Recently I talked to a friend who has been doing some club promoting jobs in New York. It was good to get some advise from somebody that is actually experienced with the sort of thing we are trying to do. There were some things he mentioned that seem helpful for our project:
1. Advertise. Advertise. Advertise. This may be fairly obvious, but he told me the sooner I have the information out there and people talking about it the more likely people will know about it.
2. Use texting. Apparently people respond more to text messaging than e-mails or facebook. Sending out mass texts days before the event or on the day of are apparently good methods of reminding people to come.
3. Drink deals. He said the best way to get people was to charge a certain amount to have an open bar. That way everybody who shows up will stay. Unfortunately, Anduzzi's could not go along with this deal although they did agree to some drink deals.
4. Theme parties. He said for smaller venues theme parties tend to be more successful, but he said we should be fine without a specific theme for a place like Anduzzi's. If we think of something appropriate we will include it in our party, but so far we don't really have a "theme."