10 Jun
2016
10 Jun
'16
1:10 a.m.
As a caller who travels a bit to call, not always traveling with a band,
pay schedules which reduce the caller's payout based on how big the band
the caller is booked to work with are somewhat frustrating. If I go into it
knowing that I'm traveling with a 4 or 5 person band, I know that is going
to affect the pay on some dances. But when I'm traveling on my own and the
pay is a share of a pot for all performers, and I've been booked with the
band with 6 local musicians and that pot is divided 7 ways, it can
be...disheartening (and also hard on the wallet if I'm trying to break even
on the trip).
Our local dance group works on something similar to the NEFFA model that
you mention -- we know that we will lose money on some dances, and budget
for that. We are able to pay $165 minimum for up to a 4 person band and a
caller. We also share any profits from that particular dance with the band
and caller. A smaller dance that I was involved with for a while paid out
shares of the door. (Of 5 shares), one share to the caller, 3 shares to the
band, 1 share to the house (they have since changed that to offer a
guarantee).
Jack
On Mon, Jun 6, 2016 at 2:34 PM Dan Pearl via Organizers <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
You will find all sorts of financial models out there,
but which one is
best for you depends on a few factors.
An organization with a large bank account can perhaps run in the red some
percentage of the time. Larry Jennings, when setting up the finances for
the Thursday NEFFA Contra Dance in Concord, MA, estimated that we should
lose money about 1/3 of the time. The practical implication is that we
have a higher guarantee than dances that need to be in the black all the
time.
We also allocate a different guarantee per player depending on the number
of performers. (Fewer perfs. => more per person).
We also kick in some time/gas money for those coming from a "distance".
Annoyingly, bur probably fairly, we have two "bonus" bands: The first band
pays out a fraction (depending on the group size) of the excess beyond a
certain gate figure. The second band kicks in at a higher level and
essentially pays the performers any excess (this recognizes that
super-attractive performers are likely the cause for a much-above-average
attendance, so they should be rewarded.
Whatever you decide to do, try and be as fair as possible.
Good luck!
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