Help need ideas to build custom in social club

jestaminnit

Hiyaa to everyone.
I am on the committee of a local social club... and we're struggling.. mainly due to the fact the previous commitee took out a big loan at high rates over a short term. ( We are looking into this with a plan to re-arrange) There are a number of clubs in the area, well established, but in all honesty not as much fun and as "safe" ( not a single problem in the last two years).as we are.
Anyway we are putting live entertainment on every weekend(costly) what we're looking for from people is ideas:idea: to help us bring in the cus and obviously make it fun for them. we have a great Stewardess who is game for a laugh, she's brilliant at getting the crowd going (if they are in) membership is low, but in the concert room you do not have to be a member, One Idea I have thought of is a Darts Tournament.. for the "Top" players in the area, and we put up a big money prize, for the first player to get 501 in a "Nine Dart Finish" and the Insurance company pays up if somone does it!! But I am struggling to find the type of Ins company I need. Any Ideas for bringing people in , or where to look for the Ins companies willing to cover such events would be really appreciated.......and if you live in our area I'm sure we can accomodate you with some free tickets for any of our events!!

pavlovs_dog

not sure what kind of facilities you offer, but just sharing some of my experiences.

the club round the corner from us recently has taken on a big drive to drum up business by appealing to a whole new customer base. a lot of people dont like these sort of places, because you need to be a mmber, it feels clique/intimidating to those outside the clique/membership. they really pushed the advertising of the food that they did (which was brill value for money), organised a pool tornament, and generally made themselves much more open and accessable to the general public. admittedly, i still havent been in there, but it looks much livelier than it ever used to be.

the other thing is to make more of your function space if you have one. there seems to be a revival at the moment round my area in holding events at social clubs - affordable venues, cheap drinks, flexible space, good buffets, everyone is happy :beer:

good luck with it all :beer:

jestaminnit

Thnx pavlov...... yes we are opening up to the wider public... thats the problem.getting them in....we don't do food, and because of that loan (from the brewery) we struggle to get prices down.. facilities include 1 snooker table, 2 pool tables, "snug" room and a concert room with a stage and the most fantastic musical murel on the back-drop, honestly once you get in the place , the atmosphere is fanatstic, it's just getting them in. Some weeks it's packed and the artists are ordinary(as they are all round the area) other weeks it's empty and the artists are brilliant and vice-versa.. we just can'yt seem to get a steady flow. i know people can't afford to come out every week, but if we could get an even spread it would be great. Sometimes the atmosphere is fantastic so we just don't close the bar until we feel they've had enough, we are so relaxed about it there really is no last orders as such.
But it is so hit and miss!!! You can go weeks with 20 -30 ppl in. the wham 3 or 4 wks and it's packed!!

christineperseus

Can your 'concert' room be used for things like dancing?
If so - why not try a line dancing evening or strictly come dancing evening, pehaps a family quiz evening - when parents can come with their children - (babysitters really add to the cost of an evening)
Get a licence and do a film evening? the licence costs £80

hollydays

Do some market research,find out who your target audience are,and why they are not coming.

Always100FC

regarding paying for insurance against the 9 dart 501 finish, i think firstly no insurance company in the world would provide this for a social club (how the heck could they prove it never happened) unless you're planning a live tv broadcast!! Also the chances of it happening are not worth insuring against!

Think about putting on a local talent night (after you've sifted out those without any talent) and make use of that concert room of yours.

Some sort of sponsorship with a local footy team may encourage them and their mates to drink there sometimes and when the team needs to do a fundraiser, offer them the room for free while you take the bar profits, and they bring in all the punters (as it's also in their interests to pack the venue)

Sell some tickets for some sort of spin off of a gameshow e.g. take your pick... big break... the list could go on

mickeyfinn

If you have any outside (or maybe even inside) space, maybe a charity fundraiser might help? Pick a local charity, get some stalls poss a bouncy castle etc.. Maybe then you could entice the potential customers in with a free cuppa or something, showing them what a lovely friendly place you are... Maybe have someone offering membership at the same time.