Originally this was supposed to be a survey with the results only being sent to what few Ottawa promoters are left but that very quickly was changed. This information is for everyone with the hopes that a) current promoters will use the data to improve current events, b) new promoters will rise to the challenge and will have a good base of information to work with and c) party goers will understand what promoters have to deal with and will think twice before complaining about something that is completely out of their control.

I was aiming for 400 completed surveys but I told myself I would be happy with 200 because that would be at least a decent representation of the current rave scene based on recent attendance levels. So, 278 is pretty good I would say.

Notable Conclusions

(THESE ARE MY OWN INTERPRETATIONS. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO AGREE WITH THEM.)

• People will attend 3am events if they don't consider them "raves".
• People all have a different definition of what a "rave" even is.
• House music would go over at raves a lot more than people seem to think.
• Sound quality is a very often overlooked aspect of raves that promoters should be paying more attention too.
• Decorations at events as more appreciated then promoters think and can be used to turn what many would be considered an overused venue, into something completely new.
• Drum and Bass / Dubstep is in demand while hardstyle is both loved and hated by many.
• People are tired of the same few locals playing every party and want to see some new blood (or old favorites that haven't played in a while).
• Security is much bigger concern than most promoters seem to understand and people want to feel like they are actually doing their job. Is it enough to pay to hire more proper bonded security?
• Party goers have high expectations and don't always understand how much it costs to throw events and the number of attendants for most raves don't justify spending money on huge headliners, insane light shows, expensive security. It leaves promoters with the catch-22 situation of seeing if spending more money on these things will indeed attract enough paying customers to break even at the very least. Please see my FAQ on the next page to understand how this works a bit better.
• Many party goers don't understand that throwing events is still a business and no one goes into business to lose money no matter how honorable their intentions are.
• Very few party goers all want the same thing at a party which makes throwing events that everyone will happy at next to impossible.
• Ravers really like Dain-Ja and No Left Turn.
• Ravers apparently like me too.Seriously...that was not what was I expecting from this. I was debating retiring until I read this. Now its the total opposite.
• Word of mouth is still the biggest form of promotion. This means when a party goes well, people will tell everyone. When a party fails, people will still tell everyone.
• Promoters should stop fighting publicly where everyone can see. The drama involved will overshadow your event and people will not want to support it.
• Some people answered this survey even though they don't like raves and/or live somewhere else other than Ottawa.
• The biggest issue that came up though was deal with underagers at raves. Before I get into this, people do need to realize that most of the time, the underagers they see at parties are actually people who are 16+ but are dressing up to look like kids. Isn't that part of what going to a rave is about? Now that being said, I agree with the problem of there being kids at raves who should not be there simply because they are too young AND are there for what many would consider the wrong reasons. I think this is a twofold issue that can be fixed with improvements to security carding better at the door and with more drug awareness information being available.

What does it all boil down too?

For party goers, low attendance levels means promoters aren't about to take the huge risk of throwing a large scale event. Time to learn to appreciate what you have or else it will go away completely. Don't take it for granted. Help it grow by introducing your friends to the music and culture. Also, take the time to give constructive feedback to promoters so they can use it to improve events.

For promoters, listen to what your clients are telling you. New locals, more deco, more themes, better sound. You guys/girls also shouldn't take yours clients for granted because they are the ones who buy the tickets. Solicit feedback from them if none if being offered. Also, stop arguing with each other in public forums! Just because not everyone posts in a thread, doesn't mean its not being talked about.

For upcoming DJs, start attending events and handing out demo cds. It shows initiative and it shows you support your local scene. Promoters love that. You can just sit back and wait for bookings to come to you cause it just won't happen. A lot of time why the same few locals got booked over and over where because they were the only ones who put the effort to getting booked. Also, promoters tend to stay away from djs who constantly talk trash in public forums. Some exceptions may apply ;-)

Now there is far more information in here that what I listed and I hope everyone will go over everything a few times to get ideas on how to make things better.

So thank you everyone for taking the time to help out with this survey. I hope it goes to good use.

Cheers!

Corey "Tamerax" Cutting

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