KnoxLEM I || 12/18/10 || Knoxville, TN

[Stuka]

...7PM sounds great. It would be great to reach out to other people who might be interested in the laser show... Any ideas on where/how to promote it? I do a lot of promotion to the club scene, but it seems like this show would appeal to a much broader audience. I don't recall seeing a laser-focused show in Knoxville, and it seems like there would be a lot of people interested in it.

Hmmm -

I'm reaching here, since I've never been on the "venue operator" end of things before..

Does the fact that we're doing this as a "private" event impact how much you would want to advertise?
I agree that our potential show list should appeal to a wide audience, so as long as it advertised as a private "invitation only" event, "call for details", etc., I assume we would be OK ().

Also -
I think our 'stuff' is going to take up considerably more space than the usual entertainment at the venue!!
So, perhaps a limited admission to "the first x number of people" needs to be considered?

With that in mind -
If we're still running this as no admission / donations only, perhaps it would qualify for a community event promo at a couple of the radio stations?

Don't you love it when questions get answered with more questions?

[Pianoman]

I'm still planning on being there! I'll also have a guest with me that's interested in learning about/seeing some laser action.

Jonathan

[Stuka]

So far as it stands im still in!! For once ill be in town hen things are happening!! at the moment im in Vegas doing the Nascar awards UGH i HATE Shows for TV LONG LONG LONG days and 2000+ Versa Tubes!!

Good to hear!

Only worrying with a couple of lasers should be a nice break for you!!

[Shawnb]

ONLY if you knew the half of it fly home sunday to knox from nascar awards nashville for meetings monday tuesday to asheville Nc for Xmass jam back to knox friday early am for World Premeir of narnia Turkey creek REgal back to ashville to wrap up xmass jam then back to knox for regal cinnemas xmass party then on into planning knoxvilles first night and a peppering of other xmass / new year related gigs and some UT stuff.. UGHHHH anyways if a Distro is needed i could poss bring a single phase Grip Sled if needed and 2o tails. let me know if there is anything else we may need i have lots of stuff avail if i ask nice lol

[Stuka]

ONLY if you knew the half of it fly home sunday to knox from nascar awards nashville for meetings monday tuesday to asheville Nc for Xmass jam back to knox friday early am for World Premeir of narnia Turkey creek REgal back to ashville to wrap up xmass jam then back to knox for regal cinnemas xmass party then on into planning knoxvilles first night and a peppering of other xmass / new year related gigs and some UT stuff.. UGHHHH anyways if a Distro is needed i could poss bring a single phase Grip Sled if needed and 2o tails. let me know if there is anything else we may need i have lots of stuff avail if i ask nice lol

Ya'll just need to hire me...

[Shawnb]

BE CAREFUL WAT YOU ASK FOR!!! SOOOON MY FRIEND ill prob have you working LOL

[massivesound]

Hmmm -

I'm reaching here, since I've never been on the "venue operator" end of things before..

Does the fact that we're doing this as a "private" event impact how much you would want to advertise?
I agree that our potential show list should appeal to a wide audience, so as long as it advertised as a private "invitation only" event, "call for details", etc., I assume we would be OK ().

Also -
I think our 'stuff' is going to take up considerably more space than the usual entertainment at the venue!!
So, perhaps a limited admission to "the first x number of people" needs to be considered?

With that in mind -
If we're still running this as no admission / donations only, perhaps it would qualify for a community event promo at a couple of the radio stations?

Don't you love it when questions get answered with more questions?

I'm always conscious of the implications of advertising, and the questions that you raise are ones we deal with every time we have an event (and ones to which I don't have good answers at this point). I don't usually do "blanket advertising" for any events (radio, newspaper, etc)... Targeted stuff usually works a lot better and people know what they're getting. I guess what I meant is something like putting up a poster in the UT physics department (for example). Things like that which are fairly well targeted may not bring a thousand people, but it's the right people who are interested in what's going on. It would be great to find a way to connect with people who may have been to a laser show many years ago and now want to bring their kids to see one without putting thousands of flyers out on cars all over downtown Knoxville

I guess I was just thinking about all of the promotion we do for our electronic music events, and ways to translate that into a more family-friendly form, while sticking to the grassroots, word-of-mouth, targeted kinds of advertising. All in all it's probably not necessary to reach too far outside of our circles at this point. Like you guys have mentioned, we can use this meeting to talk about the possibility of doing public (or more private) laser shows in the future at Headroom or elsewhere in the area.

