Hello friends, I thought I would share some behind the scenes information with you so that you might better understand how Rock-n-Romp works. First of all, we are a registered non-profit with the State of Tennessee. All of the money that we take in goes directly back into our amazing shows and our summer camp.
So, what does it take to put on a show? Typically, we get the venue sponsored which means that there are no direct venue costs. However, sometimes we do have to pay for a space, such as Minglewood, and sometimes we pay a reduced fee, like we did at Overton Park. Venue costs can range anywhere from $0 to $1500.
Next, we pay for a sound technician so that our bands, whom we also pay, sound awesome. Bands and sound can range from $1250-$2000 per show.
Since we have yet to find a beer sponsor, we also purchase beer for every show. Typically we get four "good" kegs of Fat Tire or Yeungling and a couple of "less good" kegs of PBR. This costs us about $600-$700.
Finally, depending on the venue, we may also be required to purchased event insurance ($300), secure a beer permit ($100), or rent a stage ($300).
It's a lot of money, right?
So how do we manage to only ask for a $5 donation per adult AND supply everyone with music from three bands, free beer, and free food?
We heavily rely on volunteers to help us out at the shows, sponsors like Central BBQ and Whole Foods to donate food to lure you in, the occasional other sponsors who give us money in exchange for promoting their businesses (we are pretty picky about these!), t-shirt sales, tips, and the occasional kind soul who slips a little extra cash in at the door or sends us a donation via Paypal (see that button up top?).
We, and by we I mean the board members--all nine of us, who are also volunteering our time--try to provide the best service and value to families that we possibly can. Over the last six years we have grown immensely, and we have never once asked for more than the $5 donation.
Assuming things keep going as they have, hopefully we never will have to raise our suggested donation or reduce the amount of awesome that we provide.
So please, keep this in mind when you come to our shows, and tell your friends. The suggested donation isn't just for food or beer, so please don't ignore the suggestion just because you don't plan to eat or drink. The $5 is for the entire experience and the promise of providing future experiences for years to come.
And finally, when one of our awesome volunteers offers to fill your 16 ounce CBBQ cup with free beer, please don't turn your nose up at whatever kind of free beer it is. If it turns out you don't like the kind of beer we purchased, pleeease don't dump it out right in front of us. That just hurts our feelings.
Ok, that's all. Feel free to comment here or send us an email (memphisrocknromp@gmail.com) if you have questions or suggestions, want to volunteer, sponsor a show, or just say hi. Thanks for reading!
