re: socials meets

3 Jul 2006

just wanted to see what the rules are concerning organiosing social meets for peple , so far only rule i have seen is that banned members CANNOT attend ( which i agree ) as we from our chat room are organising a social meet in july and seem to be questioned as to why we charging Â£5 ( thats for hire of function room , buffet ) now to me Â£5 just covers the cost and is only the price of not quite 2 pints , if any left ( which i doubt ) then that would be carried forward to next one or to a charity depending on chats rooms majority vote , as most that are coming DONT disagree with this price a chat mod on this site seems to be kicking up , yet we are not forcing anyone to come ... just wanted to see what other people on this site thought of this ??
thxs for reading and taking time to reply
redface

:!:

3 Jul 2006

Personally i think Â£5 is very cheap as hiring function rooms costs a fortune and as you mentioned it's less than two pints, i for one would be pleasantly surprised at such a small entrance fee so go with it !!!
I'm not far from you so let me know when and where and i'd like to pop along to say hello cool

3 Jul 2006

the subject of "paying" has always been a thorny one on sh.....
for example...... what normally happens at munches is that we normally have a whip round and if it more than covers costs then the rest goes to charity....
at the muches that i have organised, i have always been said that i am happy to cover all the costs and that all the money collected goes to charity,
I don't think anyone ever wants to see organisors go out of pocket, and i don't think it has ever happened.... i think the problem that the people have is the sense of having to pay to go to an event.. righty or wrongly

3 Jul 2006

Quote by bigblonde
just wanted to see what the rules are concerning organiosing social meets for peple , so far only rule i have seen is that banned members CANNOT attend ( which i agree ) as we from our chat room are organising a social meet in july and seem to be questioned as to why we charging Â£5 ( thats for hire of function room , buffet ) now to me Â£5 just covers the cost and is only the price of not quite 2 pints , if any left ( which i doubt ) then that would be carried forward to next one or to a charity depending on chats rooms majority vote , as most that are coming DONT disagree with this price a chat mod on this site seems to be kicking up , yet we are not forcing anyone to come ... just wanted to see what other people on this site thought of this ??
thxs for reading and taking time to reply
:!:

You've said that any excess money you don't, as yet, know what to do with.
Just taking things from what I've learned over my time on SH, this is a bit of a hornets nest - hence the strict regulation on charging people for events.
What happens if you get a massive turnout? You will have quite an excess of money.
"you will carry the money forward to the next one" - what if the people who go can't make the next social? You can get people demanding that you change the date as they have already contributed towards it and are entitled to have a date they can do. What if people don't want to go to the next one for some reason, yet in a small way they're sponsoring it when they don't want to?
"donate the remainder to a charity" - which charity? Presuming that everyone is happy to donate to a charity that is. There are people on here, for their own reasons, don't give money to charities, or even certain charities. Why should they be made to pay towards a "charity" just because they want to attend a swingers social??
As for the buffet - how many people go to a social to eat??? dunno

How many people would begrudge paying for a buffet they have no intention of eating plus donating to a charity they begrudge sponsoring/sponsoring the next do they have no intention of going to??
I'm being really negative here - primarily because when the social gets nearer, all the problems and all these questions get landed at our feet. You say an OP has been questioning you about it - and why shouldn't they? When we get these problems shoved to us, we are expected to know the answers!!
Asking em beforehand makes sure everyone is prepared. From experience, these questions do get asked and debated - making the social one hell of a trial, as opposed to the good ol fashioned knees up, that you're expecting. Keep things simple I say, people go cos of the company, not cos of a buffet or any other trimmings biggrin

Like I said, once you introduce a fixed 'charge' you're almost asking for problems. Not being the pessimist here - ok I am :lol2: But it's just being based on what I've learned so far.
Good luck :D

3 Jul 2006

Whilst it is against the rules to profit, there have been munches where there has been a Â£1 - charge to cover costs of room/buffet and this is acceptable.
Personally I think Â£5 a head does seem steep. Having said that there's on average 100 guests at a munch. If this is a chatroom function and there's only 20 people, then I suppose it could be seen as reasonable.
The post does explain that the amount is to cover costs and any left over will go to future socials or charity which again seems reasonable. Maybe this wasn't made as clear in the chatroom where the pace of chat is quicker and there's not a constant record of it. dunno

3 Jul 2006

Quote by HornyLittleBlonde
Personally I think Â£5 a head does seem steep. Having said that there's on average 100 guests at a munch. If this is a chatroom function and there's only 20 people, then I suppose it could be seen as reasonable.

