I completely forgot to mention the Kelvin Grove Beerfest to all of you, and I was not even supposed to attend it until a last minute invite was sent my way and I punished the VR3 hard to get there in time before some other engagements I had to attend to. The Kelvin Grove beerfest took place on Saturday, and started at 4pm.
The Beerfest was fun because I knew a lot of people there, but I personally think that Kelvin Grove would have expected a better turn out. I would have as well. To make sure that events like this run at a large profit, you need to offer free entrance and be clear on the invite as to what exactly is going on.
The invite stated that it was R150 for the Beerfest which included a spit braai, salads, freshly baked bread and desserts. It said that if you don’t want to eat, you can just pay R70 instead. Obviously Kelvin does cater to a more upmarket crowd, but to pay R70 to enter the event is still a little excessive, especially if you are already paying membership to the club, and probably spending money at the restaurants anyway during the year, thereby contributing to the club. It never stated that you could get free entrance if you were a member, so this was all a bit confusing. Apparently you had to pay after 19:00, either the R150 or R70.
What I would have done was taken away the entrance fee and rather offered the normal menu items from the pool bar restaurant, thereby not wasting anything. I’m not sure if the Beerfest ran at a profit, but I think it could have made a lot more money if it was free and then you could order food and drink as you like. Kelvin Grove also have a great sushi chef, and so people could have also had this option for food.
It would also then attract a larger female crowd if they did away with an entrance fee, because women are unlikely to want to spend R150 for a spit braai because it is highly unlikely that they will eat even close to R150 worth of food. Not even a guy would eat that much to be honest. I know the R150 goes towards setting up and so forth, but it immediately puts a lot of people off attending an event like this. Younger members at the club, who are on the increase, are also unlikely to want to pay R150 for an evening at Beerfest.
However, if entrance is free,people will arrive to check what the atmosphere is like. Upon arrival, they would see a large crowd and probably be tempted to stay on a bit and have a couple of drinks. With an event like this, the whole trick is to get people to attend it, and worry about keeping them at the event once they are there. In any case, if people have made the effort to arrive, they are unlikely to leave right away. The vibe at an event like this is what is going to keep the people there. Once they are there, they will buy drinks and food, and your R150 per person will be quickly met. Or maybe not everyone will spend R150 on drinks and food, but you will have a much larger crowd and probably pull in a bigger profit.
I think something like this has potential because everyone likes a Beerfest! Younger members love this type of thing and if the entrance fee is dropped for next year, I think it could be a huge success.
Once the crowd is larger, the vibe is better and people want to drink and eat more because they are happy. When people are happy, they spend more money. It’s a simple concept really, and one Kelvin Grove need to implement next year to make this event a huge success. I hope they make the necessary changes, and I’m looking forward to the next event like this.
P.S Luckily the promo girls were VERY naughty.
A promo girl at Kelvin Groves Pool Bar: Posing nicely for SLXS
Sean Lloyd
Editor
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