quote:

Originally posted by 72hrpartyanimal yeah... but how do you cover the budget? headliners don't run cheap.

booze sales. whats the mark-up, 500%? sell lots of booze. :-)

how much does a headliner of JOC's status run anyways?

i bet you could book $uperfox at Vanguard(he would pay the club to play) sell entrance at $10 and a lot of people would show up anyways. Once you have a brand and a big promoter in place, people will come. Circus has no big promoter, and no identity. I dont see much improving anytime soon.
Circus has turned to gimmicks in order to get people thru the door

free "drink" ticket, but its only soda or beer, why not just say FREE BEER ticket?
im surprised they dont just provide a Brita and a cup and say, here you go, here is your free drink!

free parking, but its gotta be the right lot and you have to show before it fills up. Why not just say, Lot has 50 spaces, so free parking for first 50 cars.

$1000 raffle? better check its $1000 US dollars, and not some sort of cancun wet t-shirt scam that promises $1000 and it turns out to be 1000 mexican pesos, I saw that happen once to a poor girl, she was pissed!

bottom line, an offer feels more like an offer when its genuine and without a catch. be straight up and honest and people will appreciate it, be deceiving and people will get pissed off.
id rather be promised NOTHING
than be promised something and then not receiving it.

Last edited by bigperf on Jan-21-2009 at 19:51

quote:

Originally posted by bigperf booze sales. whats the mark-up, 500%? sell lots of booze. :-) how much does a headliner of JOC's status run anyways?

bar sales usually cover the cost of operations. bartenders, security, etc...

edit* don't get me wrong... i love the idea of FREE everything (i'm a cheapo), but realistically, nightlife entertainment is a business. i know when Nikita was there, we asked our friends to "support" our nights, cuz we needed to make revenue to cover those costs.

___________________
Jaded, old fart is me.

quote:

Circus has no big promoter, and no identity. I dont see much improving anytime soon. Circus has turned to gimmicks in order to get people thru the door.

Circus has been up and running for more than 30 yrs. Circus has also been open several nights a week and some times, like on a Sunday, there is some sort of big event going on. All those nights might not be EDM but I'm pretty sure what ever it is, there is a pretty large crowd showing up. No gimmicks no nothing and the admission price is cheap.
I also know from way back during the late 70's, 80's and into the 90's, there was never a promoter and if there was, well it was just street promoters and the word got out via flyers.
Circus owner always used to have raffles, door prizes, and give-aways all the time. Hellz, there was even a FREE bbq on Sundays!

If Circus wants to keep doing the FREE thing to get people to come on Saturdays for EDM, let them. I think it's a very cool thing to do especially during these hard times many people face and I see lots of people are taking advantage of it too. You'd be dumb not to!

IMO.... Take advantage & have fun of what you can while you still can cuz what is here today might not be here tomorrow.

I've enjoyed many many yrs going to CIRCUS!

quote:

Originally posted by TSG I've enjoyed many many yrs going to CIRCUS!

She's not lying! Trinity has been going to Circus since before I was born. She's my hero!

___________________
Malia | AWAKENING Fridays / INCEPTION Saturdays @ EXCHANGE LA | Tickets

02.22 HEIDI | EWAN PEARSON @ INCEPTION (Tickets)
02.28 DON DIABLO @ AWAKENING (Tickets)
03.01 DANNY TENAGLIA @ INCEPTION (Tickets)
03.07 MAX GRAHAM @ AWAKENING (Tickets)
03.21 FEDDE LE GRAND @ AWAKENING (Tickets)
03.22 ADAM BEYER @ AWAKENING (Tickets)
04.06 MARKUS SCHULZ @ EXCHANGE LA (Tickets)
04.11 PAUL VAN DYK @ AWAKENING (Tickets)

Last Saturday I was shocked when Loq kept running up and down the Circus line outside offering refunds to anyone who paid for parking! You just needed to give him the ticket/flyer with the coupon and he gave your money back. I'm not suprised about the freebies though. Circus doesn't have a middle man a.k.a promoter taking money away anymore so they can afford a few free things (which they were smart to limit by time or selection). And I agree: If you offer freebies be clear on the terms so you won't upset your customers.

