"How to" guide to producing your open mic

Producing your own open mic (copyright 2006)

Written Gunner Scott of Gender Crash open mic and www.gendercrash.com
Producing an open mic can be fun, rewarding, and sometimes a little stressful. Here are some suggestions to get you up and going.

1. Space

I suggest a space that is not a bar/lounge. I have found that often after the first 20 minutes in a bar, most people stop listening to the poets and start chatting. The only exception is a lounge that has seating to accommodate most of the audience, but poets are still competing with noise from the bartender doing their job. The downside to a bar/lounge/space that serves alcohol is that it is not usually open to community members under 21 as well as folks in the recovery community may not want to be in that kind of environment.

Using all ages spaces give greater flexibility. If your worried about the under 18 crowd hearing way too much erotica, you can designate the first half of the show PG-13 and the second half, so that way everyone gets to participate without censoring or worrying about censoring people’s work. I find that creating an all ages spaces helps to address the generation gaps in the LGBT community. Folks who have been around a while are getting to hear what the younger people are thinking and younger folks get hear from older people. Learning and sharing goes both ways.
Guidelines when looking for space

• Who else will in the space at the same time?
• Is it wheelchair accessible?
• Can you put up transgender friendly bathroom signs for example:
The bathrooms are transgender friendly (meaning use the multi-stall bathroom you identify with, there’s no bathroom police here,).
• Is it a no alcohol, no smoking space?
• Can you sell your own food and drinks?
If so you may want to get a non-profit to run the soda/pastry bar each month so they can do as a fundraiser for themselves. You can have different non-profit each month or one that will do it for a 6-months to a year at a time. I have had the same non-profit for the last 6 years as it was easier for me to work with just one. They put out the call for pastry donations, buy the soda/water to sell and staff the food bar. In choosing a non-profit think of small organizations that could really use the $35-70 a month that it might raise and commit to showing up every month.
• What is your policy on media, photography, video, or audio taping?
I don’t allow it unless I am contacted at least 24 hours prior with why and what they want to use it for. This way you can protect your audience from unwanted exposure. All press must identify themselves to event staff and ask permission before taking a picture or using the full name of the poet/performer.

2. Date

I suggest once a month to start, staying on the same day and time, go with something that will same day of the week every month, for example the second Thursday. This way people will hopefully put in the calendar every month. It does not have to on a weekday, but I find that it is easier to find space that is cheaper when it is an “off” weeknight. Monday maybe hard has many folks are getting into the swing of their workweek. If you have a space in mind you may not have many options with what night you can use.

3. Time

If you do an all ages open mic on a weeknight something on the early side works say doors open at 6:30-7p show starts between 7:30-8p. It should run no longer than 2 hours including a 5-10 minute break about half way. People get antsy after about hour and half to two hours. If you do a weekend day, say an afternoon, something that starts at 3 or 4p and ends by 6p or 7p so that way folks can have a full evening ahead for other plans. Try to start and end on time. Nothing makes people antsy/cranky when a show says it starts at 7:30p and things don’t get rolling until an hour later. Being respectful of people’s time it keeps them coming back. Same thing with ending close to on time, nothing is more disheartening as when a performer as no one to perform to because it ran so late and people left to catch public transit etc…

4. Name

Over the years several folks have come to me about starting their open mic in their part of the country, for which I am very excited about, but often they want to use the name "Gender Crash". The name "Gender Crash" is specific to a Boston, MA event and therefore I do not want the name "Gender Crash" used for any other event. I am very happy to provide technical assistance to anyone wanting to start their open mic with a format similar to "Gender Crash", but it should have its own unique name because it is your community's event. Think about words that resonate in your community, what will be catchy, you can easily design graphics for?

5. Logistics

• Charging an entrance fee- How much to charge depends on if you are paying for the space, do you also need a entertainment permit or does the space have one already (this may depend on your city code, so check that), covering the costs of flyers, advertising, if you decide to set up a webpage, paying a feature performer, etc… I take all these into account when deciding the entrance fee. I do a sliding scale $5-10 for adults and youth under 18 is pay what you can. This way if I get only 20 people at $5.00 I can at least cover the cost of the space and permit. The venue I use can seat about 100 people. If other regular events charge less, then take that into consideration; if the space is free consider a lower fee that will cover cost of advertising.

• Producing, hosting, door person, and set up crew.

Producer- I decided to be the sole producer for this event, but this could be done by a group of people. This means I am responsible for booking the space, getting the permit, advertising, booking feature readers, and overall responsibility for the event. With a collective group you should consider giving each person a role they will consistently do, so that nothing is forgotten - the worst is one person thought the other was doing the advertising and vice versa and the night comes and no one knows about it. As the sole producer I pay myself for the work I put into the event, with a collective group you would want to work how the profits will be split after expenses.

Door person- I have a regular door person that I pay $20 per show. Door person’s duties are to collect admission fee, help folks with the open mic sign up, answer questions about how an open mic works, and deal with any other logistics. I provide the door person with a money box and enough money to make change, guest list, and any other instructions. Door person should be comfortable interacting with people, cheery, and helpful.

Set up crew- I have about 3-4 people there to help set up and break down chairs, set up the community flyer table, and bring in any equipment. The set up crew gets free admission and often other perks (like if I should get free books, cd’s, or tickets to other events I usually pass theses on to my helpers as a thank you). This way if people can afford to come they could volunteer in exchange for free admission.

