Booking FAQ
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS LIST FOR BOOKING PERFORMANCE EVENTS AT THE HAMILTON ARTS COLLECTIVE
All event organizers are expected to have read this by the time they send in a proposal.
WARNING: THIS IS REQUIRED READING! DO NOT SKIP IT!
THIS DOCUMENT IDENTIFIES SOME OF THE THINGS FOR WHICH YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE SHOULD YOU BE PERMITTED TO USE THE SPACE. IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH ANY OF THE POLICIES OUTLINED BELOW, PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT A PROPOSAL.
MERCHANDISE and CONCESSIONS: You keep anything you make from merchandise and concessions. If you wish to sell things you should have someone available to sell things.
WE ARE NOT YOUR AGENT, nor are we the agents of anyone else you have participating in the event you've organized.
Q: What's your capacity? How many people can you fit in there?
A: With our current seating configuration, we can seat 50 people comfortably in the proscenium fashion. However, we can move seats out for particular events (if you need dancing room, for example), move seats around in the space (if you present theatre-in-the-round, for example), or otherwise alter the seating arrangement to your preference. Consult with us at least a day beforehand so we can work something out for your event.
Q: A bunch of my friends and I want to do something at the HAC, and we all have different roles in the project. Can we all contact you about our different aspects of the event?
A: We all know just how daunting a task it can be to organize a staged reading, art show, music recital, or theatre performance. To minimize the chances of any confusion that can take place, we ask that there be a SINGLE PERSON to whom all questions, clarifications, or concerns should be directed.
Coordinating the event is your responsibility--not the HAC's--and the folks here already have a lot on their plate. Even if a friend or member of your production crew is a volunteer or board member of the HAC (and can end up passing info along via word-of-mouth), you will still need to choose a single person to communicate with us on all aspects of your event. This is extremely helpful for clarity and accountability.
We also prefer E-MAIL as a mode of contact. This creates a "virtual paper trail" that we can reference as needed to coordinate and accommodate your event.
Q: What sort of equipment can we use? What facilities are available?
A: we have a stage, lights, PA, sound & light boards and booth, video projector, green room, ticket/greeting counter restrooms these are on the second floor. A unisex bathroom is available in the hallway. Addition restrooms are available in the studios area on the third floor if needed.
As far as specific equipment is concerned, we have:
A basic (8 stage, 3 house oriented) theatrical lighting setup adjustable from our light board booth and colored gels to provide a very basic color palette.
(The lights can usually be altered from their original positions (except when we have them positioned for a running production), and you are free to bring in gels for those lights, or lighting instruments of your own. There is NO GUARANTEE we can connect your lighting instruments to our light board, so be aware that they may need to be controlled some other way.)
A mono PA system with (4) microphone channels and (4) standard microphones. If you do not have your own amp, we can provide an adapter to plug in instruments (keyboards, guitars, etc.) through our sound system. (We have only (4) channels, however, so keep this in mind if you multiple instrumentation and vocals.) Also, we have several power strips and extension cable onstage for your equipment if needed.
A 5 disc CD player hooked into our PA primarily used to play house music during shows. Normally we play unassuming instrumental selections, with CDs from past HAC performers rotated in to provide atmosphere in between setups and downtime. If you wish to play music (we can support MP3, I-Pod, etc.) during your show or have specific audio cues for onstage performances, please indicate that in your proposal.
In addition to lights and sound, we also have a large 70’s still projector that can support images about 8 x 11.5, a digital office projector for film productions (with a DVD player), and a fairly reliable Halloween smoke machine.
Q: Is cigarette smoking permitted in your building? What's your drug and alcohol policy?
A: Smoking is not permitted in the main theatre area, in the lobby, in the bathrooms, in the main office, in the connecting hallways, in the stairwell, on the roof, on the fire escapes, or in the storage closet. PLEASE RESPECT OUR ART SPACE! If you are asked by a staff member or volunteer to move your lit cigarette to the outdoors, please don't cause a fuss; it’s the law.
Also, let’s make perfectly clear: ILLEGAL DRUGS ARE NOT PERMITTED AT THE HAMILTON ARTS COLLECTIVE.
Alcohol is BYOB: you must be 21; We will check.
Q: What about promotions?
A: We do not have a street team; we are facility managers. Posters, flyers, radio spots, etc. are all up to you. However, we can do a few different things to help promote your event.
First, you will be listed on our website. Your event will automatically be listed on our website as an upcoming event, but if you submit a graphic (such as a poster design) within one week of your event, I'll post it on the website so it's one of the first things people will see when they visit www.hamiltonarts.org. You'll most likely end up sharing the front page with other events, if several are happening in the upcoming weeks.
We always have space in the HAC for display of flyers for events; there's a countertop just by the main entrance of the second floor, and a marquee outside. There are also several billboards in our lobby, just itching to have flyers pinned to them. Feel free to drop off flyers at the space, and we'll decorate our common areas with them.
For acts coming in from out-of-town, we understand that you can't just take a day trip to Charm City and post your flyers everywhere. In those cases, simply request that we help you out (the more in advance, the better!), and we'll do our best. In these sorts of cases, please furnish a flyer design (not necessarily the hard copies of the flyers themselves), and we may be able to print some out and post them elsewhere.
Q: What about a guest list?
A: Since you're the show organizer, then the guest list options are completely up to you. I've normally seen shows permitting one guest per performer; in the case of band shows, it's been one guest per member of the band. On the one hand, this is cool; it nearly guarantees more people coming to the space to see your event. However, it also means potentially less money in your pocket.
Q: Can we sell stuff at the HAC?
A: You can sell anything at the HAC during your event and keep the money for yourself, as long as it's legal to do so in Maryland and the United States. If there's a performance of some sort going on, the staff of the HAC reserves the right to sell concessions if we wish (all proceeds go to maintenance of the Hamilton Arts Collective).
Q: I want to have an event, but I don't think I have enough people to collect money at the door (or other things). What can I do?
A: Don't sweat it. I can also help drum up some volunteers (either members of the HAC, trained volunteers, or our close, trusted friends) to help with House Crew (including running the sound and light board), Door, and general space maintenance. Unfortunately, I can make no guarantees that I'll have all vacancies filled, but I'll do my best to make things work for you.