to bring a canned good of some sort to the gig, and anything collected I would take to the local food pantry.

In my case, the venue wasn't struggling. It sounds like yours might be just a bit. I'd consider any kind of PR you can do as a favor to them!

[Tingly]

Thank you for your kind suggestions.

They make a lot of sense!