Who decides (Ticket or not to Ticket )

[stewart38]

At this time of year a number of venues will be crowded particularly for Christmas 'events'.

A lot of venues will go down the ticket only route which implies there going to, in some incidences, turn away paying punters. Hopefully that leaves room to dance for those that attend

Some may even go further and try and get numbers and gender balance even, which could imply turning even more people (e.g. extra females) away

Some don’t seem to care and will invite all and ‘live with’ any critics. Some may just say we will turn you away at the door IF we get too crowded

From the post below it made me wonder ,what is best ?



Cluck.




Admittedly I'd prefer a limit of maybe 150 for an optimal dance experience, but 200 should be OK.

It was well-crushed last year, though, :sick: not pleasant at all. Which is why making it ticket-only is probably a good idea. Male-female ratio-controlled ticket-only would be an even better idea :)

Assuming most things like ,venue hire are fixed cost ,wouldn’t I be tempted to squeeze in another 100 and take the odd criticism ? That could be another £1,000 in my pocket ?

Hats of to any commercial organisation that doesn’t do this but I just wonder what is the ‘rationale’ behind operators who at the end of the day I ASSUME are in it to make money or at least a decent profit.

[under par]

At this time of year a number of venues will be crowded particularly for Christmas 'events'.

A lot of venues will go down the ticket only route which implies there going to, in some incidences, turn away paying punters. Hopefully that leaves room to dance for those that attend

Some may even go further and try and get numbers and gender balance even, which could imply turning even more people (e.g. extra females) away
<<<snip>>>

Hats of to any commercial organisation that doesn’t do this but I just wonder what is the ‘rationale’ behind operators who at the end of the day I ASSUME are in it to make money or at least a decent profit.

My hat is off already to Ceroc Greenwich (Russell and Dan)for their party night on Saturday.
Gender balanced ticket only affair....plenty of room on the dance floor, music was spot on from Dan and TWK and a great night was had by all.

:worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

When their first Party Night with gender balance was put on it provoked a lot of comment.

I would like to hear from the attendees on Saturday if the gender balance made it a better night or if a good night would have been had anyway.

I would particularly like to hear from the 50% of the attendees (the ladies) to ask how it compared to other events when there are often many ladies over.

Over to the Forum.............:flower:

[David Bailey]

Assuming most things like ,venue hire are fixed cost ,wouldn’t I be tempted to squeeze in another 100 and take the odd criticism ? That could be another £1,000 in my pocket ?
Believe me, you'd get more than the "odd" criticism if you tried to fit another 50% in, on an all-ticketed event. And if you want to establish an event as an annual thing, it's best not to annoy your customers by scrumming them in.


Hats of to any commercial organisation that doesn’t do this but I just wonder what is the ‘rationale’ behind operators who at the end of the day I ASSUME are in it to make money or at least a decent profit.
Of course - but there's long-term and short-term thinking.

Short-term, yes, you can exploit people once or twice and pocket the cash. And, to be honest, some franchise owners do seem to think this way. Longer-term, you have to offer a competitive product if you want to attract the punters. And now (compared to a few years ago) there are quite a few Xmas-New Year MJ events to choose from, so it is a competitive market.

Look at something like the Glitter Ball in Bedford; almost no-one has a bad word to say about that, so it's likely to sell out very quickly through word-of-mouth recommendations. Other events, which may offer less value, will be more difficult to market.

[Icey]

I would like to hear from the attendees on Saturday if the gender balance made it a better night or if a good night would have been had anyway.

It was the first time I had ventured over to Greenwich having previously considered it as too far to drive but now that I have got off my backside and actually made the trip (thanks owed to WB for offering me the ticket) I will certainly be going again.

The ratio of men to women was immediately obvious to me and it was a very, very pleasant change not to feel that I would either have to sit out lots of dances or to stalk guys to get a dance. I was asked to dance much more than I usually am and I also asked a lot more than I usually would. On this basis I give it a big thumbs up and a gold star from me is on it's way to Russell and Co for the evening.

[Cruella]

My hat is off already to Ceroc Greenwich (Russell and Dan)for their party night on Saturday.
Gender balanced ticket only affair....plenty of room on the dance floor, music was spot on from Dan and TWK and a great night was had by all.

:worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

When their first Party Night with gender balance was put on it provoked a lot of comment.

