NMG facing major overhaul
A return to members-only ticketing is one of a raft of ideas under consideration by New Mardi Gras (NMG).
Around 60 people filled Heffron Hall on Saturday to offer ideas and feedback after this year’s Sleaze Ball, billed as possibly the last, sold only 4000 tickets.
The idea of returning to a members-only ticketing model was raised during wider discussions around changes to the membership model.
“The current model involves members getting a range of benefits which include discounted tickets, and we’re looking at where we can introduce new benefits,” NMG CEO Michael Rolik told Sydney Star Observer.
“One idea is that we set up something with retailers where you get a discount if you show your membership card.
“But another thing that came up was that, in years gone by, you actually had to be a member of the company to buy tickets to many of the events, unlike today where anyone can buy a ticket.
“When we looked at that it was pretty clear by doing that we’d get more people engaged who’d want to belong to the organisation, buy tickets and be part of it.
“There’s income that comes from having more members, just as a volume thing, whereas the current model has limits to the number of members you can realistically get.”
[poll id=”42″]
NMG is also considering rasing funds from the parade itself, through ideas such as food and drink stalls and additional ticketed seating.
“We’re looking at the entire parade route and what additional experiences we can create for people who really come to view the parade,” Rolik said.
“Some people will want the complete treatment, while others will be happy with access to a toilet and coffee machine and basic seating. It’s just one thing we’d explore and we’d obviously have dialogue with our current partners in that.”
Rolik said there had also been discussion around changing dates and venues for NMG’s existing parties.
“It’s not on the cards for this year, but it’s something we’ll seriously look at. When it was raised in the meeting no-one who put their hand up was violently against it, and at the same time there was caution, but I could see people were thinking ‘that could be something’.”
Rolik said the forum had been an opportunity for the organisation to be frank about the realities they worked under and that had shown in the quality of the ideas and feedback they got back.
“We disclosed more than we’ve ever done about the challenges we face and the market we operate in and why we’re here- the benefit back to the community groups,” he said.
“If we’re successful and our events are successful then that means we do have a parade and people get their messages out — which is what the parade is all about.”
I agree with you Anthony 100% By combining parties together will also seem appealing to overseas visitors, if they can attend 2 different parties in one night with one ticket at the same venue it will be a more attractive offer for them financially. This will also be a more attractive offer for locals also.
As for paying for top name acts – well that can go, we have enough amazing talent in Australia who would love the chance to get up and sing a couple of numbers, Rogue Traders did an amazing job a few years back.
As for the day parties in the same venue, that is a good idea but will NMG have to pay double for insurance and will it give them enough time to pack up and move out, also they need to take into account security and such, how hard will that hit them financially?
Members only ticketing wont address the lack of people attending and agree with Mike Smith.
For years Mardi Gras never competed against the likes of hugely popular Toybox and other smaller parties till they finally took enough people to hurt the Parties.
Either compete with them head on or join forces with them.
Day parties are hugely popular so why not a Day Party/s on the Sunday after Mardi Gras and Sleaze ? use the Halls as much as possible instead of just the one night.
Dont pay for so called Stars who are on stage for just a few minutes. If they are free then fine but do pay for mega
DJ’s who have the reputation/following to headline in some of the Halls then you get more bang for your buck as they can play a 3hr set.
And Ben you can combine the 2 ie big party and small party as there are plenty of great halls at Fox to suit all tastes.
@ Jess, I never mentioned straight parties. There are plenty of Gay & Lesbian parties happening on the same weekend. I don’t know where you got “straight” parties from.
Time to go…….NMG!
Jesse:-
Factual matter – The NSW Government announced $400,000 funding for Mardi Gras back in 2008.
And a personal opinion –
Is a day time parade possible? Maybe finish it at the Showground with a lazy afternoon in the sun.
Parties…I dunno. Fashions and tastes change, move on. Are there any ‘big’ parties or do people want the allure of a small specialised party. What do the Under 30’s and Under 40’s think??
Oh and get television coverage, thats a huge one!
I’m pretty sure that NMG take DJ’s from the Future Music Festival, at least they got David Guetta.
I don’t think that having a party on the same day would be viable, the whole point of Mardi Gras is that its a gay party, imagine the crap that could possibly happen if you put Mardi Gras patrons next to ‘straight’ patrons, it could end really badly.
I honestly think its all in the marketing, there is a problem and it needs to be sorted, you have the fundamentals, just figure out what people want and then do it, you can buy Future Music tickets now and thats not on till Mardi Gras weekend so maybe start now, get the hype up.