Hosting/MC’ing- I have only one MC for Gender Crash, which is me (I had one person fill in when I was away and this was another transgender person who is a well known writer in the community and a regular attendee of the event). I have seen other open mics that had 2 MC’s and they shared the duties for the evening. Which ever way works as long as there is consistency and if there are 2 MC’s that there is good energy between them. The key to creating a welcoming and supportive space is how the MC interacts with the performers and the audience. No matter what the MC should never be derogatory to the performer. The fact that someone got up in front of an audience in front of a mic and shared something should be celebrated. Not everyone is a born performer or captivating writer. Why I think people keep coming back is the encouragement and support performers get from the audience and MC. I have seen shy quite performers turn into powerhouse performers over time, because of the encouragement of a “thank you for reading”.

If someone reads something offensive I would take them aside after to let them know that what they read was offensive, such if it was a line that was racist or a personal attack. I don’t want to censor anyone and I have not had to do this. Often people who are unsure if their piece is too racy or controversial will come up to me before and ask me to look at it, most times it is fine, but a few times I have had some pieces that were too sexually graphic and I asked to person to not read it. I do draw the line at pieces eroticizing child abuse, sexual abuse, or physical abuse. If it is a piece about consensual s/m it is okay in the second half with a disclaimer (see guidelines section). As with anything open to the public you cannot always control what happens, and sometimes audience members are uncomfortable with a performers subject matter, I always in encourage that person to talk to the performer.

In between performers I will talk about current events in the community, encourage people to get involved in particular causes, tell short stories (30 seconds or so) and make announcements. If I know the open mic person is doing something of interest such as publishing a book, organizing a protest etc… I will sometimes announce that when I call them on stage, this way people who may want to know about it can talk to them after. After doing this a few times you will start to get some regular readers which is great, but you don’t want your open mic to be all the same people every month, yet your regulars will also keep people coming back, it’s a fine balance. To always keep the event fresh, I reserve 2 spots for new performers or “virgins” as I call them. This does not mean only 2 spots are for new readers, but if the open mic sign up is full there are 2 additional slots for new readers. When a first time performer comes up to the mic I encourage the audience to clap again for them and give a bit of extra support. This lets people know that this is a welcoming space to new voices as well as our performers who keep coming back. Some of those regular readers get an audience following. I have regulars read selections from their novel for years and then go one to get it published, using the feedback from the audience to help with their editing.

6. Guidelines for readers, these are ones I use for Gender Crash

Gender Crash Open Mic Guidelines
• Read/perform your original work only
• Each open mic slot is 3 minutes, this way we can give space to lots of folks
• Poetry, Spoken Word, Slam Style Poems, Essays, Acoustic Music, Performance, Singing, Drag, Dance are all are welcome.
• This is an all ages space, so think about that when choosing your piece to read/perform
• If you are reading something that is a heavy topic, about sex/erotica or s/m please sign up for the second half of the open mic list and give short disclaimer so folks can choose to step out.

7. Featured readers

A feature reader/performer is someone that is booked for a specific set usually longer than an open mic slot, like a 10 or 15 minutes. Some have the feature read at the end other do the feature in the middle. I do the middle after the break as to make sure the feature does not feel rushed or to make sure we don’t run out of time before the end of the event. I would not start with the feature because if your features late, then your event starts late. A feature reader/performer can help promote the event as they usually have a following and they often advertise it on their email list/website. I have had times I did not book features, because I had a span of months with so many people who wanted to read at the open mic part and there was just not enough time. If you are starting an open I suggest booking well known local feature reader/performer for the at least the first few shows, this will help to attract an audience.
The other thing I have done is to have a local community/social group co-sponsor the feature particularly if was someone who is affiliated with that group, their mission, or their identity. For example I had a Southeast Asian queer poet as a feature and I asked the LGLBT Asian social group to co-sponsor. Co-sponsorship meant that they would advertise the event to their members and I would advertise their group as the cosponsor on the flyers/ website/calendar listings and they could make an announcement about their group at the event.
Bringing features in can help to diversify the performers; I try to book features of all different backgrounds, such as LGBT identities and ethnic/racial/cultural backgrounds.
Before booking a feature know a something of their work, because this is a person whose work you will be seen as endorsing. At some events features are paid other are not. I also encourage features to bring their own books/cd’s/chap books if they have them to sell at the event.

8. Community involvement

• Community flyer table – I set up a table for people to leave flyers out on. This way the community can info about resources, other events, etc… I specifically put out info about safer sex, LGBT partner abuse, and other health concerns. I save this stuff for each event to put out.
• Community announcements – After the break do 5 minutes or less of community announcements. I let people know they have 60 seconds to do an announcement.
• I often give space, a table or two to community artists and writers to sell their stuff at the event if they give me advance notice and have very little set up. I also ask them to show up half hour before the start of the show, so they will not be setting up during a performer reading.
• I request a group to come and do voter registration a month before the primary.
• If anyone want to come do surveys or other types of things of this nature with the audience they have to request this ahead of time and cannot only do it during before, during intermission, or after the show.

9. Advertising

Free places to advertise: newspaper calendar listings, community websites, email list, and web message boards.
Creating an email list for your event - have a sign sheet at the door for the email list. I use yahoo groups, but google has a free email list program now as well. I send out a reminder usually a week before then the day before.

Advertising that costs $$
Flyers – cost of copying, good for handing out and hanging up.
Newspaper ad- probably pretty expensive, check to see if there are calendar listings first, I don’t do ads. But I do send out a press release especially if I have a particular feature performer to see if I can get the event covered by the GLBT press.
Website- cost of buying a domain and web hosting can run you about $100- 200 a year, plus if you need someone to design it. If you do a website consider what is going to keep people coming back. A blog might be a good free alternative, such as blogger.com, live journal, myspace, or friendster.

10. Last thoughts…

This is fun…
I am amazed every single open mic by the performers.
Breathe, It’s okay to make mistakes
Feel free to email if you have questions, want some advice on starting you event, or want to “talk shop” if you are already running something. Contact info gunner also check out www.gendercrash.com for ideas or more information.