by admin on November 21, 2012
Sports Club Hosts Comedy Night for Members
On the 28th of September, the Holtwhites Sports & Social Club hosted an “Evening of Comedy” for its members. Member Angela Micallef explained that the club is “home to five dedicated sports sections (Cricket, Tennis, Bowls, Football, and a Weightlifting Gym) all of which have healthy membership. We also have an active Social membership and will always offer new members the warmest of welcomes!” The comedy night was just one of the 3 or 4 events that the club hosts for its members throughout the year. Micallef explained that the events serve as “a chance for people to get together with friends and family and enjoy a “good night out”. They also serve as fundraisers for the club with any profits from the ticket sales (and raffles) going straight back into the club.”
Three comedians performed that night, including Dominic Holland, Micallef said, “Holtwhites had a celebrity in the house!” The compere, or master of ceremonies, was a great addition to the night. Micallef said, “He also used to play Cricket at Holtwhites many years ago and quite a few people he knew turned up and he certainly made the most of that. There were lots of references to these people and old stories.”
In order to prepare for such a night, Micallef prepared posters and flyers to advertize the event. They were put up around the clubhouse as a reminder. Micallef also said they repeatedly emailed members to purchase their tickets in advance. The club’s Facebook page was also used to remind members. Micallef said that word of mouth was key in gathering people. “As members bought their tickets, they also told their friends about it. As the tickets were available to purchase from behind the bar, we also reached people this way. I actually think all of this combined contributed to the success of the evening. It was a sellout!” Micallef said.
The experience of planning the event was hard work, but definitely worth it to Micallef. “You are never sure if you’re going to get the turnout you want. The only advice I can give is to ensure that you give people all relevant information and plenty of notice. The evening was such a success because of weekly reminders that were posted on Facebook and regular emails reminding people to buy their tickets. We also incentivized people to buy their tickets in advance—all pre-sold tickets went into a prize draw to win a case of wine,” Micallef explained.
Promoting the Ar
ts: Music and Comedy in Sandwich
With society focusing on the business side of things these days, it is important to relax and enjoy the arts, too. Well, Old Wood Events Management works hard to do just that. The small business operates from Sandwich in Kent, but also works to promote musical concerts and comedy across the UK.
Louise Hill explained that the company helps to promote a lot of local events throughout Sandwich, most recently being a concert held on 27 April featuring Los Pacaminos and a comedy night featuring Rich Hall on 28 April, both held at the St Mary’s Arts Centre in Sandwich. Old Wood Events Management is currently helping to organise the Sandwich Folk & Ale festival which will be held the 13th-15th of July. Hill said the festival is “run as a charitable event for the local businesses and pubs around town.”
Familiarity
In order to promote these events, Hill said that they use a local shop in Sandwich to sell the tickets. She’s found it important to offer customers comfort and familiarity in sales venues. She also ranked distributing posters as the most effective method of advertisement, adding that they use “a 30 mile radius from the venue” to promote within. She also said that the St Mary’s Arts Centre website and the following of each of the acts as the second and third most effective advertising methods.
Hill attributes some the success of their events to the fact that they “Not to charge too much for our events [in order] to encourage people to buy tickets.” Because of this, Hill advises others who are planning events to never “Be greedy! By trying to make more profit out of each person, lots often shoot themselves in the foot. Try to keep the ticket prices reasonable and arrange percentage splits wherever possible to lower the risk.”
Professional Tickets
Hill said that she finds the best part of the events Old Wood Events Management host is the “atmosphere of the venue–St Mary’s in Sandwich is a beautiful church and makes the whole event much more substantial.” Hill said that “by having good quality, colourful tickets our events are taken quite professionally.”
She added, “People also like to have the physical article in their hand after an event so using the UK Ticket Printing perforated tickets means we can keep count of those who bought tickets and people can take away their tickets.” By using UK Ticket Printing, Hill said she loves that she “can design tickets that are unique to that events and match the artwork and marketing materials. Identity is everything!”
by admin on September 26, 2011
Local Promotions and Some Good Laughs
…the flyers we use are all professionally designed and we use TicketPrinting.com to provide professional looking tickets for our customers. This is the one tangible element that a customer has in their hand and goes away with so a vitally important element of a successful event.
Service, quality and value is exceptional…
~ Julian R. Maughan, Vice Chairman, Swanage & Purbeck Hospitality Association
September 22-23, the Swanage Comedy Festival was held. It was hosted by the Swanage & Purbeck Hospitality Association an organization, which, according to Facebook, is “working together to welcome visitors, raise standards and promote Swanage & Purbeck as a quality destination.”
“We are a group of over 150 Business Owners…who have come together to form an active and creative business association committed to providing an environment where local businesses not only survive but thrive!” Julian explained to me.
“We are doing this by means of a creative PR Campaign aimed at bringing more visitors to our beautiful area of the Dorset Coast on the World Heritage Jurassic Coastline and also by offering high quality entertainment to visitors and locals alike, which will enrich further the visitor experience and allow us to generate even more PR for the area.”
The S.P.H.A. is instrumental in sponsoring many attractive events in the area. The three day comedy festival was sponsored by S.P.H.A and Dorset Piddle Brewery and featured a variety of comedians and venues. The S.P.H.A. also recently brought Polly and the Billets Doux to the area to perform.
“Facebook played a large part and does for all of our events – we have dedicated pages for music and comedy events and we also have dedicated websites where appropriate.” Julian said. All events associated with S.P.H.A. benefit from thoughtful attention to web visibility. Visitors can easily find information on events and acts by visiting the Facebook and YouTube pages. The administrators of the Facebook sites share videos, articles, and important announcements. The pages provide a place for attendees to build a sense of community. Other pages of interest and websites are cross-posted to ensure visitors will be able to find the information they are looking for and discover new information.
Julian shared, “We issue press releases in advance of all events and secure “What’s On” listings in all local and National Press that we can. Post show PR is also vitally important, and we post videos on YouTube and numerous links to this via Facebook and websites. This is to drive up demand for future shows.
“We also have professional flyers printed and circulated locally plus posters and road side banners. Tickets are easily available from multiple outlets, including: on-line, at the venues, Local Tourist Information Centres and pushed hard by individuals.
“We try to ensure that every element associated with the shows we put on has a professional look and feel about it,” Julian said of the tickets and collateral used for S.P.H.A. Events. S.P.H.A. also makes excellent use of space on its tickets For the Polly and Billets Doux the S.P.H.A. chose the All Purpose General Admission Ticket, a simple yet professional ticket that features prominently information about the musical event.
On the back of the ticket, which features an individually numbered detachable stub, the ticket featured an advertisement for the Swanage Comedy Festival.
Julian urges others planning similar events to “learn from our experience and utilise every medium available to promote.”
