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  • From: Chris Rossi <nospam AT spacelabstudio.com>
  • To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: Local 506 vs. Smoking
  • Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2007 10:32:06 -0400

I continue to be amazed that there is still smoking of any kind at Local 506. I can understand, somewhat, why bars that are primarily just bars would still keep smoking. But the Local 506 is closed on nights there aren't shows, right? The only draw for the 506 is the music. The vast majority of your potential customers don't smoke. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a sizable number of those customers are deterred from attending shows because of the smoking problem. I personally missed a number of shows I had been excited about seeing this winter because I didn't want to expose my sinus infected respiratory system to the intense cloud of smoke that lives at the 506. Even with healthy lungs I'm more likely to pop in on a Nightlight just to see what's going on, than a show at the 506--I need to already know there's something I want to see there, if I'm going to put myself in that environment. I have never heard of any smoker not going to a rock show because they couldn't smoke. Never. They will come and they'll deal with a non-smoking venue if they want to see the band. It makes clear and obvious business sense to simply ban smoking from your club.

Of course, if it were just the business case, I wouldn't care so much, but the fact is that second hand smoke is a serious health concern. Even if the NC legislature is slow to act, there's no reason not to be proactive in protecting the public health of the 80% of people who don't smoke from the 20% that do. It's simply the right thing to do. And I'm amazed that OSHA doesn't have something to say about employees having to work in a smoke filled environment. It was this past New Year's Eve, I was twiddling my thumbs after sound check, when the girl working the door walked behind the bar, opened her purse, produced an inhaler, took a couple of good hits off of that, and went back to working the door. If that isn't an argument for banning smoking from your club I don't know what is.

You can experiment with half measures all you want, I suppose, but I'm skeptical they'll do much lasting good, and the argument for a total ban just seems like a no-brainer to me.

xoxox
chris


local506 AT gmail.com wrote:
Although this discussion died down on here, it's still something I've
been battling on a regular basis at the club. Recently, by request of
the artist, we tried restricting smoking to the bar-area only, while
no smoking was allowed in the room where the artist performed. And it
worked really well - I got several comments about how (somehow!) the
smoke itself didn't infiltrate the smoke-less room (or likely, it did
so at ceiling-level, not head-level!) And this show was well-
attended, over 100 people.

Anyway, I'm seriously considering this as a permanent policy, but
looking for feedback before making this decision.

glenn / local 506

ps: Of course, all Summer I've been seriously considering adding wine,
updating our Reverbnation page, taking a vaction, among other things,
and they haven't happened yet (but Summer's not over!)

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