by Monica Friedman on December 7, 2011
Pitching a Music Festival Fundraiser: The Diversity of Community and Communication
Frank Murdock hopes he can help raise $3,000 for his favorite local charity.
Frank Murdoch has Master’s degrees in Social Work, Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapy. He serves as vice president of a small local non-profit organization devoted to providing services to the physically disabled in the region of Lafayette, Louisiana. Their goal is to provide access to media that might not otherwise be available to those unable to read print materials. Murdoch, an avid comic book fan who lost his vision at the age of twenty-four, has a personal interest in this goal and can readily communicate the importance of the project.
The long-term fundraising goal is $10,000 over the next two years. In the short term, they hope to raise $3,000 to get started.
The group has held successful fundraisers in the past, but they have also experienced some fundraising disappointments, so it’s important that they get this one right. Murdoch plans to offer the board his own pitch for a music and cultural festival, dubbed “The Diversity of Community and Communication.” He likes the theme of diversity because the program addresses “the diverse ways in which to provide information to all of us equally.” The theme would allow him to “incorporate multiple things from the community to our advantage and still press our agenda: more inclusive inclusion of persons with disabilities into the community.”
Murdoch envisions an event showcasing a diversity of cultures, especially in regards to food and music. If his idea is approved by the organization, he will then pitch his idea to various sponsors.
“The first thing I’ll do,” he explains, “is pitch my idea about diversity and equality… then talk about the richness of diversity in the community appealing to their cultural backgrounds and appreciation for food.” He would also discuss how the proposed program could create “more access [for recipients] for everything from cultural awareness events to important governmental practices and then into their pockets: sales and advertising.”
To create a diversity of music, Murdoch would like to approach a diversity of artists. With help from others in the organization, he has complied a list of acts he hopes will agree to perform, including Acadian musician Nellie Harrington, indie group The Wooden Wings, classic rockers Strazza & Company, blues musician Dege Legg, rockabilly group The Howdies, Cajun rock and rap artist Michael Juan Nunez, zydeco groups Nathan Williams and the Zydeco Cha-Chas, Curley Taylor, and Rosie Ledet, and Southern Creole Blues group Henry Gray and the Cats. In addition, he hopes to showcase “an interactive act in between set-ups and breakdowns,” including belly dancers from long-time supporters, Desert Shadows, Oasis Bellydance Studio, and Trybe Habibi Bizarre.
In order to arrange for a prize draw, Murdoch wants to approach local restaurants, to showcase the diversity of food in the community including Cajun, Creole, Asian, Italian, Mexican, and Middle-eastern cuisine. He knows that many businesses “are happy to provide a thirty-dollar gift certificate to promote their restaurant at the gig,” and adds that he could further help his sponsors by providing them with additional publicity. If his pitch goes forward, “several weeks before [the event] people see four thousand fliers around the city and residential areas to inform people that there is going to be an event and who is sponsoring it.”
Murdoch advises those hoping to pitch a similar music festival to think about reaching the broadest possible audience. Of course, you want to create something new and different. Figure out who your crowd is, and then “appeal to that crowd’s mental and emotional aspects that will get them to help you out.”
by Lance on November 21, 2011
Use Event Badges to Increase Security without Hassle
Security these days can be complicated and expensive. Looking for a way to identify people that won’t take up all of your time? Look no further, one solution is here. And not only is it easy to handle, it won’t break your budget, either.
Personalized Name Tags
Whether you have a group of VIPs to keep an eye on, an entire convention to attend to, or a school to run, security is one of the biggest issues on the books. One way to identify people easily is to print personalized name tags (or event badges) for each person to wear. Each person can wear their name tag while attending an event, arriving at work or going to school, showing others who they are and that they belong on site.
Individual Codes
As an added security measure, you have the option of printing a unique number or barcode on each event badge. Especially in cases where there are a very large number of people around on a daily basis or many attendees at an event, this added layer of security can be useful and informative.
Unique Logos
Print unique logos on your event badges to add even more specialized security to an event, worksite or school. Include almost any design that you can send in a standard file format. Use specific logos to help identify different groups of people, or differentiate between companies at a convention by printing the company logo for each attendee to wear.
Important Details
There may be more information than simply a name or logo that you want to include on a name tag. Any information that can help to identify people quickly and easily can be printed on the event badge. If it can be included in a CSV file, you can include it on an event badge. For example, to print event badges for added school security, add an identifier of either “staff” or “student” to help recognize separate each group.
