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Thread: Search continues for new SELEM venue for 2021 - post your ideas here!

  1. #1
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    Smile Search continues for new SELEM venue for 2021 - post your ideas here!

    Hey everyone;

    Just wanted to post an update on the search for a new venue for SELEM. Thus far I have not been able to find anything that suits our budget - at least not for any venue locations that are reasonably close to the South Eastern US. I had high hopes for the Savannah Art College, because they have several amazing facilities on their distributed campus and any one of them would have been ideal for SELEM. Alas, they were not able to offer us enough of a price discount to make that idea work. (I am not prepared to triple the registration fee for SELEM just to get a nice venue.)

    I was introduced to a venue owner in Kansas that has a very nice facility that would probably work well for a LEM, but due to it's location it's not going to work for SELEM. (I can't properly organize anything as big as SELEM at a venue that is 1200 miles from Charleston.) It might work for a separate event though (MWLEM?), so once I get more details from them regarding electrical capacity, the use of fog, and so on I will post the details here on PL and see if someone closer to the midwest would be willing to organize a separate event at that location.

    As for SELEM though, the search continues! If anyone has more suggestions for possible venues, please post them in this thread. Ideally we'd like to find an old school that has a gym, cafeteria, or theater (or even a gym / cafeteria combined, or a gym with a stage at one end) and also has a couple classrooms or other spaces. We don't need a venue that has all the features of the auditorium and school in Newton, but I'd like to get as many as possible (assuming we can afford it).

    Adam

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    Any chance of just staying put? Part of the charm is the place is beat up so no one has to be too careful.

    I hear airports have lots of empty space these days. Would pittsburg be to far? We might try to hit up the planetarium and open saturday to the public as partial payment? Lots of places to stay.

    maybe some science center might be open?

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by kecked View Post
    Any chance of just staying put? Part of the charm is the place is beat up so no one has to be too careful.
    I could swallow my pride and ask to return, yes. And I think they would probably be willing work something out. But I just don't trust them. I worry that we will be dealing with the same crap from the school board, not to mention all the problems with the air conditioning, the water leaking through the doors at the loading dock, and the ever-present threat that they will double-book the venue again. They have made it clear that they don't care if we return or not, so why would we? Why spend ~ $5K year after year just to deal with the same BS?

    I think there are lots of other venues like the one in Newton - old schools or theaters that have been re-purposed for other things. We just need to find them. These venues should be in our price range, and if they are hungry for business they might be more willing to give us the leeway we need to do some of the ad-hoc things you see at SELEM. (Can you imagine trying to get permission to run a singing tesla coil inside a conference hall at a hotel? The RF interference alone would be enough to earn you a hard no, not to mention the safety risks.)

    The main problem with Newton is the incompetent management that is currently in place, and I don't see that improving anytime soon. It wasn't always like this though. Back when SELEM first started (and Reggie was running the Auditorium), we had *great* support. True, the place was more run down, but they were spending money to fix it up. (We actually helped them out with a few projects in those early days.) But as things improved, the people who controlled the auditorium started to get greedy. Once Reggie moved on to a better position in another city the board never really tried to recruit anyone with similar skills to take his place. They just don't appreciate the level of effort required to keep the bookings coming in to a small theater in a small town.

    In fairness, part of the problem is the fact that they don't want to pay anyone enough to take the job unless they are desperate. So over the years since Reggie left the number of bookings began to decline, which hurt their revenue, which caused a downward spiral regarding the quality of the management as the title of "executive director" was passed through 5 different people. (Not counting a couple "temporary" postings.) At this point the venue itself is in free fall.

    Then there's the utter apathy that the school system has for us (or for anyone who wants to use the Gym or the Cafeteria). Reggie used to shield us from all the drama coming from the school, but when he left we were forced to deal with it because no one else wanted to. (And if we didn't do it, the school would just steamroll us. Several times we had to get the Mayor involved to break the impasse.) The school has been clear from the start: they get their money from taxes, so renting their facility is just more work for them. And if we are not a priority to them, we're going to get shafted at the first opportunity.

    These are the reasons why I think it's time for us to find a new venue. There *must* be other locations out there who would welcome our group. We are competent, we are generous in sharing access to our event, and we do an amazing job of cleaning up after we're done. Plus we bring in a ton of additional revenue to the community surrounding the venue. (Seriously, do the math: 50+ people for 6-7 nights in hotels or a BnB at ~ $100 per night is $30K + just in lodging!) Reggie was thrilled to have us, and was a genuine pleasure to work with. We just need to find another venue manager like him.

    I hear airports have lots of empty space these days.
    I'm sure that by the time SELEM 2021 happens the airports will be back to normal (or close to normal) operation. I'd prefer to find a venue that will continue to be affordable in the future. I want to build a lasting relationship with the new venue so we can keep coming back to it year after year, rather than having to renew the search for a suitable venue every couple years.

    Would pittsburg be to far?
    Definitely would not be my first choice. Also, I do have an ace up my sleeve: If I can't find something in the SouthEastern region, Brad has offered to host SELEM at his facility in Newark, DE. True, even that location is still 8 hours further North than Newton was, but Brad would be able to give us a similar level of autonomy that we've enjoyed in Newton in the past, and he can get us favorable rates that work with our existing budget.

    We might try to hit up a planetarium and open saturday to the public as partial payment?
    That might work, although a planetarium by itself would not have all the space we normally need for SELEM, and being open to the public would disallow many of the things we do at SELEM. Having that autonomy is a big part of why SELEM is successful; we can change things and adapt the event as we see fit. I don't think a commercial planetarium would be willing (or able) to grant us that sort of latitude. It might be more appropriate to schedule a separate event at a planetarium (or a science center / museum) that is based around sharing laser artwork with the general public, rather than SELEM's goal of sharing laser knowledge among laser hobyists / enthusiasts.

    Still, good ideas Marc! Please keep them coming!

    Adam

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    What about regular places that host weddings and wedding receptions?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Shadow View Post
    What about regular places that host weddings and wedding receptions?
    That's basically what Brad's venue is (The Executive Banquet and Conference Center in Newark, Delaware). Problem is, these types of venues often charge more than we can afford. ($1,500 to $2,000 for a 5 hour wedding reception is pretty typical.) Given how expensive everything else is for a wedding, I think these places get away with the high cost because "it's just expected"...

    We're fortunate in that Brad can negotiate us a favorable rate at his venue - provided we schedule SELEM during the week when demand for the ballroom is low. But most other commercial spaces of that size would be well beyond our budget.

    That being said, if anyone knows of a venue that would be willing to give us a break on rates, I'm definitely interested!

    Ideally we want an 8 hour day for load-in, two 14 hr days and two 16 hr days for the event itself, and an 8 hour day for load-out. Total budget is $5K to 6K max for all 6 days.

    Adam

  6. #6
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    Empty Hanger?

    Steve
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    Default Delaware...

    Personally, I'd love an excuse to drive to Delaware, if the hotel rates weren't so high. How are they around you, Brad?

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by lulighttec View Post
    Personally, I'd love an excuse to drive to Delaware, if the hotel rates weren't so high. How are they around you, Brad?
    Delaware works for me. So does a big ranch outside of Pittsburgh.

    Steve
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  9. #9
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    I say we rename it THE LEM and hold it smack in the middle of a Kansas corn field during tornado season.

  10. #10
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    I don't get any good results when I google search for venues. Most of them were for weddings. There were a few for bowling alleys haha imagine that, having an LEM at a bowling alley

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