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 Post subject: Venue Help!
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 5:14 pm 
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Past Local Event Organizer/Crew

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Hi folks,

So some of you might have heard, that in Chicago last year, we did not have an event. This was because finding a venue was almost impossible after the theater we had been using for years was bought by a new owner.

We typically get around 300+ people who want to attend our event. A lot of them live in the city and depend on public transportation. Sadly, a lot of the beautiful, independent theaters in Chicago have gone under. Event spaces that are left (this includes libraries, theater spaces, big-box movie houses, community centers) are typically either way too small (only fit 100 people or less), are not handicap accessible, want to charge $10,000 or more (that is the non-profit price), don't want us exchanging money on the property, or want us to have our event on a Tuesday at midnight.

Also, holding our event in a non-theater makes me a little nervous because of how Swank wants % of the door on top of the flat fee.

Does anyone have any cool or creative ideas? Has anyone used Swank and still had money left over for donations? Any ideas or brainstorms are very welcome, especially if you are from a bigger city that has problems with how expensive everything is.

Thanks!
Sandra

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 Post subject: Re: Venue Help!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 1:39 am 
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Fort Worth, Texas


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Do you have something like Studio Movie Grill or Movie Tavern in Chicago? We used both of them before Alamo opened up last year. There's a pretty intimidating food/beverage/service minimum to meet, but we never had a problem meeting it (we also usually bring 250-300 people,) and the rent on top of that was pretty nominal - around $400-$500 for 6-7 hours, plus the $150 licensing fee of course. I'm not a huge fan of the corporate chains but they do events all the time, it couldn't hurt to send them an email and see what they can do. :)

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 Post subject: Re: Venue Help!
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 6:58 am 
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Ugh that sounds like a nightmare! And I thought Melbourne venues were tough.

Have you considered or looked at theatres and lecture halls at perfoming arts or other colleges? Melbourne used them before finding their current venue.

An alternative might be to use a smaller venue but run it over a couple of nights? I don't know how the licensing works with that though. Not the preferred option obviously as an organizer, but a few cities have held multiple night events and might be able to provide advice.

Hope that's of some use :)


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 Post subject: Re: Venue Help!
PostPosted: Thu Feb 05, 2015 12:01 pm 
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Have you thought about a high school Auditorium? They should have the Av needs as well as the seating. Plus you may have a cafeteria which can feed munchies. You could also convert the gym into a fancy Shindig ball for later.

My high school also had a pool so you could have a whole day planned out.


You may have to have students be part of the crew, but I am sure someone would love to misbehave.

Nyssa


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 Post subject: Re: Venue Help!
PostPosted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 3:25 am 
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Past Local Event Organizer/Crew

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Are there any venues on this list that you haven't already ruled out?
http://www.timeout.com/chicago/film/bes ... in-chicago

The cinema at the University of Chicago campus might be an option, or maybe Music Box? It may be worthwhile contacting some of the film societies and film festivals to see what venues they may be aware of.

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 Post subject: Re: Venue Help!
PostPosted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 5:19 pm 
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I was once told by Universal Canada that it was worth approaching a theater with many screens. If they have a poorly performing movie, they might be willing to take it down for a night and give the theatre to you for a good price.

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