RTP-area local music and culture

[Chris Rossi <nospam AT spacelabstudio.com>]

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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