26 Feb
2014
26 Feb
'14
8:59 p.m.
Good heavens: that kind of miscommunication sounds like no fun at all to
deal with. I'm grateful (especially now that I'm taking on booking
responsibilities!) that we now have a very clear payment system figured out
in Montpelier.
After we take out our overhead, and pay the sound guy, we split what's left
evenly between the folks on stage, with a limit on band size. So:
2-person band (3 people on stage) = 1/3 to caller, 2/3 to band
3-person band (4 on stage) = 1/4 to caller, 3/4 to band
4-or-more-person band (5+ on stage) = 1/5 to caller, 4/5 to band
We also have a minimum guarantee if we have a lower turnout, which isn't
all that often. We subsidized 7 of our 28 dances last year, but we had 4
dances with a huge turnout and well more than that with an above-average
turnout, so it all comes out in the wash.
We make special exceptions to this VERY rarely: for example, last time our
dance was on New Year's Eve, we paid the band and caller a little extra to
stay past midnight.
It took us a while to iron all this out as a committee, but it was well
worth it for the lack of confusion we have now!
Dana Dwinell-Yardley
Montpelier, VT
On Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 12:00 PM, <organizers-request(a)sharedweight.net>wrote;wrote:
--
Dana Dwinell-Yardley
graphic design & layout
Montpelier, Vermont
802-229-4008
danadwya(a)gmail.com
Jerome Grisanti wrote:
Make sure you let the treasurer know who is getting paid, and how much ...
I've been in the uncomfortable situation of handing someone money and
having them say, "this is not the agreed amount." I've also been the
caller when the person with the bank asked, "how much do we pay you?"
... Of course, it's not about the money, but smooth relations.
AMEN !
In my experience, lack of clarity on money happens all-too-often.
It's usually not a big deal, but occasionally makes a mess.
I still have uncomfortable feelings about a glitch like this -- from
over a decade ago. At the break, the treasurer came up to me and
began, "We should have talked about this in advance ..." It turned
out that instead of the standard payment (which I had been led to
expect), they wanted to apply a different formula (reducing my pay)
because of an unusual band situation. I didn't know what to say, but
observed that I had traveled hundreds of miles, which might also be
considered unusual ... We concluded the discussion (which occupied
the break, and would have been more happily spent socializing, and
planning the 2nd half) with me saying "Just do whatever seems best to you."
The organizer felt ruffled and grumpy, I felt ruffled and grumpy. I
suspect that whatever compromise was achieved was explained to the
band, so they felt that way, too. Ugh ! A lot of unnecessary
annoyance over $50 or so.
As Jerome observes, "it's not about the money, but smooth relations."
It's really worth the extra communication to avoid putting performers
and volunteer organizers in awkward situations.
(postscript: there was a blizzard on Sunday, and I totaled my car on
the way home. Definitely not my favorite dance weekend of all time ...)
Scott
--------------------------------------------
Scott(a)ScottHiggs.com
http://www.scotthiggs.com