I’ll be the first to admit that there is no easy and quick fix in finding a solution to increase attendance to Mardi Gras and Sleaze Ball. And what NMG is doing by holding forums and talking about is to me a step in the right direction. I’ll also admit to saying that there is no right and no wrong suggestions to what people put on the table, it’s more a case of finding the appropriate solution to fix the problem.
I was unable to attend the forum last Saturday due to other commitments, so I’m not going to jump on my soap box and say what I think is right or wrong.
NMG are looking for ideas from the public, and from what I gathered from reading the article NMG offered their ideas for people to think about. Again, I admit having the parade and party on separate dates wasn’t a good idea, but some thought it was brilliant.
One idea that does come to mind though to increase Mardi Gras attendance at the party, is to look at all the other parties happening over that weekend, now before anyone hauls off and smack me upside the back of the head verbally, this is ONLY a suggestion. Perhaps it might be worth NMG looking at taking on another party organiser as a partner, what I mean is have two parties that are held on the same weekend at the same time in the same venue. Mardi Gras can have the RHI and another party can have the Horden, but both parties share the common area. One ticket will let you into both venues and the cost split accordingly.
The problem is, is that there are too many parties happening at once, and even the GLBT community are getting stung with increasing living costs and interest rate hikes, that financially people can’t afford to go to all parties, and the ones that do go to all parties are really a select few. If two parties in the same venue were to take place on the one night, this MIGHT increase numbers and be a financial gain for NMG and what ever organisation they get involved with.
This is an idea that has only sprung to mind now, and I haven’t thought out the nuts and bolts of the whole thing, but it’s me offering a suggestion that could possibly be taken on as an avenue for NMG to look into.
Members only ticketing doesn’t address the lack of attendance. In fact, all it will do is reduce attendance of an already declining audience. Once again NMG comes up with ideas without any qualified charitable fudnraisers.
Thats why I think the Mardi Gras party is so successful because it is known as the place to be after the parade.*
No, I provide constructive criticism and questions that should be asked before any changes are made as these things need to be debated.
I think its best to leave the party and buying tickets open to everyone, not just to members and friends of members. Enticing people to become members through discounts and incentives is one thing, and that is good, heck I would join for that reason, but to make them become members to by tickets isn’t the right thing to do. You may end up finding that people simply won’t do it because they won’t have access to the discounts and all the cool stuff you get as a member because they do not live in the area where the discounts can be used, which could end up in lost revenue and a decline in the amount of people going to the party.
Honestly, if it were up to me I would strip the parade and take it back to its roots circa ’78, take a stand against the government and make them start funding an event that puts huge amounts of money back into the economy.
I think Sleaze Ball should be moved to the Halloween weekend as its a perfect fit for it because people want to dress up on halloween, I understand its all about the long weekend but wouldn’t it be better to instead of having loads of events on one weekend just have one huge one? and I have noticed that there are quite a shortage of real halloween parties at clubs.
I mean, apparently Sleaze Ball bombed, La Leche bombed and so on, don’t give people so many options, just say “This is the party to go to, it will be the biggest and the best!” Thats why I think the Mardi Gras party is so successful because it is known as the place to be after the party.
Finally, I think my biggest problem was that Sleaze Ball should get more performers to sing, Mardi Gras Party has a huge line-up of awesome DJ’s and performers, so should Sleaze Ball… all the reviews I have heard are just that “its the same old stuff I hear in clubs… but it costs $60”.
Congrats NMG for at least looking at what can be done.
I like the ide of returning to members-only parties, and I like the idea of moving dates – I’d suggest Harbour Party moves out of season and sits somewhere in the middle of summer to start with.
Not sure about parade ticketing, but certainly the idea of licensed food and merchandise vendors piques my interest.
Jesse – I note you just crap all over every idea without offering something constructive in return. If you think these ideas are bad – then offer something yourself.
If not, I suggest you cease the negativity and disappear somewhere dark and out of the way.
It is time we got behind NMG, forgot its mistakes and moved on.
And good on SSO for offering up this information …. nice to see it is still the paper with the community’s best interests at heart.
Jesse, Mardi Gras used to be a members ticket party which meant members could still get tickets for their friends. It worked very well and it can work again
Members-only ticketing is about as stupid as putting the parade and the party on different days.
What about people from overseas or from different states who don’t want to pay that extra money to get a membership just to buy a ticket to a dance party? Are we going to force them to?
What about teens and students who maybe can’t afford it and see it as something they may not need?
What about people from overseas?
And selling parade tickets is even worse, and how would you even monitor that? Maybe if you set up more stands around taylor square or even in Hyde Park, but I think to make people pay for the whole parade route would be way too difficult.