Gig booking

[HeavyJay]

I'm after some gig organisation tips.

I'm the one who books gigs in our little outfit and at the moment I just do it by keeping a diary about my person. If someone offers us a gig, I check the diary for anything then text the others to ask if they're free, then confirm or decline as appropriate.

The trouble is, as we're getting more gigs it all gets a bit confusing. We've got potential wedding / function and corporate gigs up to 18 months in advance, repeat booking residency type gigs and the usual run of the mill pub and club stuff for new and established venues.

What's your routine for keeping track of your band's calendar?

I've just starting trying out Google Calendar, it's attached to the band's email account which we've all got access to. The idea is to get the others to put their unavailable dates in there to save me from having to text them everytime I get an enquiry.

Thoughts? Tips?

My other issue is that I always seem to forget to get some vital bit of info that I need to chase up later like starting time or a contact number or something.

I've often wondered if I need a booking form that has:
[list]
[*]Contact name / number
[*]venue address
[*]start / finish time
[*]price
[*]etc
[/list]
on it so I can run through it when I get calls.

[Stylon Pilson]

[quote name='HeavyJay' post='464821' date='Apr 17 2009, 11:16 AM']I've just starting trying out Google Calendar, it's attached to the band's email account which we've all got access to. The idea is to get the others to put their unavailable dates in there to save me from having to text them everytime I get an enquiry.

Thoughts? Tips?[/quote]

If the other band members keep it up to date, and you have the opportunity to check it before confirming each booking, then that will work fine.

[quote name='HeavyJay' post='464821' date='Apr 17 2009, 11:16 AM']My other issue is that I always seem to forget to get some vital bit of info that I need to chase up later like starting time or a contact number or something.

I've often wondered if I need a booking form that has:
[list]
[*]Contact name / number
[*]venue address
[*]start / finish time
[*]price
[*]etc
[/list]
on it so I can run through it when I get calls.[/quote]

Yes, definitely. And have an online version too.

S.P.

Edited April 17, 2009 by Stylon Pilson

[wateroftyne]

Yep... best way is to ask band members to be responsible for maintaining their unavailable dates.

When gigs come in, pencil them in, confirm them with the band members, confirm with the promoter/gig/whatever.

A little tip.. the band diary should be used to confirm when people are [i]unavailable[/i] - not [i]available[/i].

[Adrenochrome]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='464981' date='Apr 17 2009, 01:28 PM']Yep... best way is to ask band members to be responsible for maintaining their unavailable dates.

When gigs come in, pencil them in, confirm them with the band members, confirm with the promoter/gig/whatever.

A little tip.. the band diary should be used to confirm when people are [i]unavailable[/i] - not [i]available[/i].[/quote]

+1, I maintain Google Calendar for us but the rest of the band add unavailable dates, as well as the occasional gig booked through them. It's worked really well for me as I get calls from venues whilst at work, at home etc and I can update it from either computer.

[retromal]

If you find that you get a gig in for a date that a member of the band is not available..

always say 'we are not available that day as we have a booking' don't let on that somebody is not
available... it then sounds like you have lots of gigs, and are fitting them in..
or you could say 'we have a private gig that day'


Mal

[The Funk]

Excellent advice there.

[bumnote]

I use lotus organiser, just because I have for a long time



We have a general agreement, how many we want to do in a week/month, and I book, and its up to the others to tell me well in advance what they cant do in advance, I rarely cancel.

The idea of a shared resource is great, never try to work with more than 1 diary, thats when you get duplications.

I have a standard form i send out with a copy to be sent back
Date
Time start
Time Finish
Max playing time
Fee
Payment [on night, cash, cheque,]
Special instructions
Saves loads of arguments

Edited April 23, 2009 by bumnote

[Twigman]

Before negotiating the gig we request:

Name of Venue
Proposed date of show
Capacity of Venue
Proposed ticket price
Proposed requested set length
Specific backline requirements
Whether or not there'll be a support act


Once we know this information we can then deduce a fee ( maybe 30-50% of a sellout door - dependant on how much the promoter's expenses might be)

We then insist on a proper contract detailing:
Number of flight tickets
Number of hotel room nights
Any provided meals
Confirmation of rider
Name of Venue
Date of show
Required playing time
Confirmation of provision of backline
Fee
Method and timing of payment of fee


We have a standard set of information that we insist on getting from the promoter before departure:

Confirmation of supplied backline in detail
Flight numbers, times and class and booking reference
Hotel name and confirmation of room bookings
Full itinerary from the moment we land to the moment we depart detailing:
Travel times and arrangements (car/bus/plane etc)
Appointments (press/radio etc)
Access to venue times
Soundcheck times
Set times

etc etc



I can see where agents earn their 15% - we do it ourselves though.

Edited April 23, 2009 by Twigman