Originally posted by Joel Frieders on syffal.com
Ground Lift Media is kicking Chicago’s ass in 2011. From throwing great fucking events, to having artists fucking begging to be placed on one of their bills, Ground Lift is changing the overall opinion of shitty promoters by going above and fucking beyond.
From event planning, to branding, to giveaways, to surprise guests, to getting motherfuckers to show the fuck up, nothing is by accident when it comes to Nigel “Trew” Ridgeway‘s sense of how to handle show promotion.
Having played a show put on by GL and hearing the audible blow-jobs big name acts were spitting in this dude’s general direction, I figured “why the fuck can’t this dude teach other motherfuckers not to be shady shitbags that I’d rather shank than play a fucking show for ever a fucking gain?”
So Trew, being the push over he is, agreed to a running segment we will call:
How Not To Be A Shitty Promoter: A Guide by Trew @ Ground Lift Media
Here is Volume 1:
SYFFAL: Define what a promoter does in the most general terms:
Trew: Spreading the word. That’s promotion in it’s most basic form. Whether it’s you telling your buddies about a backyard cookout, or Live Nation placing radio ads for the next Nickelback concert.
SYFFAL: Does promoting mean handing out flyers in 2011? Or just using myspace/facebook invites?
Trew: A good promoter will leverage any and all outlets Technology is more a part of the game now than before, but I think flyers will be making a comeback soon. Promoting virtually-only may be easy and accessible, but despite the lack of privacy (say on facebook) virtual promo is pretty impersonal. Nothing beats handing someone a flyer and inviting them to your event face to face. Btw, please don’t ask me about myspace again.
SYFFAL: Define what a shitty promoter does specifically, using shit you’ve heard or seen.
Trew: If we’re talking tactics, some things I’d never do actually work brilliantly for other people. But as far as bad behavior / questionable decisions go, the list is endless.
Without blatantly pointing out the flaws of shitty promoters, here’s a few suggestions for improvement:
- Hire a better designer. Your flyer is the face of the event. Why should anyone care about your brand if it looks like photoshop for dummies?
- Stop using porn star pictures on your designs. Besides being tacky, believe it or not they actually take issue with unlicensed usage of their image, and have legal teams protecting them. The exception being if said porn star is actually a part of your event, and if that’s the case send me an invite asap.
- Be conscious of your event’s experience. So you’ve got bodies in the building, now what? What’s the memory people are leaving with? Is it that the door guys were assholes and it took 15 minutes to get a beer? Maybe then think about a new venue. The quality of the experience directly effects your future success.
- Get your shit together. Nothing’s worse than a promoter who doesn’t have a production schedule, doesn’t have the proper tech worked out, or doesn’t respond to your many emails.
- Stop postering over other people’s events. I’m sure every promoter has been tempted to do this or does it habitually. Wait until an event has passed, and then put your poster up. It’s an unspoken rule, a rule that thankfully certain retail spots will make you adhere to. But most of the time, it’s a free-for-all in the streets.
- Stop putting your flyers on my windshield. You’re making me feel guilty for polluting the environment when I toss that shit under my tire.
- Tone down the hyperbole. All of the space you’re using in the subject line for over the top claims could be used for more informative text. Plus we all know your event isn’t ‘Chicago’s best, most, finest, or fanciest’. I knew that when I saw the half naked women on your flyer (see #2).
- Pay the people your supposed to pay. This is something I learned that hard way. We’ve all taken losses but that’s part of the game. In certain cases with a loser event, I’d argue that coming to an agreement with a performer about their fee can be beneficial to both parties. Personally I remember the people who waived or lowered their fee when our events lost, and try to book them again for something more solid, or even help them promote their music / video / etc..
- You’re not popular. Unless you’re a promoter who built a brand around their name (a great example is Roxy Cottontail in NYC), let your event sell itself. If you’ve done all your homework, the event should have it’s own buzz. Popularity has a finite shelf life, but a solid event and/or company brand goes on and on.
SYFFAL: Does a shitty promoter have the potential to be busy? A few of the promoters that I’ve worked with in the past are horrible at communication, yet seem to constantly have gigs to bump. How is this possible?
Trew: For sure. One thing I admire about Chicago’s promoters is their workload. With so many bars /clubs to work with it’s easy for anyone to get a night. But I think the answer to your question lies in the promoter / venue relationship. If a promoter is bringing in numbers, they’ll stay working. But collectively, djs / mcs/ bands / etc. don’t have enough power to effect how promoters treat talent besides taking it to the streets.
It’s crazy because there’s so much talent here, you’d think there’d be some kind of organization happening. But as it stands, if a promoter screws over someone and that artist never works with the promoter again, there’s a huge pool of other talent who’ll do the job. And possibly for less pay.
SYFFAL: Define what a great promoter does specifically, citing examples.
Trew: Basically follow everything in my list up top.
But overall if I had to delineate between great and shitty, it’s all about how they run their business. Does the promoter even think in terms of being a business? I would say that if more promoters acted like a business, we wouldn’t have as many tedious issues to tolerate. Budgets would be in place, publicity would be handled in a timely manner, day-of production would be more on point, and so on.
Approaching promotion more professionally will elevate the industry accordingly. Venues fuck up and artists can be tough to deal with, but for better or for worse, promoters in Chicago are the glue and have a major responsibility.
SYFFAL: Are you wearing thunderwear?
Trew: Bele dat.
Stay tuned for future volumes where Trew actually shows Joel what’s in his coin purse made of bull testicle. EGADS!
And make sure you hit up http://www.groundliftmedia.com and see why Nigel’s coin purse is always full.
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