The 443 has been in a constant state of evolution since we opened our doors in January 2019.
Our main focus has always been excellent, original, live music, but we knew from the beginning we would have to come up with creative ways to support it in a city the size of Syracuse. We always questioned the viability of attracting enough people to run live music 5 days a week in a small city. Plus, we’re not a big room, so our capacity severely limits the revenue we can generate.
We started as a coffee house during the day, we dabbled in lunch delivery for a while and tried to be open just as a bar on nights we didn’t have live music. None of those tactics worked all that well, and just as we started seeing some real progress with our ticketed shows, COVID hit and we were closed for the better part of 2 years.
During the COVID shutdown, we made the decision to get rid of our funky “living rooms” and switch to cabaret-style seating, which makes a lot more sense for the shows we do. We began focusing more on ticketed shows with touring artists, and less on local artists. Not because we didn’t want to support local artists, but because it’s nearly impossible for us to break even on those shows.
I wrote about this in more detail in April of 2020, you can find The 443: Version 2.0 HERE if you’re interested.
“Our goals for this business were never extravagant. We knew it would be a lot of work and sacrifice, and we knew it wasn’t a business with the potential to make a ton of money. We need The 443 to support itself and pay me a modest salary…that’s it. We’re doing something we love and we’re doing something that’s good for our musical community. That’s valuable and important.”
We finally reopened after COVID at the end of July 2021 thanks to the Shuttered Venue Operator Grant.
COVID was still very much with us, so we didn’t expect much from those first few months… we were just happy to be open again. We kept a limited calendar through the holidays and by February our patience seemed to be paying off – we started selling out more and more shows and shattering sales records at the bar. Spring was awesome and busy and – not for the first time – we thought we had finally turned a corner. I was surprised and encouraged at how well we did even with artists who had never played our room before, and unfortunately, I let it influence a lot of the booking I did for the summer.
The summer months are always tricky for indoor venues because we’re competing with everything under the sun – multiple festivals every weekend and major concerts at the Amp and Beak & Skiff, not to mention people vacationing, boating, or enjoying their summer cottages. Even our most die-hard supporters tend to be busy with other things during our brief warm weather season. My plan was to close during major festivals and the NYS Fair, run a modest schedule, and try to utilize our outdoor patio as much as possible. I thought if I limited the number of shows we presented, we might improve the turnout a bit.
Unfortunately, it was an absolutely soul-crushing and brutal summer.
Since it was the first summer with things being “back to normal”, we were competing with more events than ever. Literally, everyone everywhere seemed to have live music… I called it “summer on steroids”. Plus, we had a ridiculous number of shows canceled or postponed, mostly due to COVID or other health issues. And, for the first time since the year we opened, we absolutely lost our asses on a lot of shows. Sales were even lower than in 2019, which was our very first year in business.
The standard arrangement for touring artists in most places (including ours) is a minimum guarantee that they are paid no matter what happens, vs a ticket split. This means if 14 people show, up, we are still on the hook for the minimum guarantee. If ticket sales exceed the minimum guarantee, the artists and the house split the sales accordingly. Our standard ticket split is 75/25, which is pretty common. Ideally, our 25% covers our sound tech and the person at the door checking people in. We don’t usually keep much – if any – of it.
This summer we had more shows than I can count not covering the minimum guarantee, and a few that I canceled altogether because we had so few tickets sold. I paid the guarantee, but it was still cheaper (and less awkward) than trying open and pay my staff to wait on a handful of people. Walk-ups are not really a thing in our mostly industrial neighborhood.
I suppose I got a little cocky in the spring, thinking I had these whole booking-acts-people-in-Syracuse-actually-want-to-see thing figured out… and it bit me in the ass.
<sigh>
So…I’ve spent the last couple of weeks prepping for yet another significant shift in our business model with a three-part strategy.
Part 1: PRIVATE EVENTS
We have always gotten a lot of inquiries about renting our room for private events, but until this summer we weren’t able to take very many because our music schedule was so full. Our lighter calendar allowed us to book more this year, and we realized it’s a far better use of the space during the summer.
Running a live music show at the 443 with medium attendance requires a door person, a sound tech, 2 servers, and 1 food person, plus the daytime person prepping the food and me, not to mention paying the band. If the show is sold out, that means another 1-2 people to help deal with the crush that happens when 85 people come in all at once. It’s labor-heavy, but we can’t have people milling around during a “listening room” style show, so table service makes the most sense.
On the other hand, a private party with 80 people is a whole different ball game. Depending on the bar arrangements, we can easily handle it with 1-2 servers plus me. The difference in payroll is massive…if you could do the same amount of sales with 2 employees rather than 8, not pay a band, and take away the extra stress and expense of trying to sell tickets – it’s a no-brainer, right?
Plus, private parties allow us to utilize the space during the day on the weekend – our time slots are 12-4pm and 6-10pm.
