Tickets at Door for Gala????

Hi, All! There's been some discussion about whether or not one can or should be able to get tickets at the door for the Spring Gala on Mar. 31st. Like anything else, there are pros and cons. Here, in no particular order, are the ones that occur to me: Pros: - Don't have to plan ahead...can decide at last minute whether or not to attend. - If on budget, can come up with money at last minute. (This one's not mine...someone else mentioned it...my response to it is that I'm on a budget and I plan and save for extras like the Gala...it's harder for me to come up with extra money on short notice...which is why my 1st post about the Gala this year was on Jan. 23rd to give everyone lots of notice) - Someone who originally had a conflict (work, etc.) and didn't think they'd be available on the 31st has a last-minute change of schedule and is available after all, but too late to get tickets ahead of time. Cons: - We have to give a final head count to the Crowne Plaza by the 27th. How do we give them an accurate number if lots of people are waiting to buy tickets at the door? Especially if they haven't let me know that they're planning to do so. - If we expect that only the people who bought tickets ahead of time will be attending and more show up and pay at the door, especially without even making a reservation, there won't be enough tables set up and there won't be as much food per person as we'd planned. I've been told that not allowing ticket sales at the door is unfair to those who for some reason can't get tickets at a support group meeting or mail me a check, but is short-changing those who bought their tickets in advance fair? - If people make reservations ahead and state that they'll pay for their tickets at the door, and we count on their attendance (and payments), but many don't show up (as happened last year), there certainly are more than enough tables set up and there's plenty of extra hors d'oeuvres, but our total expenses are higher than they needed to be, which means that, at best, we've raised less money for ASBS than we could have or, at worst, we haven't taken in enough money to cover our expenses and some people need to donate extra money to help us pay the bills (thus paying for those who wanted to get tickets at the door but didn't show) and we've raised nothing for ASBS. So what should we do? How should we handle this? Please give me your input. Thank you, Debby

Well,if I can get tickets at door,I can definetley go,I get paid every two weeks,and guess what,,thats my pay week,I live pay to pay,and cannot ever save extra with all my new additions in house,so with that,if tickets are allowed at door,me and my hubby are in with a passenger we planned on picking up too.Let me know..Cyndee

Hi, Cyndee! As Denise said, we won't turn away anyone at the door; we're just trying to plan accurately. So you and your hubby will go on the list of those with reservations who are paying at the door. See you then, Debby P.S. Thank you for offering your passenger the ride so that she can join us, too.

HEllo everyone, I just want to emphasize if it is possible to get tickets ahead of time it would really help us out in getting the room ready for the event. i have to believe that we wouldn't turn people away at the door but we'd also would hate to have to interupt our great time by having to bring in extra tables and chairs. we will be set up for a certain percentage over but again, we do need to make final payment befor ethe event and ticket sales are our only way to get the money that we need to pay this very large bill. If i can do anything to facilitate getting tickets to you guys just let me know. and of course we can make special arrangements if you can't pay until that evening. i am soo excited that its almost here. i am looking forward to it. we always have a great time. Denise

Hi Debby- well I an certainly sympathize with the situation. Having been one of the first people to organize outside get-togethers for our folks, I've been there and had to deal with this too (amongst other things!). I think you should take your cue from other orginazations that hold meetings and events. So- being in that industry- and a past volunteer program director for a non-profit organization for meeting planners (talk about pressure! meeting planners are NEVER short on opinions when it comes to meeting they attend) that held monthly meetings where F&B (food & beverage) were involved- let me give my opinion- Generally, it IS customary to have tickets available at the door- for events that are NOT sit down dinners. Frankly, your catering director or meting manager at the hotel should be able to advise you on dealing with this, AND should be familiar with it to boot- They may have standard percentage advice. (If they aren't able or willing to assist and give advice- shame on them- and please don't consider holding another event with them) Generally, what you do is confirm for just a few more people than you are expecting (say 10% or so) when you know there are people who want to 'walk up'. People never wind up eating what you'd expect, some don't eat at all and some eat lots- so worrying about having enough finger food for say 10 people who walk up, when you only confirmed for 5 is not really much of an issue, especially since it's likely that some of the people who paid in advance won't even show up (family emergencies, calls to work, etc). If you got 25 people who walk in, and you only confirmed for five- and everybody who paid showed up- WELL- then, it may be necessary to have a little 'emergency re-group' with your catering manager on site that evening to apprise them of the situation and that you will need a bit more food. They WILL be able to adjust. Therefore- The theory would be that you pay for the priviledge (and inconvenience to the planners) of getting the tickets at the event, without notice- most AT DOOR or WALK UP sales are higher priced than advanced sales tickets. That's the way the world generally works it. Now, I'm not saying you should GOUGE people, but a slightly higher cost would be justifiable and in order. After all, the real goal IS to raise money for charity, not to have the organizers go broke trying to arrange some fun for a group of poeple. After you get a few events under the old belt that way- and keep records of how many people signed up pre- and how many walk ins at particular events- you will be able to guage and plan for an average number or % of walk ups for the group in the future. That will make your planning easier in the future. You know, it occurs to me that I really SHOULD be helping with this stuff, since it is part of my business and experience. So, I should be volunteering to get involved... which I am officially doing now (too late for this meetng). Please let me know how I can help in the future. I feel that my participation has been less than admirable and I would like to get involved in something I could be helpful with. Perhaps this is the way. If there is a committee or something- let me know. I can also help you with registration desk issues and how to keep track of people for future reference- let me know if you've got that down or need help...I also know personally LOTS of the CT hotel folks and that would be very helpful with negotiations, etc- but now, I'm digressing completely- you let me know if you want any future help. On a personal note- I'm not much of a 'planner' in terms of things on my personal calender- I like to see how things go with life and such, and attend things where and when I can- so that would put me firmly in the WALK UP category. I don't mind paying more for deciding last minute or not wanting to pay in advance and then loose my money if I don't come... Do let us know what you decide- b/c I will consider attending if I can make the decision at the last minute and walk in. I do have JUST the dress too! I send you KUDOS for all the hard work being done to plan this. I KNOW just how much work it really was- and will be- even on the night of. very best, Lisa C

Hi, Lisa! Thank you for your detailed response. You made a lot of good points, many of which (like charging a little extra for "walk-ins") I am aware of, but for some reason didn't think of when we planned this function. We definitely would welcome your involvement in the planning next year. We don't want to turn people away at the door. If more people show up than we planned for, certainly the Crowne Plaza (which has a restaurant) can come up with extra food, although not necessarily more of what we originally ordered. I guess my "fear" (too strong a word, but can't think of a better word right now) of not bringing in enough money to cover expenses goes back to our 1st CT message board pre-holiday party back in 2004, when we had to "pass the hat" for donations in order to have enough money to pay the bill, after some people made reservations and didn't show up. (It should be noted that everyone paid at the door that afternoon...a mistake we haven't made again.) Hope to see you on the 31st, Debby

OMG! Yup! That was actually our 2nd event- AND the 2nd event that we had attendance issues with! Yeah- I'm with you on it being MUCH easier if everyone pays upfront as much as possible. There is NOTHING worse than coming up short handed. If I remember correctly- that was the meeting I met you at- no?

Hi, Lisa! You're right...it was our 2nd event, but it was our 1st pre-holiday party. We actually met at the 1st event -- dinner at a restaurant in Middletown in Sept. 2004. I found out about it just a couple of wks. earlier when I met Kathy K. at my very 1st Middlesex support group meeting and she invited me to the dinner. It was such a nice way to be welcomed to my new WLS "family". Debby