Event badges are an easy and fast way to add an extra layer of security to any event, site or school. They can be worn clipped right on the front of a uniform, or they can be hung around the neck with a lanyard that can be printed to include a logo as well. Print information on both sides of the event badge to utilize the full space available, or make them double sided so that important information will always be prominently displayed.
by Lance on November 20, 2011
QR Code Posters for Music Event Ticket Sales
Your fans love your music.
Your fans want to see you perform live.
Your fans have smart phones.
Your fans have lives.
Do you love your fans? Show them a little love by making their lives a little bit easier. How? Make it simple for them to get tickets to your upcoming show the moment they see your print publicity. You can make the experience totally hassle-free for you and your fans with QR Code Posters advertising the gig. They actually sell tickets for you, so your fans don’t need to search around for the right link, stand in line at a ticket counter, or deal with any exorbitant ticket broker fees.
It’s So Easy
We’ve streamlined the process. First, we created an online box office at TicketRiver.com. In five minutes, you can register your show and set up an event page where your fans can find all your event details and purchase tickets. You can even sell different kinds of tickets—VIP Passes, 18-over, ½ price, whatever you like—to the same event. It’s fast and easy to create your page, complete with its own unique URL.
A Little Help from Your Friends
But that’s not all we’ve done for you. We’ll get your fans to the link in no time at all with a custom QR Code Poster. Whether you’ve got a design in mind or need one of our graphic artists to create an image that suits your particular needs, all you’ve got to do it is call our customer support at 888.771.0809. They’ll help get your order going. We’ll design your posters, generate your QR code, and send out a proof for your approval. We never print until you’re satisfied you’re getting exactly the Poster or Flyer you need.
Waiting Here for You
Wherever you hang your high-resolution QR Code Posters, your fans can scan the code with their smart phones. It will take them right to your TicketRiver event page where they can buy tickets right away.
TicketRiver sends users print-at-home tickets to save you time and money, but, if you still want to use paper tickets, you can order those too (at a discount for TicketRiver users) and mail them out, or hold them at will call.
It’s that easy! QR Code Posters are there for you, selling tickets night and day, from the moment you hang them until you sell out your event.
It’s just one more way to show your love to the people who support your music.
by Lance on October 31, 2011
A Little Transparency: Creating Customer Confidence by Inviting Customers Behind the Scenes
The ticket legitimizes our event; it makes it look special with a specific date and time and the incorporation of our photos & logos on the ticket as well.
~Paul Komorowski, Seaway Window
Custom printed tickets can mean so much more than “Admit One!” Take, for example, the case of Seaway Window, a replacement window company in Northwest Pennsylvania. In the business for over 50 years, Seaway is always looking for new and interesting ways to expose its products to customers.
To show off its process and products to its customers, Seaway Window invites them onto the factory floor. “Our Event is an Open House. We open our factory for tours of one of our production lines showing how a double hung window is made. The purpose is to get people to come to the factory and see how our windows are made, thus making them confident in choosing our company for their replacement window project,” Paul told me.
For the factory tour, Seaway uses the General Concert Ticket. This ticket can be printed in several flashy colors. It has space for event information as well as custom images.
For the factory tour that took place on October 8th, the Seaway team chose orange as a background color and included images of the factory and the company logo. Besides featuring a detachable stub and individual numbering, the ticket has discount information printed on its opposite side, which can be a handy reference for customers attending the event.
“We do not charge people to come to our event; it is free. We use the tickets to legitimize the event. Plus if they go through the factory tour, the tour guide will sign the back of the ticket for a discount applied to their project.”
For Seaway the ticket serves as a valuable form of advertising. It gets customers through the door and helps to incentivize customers to purchase replacement windows through them.
How does Seaway keep the public informed about its factory tours? “We use a multi-media approach. We use TV, radio, signage, print, direct mail, newspaper, and we use the ‘Open House’ ticket that I order from TicketPrinting.com to promote this event.” Seaway uses an all avenues approach. Rather than settling for one form of advertising, it utilizes a number of different outlets to build a buzz around its factory tours.
Paul urges others to, “Use a multi-media approach to drive people to your event.”
