We're heading into our 3rd year of Serenity screenings to benefit Equality Now. We've had some amazing support and energetic attendance, but let's be realistic here. While new browncoats are created every day as they discover the 'verse, which is a fantastic phenomena in itself, how do we keep everyone coming out to the events? A green lit Serenity 2 would be ideal at this point, but we can't bank on that. So let's set that little dream aside a moment and consider what can be done to keep our audience coming.

Reasons to pay $10 or more or less to see the BDM:

Folks like fundraisers. It makes them feel good. We've always had that going for us and it will continue to draw them out.

Global event. The thing that makes our little screenings big. Being part of a global movement is probably, IMO, the most important motivator for fans. I say this from the personal learning experience after holding a seperate early October screening for a local charity. The attendance was markedly lower. Where we had 600 in June for CSTS, we only had 175 in October for the local charity and our ticket price was lower! There are other circumstances but I'm of the opinion that the globality (yes, that's a word...now) of the June event creates a bigger hype to attend.

Joss speech from honoring men on the frontlines video clip. It was strong in 2006, and it remains strong.

Exclusive event merchandise. This ties in with the global event thinking. Commemorative memorabilia exclusively available at events.

Freebies. Not all locations did this but it was a HUGE hit at the Mpls event and will be repeated. It's an attention getter on the flyers too.

Auctions and raffles for some really cool stuffs.

Special Guests. Some locations had special guests, but most did not. Many very successful screenings did not have special guests, but who wouldn't want 'em?

So what else can we do to maintain or build more momentum? Costume contests? Trivia contests? While such things may not raise more funds, they can help keep up the "don't miss this event" momentum.

Other ideas?

I think more advertising is a good idea - making sure that we are getting the "global" word around, but also advertising a lot locally.

I know a bunch of groups advertised with local comic shops, anime shops - how did that work for you?

In Austin, we advertised with our comic stores, of course, but also at coffee shops, ice cream shops, at local schools, on the radio, etc.

What did everyone else do - what worked?

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www.austinbrowncoats.com - visit, laugh, love, frolic.

we advertrised any where theyd let us. we had posters up all over uni, and handouts by every printer in every computer room. we put posters up in the comic book shops, the collectibles shops, book shops, in the windows of shops along one of the main shopping streets in town.

not sure how effective the ones around town were. i know myspace didnt have much effect. everyone said they'd come, and then when it came down to it, like 3 people said they found out through myspace. (of about 150 who said theyd come lol)

something id like to see, is a donation button on the website, well 2. one for donating to EN nd one for donating towards advertising etc.

then we could buy some advertising through google, meaning anytime someone searches serenity or firefly the csts website comes up as a
sponsored link, and maybe advertising on big webcomics like CAD and QC and maybe some others with massive daily hits that is mostly the type of people that would like serenity or know about it already.

i am thinking of doing a little advertising out of my own pocket like that, but perhaps it would be more advantageous to put the money to a general advertising fund. anything left over goes straight to EN, or to help cities struggling to get together the money to buy merch.

and as a side note.... to do with sending in the money. i dont know how the other cities over here did it, but it cost me $90 to send the money. and yes i mean me. i had to pay $20 for an international bankers draft, and then another $70 to send it insured, because australia post dont insure documents, which meant i had to send it courier. can we try and work out a better way to get the money to EN? it would have been cheaper in the end to set up international online transfers and done it directly into their account.

i dont know, setting up a way to western union it? asking them to set up a paypal account?

maybe their was another way to do it, but all i heard about was a cheque, and there was no way i was sending other peoples donated money uninsured after the debacle with the posters.

Even though our events have been successful both years, we have not been able to take advantage of some of the resources available to us that might help keep enthusiasm up.
Because our theater wasn't DVD capable, we couldn't broadcast the global sponsor list or Joss' speech inside the theater. It was on a laptop in the hallway.
We had a silent auction which helped raise a good deal of money, but it doesn't really get the blood pumping. Unfortunately, there was no power in the front of the theater so we could plug in a microphone.
As a result, our crowd wasn't exactly pumped up when the movie started. Having an MC (with a big voice that didn't need amplifying) helped some but there is plenty more we want to try next year.
We will most likely change venues so we can show the DVDs. Pre-show live auctions and possibly live music should help get the crowd prepped.
I want this to be an event that people talk about for weeks afterward. Hopefuly we can make that happen.

As far as advertising, we had flyers in all the local comic & hobby shops. And we got plenty of support from the employees there in terms of spreading the word.
For next year, I think we're going to try and get a little more creative. There are some great guerilla marketing ideas floating around in the Browncoat community. We may try to apply some of those to our marketing campaign.

We put up flyers around town - in comic shops, book stores (especially scifi), coffee shops, etc. but I want to do a more intensive campaign this year. It was a great image for the posters and I didn't feel we took enough advantage of it. If we can get more sponsorship this year, I might even hire someone to poster.

I found the Internet was very useful. Besides out blogspot page, we had a MySpace page which brought in a few tickets and quite a number of people found us on Facebook. We were also on Craigslist and any other free Internet entertainment/event listing.

Of course, we benefitted greatly from the announcement that Jewel was going to be our special guest. Although I think we were headed for a sellout anyway, it probably wouldn't have happened until the day of the screening, whereas when we announced Jewel, we sold the remaining tickets in about 48 hours.

I also did two radio (independent stations) interviews, but we had already sold out. However on both of them, I mentioned next year - and both interviewers have invited me back anytime, so hopefully for 2008 I can get on earlier.

Door prizes are definitely a draw, especially since we aren't allowed by law to do any kind of raffle or auction. This year we also did goodie bags with a "fruity oaty bar", two EN bracelets and a sticker or postcard etc. For next year, I want to have to bars donated (two Safeways donated gift cards which mostly covered the costs) and I would like to include a Serenity tattoo or two in each bag.

I'm also looking at changing the venue for next year. Although the theatre we have used the past couple of years has been very helpful - and would love to have us back - if we are going to raise more money, we need a bigger theatre and more time. I'd like to have a less-rushed costume contest, one where the audience could see everyone, plus a singalong of the theme song and Jayne's song - and possibly a trivia quiz. In our past theatre, if we rent for four hours, we can't open the doors for the first 3/4 of an hour. With prizes, Joss's speech and a two-hour movie, this year I was literally pushing people out of the building at 5 to 5! Luckily Jewel was holding court outside so that helped!

I agree that the global aspect of the event is a big pull, both for media and audience. I am also still converting people with my three lending copies of "Firefly" and now I have lending copies of "Serenity" as well. I already have people eager to buy tickets for next year!

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CSTS Vancouver 2015 will be held Saturday, June 20th from Noon to 6:00 pm at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre. Donations will go to Equality Now (75%) and Avalon Women's Centre (25%).

This information is great! Keep it coming!

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www.austinbrowncoats.com - visit, laugh, love, frolic.

yeah i am already planning on goodie bags. so that way everybody gets something. plus it doesnt take up a huge chunk of time to give out door prizes. i didnt find out about the EN bracelets and pamphlets until it was too late to get to us in time. plus im hoping to get like a 10% off deal or something at one of the comic stores, which could go in the bags, plus then we could sell advertising to go in there too.