Morning gang,

Today I received the following email from my restaurant client here in Troy.

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Hi Bill.

At this point, I am unsure of continuing with our Jan and Feb dates. Although I think you've been great, I haven't seen the return that I hoped to see. Business has actually decreased on most of the nights you've played over the last few months. I don't really know why that is, although it may have something to do with the fact that we picked the wrong nights of the week, OR most of my clientele wasn't into it for one reason or another. Additionally, having weighed the cost of the whole thing.... your weekly fee along with dinner, radio spots, and newspaper advertising..... has made this attempt a pretty expensive endeavor considering the reality of what actually happened to business volume levels on your nights.

Not too sure where to go from here. At this point, I would rather not continue in Jan and Feb. Having said that, I also realize that I extended my virtual handshake to you when we booked those dates and I am a person of my word. I am open to continuing if you feel like you are locked into those dates. As I said, it's a losing deal for me right now and I am hesitant to again spend advertising dollars on something that has been a non return.

On a personal note, all of us here feel as if your perfomances have been high caliber and very good. The above comments in no way are a reflection on your personal performances, etc.

Mike
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Some random thoughts:

*His original goal was to try and increase general traffic in the dining room and bar.

*My original goal was to find a steady gig on an off night for me grow into something worthwhile.

*While it is probably the best place in town, this town is still Troy, OH, which isn't Cincy or Cbus...or even Dayton.

*There is no history of live entertainment here. They've had a few things here and there but nothing steady like me. They've been open 15+ years smack dab in downtown Troy, OH.

*I think that for this place, having live entertainment may not be a money making proposition in the short term. What I have seen is different people every week putting $30-$50 in my tip jar even though the staff says the place wasn't very busy those nights. I was there on Thursdays in the Fall, then switched to Sunday supper hours in December. A completely different crowd, IMO. In Jan/Feb, it was to return to Thursdays.

*I have already booked several future engagements from people who have heard me here...That seems to have a long term potential to continue, I think.

*That said, I think if he sucked it up and committed to 6 months or so of steady weekly gigs on a consistent night, he'd see some results...I'm not a habit yet in anyone's mind probably due to the Thursday/Sunday/Thursday switch...

*I don't think in this town people...in December...are looking for things to do. Everyone is getting ready for Xmas, running around, parties, ect...So, it may not be the best time to make a determination on the future results.

*I am already giving him a cut rate of $100.00, + food for 3 hours. (Well, its cut rate for me, I guess...)I'm not really interested in dropping my price any more. The short term financial loss for me really isn't a concern...I can easily replace it with a 1 hour gig that pays the same kind of money.

*I think that the people who have heard me, enjoy me quite a bit. I've no explanation on why he may be slower on the nights he has me come in at all. If my tip jar was empty, if no one stopped by to chat with nice words, then I'd think I wasn't the right guy for the job...My feedback from the people I see is very positive...

*Options include:

1) Forcing him to honor the booked dates, which I think is unwise and taints the relationship for any future possibilities.

2) Propose dropping all advertising expenditures and continuing through the scheduled 2008 dates and then re-evaluate in February.

3) Take the high road, make it as easy on him as possible to get out of our agreement to leave the relationship in a positive way.

All comments, suggestions are welcome...

Bill in Dayton www.billcorfield.com

[This message has been edited by Bill in Dayton (edited 12-18-2006).]