and there's this internet thing too. We have dedicated promoter sections on our web site, for each act (solo duo and band), with separate dedicated pages for clubs, festivals and theatres, each with downloadable copy, and posters PA specs etc.

So it's reasonably easy for organisers to pull down whatever they need to help promote a gig. We don't badger our mailing lists all the time though. It's too blunt an instrument for individual gigs and would annoy people after a short while. We do promote tours and specials though.

One problem I've noticed is that there's often a different person doing the bookings and the website. I put up a link to a club site (assuming they have one) the day the deal's done, but it's quite common to find, in the week of the gig, that there's nothing linking back to ours to tell people who we are, and let them listen to us and decide if they want to come along.

Not eveyone uses the web this way, of course, so websites can only reach a percentage of potential people, but it can help.