Thing is, if there are the 20 or so people turn out - you don't really need the expense of hiring of a function room dunno

100 person turn out and there's a pretty big float, regardless of the fact that it's "only the price of two pints per person" confused

3 Jul 2006

Quote by Missy
Thing is, if there are the 20 or so people turn out - you don't really need the expense of hiring of a function room

Quite right. Usually if a munch organiser is charging Â£1 a head and the room holds 120 it's pretty reasonable to assume a room that size could cost Â£100 and give or take a few people dropping out, the excess can be given to charity or left as a tip for the bar staff.
Â£5 a head without knowing the number of attendees could easily be or at least be viewed at profit making. However if this is a smaller chatroom group (say 20 people) and they have agree to split the cost equally among them then maybe that would be more sensible. That way of more people go the cost is just reduced and there's no argument of what to do with the excess

3 Jul 2006

Quote by Missy
Personally I think Â£5 a head does seem steep. Having said that there's on average 100 guests at a munch. If this is a chatroom function and there's only 20 people, then I suppose it could be seen as reasonable.

Thing is, if there are the 20 or so people turn out - you don't really need the expense of hiring of a function room dunno

100 person turn out and there's a pretty big float, regardless of the fact that it's "only the price of two pints per person" confused

I've got the bit between my teeth now :lol2:
Bigblonde, you say a "chatroom op is kicking up" (I call it finding out details :? ) - but now there are more people wondering what's going to happen with this fixed fee, are they in your opinion 'kicking up' too??. This is what the chatroom op would want answers for, so they can also answer when people ask questions, safe in the knowledge that you're not taking the piss out of the site.
This sounds one of the problems with organising a social or a munch.
Thing is, as Missy says, if it is small numbers then it hardly needs a function room but if the numbers build up then it could. Either way it shouldn't need as much as Â£5, which is the highest I've heard.
Why not take it flexibly - start on the basis it'll be small. If it grows in numbers then you may have to book a room in which case the numbers multiplied by a smaller amount will cover it.
At this stage just say 'a small charge (no more than ) will be made to cover expenses'. If it comes to more than then you might pass the cap around at the event but otherwise it is a risk you take.
.

3 Jul 2006

Â£5 a head could seem steep compared to the Â£1 or Â£2 for a Munch..........but a buffet was mentioned...........I know from organising my engagement and wedding do's, that some function rooms insist on you using their caterers and that the charge is approx to per head. Obviously I don't know if that is the case on this occasion, but buffets do cost an absolute fortune.
Les x

3 Jul 2006

Quote by couple_ne2000
Â£5 a head could seem steep compared to the Â£1 or Â£2 for a Munch..........but a buffet was mentioned...........I know from organising my engagement and wedding do's, that some function rooms insist on you using their caterers and that the charge is approx to per head. Obviously I don't know if that is the case on this occasion, but buffets do cost an absolute fortune.
Les x

For a wedding yes. For a group of 20 strangers you've never met - no wink

I know myself and other people often look around to find good venues. There are lots of pubs and clubs that would charge a fortune and insist you have their buffet & their DJ. It's just a question of shopping around. Particularly if it's a small group.
We have had Mini Munches where pubs have sectioned off an area and have not charged.

