Hi Wynn,
Thanks. Yes, I appreciate that there are significant costs to putting on live events, but if one can't turn some kind of profit from 75% of the door (plus sponsorship sometimes) then the simple truth is that maybe the event just can't run. Or, at the very least, perhaps there should be announcement at the start saying that the only reason the event exists is because the performer has agreed to work for free/very little.
Cheers
Richard
Prof Richard Wiseman
Psychology Department
University of Hertfordshire
Mob: 077 90905219
www.richardwiseman.com
________________________________________
From: psci-com: on public engagement with science [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Wynn Abbott [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 07 April 2015 11:56
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PSCI-COM] Performer's Charter for Science Festivals?
Hi Richard,
There's no such performer's charter that I'm aware of. Personally, I've compared notes with other festival managers when negotiating fees to try for some consistency because we talk to some of the same speakers - but not all science festivals have exactly the same pressures to consider when negotiating fees.
For example - you state below that this event will sell 300 tickets at £10, make a tidy profit (£3,000 being gross takings not profit), and the fee is therefore an insult...
...but, if you take into account the cost of the venue - especially in London and other big cities where an average venue could easily cost £3,000-5,000 for an evening event (not even a full day) - then take into account speaker fees (plus hotel + travel where applicable), staff costs (management and stewarding), marketing, insurance, ticketing costs etc. etc. it's a miracle that any profit would be made at all on an event this size, on ticketing alone.
...
Looking at this from another perspective - some speakers charge such huge fees and ask for unaffordable terms that they price themselves out of engaging the public in science at science festivals, and they are seeking huge profits: £10,000-£30,000+ per appearance in some cases.
Best,
Wynn
-----Original Message-----
From: psci-com: on public engagement with science [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Wiseman, Richard
Sent: 07 April 2015 10:51
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [PSCI-COM] Performer's Charter for Science Festivals?
Good morning
I have just heard about another big Science Festival offering to pay a speaker £150 whilst expecting to sell 300 tickets at £10 each! To help stop this kind of profiteering I think it would be great for Festivals to adopt a Charter that guarantees minimal fees for performers.
Basically, they would agree to always offer performers a minimum of 25% of the door, plus travel and accommodation. Obviously, some performers may want to negotiate more, and others may wish to decline the fee (if, for example, they thought that speaking at the event was part of their job, or were trying out new material), but this would be the performer's choice.
And the code would only apply to solo talks, and not panels, events where people were only doing a few mins, or fund raisers.
It would be great if funders and sponsors encouraged this best practice by not supporting festivals that didn't sign up for the Charter.
Any thoughts?
Best
Richard
Prof Richard Wiseman
Psychology Department
University of Hertfordshire
Mob: 077 90905219
www.richardwiseman.com
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