[massivesound]

ONLY if you knew the half of it fly home sunday to knox from nascar awards nashville for meetings monday tuesday to asheville Nc for Xmass jam back to knox friday early am for World Premeir of narnia Turkey creek REgal back to ashville to wrap up xmass jam then back to knox for regal cinnemas xmass party then on into planning knoxvilles first night and a peppering of other xmass / new year related gigs and some UT stuff.. UGHHHH anyways if a Distro is needed i could poss bring a single phase Grip Sled if needed and 2o tails. let me know if there is anything else we may need i have lots of stuff avail if i ask nice lol

Sounds like fun!

I'm sure it's a ton of work though. It only took working on a few big (stadium) shows for me to realize that I should probably keep sound reinforcement as a hobby rather than pursue it as a profession. Are you doing a laser show in Turkey Creek next friday for a movie premier? I might have to swing by to check that out...

I think we'll be fine on power as long as we stick to diode lasers... By "2o tails" are you talking about 2/0 wire tails for a distro? That's like a 200A system... We don't have anything close to that kind of power available on one circuit in this place without tapping off the main breaker (no cams ).

[Shawnb]

Tapping off the mains isn't a problem do it all the time. Just let me know if it might be needed. And no lasers at turkey creek just a butt load of lighting for the narnia premeir as the cast will be there big press event

[buffo]

Does the fact that we're doing this as a "private" event impact how much you would want to advertise?

It's not my venue, but I'll answer this question anyway. In my opinion, advertising this event would be a mistake. It's skirting the gray area of the CDRH rules. Granted, you could probably make the case that there's no commerce involved, so we might be in the clear, but if you sell so much as a single glass of coke or 7-up, we're screwed...

If we're still running this as no admission / donations only, perhaps it would qualify for a community event promo at a couple of the radio stations?

Again, this is risky... Radio ads attract attention, both from the public at large and from the regulatory end. Personally, I wouldn't do it - at least not until we've all got variances...

I'm always conscious of the implications of advertising, and the questions that you raise are ones we deal with every time we have an event (and ones to which I don't have good answers at this point).

Well, the difference here is that your club is otherwise perfectly legal. Our projectors, on the other hand, are not. Thus, this could be a real problem from a regulatory standpoint. Having a few laserists meet in a closed club is a clear-cut case of a private event that the CDRH has no jurisdiction over. Inviting a few friends, family, and industry insiders to the event blurs the line a bit, but with a signed waiver required for entry, I feel confident that we're still OK. But if you start advertising it on the radio, then it sure starts to sound like a public event, and in that case even if there is no admission charge, my guess is the CDRH would want to investigate anyway. (Assuming they found out about it...) That's the sort of scrutiny we could do without, in my opinion.

Not saying that we'd be doing anything unsafe, mind you. The 3 meter rule will definitely apply here. But given that our mutual goal is to get our projectors certified, it might be a bad idea to openly advertise a show to the general public before we've filed our paperwork...

I guess what I meant is something like putting up a poster in the UT physics department (for example).

That would probably be OK, so long as it's understood to be a private affair for laser geeks. Then it's analogous to posting about a LEM here on PL.

All in all it's probably not necessary to reach too far outside of our circles at this point. Like you guys have mentioned, we can use this meeting to talk about the possibility of doing public (or more private) laser shows in the future at Headroom or elsewhere in the area.

Agreed. I think the venue holds a lot of promise for future shows, and once we're all legal, I'd love to try a full-blown commercial show there. But I want my ducks in a row first, before I set my projector up in front of a paying crowd...

Adam