kay wrote:I agree with what people have said about venues. House shows are not an easy way of getting around renting a hall. If you want to promote one or two shows to try it out a hall is best.
As far as postering goes, I've never gotten that into it. I think word of mouth, having the right bands, handbilling at shows leading up to the date, forums like this and facebook (as much as I like to say it) can all be used in combination with a couple strategically placed posters (in record shops and such).
Alexis, if you want to get a feel for promoting I can let you know when I'm pulling together my next show and you can help me out, how about that?
I don't know if you're putting on shows at halls or just through your house, but postering is pretty essential for larger draw shows. You're not going to get 200 people show up to a good show if they don't know it's happening. For a house show where you only want to see maybe 50 people tops, hand bills and facebook/word of mouth will do just fine.
also, Alexis. you should take kay up on this offer to help out. It's a great opportunity to get a feel for what goes down.
If you have bands expecting money or a hall that expects to be paid, you should have this money saved up before hand, so in case not a single person shows up, those bands/venue gets paid and the band will come back again and the venue will rent the hall out again.