Dear Director, Is it possible that you were by the door greeting people as they
arrived? I appreciate that so much was right at that event, with all
the guitars on display and wonderful photographs on the wall. It
seemed that you had a legion of volunteers eager to make everyone feel
at home. The Luthier event is clearly a prestige event of which your
center can be proud. However, although I was allowed to roam the
lobby, I was unable to buy a ticket for the event and left to seek
another activity. Your ticket office had not started a wait list, a
routine gesture at the Frauenthal. In fact, your ticket office seemed
surprised at the request and handed me a post-it note upon which to
write my name. At the Frauenthal, the ticket agent takes the name on a
special form. When a ticket did turn up, it was scalped for 20
dollars. It was scalped right in front of the ticket office, right in
front of me, and scalping we know is an illegal activity. I wish to point out that the Luthier's concert was broadcast as SOLD
OUT on the street marquee, a music stand on the sidewalk, two signs on
the Dogwood's doors and the ticket window. More, your web page still
broadcasts the event as SOLD OUT:
http://www.dogwoodcenter.com/?m=20100206&cat=1. Again, Faune Benson, the excellent photographer of the luthier's work
and a staffer at your facility, posted on the MLive article, the
message SOLD OUT Friday, February 5, 10:38 AM. http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/muskegon/index.ssf/2010/02/west_michigan_l... All of these SOLD OUT messages probably turned away 10 to 100 people,
maybe more, and the messages certainly discouraged the thousands of
people who have no idea how to access an event at the Dogwood. The
Dogwood Center and NCCA seemed unusually proud of selling out a 100
person event when the center had 500 seats of capacity that evening. The event received publicity from MLive, GVSU public radio and
probably Blue Lake Public Radio, and featured the talents of at least
ten performers. I find myself doing the math. How could an event of
such quality, with such support, with so many performers be sold out
when an auditorium with seating for 400 awaited next door? Or consider
the ratio, there was one performer for each ten people. Or considering
that each performer brought one to five people along, 20 to 40 people
of an audience of 100 were entourage, leaving 80 to 60 seats for
people from outside the luthier community. I believe had you not
declared a sell out, moved the event into the auditorium, the event
might have reached out to at least 50 to 100 additional people,
possibly more. It is clear that Friday morning, you had time to change
course. I enjoyed the Bob Dogan concert on January 23 in the intimate quarters
of the Black Box, which I believe seats at most 110 people, and not
all of the people comfortably. When one is sitting on the stage side
of a round table, one has to turn a chair around to see. At the Bob
Dogan evening, I saw that 85 people were in attendance. Clearly, the
Dogwood Center is doing a good job filling that space, and perhaps
could have forecast higher demand for the Luthier concert? Clearly,
moving the Luthier concert into the auditorium would have changed the
nature of the event since one cannot drink in the auditorium or eat
popcorn, but creative people could have thought of a solution. I am writing this personally to you, although I had thought of making
an editorial of it. It is clearly a sign that new thinking is required
at the Dogwood Center as regards publicity of events and utilization
of the Dogwood Center as an asset. It is my understanding that several
studies exist on utilizing performance halls in an optimal fashion,
and I look forward to seeing the center making engaging these ideas a
project. Wilbo
arrived? I appreciate that so much was right at that event, with all
the guitars on display and wonderful photographs on the wall. It
seemed that you had a legion of volunteers eager to make everyone feel
at home. The Luthier event is clearly a prestige event of which your
center can be proud. However, although I was allowed to roam the
lobby, I was unable to buy a ticket for the event and left to seek
another activity. Your ticket office had not started a wait list, a
routine gesture at the Frauenthal. In fact, your ticket office seemed
surprised at the request and handed me a post-it note upon which to
write my name. At the Frauenthal, the ticket agent takes the name on a
special form. When a ticket did turn up, it was scalped for 20
dollars. It was scalped right in front of the ticket office, right in
front of me, and scalping we know is an illegal activity. I wish to point out that the Luthier's concert was broadcast as SOLD
OUT on the street marquee, a music stand on the sidewalk, two signs on
the Dogwood's doors and the ticket window. More, your web page still
broadcasts the event as SOLD OUT:
http://www.dogwoodcenter.com/?m=20100206&cat=1. Again, Faune Benson, the excellent photographer of the luthier's work
and a staffer at your facility, posted on the MLive article, the
message SOLD OUT Friday, February 5, 10:38 AM. http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/muskegon/index.ssf/2010/02/west_michigan_l... All of these SOLD OUT messages probably turned away 10 to 100 people,
maybe more, and the messages certainly discouraged the thousands of
people who have no idea how to access an event at the Dogwood. The
Dogwood Center and NCCA seemed unusually proud of selling out a 100
person event when the center had 500 seats of capacity that evening. The event received publicity from MLive, GVSU public radio and
probably Blue Lake Public Radio, and featured the talents of at least
ten performers. I find myself doing the math. How could an event of
such quality, with such support, with so many performers be sold out
when an auditorium with seating for 400 awaited next door? Or consider
the ratio, there was one performer for each ten people. Or considering
that each performer brought one to five people along, 20 to 40 people
of an audience of 100 were entourage, leaving 80 to 60 seats for
people from outside the luthier community. I believe had you not
declared a sell out, moved the event into the auditorium, the event
might have reached out to at least 50 to 100 additional people,
possibly more. It is clear that Friday morning, you had time to change
course. I enjoyed the Bob Dogan concert on January 23 in the intimate quarters
of the Black Box, which I believe seats at most 110 people, and not
all of the people comfortably. When one is sitting on the stage side
of a round table, one has to turn a chair around to see. At the Bob
Dogan evening, I saw that 85 people were in attendance. Clearly, the
Dogwood Center is doing a good job filling that space, and perhaps
could have forecast higher demand for the Luthier concert? Clearly,
moving the Luthier concert into the auditorium would have changed the
nature of the event since one cannot drink in the auditorium or eat
popcorn, but creative people could have thought of a solution. I am writing this personally to you, although I had thought of making
an editorial of it. It is clearly a sign that new thinking is required
at the Dogwood Center as regards publicity of events and utilization
of the Dogwood Center as an asset. It is my understanding that several
studies exist on utilizing performance halls in an optimal fashion,
and I look forward to seeing the center making engaging these ideas a
project. Wilbo
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