27 Feb
2014
27 Feb
'14
3:06 a.m.
We have a special circumstance. Our rent is more than 300 We almost
always have the money to pay the band and caller. We frequently fall short
of the rent, but that is not a problem at the dance. We send a letter to
the band with information before. I believe it is in that letter, that if
we do not have the money to pay the talent in the cash box they will get a
check after the dance. That rarely happens. The band can tell that the
crowd was really small so they can not complain when they have to wait a
few days for the money. It is so much worse for us to loose that much on a
dance than it is for them to have to wait a few days for a check. I hope
they feel bad for us then. It is a community dance and they are part of
our community.
Merle
On Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 9:06 PM, Mary Anne Eason <maeason(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Dana,
How do you have money to pay the minimum on lower turnout nights if you
never keep any money for yourselves?
Mary Anne
On 2/26/2014 3:59 PM, Dana Dwinell-Yardley wrote:
--
*Merle McEldowney*
*212-933-0290*
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
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wrote:
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
>
>