Those who attend the factory tour at Seagate have a good time, no matter how they learned about the event. “The best part of the event is the actual factory tour; people love to go though it,” Paul said.
by Lance on October 25, 2011
Charity Dance Event to Prevent Suicide
The tickets were really professional looking. I would definitely use the service again!
~Patricia Pupek, Event Organizer
On September 17th, the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention held a Zumbathon to raise money for their annual “Out of the Darkness” Community Walk held in early October. Zumba is a combination of Latin dance, music, and exercise. It is meant to be fun and motivational and provide a great workout. A Zumbathon is a charity event hosted by a licensed instructor or instructors.
According to Patricia Pupek, the fundraiser was a great success with, “about 100 people, which is great, considering we put this together pretty quickly. The best part of the event was the enthusiasm of the people who attended, and the fact that we were able to get the word out about our organization to so many people.”
Raising awareness is one of the main goals of the organization. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is “the only national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research and education, and reaching out to people with mood disorders and those affected by suicide,” The AFSP hoped to raise $50,000 at the Community Walk event to fund a number of local initiatives. The Zumbathon helped put them on their way.
For the Zumbathon event, the AFSP chose the General Admission Concert Ticket. The colorful ticket had plenty of room for event information plus space for two logos. The images chosen included a life preserver and the Zumba emblem. This provided attendees with visual imagery to accompany the event. The ticket featured a detachable stub as well as individual numbering.
How did Patricia and her team sell tickets to their event? “We sold tickets by word of mouth, posters in our workplace, we posted our event on Facebook, and we had four Zumba instructors who all work at various gyms and health clubs in Western Mass. They promoted the event at the health clubs, put up signs everywhere.
“Also, I gave out a stack of tickets to each AFSP volunteer in our chapter and asked them to sell as many as they could. Some people bought a ticket even though they knew they could not attend the Zumbathon, but wanted to give a donation.”
The AFSP really covered its bases with this event using every available resource. From sharing the news one on one, creating printed resources such as posters to relying on “ambassadors” to spread the word on the organizations behalf and utilizing social media, as well as professionally printing custom tickets, the AFSP was able to reach individuals in many different ways. In turn, it was able to raise the profile of the organization and the cause.
What advice does Patricia have for those planning a similar event?
“Start planning and marketing the event a couple of months ahead. Use Facebook- it works!”
by Lance on October 17, 2011
A Fundraiser for Spinal Muscular Atrophy
TicketPrinting.com gave us the ability to be professional, and offered us the tools we needed to make our event into a great one! Thank you for making our event a success!
~Charlotte Dunn, Co-Founder and President of Fighting For Damion
Just five months old, Damion Antonio Carbello has already touched countless lives. Born in May 2011, Damion was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), “a genetic disorder that is carried by 1 in 90 people and affects 1 in 2000. SMA is the number one genetic killer of toddlers and infants in the world.”
“Fighting For Damion is completely not for profit, and our sole goal is to help this little family with medical bills, and Damion’s needs, to make things just a little easier,” Charlotte Dunn, Co-founder and President of Fighting for Damion explained to me. She founded the organization with Vice President and Co-Founder Rachel Kessleski when they learned their dear friend’s son had been diagnosed with the disorder.
The organization’s most recent event was a benefit get together sponsored by Scale’s Grill and Deck Bar to raise money for Damion and also raise awareness of SMA. The group “held a Chinese auction, a 50/50 raffle, featured live entertainment and a dinner buffet. One hundred percent of the proceeds went to a secure account strictly for baby Damion.”
For the event, the organization chose the Blue and White General Admission Ticket, a simple but professional ticket with plenty of room for event information. The event ticket featured the details of the event on the front, as well as a logo and slogan on the back. The tickets were individually numbered and featured a detachable stub, which can be used to track attendees and keep account of the raffle.
“Because we are just starting out, we have set our goal very small and I am pleased to say we greatly exceeded it.” Charlotte told me.
To get the word out, Charlotte and her team relied heavily on Internet and radio advertising, “We advertised greatly on all social networks, and local radio stations. We also pre-sold the tickets that your company printed, which [were] a big hit! We also list every event and detail on our website, www.fightingfordamion.com.”
Some event planners choose to focus only on one method of advertising, which means they may reach only one audience. By using more than one channel of communication and reaching out to an online audience, as well as one that might hear about the event from a more traditional route, the team maximized its message and reached more potential attendees.
