RE: [dcab-l] Going Big or Going Home PLEASE READ

DCBU,

I hope I do not later regret this, but I feel strongly that a response is required.  Please understand this is not intended to hurt or belittle anyone, it is just my personal observations based on the "Going Big of Going Home" plea I received.

 

I do not want to be the cause of a festival dying, but I cannot attend.  I can't even buy a Ticket to throw away this month. I want to be supportive and if I'd been asked for a donation in November or January I could have made one.  10 days or we go belly up puts the responsibility on our shoulders. 

               Nobody got up on stage at Lucketts the other night and said, "Hey, we haven't sold enough tickets to pay the artists." We all donated money to help Danny Paisley when asked at Lucketts. Nobody (The bands are not responsible for announcing stuff, I don't mean them) said anything at the Birchmere when the Seldom Scene and DBFS played two night to full houses in November. I would not have bought a pre-sale ticket, but I'd have put $20-40 in the kitty to help out.  There are more pressing needs right now that require my attention and money.  Yes, by all means do let people know that there is a crisis.  Yes by all means seek patrons and corporate sponsors ASAP.

 

My main point is this:  Pre-sales are important with EVERYTHING now.  Pre-sales are beginning to make people stay at home too. Presale items get bought and returned because buying a pig in a poke is not wise.  I eat about 6 concert tickets a year because they were bought presale and either I can't go when the event comes up, or my companion cancels on me. So far only Ticketmaster has addressed this issue. In the last year I have bought tickets nearly a year in advance for 3 shows, and 3-6 months in advance for most other concerts.  Usually I buy two, and get stuck with one because nobody knows what their schedule is like 6 months from now and concerts are entertainment, they take last place unless one is a performer.  I now buy books on Pre-sale, often bad ones, CD's on presale, often bad ones. I usually make these purchases because of dire warnings that unless it does well in presale, the author or band will have a failure on their hands. Quite often this is true. It is getting worse and worse.  A book now has no chance of being a best seller if it does not get offered on Amazon Pre-sale. Forget about if it is a good book, or if it does well, if it isn't offered for presale it is doomed. I know of one author who paid to have another less famous author's book put on presale because he felt it was excellent and the pre-sale concept flawed.  The backlash (my opinion here) is inevitable. 

 

Does the festival have a first tier of yearly subscription supporters who get special access? There should be one if there isn't, and if nobody wants to be a patron, then that would be indicative… of something or another…. I'm not being critical here, I cannot go in any event. Is there a lack of corporate sponsors?  How about apps like "Band's in Town?"  Things to think about before packing up and catching a box car back to…. DC?

 

I hesitate to take 1/1000^th of the blame for the death of a festival just because I can't by a presale ticket.  I did not know there was dire need.  Now I know, but there is nothing I can do, even if I had known, and could attend, I would not have bought a presale ticket with these weather conditions. I would have made a donation if asked, but one within my means.  I'm sorry there is such a lack of response but pre-sale may not be the way to finance the festival. Please accept my apology if this sounds aggressive or scolding, but I think that my perspective will be true of many of the rank and file fans and part time musicians. 

I wish you the best of luck in this.

 

Bruce D. Reed

From: dcab-l@googlegroups.com [mailto:dcab-l@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of barretone@verizon.net
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2015 1:33 PM
To: dcab-l@googlegroups.com
Subject: [dcab-l] Going Big or Going Home PLEASE READ

 

Hi all. I want to deliver an important message regarding the DC Bluegrass Festival. As many of you know, we've moved to a beautiful new venue in Tysons Corner and are offering a lineup that includes national headliners like Jerry Douglas and the Earls of Leicester, the Seldom Scene and Tim O'Brien. The festival is 10 days away. If we cannot hit break-even this year at 1,000 tickets sold, this will be the last DC Bluegrass Festival. That's not a threat, it's just a fact. WHETHER WE SUCCEED IS IN YOUR HANDS.

Please purchase your tickets now. Pre-sales are hugely important. And tell all your friends and distant relatives to buy tickets and support a national bluegrass festival right here in DC.

https://dcbu.ticketleap.com/5thdcbufestival/dates/Feb-27-2015_at_0100PM

Together we can make it happen!

Randy

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