Event:2016/08/24 Meeting with Paul Chin from La Pena

Meeting w/ Paul Chin - 24 August 2016

Omni Questions:

Promotion

• What are the most effective ways to publicize? and how to help groups promote their events

Booking System

• Backend of booking system

A/V Equipment

• Management, organization & maintenance
• Despoits for equipment rental

Events

• Would like to see a copy of event contract
• Event security
• How to evaluate events, sales afterwards =for income, ease of process, building relationships etc

Paul:

• When a group/collective does it, sometimes double bookings - still have that problem after 41 years
• Booking inappropriate events, wild youth events, guns... neighbors have called the police and threatened to shut us down... you need to carefully vet events
  • group that was booking events under the guise of nonprofit, didnt check their background.. someone was killed when the crucible was in berkeley
  • for groups i don't know at all, ask for a major deposit - $500-1000
  • we ask for references (at least 3) and actually call those places
  • what's your audience? show me flyers... nothing gangster rap, misogynist, violence advocating
• for those kind of events, we've had to hire security
• only one person killed, shooting from the roof, was shot by the cops
• our capacity is sitting 175, with no chairs 250... but we've cheated... had 300 people on a wednesday with one particularly popular musician
  • have had 600 try to attend (the Cataracts from berkeley high)... young people trying to break in, offering sex at the door etc. did the same thing at ashkenaz afterwards
• security - we do it for the most part, don't generally anticipate problems... sometimes contract with a security firm if we anticipate arms... request unarmed security... patdown search
  • have to ask, does this further the mission of the org? staff want to do things with young people, but it's problematic
  • have had to clean up the neighborhood... anything we've done with young people we've had issues, except for those doing socially conscious events
• fees: give priority to nonprofit orgs. private rentals have been our biggest problem (eg birthday parties)
• have had similar incidents as the sidewalk shooting happening too many times.. probably 10 incidents in 41 years
  • say no to birthday parties
• priority is socially conscious acts. ju
• got funds from the national endowment of the arts, $5K guarantee to the artists. we count on grants to make these artist guarantees
• funding: first 5 years were a struggle... only 1 paid staff, collective of 15-20 ppl
• evolved into a 5-person executive committee
• over time the collective became just 6 people. developed a criteria - 30hrs+ to be considered a member of the collective... had to agree to a set of principles of unity. actually sign a contract with the organization. but more importantly, process for handling disagreements... have had the collective break up due to disagreements. collective dissolved in 2012... we were impacted deeply by the crash of 2008. our budget. no nonprofit experience, just working by the seat of our pants, to overthrow capitalism... but we said "arts and culture for social justice" rather than "overthrow the imperialist system that dominates"
  • people have to sign onto this and agree, and put in at least 2 years.
  • i'm a volunteer staff person now as the interim director.
  • at the heigh, our budget was $700K by Jan 2012... lost $300K in grant funding by the end of the year
  • at that time, 60% contributed by foundations and individual donors... 40% earned through the restaurant
  • la Cocina in SF... intern w/ fancy restaurants for immigrants
  • caterers - everyone wants the money up front... catering is feast or famine, periods where you get a lot of gigs and phases when you don't... the summer is really dead, august and january tend to be the slowest months for programs and catering
  • much of the staff collective started looking for other jobs. we'd had 6 people fulltime working 40 hours but getting paid for 20
• we do have hourly people - hourly sound tech (15-20 hrs at $17/hr)
• box office during events, open up the box office, greet the band, get them settled, sell tickets, close down... $17/hr
• fulltime staff salary is $22/hr
• 2 contracted people... a grantwriter who also runs another nonprofit. seasonal gig (spring and fall). right now just completed a lot of grant cycles. grants are a blessing and a curse.. relying on them for salaries is a big mistake. when it runs out, their job ends.
• EDs typically get $70K / yr
• Trasurer $60K/yr
• grantwriter $60K/yr

