Brownies 23 East

[Joyful]

Of course, then the dance floor gets way too crowed ...and when clusters of college students show up they act like ......(negative descriptors deleted)..... slamming into people like they own the dance floor.....(negative tangent deleted)...

Annie! I've never known you to voluntarily censor yourself! This new owner business must have you spooked

[Raquel]

Hi Anna,

It was a pleasure meeting you and Miguel last week! Thank you for coming here and opening up a dialogue with the band and family. I believe your desire to continue Thursday nights with Splintered Sunlight is obvious and is very much appreciated by the entire Family. I would be happy to talk further about any ideas you may have for promoting Thursday nights and making this work for everybody. To Splintered Family... Thank you for all you've done to support the band at this venue for the past decade+. We have had some incredibly special times together at Brownies, memories that will surely last a lifetime! As we all know, change is inevitable and can happen at any time. BUT, when one door closes, another opens. We are truly fortunate to have an owner who would come to our website, register and spend time composing a note to communicate with the family and band. I did not get the impression Anna was encouraging people to drink more but simply pointing out that they cannot make it work on 163 people spending $12 each at the bar. So, what we obviously need to do, is get more people in there...

There are so many good ideas on this thread and I would love to see them all implemented! I had several hundred flyers printed up but they are the plain paper type. I will bring them all on Thursday and place them in a box on the stage. Please feel free to grab a bunch. I have also started posting on jambase and other sites, advertising the gigs, and Butchy is trying to do promotions on Facebook. Anything ya'll can do to help us is appreciated! Tell friends, take our poster on the front page of this site and post it on any site you visit (thank you, Joy!). I think tapping into the local college kids who dig this kind of music is important, so anyone who has ideas of how I can do that, please PM me here.

"I know this song it ain't never gonna end..."

<3

Raquel

[MarcP]

Thanks Anna for coming here. I'm so glad you did. What you have purchased is very dear to so many folks, and I hope it can work its way out.

I know I've spent $40 at the bar every week since 1999. I know a lot of people who spend as much if not more. If the average was $12/per patron, that seems awful low to me, at least from what I see people consuming.

Putting Sierra on tap for Thursdays would be a big plus for our crowd. Don't know what the p/l margin is on a keg to $5 per cup, but we love that stuff.

One suggestion I have to the street team is to help promote the music with the music. There are lots of shows on the Archive, and maybe picking a set of your liking, or making a compilation of songs on a disc of that could be handed out along with promotional handbills. Just having the name of the band and Grateful Dead cover band at Brownies, may not be enough to get a fence sitter to come out for the first time. But if they get a disc along with the flyer and can listen to what's in store for them, it could be a big help and well worth the cheap cost of blank CDRs these days.

Thanks again Anna, for coming on and letting us know we have a ear with you. As you can see, we are eager to make this work. And its a good "night off" for your security staff when they don't have to break up a testosterone fight every fifteen minutes

[Josh Straw]

I can donate a few reams of (100% Enviro-copy) paper for flyers. It's not plastic coated, but plastic coated paper/cards (while tres fancy looking) are non-recyclable. (Yes, he loves his Earth. Or what's left of it.)

Alternatively I can print up flyers or cards if someone sends me a jpg design. Seems like online word of mouth is better bang for buck though, not to mention free. And free is good.

[Raquel]

Alternatively I can print up flyers or cards if someone sends me a jpg design.

Check your email. And thanks!

[Josh Straw]

Alternatively I can print up flyers or cards if someone sends me a jpg design.

Check your email. And thanks!

Done, 100 color card-size flyers.

[AnnieWho]

Annie! I've never known you to voluntarily censor yourself! This new owner business must have you spooked

I just know people get all hung up on how I express myself and they miss the message. Trying to not let my negative feelings toward the majority of college students get in the way of what I'm saying.

BTW - I can't stand those plastic cups. I get nice frosted mugs or at least real glass in the biker bars I frequent. The sensory experience is much better that way. Beer stays cold longer and it feels better on my lips. How is it that Tim's Ugly Mug and Gear Jammers and The Railroad Street Bar n Grille and others serve me a nice cold mug of beer but I get crappy plastic at Brownies? Angelina just told me she asked for a Martini and the bartender pulled out a plastic cup. Wow. That's sad.

[dennydew]

I think giving a handbill and a cd with music on it is a good idea...while I can make a few, I think it would be best if the band made one nice one with 4 songs on it and cool artwork that includes their logo, and "every thurs at Brownies" - check website for all gigs"...something along those lines....they can be mass-produced....wither professionally or we hire from within, someone hoe has the euipment and the time...I wopuld be glad to chip in...our donationscan support some of this material...like if you buy 100 cd's from Raquel, to cover the cost...etc

The band should negotiate these costs with the new club owners...this should be a co-op venture, as we are brining inserious dollars tothe bar, not just to the band!

after all, we are becoming self-marketing.....many clubs pay serious marketing dollars to hire people that do what we can do....

[Cyn]

People, people, there is more than beer & liquor at the bar! I love me a fancy Shirley Temple- can drink as many as I want & don't have to worry about driving home. Ooooh, tiny umbrellas & cherries.. yummy!

[Joyful]

Indeed!
My Brownie's treat is soda.. sometimes a gingerale with a splash o' orange juice
(And I always overtip the waitstaff for my measly tab)
Never got an umbrella, though...

[tiedyeemtf]

Never quite understood why the kitchen (another source of revenue) was not being utilized at Brownies over the last couple of years. There's a pizza oven,fryolaters, refrigeration, ample work room. Gosh...by midnight I'm starved......I'd eat a whole pizza in 2 bites. Sell me some desserts....yum...yum...yum........coat my stomach....and make a beeline right back to the bar. Why leave and go eat somewhere else when Brownies 23 East can fill my needs. Now open that kitchen and sell me some pizza.

[AnnieWho]

I like cranberry juice and seltzer but, yes!, perhaps a Shirley Temple would be nice tonight...That's still not going to make much money for the bar, is it?

Trigger Hippie's husband, Dr. Evil Who, spoke with Pierre Robert today and Pierre told his listening audience to come out to Brownies tonight and support Splintered Sunlight. Whhhooooo Hooooo!! Thank you, Dr. Evil Who! Thank you, Pierre!!

[Corrine]

and make a beeline right back to the bar. a:

He he he; he said "beeline"...

[MarcP]

Annie, I don't think giving out glass pints is the best idea. It's dangerous enough wearing open toed shoes in there. With the amount of dropped drinks every Thursday , and all the folks who like to dance barefoot, that's a recipe for an ER visit to stich up wounded feet. The dropped bottles already are a hazzard, now you want all us sloppy drunks dropping pint glasses left and right. You are a glutton for punishment :-)

[Joan]

well I've been known to drop a plastic cup or two, but I can hold on to that Heineken bottle no problem!