I would like to hear from the attendees on Saturday if the gender balance made it a better night or if a good night would have been had anyway.

I would particularly like to hear from the 50% of the attendees (the ladies) to ask how it compared to other events when there are often many ladies over.

Over to the Forum.............:flower:
I actually think that there were more men than ladies on saturday, just my perception but i would be interested to hear what the gender balance was.
It makes the night so much better when there are equal numbers as we don't struggle to get a dance. I only sat out the last two tracks. But unfortunately at the end of the night realised how many men i still hadn't had a dance with. Including the one that turned me down twice, you know who you are!:whistle: So to make it a perfect night it needed to be longer. (oh yeah, and move the venue up the country a bit:wink: ) I think that Russell has totally done the right thing making it gender balanced ticket only. In the long term it's becoming the place we want to be at because we won't have to spend half the night 'fighting' over the men! It is a pain having to plan so far ahead to ensure a ladies ticket, but it's worth it.

[Katie]

I think it is reasonable for organisers to restrict numbers and have a ticket-only event during the Christmas period as it gets so busy, and also for popular events such as the Walthamstow Balls and competitions.

I had a good time at Greenwich, with plenty of great dances, but I would have had a good time anyway had there not been a gender restriction. In the five years I have been dancing this was the first gender balanced event I have attended and it didn't contribute to my enjoyment any more had there been more women. I don't need to dance to every track, I'm a little more picky with what tune I dance to and during those breaks I presume other women will be taking my place (doh!)

The downside about the restriction was that I couldn't go unless I found a man and being single posed a small problem. On one hand I didn't want to call up every man I knew to ask if he was going but on the other I really wanted to go! I generally like the freedom of just turning up at a venue and if numbers are restricted and it is sold out, I am annoyed at myself for not being organised, but I get over it quickly; however i'd never been in the position of being allowed to go only if I bring a man. I was even tempted to bring my non-dance partner! In the end I did find a man (dancer) to accompany me but in an odd way I felt embarrassed at having to contact those I did.

I'm not even sure if I am making sense, but i'm pleased for the Ceroc Greenwich crew who feel able to increase the majority of dancers enjoyment by keeping an even gender balance and despite my minor problem, I will have to try harder at getting my non-dance partner to start dancing! :what: Or book way in advance! :rolleyes:

[Russell Saxby]

but i would be interested to hear what the gender balance was.

Been to busy too even open the tin - So I have not counted the collected tickets or checked those ticked off on the reservation list. I have not even counted the money yet :eek:

However if everyone that was supposed to have turned up did..( off the top of my head there were a couple of no shows) then there should have been a handful more ladies then men.

Always difficult to judge cos there will always be a few people that reserve and then don't show - so I do always go a few over and keep my fingers crossed. So far I have been lucky.

While we are talking tickets.. Anyone who wants one for the 29th will need to get in quick - venue regulations, I cannot take any money on the door.

:cheers:

[Dizzy]

My hat is off already to Ceroc Greenwich (Russell and Dan)for their party night on Saturday.
Gender balanced ticket only affair....plenty of room on the dance floor, music was spot on from Dan and TWK and a great night was had by all.

:worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

When their first Party Night with gender balance was put on it provoked a lot of comment.

I would like to hear from the attendees on Saturday if the gender balance made it a better night or if a good night would have been had anyway.

I would particularly like to hear from the 50% of the attendees (the ladies) to ask how it compared to other events when there are often many ladies over.

Over to the Forum.............:flower:

I feel that it is a very good idea, especially over the christmas period to have gender balanced and restricted numbers.

Dancing on saturday was one of the best freestyles that I have been to as the floor had some of the best dancers in London yet there was still space to dance properly.

I didn't feel that I had to stalk men all night to get a dance, therefore was much more relaxed and men were more willing to ask me :worthy: :clap: . By the end of the night, there were still men that I had not danced with :eek: .

The music was also great - respect to Dan and TWK :worthy: :worthy:

Great night Russell and co :clap: :clap: :worthy:

[Andy McGregor]

IMHO 'gender balance' should mean there's enough people for everyone to get a dance. And I think that means a few more women than men. I've no idea why that is but my guess is that men, on average, spend more time on the dance floor than women - maybe it's because we've been conditioned to dance more because of the venues with loads of women over.

I think that ticket only venues should try to balance the sexes - because they can. I think that venues that operate a first come, first served basis would have difficulty letting men in and turning away women - they could do it but they'd be in big trouble.