Another effective method that helped with ticket sales is offering a presale discount. “We offered our tickets to anyone who would listen for $10 presale or $15 at the door. We advertised them the same way we advertised our event,” Charlotte said. “It worked very well in my opinion. If you can get the word out there on as many sources as you can, your event will sell itself.”
Though the weather didn’t cooperate, the event was still a success. “For me, the best part of the event was seeing everyone who came out having a good time for a great cause. Most of these people have no idea who this family is that they are helping, and yet they still come out to support and donate. It is truly amazing to see people put aside their busy life and help someone in need. ”
When you’re planning a fundraising event, a strong advertising and sales strategy will bring out many people who were unaware of your cause. You may find allies who come to believe just as passionately in your message as you do.
For those planning a similar event, Charlotte has this advice, “Plan ahead! Make sure all loose ends are tied a week prior to your event; it saves a lot of time and money. And remember to have lots of helping hands to help set up and break down!! That is truly the hardest part of any event.”
To donate to Fight For Damion visit FightingforDamion.com.
by Lance on September 23, 2011
From Tragedy to Triumph: A Literacy Event in Honor of Alex Johnson
“The tickets were beautiful and added class to the event.”
~Denise Johnson, Event Coordinator, Mother of Honoree
On September 17, The Alex Johnson Memorial Concert was held to benefit the Mississippi County Literary Council. The fundraiser included an artists’ reception, silent art auction, and a concert. It was held in memory of Alex Johnson, a student and a tutor at Northeast Arkansas College, where he volunteered for the literacy council. In 2009, Alex died in a car crash while traveling home from his college choir practice. He was 22.
Along with honoring the memory of her son, “the event was an effort to raise money for adult literacy in our county,” Denise told me.
In order to advertise the event “we used Facebook, posters, newspaper articles and ads.” The Facebook page for the event was frequently updated with information about the event. The page was a hub of information. Announcements were made when new art was donated for the auction. Information about the performers, The Reba Russell Band, Jo Jo Jefferies, and Lincoln Lane, were included. There were also links to interviews and articles that had been written in advance of the event.
Denise participated 
in interviews and a number of articles were posted online advertising the event.
For Denise the value of word of mouth advertising could not be overestimated. You can sell more tickets “one on one” than by advertising for patrons to go elsewhere and buy them.
For the ticket, the organizers chose the “Natural Riffs” design. This ticket features a warm color palette. An acoustic guitar and stage lights provide the backdrop for the event’s information. With sequential numbering and detachable stubs, these tickets help organizers keep track of sales and attendees.
The fundraiser was a success, ” Everything went very well. [The] highlight of the event was song sung by a former Miss. Co. resident and sister of the honoree.” Denise said.
by Lance on September 21, 2011
Get the Recognition You Deserve with ID Badges at Events
Nothing is worse than not being recognized at your own event.
Say what you will about someone forgetting your name or what company you work for, but when you hold an event, like a gathering of a group of members from a club for example, that last thing you want is the attendees forgetting that you are the one that put the whole thing together!
You Deserve That Credit
You earned it with all that hard work you put into the planning and organization. You’ve spent countless hours reserving the perfect spot, making the invitations, and coming up with fresh ideas about how to earn money for the cause you all support.
What Can Be Done About It?
- Include a 4 x 6 photo of yourself on the front of your invitations
- Print your name in bold, italics using size 72 font on your invitations
- Require your attendees to RSVP by tattooing your name on their hands, and sending you a picture of the tattoo as proof
- Use event/ID Badges to identify (most importantly) yourself and others at your event
Identify Yourself
Event/ID badges are a great way to identify you to others quickly and easily. You can have your name and title printed any way you want, right on the front, showing others that you indeed are the one who put on the event. That way, you can get all the credit due such a big responsibility and job well done.
Identify Others
Not only can you use ID badges at your event to identify yourself, you can use them just in case (oops!) you forget someone else’s name too! If that influential member who you’ve had lunch with once a year for the past few years walks up to you and his name just slipped your mind, you can simply glance at his badge, saving yourself from an embarrassing situation. If an important guest or someone of high status who wouldn’t normally attend an event like yours were to come, you would want everyone to know who they were and that they were a guest.
