[ivfdf-news] Following up on Richard

[Stephen Brockbank]

See below for follow ups based on having running IVFDF this year

> Hi John,
>
> thanks for providing the budget.  I am sure that others will comment 
> as well, but I have taken a quick scan through it and a few things 
> jump out at me.  So could I clarify a few points:
>
> 1) Ticket sales.  The figures that you state for weekend sales equate 
> approximately to ticket prices of £24 and £15  - but not exactly to 
> that, so I presume that there are other factors involved.
> Have you factored in a lower price for advance sales?  If so, what 
> split have you put for advance sales?  Can you give a bit more detail 
> on your ticket price strategy please?
Yes Please - more info, We budgeted on only selling tickets at the 
pre-sale price of £22/£13.  How did you come by the figures of 195 & 
211 - They seem very accurate for a budget.

I am also worried by the fact that you are budgeting to make profit 
from the late night dancing. Presumably this is planned as a more 
formalised event than normal.  Usually this is more of an open session 
for people who already have tickets.  I'm not saying don't do it, just 
think about it carefully, especially before planning on making profit 
from it.

> 3) T-shirts.  Having been to so many IVFDFs where people are 
> desperately trying to sell off t-shirts at the last minute, it always 
> concerns me to see a profit in the budget for t-shirts.  I am guessing 
> that you are hoping to sell approx 200 t-shirts at the festival 
> itself, which in itself seems rather high (Exeter usually sell 100 - 
> 150).
> It is always a balancing act between getting enough t-shirts to cover 
> the free ones given to stewards, and getting too many to sell.  My 
> advice, for what its worth, is to order less and to sell them, rather 
> than over order and be left with them.  Either way, I think that you 
> would be better assuming no profit in the budget, and being pleasantly 
> surprised if you do make a profit, rather than the other way around.

I would agree, T-Shirt profit was put into our budget, however out of 
the 170 that we were ordering to sell, we budgeted to sell 80, roughly 
breaking even.  On the Sunday morning we had about 20-30 of the 170 
left.  By the end of Sunday we had 3x XXL & 10x of the bright green 
ones which were obviously not as popular (not the colour I had been 
expecting).
On top of that we also included 60 steward t-shirts in our expenses, as 
you have done.

>
> 4) Craft fair - how do you propose to make a loss?
When hosting IVFDF in St. Andrews we paid for the 'honour' of having a 
craft fair.  It wasn't worth it.

>
> 5) RSCDS - this amount looks a bit on the low side.
Should be £350

>
> 6) Advertising.  This amount looks slightly on the low side to me, 
> especially given the fact that the prime advertising opportunity (ie: 
> this year's IVFDF) was lacking in detail.  There will be a job to be 
> done getting through to all those who are not attached to university 
> groups and not on IVFDF news. If this requires putting adverts in the 
> press, then the £300 will disappear very quickly.
A valid point, but also you can guarantee that Richard will want any 
year to spend more on advertising than they budgeted for.  Just make 
sure you know exactly where & how you are planning on promoting 
yourself, then add at least 50% cost for all the other places/methods 
that come up.

>
> 7) Concert. You have put income in for a concert, but are still 
> negotiating over the venue cost.  Is that venue confirmed and just the 
> cost being negotiated, or is the venue not yet confirmed?  When will 
> you know about final venue cost?  Is there still a risk that the 
> concert might not happen?  I am assuming that any potential concert 
> artists would be quite well known, which leads me to wonder why the 
> income for the event is budgeted so low?  Is the cost of the concert 
> act(s) included in the Bands and callers amount?
Perhaps more clarity on this would help us.


>
> Thats all for now.  You are obviously on the right path, and the 
> package that you get with the Union definitely makes life easier!  Oh, 
> one more final point, I don't see any provision for insurance or First 
> aid support in the figures.  Get both, even if just for your own peace 
> of mind!
Insurance I highly recommend speaking to MIS Musicians Insurance 
Services.  They came recommended by EFDSS and are geared up to working 
with performers & short one off events.
First aid is in the budget as supplied by university.  I would also 
suggest you have some kind, qualified volunteers who are happy to be on 
call at the sleeping venue(s).


Looking forward to it already


Stephen