Extending the amount of time we’re open each day has been a big goal this year. Since we’re only open for performances, we need to find ways to extend the evening – because being open only for a 90-minute show just doesn’t make sense. This summer we experimented with running a happy hour outside on the patio prior to our touring artist playing on the inside stage. We aren’t necessarily trying to get customers to arrive early for the inside show, because people are still only going to eat and drink so much. We’re trying to attract an entirely different group of people who maybe don’t want to pay a cover or make a reservation, or just want to take advantage of a beautiful day and sit outside. We had some success with this, so we’ll continue to do that whenever we can, but patio season is almost over – so grabbing that 12-4pm slot for another whole party would be a boon for us.
Spring and fall seem to be the most reliable time for live music at our place, so moving forward, we’ll focus our musical efforts there. We usually have a lull in business around the holiday season, so we’ll see if we can pick up some private holiday parties. And my goal for next summer is to completely book Saturdays and Sundays (2 each day) for grad parties, showers, and birthday parties. We’ll reserve Wednesdays and Thursdays for live music on the patio just to keep our name out there, and I’ll limit our band booking to artists with a proven track record in the area.
My real passion is hosting memorable events. It doesn’t matter if it’s a live music performance or a private party, really… this is my wheelhouse.
Before we opened the 443 I had a freelance marketing business, and one of my clients was a small, local restaurant group. I became their catering and events manager, and a big part of their annual revenue was graduation parties. I was with them for several years and by the time I left, I was booking prime weekends a full year ahead of time and usually had the entire summer booked solid by early spring. I also created a super-fun annual Margaritaville Party for one of their locations.
After that, I became the Event Manager at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. I created Wizarding Weekend (Harry Potter), the Mad Hatter Tea Party (Alice in Wonderland), and Super Hero Day. I also gave their existing Breakfast with Santa and Breakfast with the Easter Bunny massive upgrades. Aside from the public, kid-oriented events, I orchestrated dozens of weddings and corporate events, and my team and I increased the sales of the department by over 30% in one year.
This is my jam.
I have a ton of experience creating memorable events and I was able to book the shit out of the last two facilities I worked in… so this is a logical next step for the 443, and a solid strategy to support the live music we love.
You’ll find more info about booking a private party at the 443 HERE.
Part 2: VIP PATRON PROGRAM
We launched our VIP Patron program in November of 2020, and while the annual membership fees have always been a huge help to us, we’ve realized that the VIPs are critical to keeping things humming along at the 443.
VIPS Mike and Mara Metzgar
We acquired a lot of VIP Patrons pre-COVID and even more during the shutdown. Since we were mostly closed during 2020 and 2021, we extended VIP memberships to August 1, 2022. As the renewal date approached, I revamped the entire program, added more perks, and gave our loyal fans new ways to support us, and it pretty much saved our asses this summer.
The Patron program isn’t just about the membership fees – our VIPs tend to be more engaged with our programming and they attend shows more often than other customers – and that’s a really good thing.
If you’re interested in becoming a VIP, you can find more information HERE.
Part 3: BOOKING STRATEGY
After the crushing failure of so many of this summer’s shows, I’ve become a lot more cautious about booking touring acts with no history in the area.
I’ve always enjoyed bringing in acts that have never played in CNY, but we’ve taken so many hits this year that we can’t afford the risk anymore. It’s not a reflection of anyone’s talent and I truly believe in everyone I put on our calendar. But, if I can’t convince music fans to come out and see these bands, it isn’t good for the musicians OR us.
Maybe I’ll get to be more adventurous with booking sometime down the road, but for the time being, I’ll be focusing on the “sure thing” when it comes to ticketed shows.
We’re also experimenting with booking rocking local cover bands every once in a while, which is something we’ve never really done before. Over the summer our friend Noel approached us about putting his band Preacher in on a date we had a cancellation. We did the show on the patio and it ended up being jam-packed, with tons of people who had never been to our place. Our main focus will always be original music, but dropping in a couple of these types of shows each month could be a great way to introduce our room to a new crowd of music fans.
Photo by Bill Baldwin
There are a couple of tricky issues though. Most of these bands are playing for free everywhere else, so we can’t charge more than a $5 cover – so even a full room does not come close to covering the guarantee for a 5-piece band. We really have to pack the place to make it work. The other challenge is adapting our normal service MO. We’re usually fully seated with 100% table service, which, as we discovered at the Preacher show, doesn’t make sense for something like this. We need room for people to dance and mingle and we have to make it easier for folks to get drinks. If it’s an outside show, that probably means a second bar and/or servers who can make change on the spot rather than keeping track of dozens of tabs. Inside is a little trickier – unfortunately, our bar is not set up for more than one bartender to work efficiently and an auxiliary bar eats up too much valuable real estate. So that part is still a work in progress.
Whenever we have these extended breaks I create a “To Do” list that would require a solid month plus a team of 10 minions to actually complete. But, I got the most important tasks done and the time away from the day-to-day gave me the break I needed to pin my psyche back together after such a wretched summer season. And on a positive note, we’ve started posting about private events on our social media channels and the response has been encouraging… I even booked our first “double header” – two private parties in one day.
I have no idea if The 443 Version 3.0 will be the final incarnation of our venue, but as always – you’ll be the first to know.
We appreciate your support more than we can say.
CHEERS!
