----- Original Message -----
From: Renee __________(Last Name Withheld because it's nobody's biz)
To:  <RichUnger@promotingnightclubs.com>
Sent:  Sun, 15 Feb. 2006 15:05:21 -0600
Subject: you are right

Rich, You are right, I wish my friend had listened to you.

I have been djing and producing electronic music for about ten years and am currently resident @ one of the largest night clubs in south Louisiana.

A friend of mine brought Oakenfold in about a year ago.

The night was not any more packed than normal, the only difference being the $20 cover which drove a lot of the regulars away.

The night was awful nobody was into what he was playing.

Because in an after hours or rave situation, yeah Oakenfold is great but in a mainstream club with a diverse crowd he is lost.

I used to be a one style after-hours type DJ.

But until I was faced with keeping a diverse crowd moving in the South, where people tend to be resistant to change I did not know what tough was.

Your best DJ's are your guys who bang it out every weekend, keep em coming back every week and can keep a good balance of patrons @ the same time.

Playing the same set of records all over the country just does not work. You have to be in tune with where you are @ and Oakenfold does not do this. 

By the way I am looking for your original 800 pound gorilla promotion ideas that you write about all the time.

The Club I spin at, is huge we do about 1000 people Fri and sat. But the crowd is starting to get a little undesirable.

This is a college town but the club is downtown so it is kinda tough to keep the crowd we want but we have been doing it for almost two years but I know for a fact, think we need what you have to offer to wake the place up.
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MY RESPONSE:

Waking up "The Place" is easier said then done my friend.

When your in a College Town, you have two choices, you either go with the flow of ignorance and offer drink specials and cheap beer like every other panic promoting bar in a College Community, Or..............................you take the "HIGH ROAD" and offer "THE FUN" & "THE WOW FACTORS," instead.

I have Clubs contact me daily who offer nothing but drink specials every single night and then they wonder, how and why their competition is destroying them?

Because their prices are cheaper and lower and because a "Price War" does nothing but accomplishes two results:

1. It causes the entire focus of patrons in that area to compare and go where drinks and beer are the cheapest.
2. It diminishes the profitability of the Club or Lounge or Bar to thrive, let alone survive, because the profits are in the pour.

Now your waiting for me to tell you how to combat such a miserable night life Environment?  It's very simple!  You rise above the riff, the raff, and the fray.....................................................

You ignore, you distance and you show your entire Community that it's not all about how cheap a drink or a beer is, but much more importantly it's "THE FUN" and "THE WOW FACTORS" that your offering, and they are not!

I cannot fathom or comprehend why any Club in this day and age, would still offer "DRINK & DROWN" or "Sink and Swim" Nights?  I mean, I can make 1000x time revenue, the profit and pack a Club any night with no drink special up against a night where it's all you can drink.

Formats need to be flexible, I had a Managing Partner of a club in Fort Myers, Florida call me, he tried "Jazz & Blues" every night and died, he then switched to "Classic Rock" and he took the "Stairway to Heaven"................................... I mean how can these people operate, let alone "OWN" Nightclubs?  They hesitate, they procrastinate, they never activate and they totally descimate their potential for profit and patrons.

I received another Call from another Partner, everyone is a Partner, that is the first mistake, when you have 2, 3 and 4 partners who have no clue, how do you expect to pack a place?  Anyway, this "Partner" just bought into a Restaurant in Rhode Island that at night is doing exactly what I preach, but all in the wrong way.

They are trying to go after the Night Life Business, but what they are offering and how they are presenting it and promoting the nights, they are dead on Wednesday Nights, Thursday Nights and even Saturday Nights......................

Finally there's the Owner, New Owner in Naples, Florida who buys a club with a horrible reputation, and he has no clue what to do, how to do it, and when to do it, he is booking the wrong bands, drawing the wrong crowd and says he can't take the time to change his format now?

He will have plenty of time to paint the walls and put up the "FOR SALE" Sign when the place goes bye, bye, I can't believe he does not heed the call to "CHANGE"? He screams for help, then ignores the paths to follow?

His idea of a promotion is two for one drinks and ladies drink free....................................................... I  need to get a punching bag, so every time one of these "Mr. Denials" contacts me and then ignores my direction, I can just punch the bag and feel sooooooooo much better.

I mean its like watching a Lifetime Movie and wondering why this Woman who is so hot looking and so smart picked such a loser to get involved with? It's the perfect analogy.

Now it's the Month of March, and no matter if your in IOWA, OHIO, FLORIDA or MICHIGAN or any other State for that matter, you should be doing excellent business every night.

If your not, blame yourself, because your the one who calls the shots, and gives them away for $1.

Your the one, who dropped the cover and has that hideous DJ.

Your the one who let your dress code disappear and so did all the Women as well.