I think it's up to the organiser to make a judgement call. If they think the venue is going to be uncomfortably crowded they should limit numbers. And, IMHO the best way to limit numbers is ticket only - because you can balance the sexes and you won't be turning people away.

[Russell Saxby]

The downside about the restriction was that I couldn't go unless I found a man and being single posed a small problem. On one hand I didn't want to call up every man I knew to ask if he was going but on the other I really wanted to go! I generally like the freedom of just turning up at a venue and if numbers are restricted and it is sold out, I am annoyed at myself for not being organised, but I get over it quickly; however i'd never been in the position of being allowed to go only if I bring a man. I was even tempted to bring my non-dance partner! In the end I did find a man (dancer) to accompany me but in an odd way I felt embarrassed at having to contact those I did.

Single girl tickets were available up until couple of days before... it was really only those ladies that called me on Saturday that I said to try and find a man to come along.

:flower:

[Katie]

Single girl tickets were available up until couple of days before... it was really only those ladies that called me on Saturday that I said to try and find a man to come along.

:flower:

Thanks for the info. And you did a very good job, Russell. :hug:

[Lory]

I had a fab time on Saturday! :na:

It makes a tremendous difference to my enjoyment of an evening to have both space and the partners to dance with. So a big :cheers: to Dan and Russel!

The thing I like most about a ticketed event is, we're almost sure in advance what we're going to get ;) (apart from the music of course)

[Tazmanian Devil]

My hat is off already to Ceroc Greenwich (Russell and Dan)for their party night on Saturday.
Gender balanced ticket only affair....plenty of room on the dance floor, music was spot on from Dan and TWK and a great night was had by all.

:worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:
:yeah: :clap:


I would particularly like to hear from the 50% of the attendees (the ladies) to ask how it compared to other events when there are often many ladies over.
It was absolutely fantastic, I barely sat out a track, and with the quality of music being played I am glad. :worthy:
Generally at party nights there are an awful lot more women than guys so I tend to lead most of the night, not that I dont enjoy leading because I do but when I have lots of quality men around me I do like to follow too. If only more franchise's would cotton on to this limited numbers and equal male female ratio all party nights would be thoroghly enjoyable.:grin: At Ealing on Friday it was that packed I actually elbowed someone in the eye as I got lead a turn (If you are on here I am soo sorry) She was fine but thats not really the point. :blush:

[DavidB]

I rarely go to ticket only events. This is usually because I can't guarantee being free even a few days in advance. (The only time I bought a ticket in advance this year, I ended up selling it because I had to work.)

So now if I hear that an event is ticket only, I just don't even think about going.

[LilyB]

I rarely go to ticket only events. This is usually because I can't guarantee being free even a few days in advance. (The only time I bought a ticket in advance this year, I ended up selling it because I had to work.)

So now if I hear that an event is ticket only, I just don't even think about going.

Any gallant gentleman out there wants to accompany me to the next ticket-only event?:devil:

LilyB

[under par]

Any gallant gentleman out there wants to accompany me to the next ticket-only event?:devil:

LilyB
I'd willingly take you Lily but having you and Sharon on my arms might be seen as greedy.:blush:

If you want a man I know of several who would love to oblige. Let me know the dates I'll find you a date.


Deal!:cheers:

[Night Owl]

Any gallant gentleman out there wants to accompany me to the next ticket-only event?:devil:

LilyB
and of course if they were up in Bonnie Scotland well, i`d have to stand in that que to:worthy:

[senorita]

Single girl tickets were available up until couple of days before... it was really only those ladies that called me on Saturday that I said to try and find a man to come along.

:flower:

And an excellent job that was done too :flower:

[Zebra Woman]

Bit late I know.....

I had a brilliant night at Greenwich. The balance of gender did make a big difference to me.

Number one - I would never have contemplated driving that far to a dance if there was a risk of gender imbalance, it was a very long drive.

Number two - It was amazing to see the men actually choosing who they wanted to dance some of the time, without being rushed.

Number three - There was space to dance .

Great music too from Twk and Dan ! :clap:

I'd love to go back there, but can't commit to the 29th at this point so I may wlll miss out. :sick: But I would rather miss out occasionally knowing that such a fab event was sticking to its guns on gender balance. Given a choice I would chose gender balanced events every time.

Good on yer Russ :hug: .