Some of us are lucky and sell out our concert, or have to close our choir to new members.
photo by
Pacopac
It’s a nice problem to have, but I hate turning people away, so are there alternatives?
It’s inevitable that when you offer something good, there will come a time when you become over-subscribed. Your concert or singing workshop sells out, or you reach capacity with your choir membership.
Rather than turn people (potential customers) away, there are alternative solutions.
Let’s look at some of them.
singing workshops and concerts
- waiting list – always, always keep a waiting list of interested people together with a fast way of contacting them (I.e. not just an email address). People often cancel at the last minute.
- increase capacity – how did you decide your limit? Can you squeeze a few more singers into your workshop space or add some extra chairs to your concert venue? Can you video the event and broadcast it onto a screen outside the venue?
- offer an alternative way to participate – after the Covid pandemic people became a lot more familiar with using apps like Zoom. There were plenty of hybrid options around where some people attended a workshop or concert remotely as well as people being in the room. Similarly you could present your event on Facebook (or similar platforms) live. Inform your waiting list and offer an cheaper ticket for the online version.
- repeat the event – if your waiting list is huge, try to schedule an extra date not too far in the future (before interest wanes).
- hire a larger venue next time – now that your events are so popular, maybe it’s time to move to a bigger venue.
- run more frequently – if you do one big concert a year and it persistently sells out, then maybe offer two or three. If you run a monthly workshop that sells out every time, perhaps move to fortnightly.
choirs
- how many is “too many”? – see Can you have too many singers in your choir?
- how to cope with too many singers – see Strategies for coping with too many singers in your choir
- waiting list or new choir? – see How to manage when your choir becomes too popular: waiting list or a new choir
- taking new singers on – see Opening your choir to new members – who? when? how?
- offer an alternative – it’s great when we can all support each other. If you decide, for whatever reason, that you can’t take any new singers on, then recommend a choir that’s led by one of your colleagues.
cautionary tales
- don’t rely on waiting lists – it’s easy when you’ve got a long waiting list to assume that you’ll be able to fill any cancelled places easily. But people’s circumstances change. When you get around to inviting them because some people can’t make your concert or workshop after all, you may find that they’re plans have changed and they can’t come.
- people say one thing and do another – I did a weekend of African song which had a waiting list. Also the people who came really loved it and asked me to run the weekend again the following year. So I did, but found it hard to fill the places. I led a singing day for men only and it was sold out quite quickly. Everyone who came loved it and asked me to run another day the following year. I did, and had to cancel it due to lack of interest.
Chris Rowbury
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