How much would you pay to get into a kick ass RB party?

[hmxhenry]

With PAX East coming up, I've been doing some thinking about RB event stuff. For past RB parties we've charged to cover the cost of a venue or a specific event (movie screenings, for example) but there are a bunch of different options we could play with and I wanted to check with the community to see what seems reasonable.

Please weigh in on the above survey to let us know what you would be willing to pay to attend an RB party at an event like PAX East. Obviously you wouldn't pay as much to get into a house party as you would to get into a club, so to help gauge the scope of this event assume we mean a pro venue, a stage, a kick ass sound system, big screens, a bar, food / snacks, etc.

Feel free to post below if you have any additional thoughts. We always want to make sure that we can put on the best show possible, but also want to keep it affordable to fans. So let us know what you think is reasonable for a killer RB party and help us plan for future events! Thanks!

[SheSaidSheSaid]

You cover my plane ticket, I'll pay whatever door charge you want

[hmxhenry]

You cover my plane ticket, I'll pay whatever door charge you want

Imagine that I'm talking about a party right down the street from you and respond accordingly!

This isn't just a PAX East specific thing, as it'll help in event planning for future cons, shows, parties, etc.

[SheSaidSheSaid]

Imagine that I'm talking about a party right down the street from you and respond accordingly!

This isn't just a PAX East specific thing, as it'll help in event planning for future cons, shows, parties, etc.

Oh how I wish it were right down the street!

But until it is, it's sadly a non-starter (there are no 'cons' in my town). Cool that you're thinking about doing some extra special neat stuff for peoplezz, though =)

[RockBandRocker]

You cover my plane ticket, I'll pay whatever door charge you want

Seconded.

I do think that if some of the admission price went to Child's Play (or another charity), people would be willing to pay $20+ since they not only get to hang out with the HMX crew at an awesome party but also they are putting some money where it's needed.

[ErinAS]

I mostly like hearing you say Coconuts from the podcast in my head . I think base $15 and then whatever else people want to add to that for charity works for most situations

[JB4GDI]

Hey Aaron,

Just for some background, I’ve only done RB house parties, and I’ve been to a good chunk of the HMX Boston events (PAX East Rock Band Lounge, IB Rock Band Nights, etc…). I’ve never been to Umloud or any other major RB events, so I can’t use those as a reference. This’ll be super long, but I don’t want to miss anything.

What I want in a killer RB party.

There are really two baseline things that I want, and everything else would be above-and-beyond. 1. Meet awesome new people. 2. Rock out with them and my friends.

In terms of meeting/talking to people, it would mean having some separate lobby/lounge area where people could congregate without RB impacting the ability to hear. I’ve become a big fan of nametags at my parties as of late, and maybe you could even have a big whiteboard with “My name is __ and my biggest RB accomplishment is __” to help people break the ice.

Over-the-top ideas to make it extra awesome.

All of these cost money, but could be pulled off cheaply if you got creative.

Decorating the lobby/lounge like a small Rock Club (maybe even Ralph’s Diner in Worcester). The PAX East 2010 Rock Band Lounge made me feel like I was stepping into an actual location in the Rock Band world which was awesome. People were even graffiti-ing and putting stickers on the black cardboard walls. I totally loved it and haven’t seen something like that again.

Eat like a rock star! And for me, there is nothing more rock than jamming out with friends and eating cheap pizza and chips. It’d take a little bit of logistical work, but small mom-and-pop shops are usually happy to put in a big order, and you could sell the slices/whole pizzas at the event. If this happened around dinner time, I’d be all over it, and it’d give the out-of-towners a taste of the city from a local perspective.

Paparazzi time! If you had a photo booth or just someone with an iPhone, you could offer to have people get a band photo taken before or during a performance. You could even post them on Facebook so they can be like “yeah I was here and it was awesome.”

Pricing.

The difficult part! Most of the events I’ve hosted that had a cover were back in college, so I only do it now if the event will be a significant expense to me. But for me, I try to measure 2 things before I set the price.

1. How excited are people for this?
2. What value am I adding to the attendees?

Just going by the poll results alone, it seems like you’re onto something good, and people want to go even if they won’t be able to make it. So the question becomes one of value. The biggest value (without having anything planned yet) is…

Access to talk and chill with Harmonix people in real life.

But there are plenty of other things that would add value to attendees such as…

Will there be giveaways?
Is there a high likelihood of getting free stuff?
Will I get to play Rock Band more than once?
Food included?
Will other cool video game industry people be there?*

…and so on. The more valuable you make it, the more you can charge.

This leads me to my big point which is – I would rather have 50 people show up and pay $20 each, than to have 200 people show up and pay $5. I’ve seen the latter happen at a PAX party. The event was overcrowded to the point where it was hard to move around and have a conversation with anyone (even my friends that were there). It makes me hesitant to go to another party by that group.

I know for some, $20 seems steep, but I’d argue that the people who are willing to pay more understand value, and those are the people you most want to attend. People were outraged when the Wii Shop channel charged $5.00 for an NES game. In one interview, a spokesperson brilliantly responded to the outrage with "how much is that Starbucks coffee in your hand?" What else can you compare this event to price-wise?

If the event was just “come play Rock Band and HMX will bring the TV and stuff,” then yeah, there’s not much value in doing something you can do for free at home. But as you start answering yes to more questions like the ones above, you can safely up the price and people that you want to be there will gladly pay it.

Just judging by the interest here, I’d be willing to take a risk and make the cover at least $20. Even if you don't hit your attendance goal and you find out $20 is too much, the people that go will have an excellent time, and they'll tell their friends for the next time when the price drops.

-Jaime

*The HMX/IB/Giant Bomb Rock Band Night probably sold a bunch more tickets just because Giant Bomb filled the judges panel and those guys are hilarious. Tapping into built-in fan bases is always a win-win with partnerships like these.

[whypick1]

Should I just mail you guys my wallet now or wait until I'm at PAX and hand it to you in person?

[kitlerc]

Personally, I'm a cheapskate so I'd be comfortable paying $10. If you advertised food/swag I'd probably pay $20. $30 would probably be pushing it (but you know I would pay it cause I love you guys)

However, since I'm not going to be at PAX East, my opinion doesn't really matter so I won't actually vote in the poll.

[TwitchTV_ProdX]

Now I am even more excited to attend PAX East if there is a sweet RB party going down. I am def looking forward to this. I'll pay 20 or higher because you guys simply rock.