3 Jul 2006

Quote by HornyLittleBlonde
Â£5 a head could seem steep compared to the Â£1 or Â£2 for a Munch..........but a buffet was mentioned...........I know from organising my engagement and wedding do's, that some function rooms insist on you using their caterers and that the charge is approx to per head. Obviously I don't know if that is the case on this occasion, but buffets do cost an absolute fortune.
Les x

For a wedding yes. For a group of 20 strangers you've never met - no wink

Not even for wedding guests in my case.......I'm tight!!
Yup, I shopped around for the cheaper deals.
For my engagement party I could have the function room for free, but any food had to be provided by them. It was going to be about Â£5 per person, which was too much, so I just suggested that people went for a pizza before, or after.
After all, most of the buffet goes to waste anyway.
Les x

3 Jul 2006

One of the things you do when organising any social is weigh up the risks and paying things out of your own pocket and hoping that enough people attend on the night, is how the majority of previous munches/socials have been organised in the past. I am not saying that is the right way to go about it, but in my opinion, I would not like people to be expected to pay out money up front, and as a few of the others have already mentioned, 'pay on the door' is another way of covering costs (or just sending round a glass on the night)
I personally think that Â£5 per head is expensive and I know from the previous five munches I have organised, that with a bit off effort and a shed load of phone calls, you can find really decent rooms which are either dirt cheap or free.
I did put on a buffet at the first two munches I did but found that more food was thrown away than eaten as a lot of people just were not interested in food (and no, it wasnt my cooking) wink

That said, I did manage to cover all my costs for a lot less than Â£5 each (the last buffet was to feed around a 100 people and cost around Â£150 including paper plates, napikins etc which can be picked up from places like Tesco for around Â£1 for 100).

4 Jul 2006

seems this has kicked up a "hornets nest " first of all this is our second social that has been organised and at the first we just had in a pub and mixed with others so could not really chat as wanted .. so we prefered a room seperate , next most people moaned that there was no food there , so this we have soreted this time , also the cost was put to all who were interested and ALL agreed it was ok at the cost mentioned , lastley no -one is forcing anyone to come as its up to them if they don,t want .... as for the site rules i have looked again and can,t find anything about charging for things i.e. socials .
this is for a room that we frequent most nights and most people have already met everyone in there , but at the most we are talking about 30-35 people , and who after a few drinks have not had the "munchies " . Also i am not the organiser of this "social " but have wanted to voice my opinion that someone who goes to the trouble of organising such a event is questioned as to the cost involved and i know this person will not organise anymore which is to "our " room depriment , lastly this is a evening social and not a munch , to me i may be wrong but i though munches where for lunchtimes or day times ( i could be wrong ) but i am going by several years experience on other sites and this one . I was a so called Swinger when we didn,t have computers and you had to write to the person through a magazine ( methinks it was easier and less time-wasters then ) but this is getting away from the subject , lastley meaning no offence or trying to be funny i thought a MOD was someone who kept eye on the rooms and people on this site to adhere to the rules ??? so please point me in the direction of where i find the rule about charging for a social as I can,t find it ?? so if a MOD could help i will be very thankful ...... thxs to those who replied to my recent comments, it seems that the cost of living has hit everyone .... many thxs to all for reading and replying XXXX
FREE SPEECH IS JUST THAT rolleyes

4 Jul 2006

You mean this?

Is there a cost involved?
We all love a freebie, but you may incur costs for buffets, DJs, hire of the room, door/bar staff, etc. This Site is a free Site and we therefore do not allow advertising for any function likely to make a profit. However, we don't expect you to be out of pocket either! Don't just think of a number and say you'll keep the balance or give it to a charity. Work out costs per head. In the past it's been OK to 'pass a hat round' as the only source of income for the night, to put towards the cost of bar/door staff or the DJ. OK, but don't do it several times during the night for each category. Once and once only.

Taken from this - http://www.swingingheaven.co.uk/terminology/munch.html
hope that helps.
Mal
wink

4 Jul 2006

BigBlonde
I have to agree you seem to have done everything right.
The site rules are regarding "organising events for profit" the issue is this is difficult to see who is covering costs and who is doing it for profit.
I think the ops were just trying to determine this when they were asking the question - not an easy task
I hope you enjoy the social night and have a great evening :thumbup:

4 Jul 2006

kkks s]

4 Jul 2006

Quote by slacky
kkks s]

:?:

4 Jul 2006

Quote by bigblonde
lastley meaning no offence or trying to be funny i thought a MOD was someone who kept eye on the rooms and people on this site to adhere to the rules ???

Now do you mean MOD or OP
There is a difference.....

4 Jul 2006

sorry accident didnt mean to post anything - dropped my phone on keyboard!