There are a couple things I wonder about: 1) I had a chat a while ago with the Russian (or Ukranian?) guy, Greg, who runs the parking lots around Circus and Arena and I got the impression the parking lot revenues went to him, not Gene. If this is true what's the deal with the free parking? 2) Based on the chats with some Circus employees, all the other nights at Circus are quite successful compared to Saturdays. Why doesn't Gene stop doing "straight" EDM events on Saturdays then or move it to a different night??

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"shine on, you crazy diamond!"

quote:

Originally posted by bigperf $1000 raffle? better check its $1000 US dollars, and not some sort of cancun wet t-shirt scam that promises $1000 and it turns out to be 1000 mexican pesos, I saw that happen once to a poor girl, she was pissed!

I'd take 1000 free pesos.

I don't Circus went out of their way to deceive people. I am going to enjoy all these freebies while they last.

___________________
I am the opiate of the masses.

My mixes:
****Favorite Trance Songs of Early 2012 Mix(July 2012)****
****Love & Loneliness Vocal Trance Classics Mix (July 2012)****

IMO, It wont last, enjoy it while you can.

Why?

Gene earns from the bar. Promoters get the door and pay the headliner and market the event. Thats the usual business model for the well known clubs. Smaller clubs give bar percentage.

As of now, Gene gets people in for free as a way to bring more people in by 11pm. And they drink more and Circus earns more from bar sales.

But it also follows that the money he earns from the door that he will earn from 11p to 3a will be used to pay the HEADLINERS. If that can cover the usual talent fee of the DJ quality that they currently book now, then thats good. Unlikely in my humble analysis.

Gene then has to go back and get money from his bar sales to cover whats lacking to pay the headliner he has now.

Knowing Gene, and Loc, do you think they will like that for the long term?

The game is different now from how it is before. It also follows the other nights like hiphop, latin dance, etc...you dont need an expensive DJ to headline. You need to create an experience. Who plays at La Deux, Highlands, Social or wherever hiphop clubs have now? No one knows. They actually market the gogo-dancers, and treat actors, models, etc VIP and thats their marketing angle. In EDM, its the DJ and the music.

Going back though, Gene owns the compound, he can do whatever he wants. If he wants to lose money doing country music, he can. Im just saying that based on my two cents worth, I dont see the long term viability of the current scenario.

So again, enjoy it while you may. Tony P will always be there to give you a 2 hour TIESTO set for your auditory pleasure.

___________________
www.iluvincognito.com
INCOGNITO - Where amazing cutting edge dance music happens
DRENCHED - Daytime pool parties
MOONLIGHT - Evening open air parties
ARTWALK AFTERHOURS - One offs
TEKNOLOGIK - One offs

when is the last time you drove to vegas, and on the way out you decided to just stay at state line instead because a prime rib dinner was $1.99 and rooms were free? I usually skip that deal and just go to vegas

When you want to go see a movie at the theatre, how often do you opt to go to the run down theatre with old movies cause its $1?

When picking up a sack a weed, I dont remember the last time i opted for a bag of shwag because I could get a 1/4 for $20. I usually pay the $45-60 for an 1/8 of some shit i will enjoy smoking.

Circus is the BEST club in LA, if you simply measure POTENTIAL or RESUME. However, it needs a facelift in order to regain relevance in the LA EDM scene, something that doesnt make financial sense to an owner making his bread and butter on gay latino nights. This has been a problem with all the recent promoters that have done EDM nights. IMO this marketing campaign is out of place.

quote:

Originally posted by approximalia She's not lying! Trinity has been going to Circus since before I was born. She's my hero!

+1 Trinity is truely a rockstar. She has quite the resume!

Everyone just show up this Saturday, so my event in the backroom goes over well and maybe I can get a residency!

Free is good, and lets hope it stays for as long as possible.

Thanks to Nikita for hooking us all up.

quote:

Originally posted by technofriik Last Saturday I was shocked when Loq kept running up and down the Circus line outside offering refunds to anyone who paid for parking!

I'm shocked! But that was cool that he did that.

quote:

I'm not suprised about the freebies though. Circus doesn't have a middle man a.k.a promoter taking money away anymore so they can afford a few free things

Correct, no more middle man.

quote:

Why doesn't Gene stop doing "straight" EDM events on Saturdays then or move it to a different night??

A different night probably won't work at all plus he's already got Circus nicely packed on Friday nights. Why stop the "straight" EDM on Saturdays nights?