What does it mean when a venue wants to place a hold on a date? That question
came in recently and I thought it might be a worthy topic to cover in a Biz Booster.
When a venue wants you to place a hold on a date for them, they pencil you in on their calendar. Now they may have some reasons for not confirming the date with you right away. Some of those reasons may be:
- They are waiting for confirmation from another act
- They are waiting to see if a bigger and more well-known act might be coming through.
- They may need to check on facility availability
- If they are a non-profit organization, they may need to wait for a grant or a funding cycle to begin
The most important things that you need to do when a venue requests to place a hold on a date, are:
- Get a reason for the hold
- Determine a deadline that releases you from the hold so you may look for other gigs in case this one doesn’t work out. Pick a deadline that gives you enough time to book a gig while taking into consideration the venue’s concerns.
- Get something in writing from the venue that verifies that the date is on hold until notified that it is firm or not going to happen or until the deadline is reached.
Now as you scout for gigs, you may want the venue to place a hold on a date you are going after. Perhaps you are doing a tour through a specific market and that venue is a key date in your tour plans.
The venue is not convinced you are right for that night, but they are willing to place a hold on the date for you. The same list from above applies in this case as well. So be persistent and make sure you check back often in either case to finalize the gig or move on to find another.
If the hold doesn’t get confirmed this time, at least you were close. Maybe next time, you’ll get a contract.
Have you ever had a venue place a hold on a date for you? What happened? Did it turn into a firm contract? if not, then what did you do?
Leave me a comment below or on the Performingbiz Success Strategies Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PerformingbizSuccessStrategies.
I can’t wait to hear about your success.
Now, Thanks to the Band Curfew from the UK for providing the Biz Booster theme Music, Future Dance. Check them out at www.curfew.co.uk
And for more career boosting tips, articles, books, resources, tele-seminars and online courses, visit me at Performingbiz.com