4 Jul 2006

Quote by slacky
sorry accident didnt mean to post anything - dropped my phone on keyboard!

:giggle: :rotflmao:
:thumbup:

4 Jul 2006

All sounds very complicated to me!
All the talk about people who don't want to pay for buffet because they're not eating and don't want the left over money going to this or that charity or any charity or I'm teetotal so should pay less etc etc sounds like a horrendous group of peeps ... sort of "I paid Â£x so must be sure I get Â£x worth of food/drink and he drank more than me so should pay Â£x+ etc etc" ... creepy!
It's all swings and roundabouts, some will get less and some will get more so evens out overall!
I think that unless it looks like the organiser is ripping people off - and I don't think that's the case here - once the initial opinion gathering has been done, it has to be a case of the organiser making an 'executive decision' really and telling people "This is what the cost will be because it cost Â£x for the room, Â£x for the buffet and I'm expecting around this many people attending. Any money left over will go to staff as tips or to this charity" ... then people who are interested will go and those who object to something or other won't.
You can't meet everyones requirements all the time no matter how hard you try - and if you keep trying to, nothing will happen.
cool

4 Jul 2006

The organisers were asked very simple questions. Nothing complicated and nothing difficult. We got the answers back and were happy with it. Someone else who is not the organiser suddenly decided to kick off at the intrusion of asking for this information. If someone wants to pay Â£20 per head for a buffet and Â£500 for a room, we're not in the slightest bit interested, only that they were not doing it for profit. The information we received showed that it wasn't so we were ok with it. It wasn't the moderators who started this thread.
Hope that helps
Mal
wink

4 Jul 2006

Any fixed price for attending a party would seem like a profit making venture to me, especially if they were going to be advertised again.
If they get popular then you are going to make profit if you've fixed a price based on smaller numbers.
That's apart from all the other problems that others have listed about expectations regarding food, dates etc.
Jas
XXX

4 Jul 2006

Quote by Mal
The organisers were asked very simple questions. Nothing complicated and nothing difficult. We got the answers back and were happy with it. Someone else who is not the organiser suddenly decided to kick off at the intrusion of asking for this information. If someone wants to pay Â£20 per head for a buffet and Â£500 for a room, we're not in the slightest bit interested, only that they were not doing it for profit. The information we received showed that it wasn't so we were ok with it. It wasn't the moderators who started this thread.
Hope that helps
Mal

As organiser of this event i would like to say that yes i was asked some questions which i have answered truthfully. This event was spoke about amonst regulars in the 'south coast room' after we had been to a previous social night, which was held in a pub where we had no privacy for our function and we were also not allowed to smoke. After a discussion about it i offered to hire a room and we all agreed to a Â£5 charge in order to pay for the room costs & provide a buffet as we only expected about 30 or so people to turn up. There was never any intention on my part to make any profit out of arranging this night and therefore i have now closed the list as we have enough people to cover costs.
southwest7 xx

4 Jul 2006

Correct me if I'm wrong (cos usually am rolleyes

), but wasn't this thread was put up asking for peoples thoughts, I gave mine and explained potential problems that have happened in the past. Shouldn't I have done that? redface

As organiser of this event i would like to say that yes i was asked some questions which i have answered truthfully

Which is all people ask for, thank you. As an outsider, who's never used the south coast chatroom, looking in, with my name originally on the list (unfortunately can't go anyway sad

)- I didn't have a clue what any previous discussions had been about, what had come from them, what had happened before etc, yet expected to hand over money for this privilege.
The amount of people that try to use this site as a platform to make money is unbelievable, completely mad - so forgive us when we seem over cautious. There have been many people questioned about socials going on, mostly kept to PMs and off the forums. But this was asked to be talked about as a new thread - it now seems like a one off occasion when an organiser has been asked questions. It's not the case, with any social/munch, if something isn't clear enough, then questions will get asked.
None of us ask questions to be awkward or pedantic - We do it so when people see these socials advertised, they know that it's done purely for the same reasons you're doing it - because they want to, because they don't mind putting themselves out for others to enjoy a night out. Not because of any profit or gain, which is, all too often, an unfortunate side effect of a site of this nature.