• based our projections in 2005 on grants... assumed aa 15% salary increase, approved by the board
• structure is that the collective ran the day-to-day, board of directors started in 92/93 after the earthquake... asked ourselves, what would happen if we all died? would there be a group / legal entity that would take care of the assets of the building. property is now worht at least $1mil. we'd had a paper board that signed off on everything.... but if the collective fucked up, the BoD would be liable. they're a public trust basically. Directors & Officers insurance is important.
• we pay a few thousand a year for that... about $8000 for liability alone
• have had a least one likely fraudulent claim
• BMI and ASCAP agencies will get to you, if you have music... these are mafias... for playing copyrighted music. they say "you were playing one of our copyrighted songs and have to buy a license"... typically $1K/yr... we pay a couple thousand a year.
  • Robb: Thought XM radio was a hack for that... gives licenses
    • mainly for places playing live music... but also music played at intermission

Booking

• 3 member staff come up with booking policies. can share the policies i left in 2012
• lot of groups that don't have an audience.... >20 people
• need to know the field... New Parish has pro bookers that know the music scene
• what's appropriate for this particular venue, and what do they need technically?

• easiest ones we get a grant for a guarantee. they expect you raise the same amt at the door to match it
  • we fudge, saying "there's in-kind" eg hiring sound tech, promotion

Promotion

• lot of Facebook ads at cost, lot of online promoting
  • works best with under 35 crowd, relied on FB, invites, circles of friends
  • less than half of those who say they're coming do come
• best way is advance sale tickets
• stopped running East Bay Express ads (about $1K/month) as people
• Immortal Technique concert sold out in 2 days. tickets sold for $20-25
  • he cancelled, we had to refund all the tickets
  • if you have a main act and they're not appearing anywhere else, sold out show. this was a wed night show
• box office system and we sell through EventBrite
• we control everything to do with the event. people go through our website to EventBrite
  • get good data - age, what they paid, etc
  • stay in touch with people who've gone to your site and bought tickets
• Freight & Salvage is a 500 seat venue
• Need someone who knows the music industry, what's hot
  • we realized that people, once they get hot, they're not going to perform at la pena. we get people on the rise and the fall, not the peak

• call up KPFA music folks for background info of musicians and leads
  • need to find an ardent fan to lead the promo... but can't count on only 1 person. make calls through the community
• key is someone knowing the scene and assessing financial risk.
  • experimenting... seeking someone with a strong artistic vision. talking w/ a local promoter about working out a deal where they get a percentage of the door
  • need to determine what this person is worth to te venue / org / band in giving a percentage
• merchandise sales, bar sales
• often the band gets a minimum guarantee or a percentage of the door, whichever is greater. incentivizes the group to promote the event themselves
• put in the contract that they'll promote it through their channels, though the bulk of promoting falls on our shoulders
• show biz is hit and miss
• nonprofits can make a profit, you call it a surplus and invest it into the salary / retirement / building etc... need to have in writing what to do with that surplus
• try to learn from the mistakes of others. 41 yrs and we're still making mistakes. no contracts for events this past year, previous director didn't like paperwork
• need to remember to turn in your final report
• need to have hard copies of all agreements
• 3 staff are now directors, accountable to each other as well as the board

Booking

• Key is famous speakers - one speaker, one mic, full house - easy
• What does it cost to bring them here?
• How many people could we bring in?
• We target up-and-coming bands, smaller bands in our lounge space, hardly any tech support, play for tips. we put it in our website but don't put a lot of resources int$
• Calculated that we need to bring in $1350/day to cover expenses or $35K/month. to pay 3 staff people, 2 contracted (finance officer, grantwriter)
• Janitorial service is hourly ($17/hr), 15-20 hrs/wk

• biggest concern currently is a young generation to pass the project onto
  • young people are in horrible debt
  • thus we get a very privileged group of wealthy white people or people who have time and ability (eg retired) to volunteer

