RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

I think this would be a huge step in the right direction. The primary 
potential downside I see, I guess, is that a lot of folks make the 
decision to go/no-go when they're still at home, not when they walk up 
to the door, so having some mechanism to alert people "hey! this show is 
non-smoking! it's safe to come out!" as far in advance as possible would 
have the biggest benefit, in terms of increasing attendance among those 
folks for whom smoke is a big issue. And I assume that increasing 
attendance would be an important sign that the plan was working, right?

So the clearer the policy, the better. Folks will really appreciate it 
if the room is smoke-free, but unless they realize that this is due to a 
clear policy shift, it may not sink in that they can start planning to 
hit more shows in the future.

And I'll make sure to look around & do a headcount next time I'm at a 
show & suddenly realize that the smoke-danger-alert bells are going off 
in my head.

Ross

p.s. for John I. -- dude, "bars" are places where they serve drinks & 
people play pool & chat & flirt with each other, and there's no cover 
charge. Local 506 is a rockclub. There are still approximately 50000000 
bars in the Triangle where you can sit & drink and smoke. There are 
quite a few within walking distance of the 506, even, so you can slip 
out between bands & light up, if you feel the need to so while sitting & 
drinking, rather than just standing on the sidewalk.

And you're saying that you can't smoke at home? Shouldn't that tell you 
something? ;-)

Glenn Boothe / Local 506 wrote:
> Just curious what people think about this:
>
> I'd like to think that smoking really only becomes a deterrent at the
> bigger shows.  When there is only a small crowd, then there usually
> isn't enough smoke to bother someone and if it is, it's probably
> centralized to the bar area, so non-smokers should be able to find a
> suitable place that's less smoky.
>
> The problem for me is knowing just how many people are going to attend
> a particular show.  For example, The Shanklys sold no advance tickets
> and close to 150 people attended.  The Subways sold over 120 advance
> tickets and had only slightly more than The Shanklys..
>
> What about this idea:  If Local 506 sold more than 50 advance tickets
> (or whatever number seems appropriate, might take some time to
> determine) - then the show would automatically become smoke-free?
>
> If we knew how big the crowd was in advance, we could put up no-smoking
> signs and remove the ashtrays.  And for our smaller shows, we can
> operate just like any other bar (as we tend to do a decent portion of
> our business after the bands finish on some of the slower nights.)
>
> Let me know...glenn
>
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