It has been several months since we booked a video star...Not because we don't like them...I just love to chat with them in the dressing room while they fluff and get ready...but because they are expensive and the last few that we brought in lost money. When we bring in a video star, we generally pay for their round trip airfare, hotel, and a performance fee...Add advertising to that and we need a great crowd just to break even. We know that hot male dancers are part of what people expect from us, so we have been booking male dance revues the last few months...They usually drive and their fees are less then the fees that video stars charge.
I tried to explain this in our email newsletter before and some of our readers got angry...They thought I was lecturing them or attacking them for not supporting our events....So here goes again...For us to make a commitment and book an act, whether it is a video star, a recording artist, or a DJ, we need the support of our core customers. We have some trouble getting the word out to our customers about events...Time and again we chat with customers who are either in the club and have no idea that something is going on....Or they miss the night when the event happens and they tell me later that they didn't know about it. For those reasons, we have not booked as many video stars or recording artists as we have in the past.
We have all heard the complaints...The cover is too high...But the cover pays for the entertainment. If we dropped our drag shows, stopped booking video stars and dance revues, stopped booking recording artists, stopped booking guest DJ's we could charge a lower cover all the time...But then Faces would be just like every other bar...We have always tried to offer more....more entertainment...more choices....And that costs more. We know the cover is an issue...But so is losing money on an event.
We know times are tough for many of our customers....Many of you have told us that you are working two jobs to make ends meet...Some of you are college students with limited income...And we are all finding it difficult to pay the increased cost of gasoline...So we are trying to give you options short of deciding to stay home....We have coupons on Gay.com's Yellow Pages...coupons in our email newsletters...promotions that involve free admission when you participate in an event like our toga parties...reduced cover prices if you arrive early....all with limited success...there are nights that guests could get in free just by logging onto Gay.com and printing a coupon and many of your friends still decide to stay home.
So, our challenge is, first, getting the word out to customers when we have an event that they would probably enjoy...then convincing them that the event has value and is worth their time and money.
We have a video star booked this Saturday, October 8...Kevin Brown...he is hot...and exclusive star with All World Video. We are hopeful but worried...hopeful that there is a buzz about Kevin and we will get a good crowd. We had originally planned booking four video stars in October but were concerned that our customers would not be able to support that many events in a month. If we don't, it is unlikely that we will book anymore video stars for quite awhile. Hope to see you there.
