Dick, you did indeed give us an excellent and professional performance at your last booking. I'm sorry you didn't get the attendance you deserved but it was neither our fault nor yours. Long after we had arranged the booking someone else arranged a private event on the same evening which drew away a large part of the potential audience. These things happen. Mumford and Sons are taking over the town for a weekend in a couple of months. I'm not sure how that will affect us.

there may be reasons such as poor publicity on the organisers part or a that is not popular venue

No. Poor attendance is relative to the norm. The case I had in mind consistently brought in single figures. I think the previous booking secretary had fobbed them off but I was a bit more honest and got cries of "unfair". They started lobbying the rest of the committee. They didn't get the booking.

The main point that I'm trying to make is that those looking for bookings need to have realistic expectations of organisers. We aren't professionals. We aren't getting paid. We are doing it for the love of it. We have some right to please ourselves how we do it.

Earlier someone said "the Guest slightly further down the thread who started off a post by stating "I don't much like Scottish songs" maybe shows the pitfalls there could be with one person holding too much sway". (With a smiley I grant you.) Er sorry? Why should someone put time and effort for free into organising an event they wouldn't enjoy?