Events and Programming

Workflow, planning horizon, and strategic approach to programming at Pride. Overview of how events drive revenue and community engagement.

Programming Model

Responsibility: Emily Rose, Head of Programming (38 hours/week)

Planning horizon: 9–12 months forward; events booked iteratively as artist availability confirmed

Event types:

• DJ nights (most frequent)
• Drag performances (flagship: Drag Bingo Friday)
• Karaoke events
• Themed parties
• Community partnerships (Pride parade, IDAHOBIT, Drag King Festival)
• Functions and private hire (emerging)

Frequency: ~4 events per week (Wed–Sat), most ticketed

Current Programming Approach

Characterisation: “Luck, speculation and hope” rather than data-driven (per internal assessment)

Programming decisions are based on:

• Artist availability and cost negotiation
• Thematic diversity (avoiding consecutive DJ nights)
• Vague sense of community interest
• Availability of performers within budget constraints

Problem: No event-level P&L or attendance analysis. Emily cannot distinguish profitable events from loss-making ones, limiting ability to optimise programming mix.

Planning and Booking Process

1. Emily identifies artist and proposes date/theme
2. Mat finalises artist contract and payment terms
3. Event details entered into TryBooking
4. Promotion scheduled via Instagram/Meta/Google
5. Ticketing open 2–4 weeks before event
6. Event executed
7. Attendance data printed and discarded (critical data loss)

Revenue Per Event

Typical structure:

• Ticket sales: $15–$30 per customer
• Bar sales: Highly variable by event type and audience
• Walk-in trade: ~5% of attendance (essentially negligible)

Cost per event:

• Performer fee: $300–$2,000 depending on artist
• Security (mandatory): $500–$700 per night
• Promotion: Staff time (not separately costed)

Data Blindness

Programming decisions are made without:

• Event-level profitability analysis
• Attendance trend comparison
• Customer lifetime value by event type
• Repeat attendance rate
• Bar revenue correlation with event type/audience

Impact: Cannot identify which programming drives sustainable revenue vs one-off peaks. Strategic programming optimisation impossible until Humphrey Intelligence App delivers event P&L reporting.

Seasonality and Gaps

• Monthly events (Sapphic Nights): Thursday ~4 times per year
• Weekly events (Drag Bingo): Friday consistent
• Saturday programming: Inconsistent; collapsing attendance
• Weekdays (Wed–Thu): Lower revenue, smaller audience; often under-programmed

Strategic Initiatives

Kitchen Expansion will unlock new programming types:

• Weekend brunch/lunch (food-primary)
• Afternoon social events (lower security costs)
• Weekday matinee functions

Saturday Anchor Event Strategy proposes Saturday Bingo to stabilise collapsed Saturday trade.

Related Pages

• Event Setup — ticketing and promotion workflow detail
• Emily Rose — head of programming
• Trading Pattern — revenue concentration by night
• Saturday Anchor Event Strategy — Saturday recovery approach
• Humphrey Intelligence App — event P&L reporting prerequisite
• Automation Opportunities — attendance data capture and event analytics