• Look up United Roots in Oakland - socially conscious videos produced by youth
• financed by anonymous donor who gave $56 mil to oakland orgs for empowering youth (eg Destiny Arts, Eastside Arts Alliance)
  • all distributed through the SF Foundation

Booking System

• we use Salesforce, inerited database, which helps generate contract, holds it on the calendar,
  • way overly complex and cumbersome
• used to have a booking book and a phone, and a roll of tickets
  • someone had to collect the stubs to match what was sold, had to save those for a year because we'd get audited *every year*
  • can easily integrate EventBrite data into it as well as donor info
• do bookings, integrate EventBrite sales, Excel spreadsheets
• used to use Brown Paper Ticket, but couldnt integrate their info in our database
• Cal Performances and Berkeley Rep and they have a system that cost $60K
• Also used a mom&pop system called Showtime
• Vendini Ticketing System (used by Brava)
• Lot of people use Square at the door
• QR codes in tickets, scan a phone with a phone at the door
• When you get emails, follow up and ask if we can continue sending them email announcements
• Grant orgs want data like how many people you serve, how many attend your events, age stats, racial demographics, etc
  • we'll do random surveys 5-6 times a year. used MonkeySurvey to get their opinions, what they like, how often they go out and to what kind of events, ZIP CODE very important, target audience, past and projected attendance
  • Duke Foundation gave $40K for programs that support mexican-american audiences
    • they fund the arts

Funding

• First 5 years, funders won't even look at you. See if you survive. Might get a few thousand in startup grants
• East Bay Community Foundation
  • priority is youth - training & empowering youth
  • first establish need, then say what you've been doing, there's a need for this, not enough services, close to transit / bikable
  • we've trained x youth this summer with no support, here's their work
• have gotten money from Chevron's volunteer program - volunteer who works at Chevron, they match donations
• larger corporations, eg EBMUD, have matching programs
• "ask if your worksite donates to nonprofits!"
• have been approached by tobacco money - RJ Reynolds is a huge supporter of the arts
• Art & Soul in Oakland supported by tobacco money
• big funders in NY for the arts
• have been critiwqued by leftists for taking gov money, but that's redirecting our tax dollars from war
  • federal budget - $150 million goes to arts, a single cruise missile is a million dollars
• mary ann - have started following up with foundations
• mention which foundation money you've gotten so far to other foundations
• have gone to NCCLF in the 80s and 90s - they make you jump through a lot of hoops
  • NEA money will award you but not pay you until after your project is done (!)
  • stopped going to NCCLF, asked individual donors instead for interest-free loans
• word of caution - foundations are fickle. gotta get multi-year grants (3-5 year), only way to measure any program
• started in 75 as all-volunteer, then slowly we made improvements, were able to fundraise, by year 5 started getting grants to pay people at minimum wage
• when people hit their 30s, they leave once they get married, want to settle down, get a house someday
• pressure Uber, Lyft, AirBnB etc to contribute to our programs
• East Bay Center for the Performing Arts worked for 10 years to get New Market Tax Credits - $25-30 million
  • Still raising money, upkeep is tremendous
  • Jordan Simmons - willing to sit down and talk about his experience
  • rule that developers can build higher up if the bottom floor is occupied by a nonprofit

• get a lot of interns from UC Berkeley and Berkeley High (they require much more attention, smoke a lot of weed :)
  • 20 minutes of management for each hour of volunteer time

• Margot Prado recommended - we have an existing relationship with her
• Getting some people to support in City Council
• money in health and education - partner with a school, eg training young people... healthy eating classes, cooking vegetarian workshops (free for low-income families), etc; oakland has a foodies reputation.. combine with social justice issues & youth

• find a publicist who can raise awareness of the space - best is the collective and their friends, electronically,
• hire someone for specific things and campaigns, make sure to get referrals, how much they've raised
• Karen Hester - used to put on the Temescal Street Fair