You're probably right, Mary.

The concerts are a big drain of energy.
We've had some great performers who
were a pleasure to work with. They supply
their own promo material, come prepared
and perform professionally. But then,
even some of the best fail to attract
audiences, because they are not well
known, and people seem unwilling to
come and hear performers that they
haven't heard (or heard of) before.

A few others are a pain to work with.
They don't promote themselves, come
unprepared, want all sorts of perks
and special conditions. That isn't fun.

The other thing is we're running out of
good performers. You'd think they'd be
breaking down the doors to get a booking.
Oh yes, we get occasional requests from
national booking agencies to book their
national (international) stars with
huge guarantees, etc. - that's a laugh.
Or even some locals who won't even consider
playing for the tip jar (our performers
usually get from $100 to $300 from the
tip jar depending on the audience size
and generosity).

Then there's the promotion. We send out
dozens of press releases - mostly ignored.
Our local community public radio station
rarely gives air time or announcements
for our performers - we continually
badger them with requests, to little
avail.

We could use a few volunteers. Setting
up for a concert is no big deal - the
coffeehouse has it mostly set up and
we don't need a sound system. But we
could use someone with better or different
ideas about promotion. And help with
booking - others with a broader acquaintance
of local talent - we've gone through most
of the local talent we are familiar with
and are reluctant to book the same people
over and over again.

These are some of the problems that make
it hard for just two people to handle.
The question is - is there a need for
this organization, and is it worth all
the effort?

Waiting to hear from more of you,

Cheers, S. in Seattle
and B. in Everett