Wear it with Style
One of the things I really liked about the event badges was that they were so easy to wear. We had the option of clipping them to our shirts or pants, or we could use a lanyard to wear them around our necks. I used a lanyard for mine, which I had ordered in the colors of our club with the membership logo printed right on them. It looked great, and when I wore my badge, everyone knew I was responsible for putting on the event!
by Lance on August 4, 2011
Beautiful Event, Beautiful Benefit
When Stacey Scott of Harper Monroe, a mobile spa service based in New York, wanted to host an Elegant Affair for Wellness and Beauty benefit to raise awareness of her business and funds for the Humane Society of New York, she chose the Red Rose design from TicketPrinting.com for her flyers and tickets.
The design features a close up of a red rose in full bloom with room for custom text and information. It provides the perfect backdrop for a beautiful event.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Stacey Scott to learn more about the event she hosted and some of the strategies she used to get her team engaged and sell tickets.
“We deliver spa services directly to the doorstep of our clients and host spa party events.” Stacey explained to me. “The purpose of this event was to help raise money for the Humane Society of New York and to bring more awareness about our business.” The event was held at the Royalton Hotel in Manhattan on Saturday July 23rd. Participants were treated to two spa services and a wellness consultation. Appetizers, desserts, and cocktails were provided, and take home gifts were given to attendees as well.
When a business hosts an event, a strategy for selling tickets is essential. Stacey’s team had to analyze what they would need for the event to be successful. “First, we set a profit goal and worked up a break even analysis and decided how many tickets we needed to sell.” Making sure team members are motivated to get the word out and sell tickets is also important. “Then the tickets were split equally between team members who were given “gift” incentives to reach their goal.”
How did Stacey’s team market the event? They used several methods, from reaching out to current clients to turning to social media. “We dug into our current client base (which is relatively small…we are a start-up) and reached out to them by cold calling. We sent messages on Twitter and Facebook and used our Constant Contact account to try and reach a larger audience.
“We were able to pull off a very lovely event and our guests seemed very happy. Highlights were the luxurious services provided by my staff…mani/pedis, facials, and conditioning hair treatments and cuts. The venue was top notch and the food and wine was awesome. ”
What advice would Stacey share with those planning a similar event? “I’d say that unless you already have experience throwing profit making events, you should plan several months ahead…work out a detailed financial analysis and set a contingency plan for what to do if ticket sales are less than what is expected.”
How did TicketPrinting.com help to enhance Stacey’s event? She was pleased that a variety of payment options were available and the professional air the tickets lent the event. “It gave a different option than buying through PayPal. It provided a very professional looking alternative than just receiving tickets in the mail.”
by Lance on July 12, 2011
Fast, Easy, Economical Online Ticket Sales
If you want to make music, you can do that in your garage, on a subway train, or out in the woods. If you want to sell tickets to your upcoming performance, there’s a little more work involved. Big symphonies have their own box offices, but what about you? Even if you can sell tickets through a box office, can you sell them at 2 o’clock in the morning? Can you serve patrons in the middle of a blizzard, or when you’re short staffed?
Wouldn’t you rather give your fans the option of purchasing concert tickets online?
You don’t need an expensive shopping engine built into your website, and you don’t need to pay a third-party company big bucks to help you advertise and sell your next gig. All you need is a simple application like Ticket River.
It’s the fastest, easiest, most economical way to sell tickets online, providing you with maximum versatility for ticket sales. Whether you’re selling tickets for multiple dates, multiple venues, or multiple levels of access, it’s simple for you to set up your event, create your own page, and start selling tickets. You can even sell tickets for reserved seating events, and choose whether your patrons will print their tickets out at home, or pick them up at will call.
Best of all, this service is free!
It costs nothing to create a page for your concert. The only fee is a 3% surcharge on each ticket sold. You can pay it yourself, pass the cost on to your fans, or split the cost with them. Compared to markups of 50% or greater with online ticket sites like TicketMaster, that’s not much.
Performing a free concert? You can still use Ticket River to ask your guests to check in online, so you know how many to expect. If your part of a nonprofit group, you can even collect donations on the site.
All you have to do is log in, enter your event details, trick out your page with a background and a photo of your choice (if you want) and you’re ready to start selling. Ticket River provides you with links to send to potential guests, tracks all your sales, and handles payments from PayPal and all major credit cards.
You can use this service in conjunction with any other method you’re using to sell tickets, so you’ve got nothing to lose. Help the music-lovers of the world find even more to love about your music: simple, online concert ticket sales.
