Travelling around South Australia and visiting a huge range of pubs and clubs I often think about what the key to a successful venue is. Often small, humble looking venues are thriving while some venues that you would expect to be successful are just making ends meet. I am always trying to work out why this is the case. When visiting venues I like to research their current entertainment offerings, look at their busy periods AND their quiet times, and develop a strategy to build on both. When a venue is trading well, what can be offered to extend patrons dwell time, and drive them back with regularity? And, when a venue is quiet, what can we do to excite people and bring them in?  WHAT ACTUALLY DRIVES PATRONS INTO PUBS AND CLUBS? The answer to both questions is best summed up as such: Creating atmosphere helps to create atmosphere! Sounds a little strange but the reality is that this statement is one of the key driving philosophies of our most successful venues. If you work on developing the atmosphere in your venue you will see an incredible snowballeffect. More atmosphere means more patrons, more patrons means more atmosphere. And on and on it goes. One of the best examples of the strength of this statement would be Para Hills Community Club. I have worked closely with this great venue for a number of years as they have enthusiastically strived to develop a lively atmosphere in their venue. 22 WAYS TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR WEEKLY TRIVIA EVENT! The sports bar gets busy during their two day time poker events. It feels lively, and the flow on effect through bistro and gaming becomes very profitable for the club. Thursday nights we run a night game of poker attracting 60+ people which is set up in their function area, filling the space, building atmosphere, and again with positive flow on through the bistro, bars and gaming. On the same night we also have a long standing QuizzaMe Game Show happening at the opposite end of the venue in the public bar. This event attracts another 50+ people who gather weekly for their quiz fix. Many of these trivia buffs have now been attending this night for over 3 years! And to round out our partnership, in the Sports Bar we have SportsPick GameZone – which in its own right helps build atmosphere throughout the week with patrons engaged in sports tipping competitions. Saturdays are huge at Para Hills Community Club with our Punters Challenge Race day comp, as well as the jackpot game Triple Crown – not to mention the 80+ patrons who are active in AFL footy tipping. By simply giving patrons a reason to visit and offering them an entertaining product and past time, it builds atmosphere within the venue – and it’s THAT atmosphere that helps to create new interest, new regular customers, and in turn increases the atmosphere of the venue – and a profitable result! For more info

No doubt, like most Australian venues you have put plenty of time and energy into planning, promoting and running your venues entertainment offerings. But have you thought about how you can better cross promote? Things like trivia, poker, sports tipping and live music are perfect ways to bring new faces through the door and keep your existing patrons returning on a regular basis. There is nothing better than seeing plenty of happy punters arriving at your venue to enjoy your events, knowing your hard work has paid off. On top of that, you help build an incredible atmosphere at your venue while boosting bar and bistro takings on what may have traditionally been a quiet night. But, I’m starting to realise there’s more that can be done. Are the patrons at your regular event visiting other parts of your pub or club? Are you seeing players return to your venue on other nights? Have your live music fans become members? QUIZZAME A REVELATION AT MAROONDAH SPORTS In my role with QuizzaMe Australia I have been able to see the incredible things that a well-planned and effectively promoted trivia event can do for a venue. There’s nothing like seeing fifty plus people in your venue, enjoying a meal and a few drinks while taking part in your weekly event. The same goes for poker, live music and any other entertainment offering you may deliver. Most venues see value in this opportunity but the best venues take it to the next level. They don’t view their entertainment offering as something that happens in the front bar for a few hours on a Tuesday night, they see it as an opportunity to cross promote all aspects of their venue, have people visit more regularly and venture into other parts of the venue. Here are a few examples of initiatives you can use to effectively cross promote your venue during your event. Try these out and you will see a whole of venue return on investment, seven days a week. Venue Vouchers Vouchers are perfect giveaways at trivia and poker events, to cross promote your other events. So this is a good chance to get a patron along to your bingo night, or to your members draw. Membership If you have a membership program then use your weekly events as an opportunity to sign new members. I have seen plenty of venues who offer their trivia players a free drink to sign up for their membership program. A drink is a small price to welcome someone who may become a lifelong member of your venue and can increase their attendance. THE BEST PROMOTERS YOU HAVE Hosts as promoters Most entertainment offerings will have a host or staff member in charge of delivering the event and liaising with patrons. There is an incredible amount of engagement between a trivia host or poker director during the event so take advantage of this. Tell the host to promote your Friday night Happy Hour, upcoming live sports broadcast

Lately I have been thinking a lot about how Australian pubs and clubs promote themselves and their entertainment offerings. My team and I are constantly working with venues in trying to come up with new and creative ways to capture the attention of patrons. An increased focus on the internet and social media means there are limitless ways to get the message out. Then there is newspaper and radio advertising, billboards and banners. There is Point of Sale and mail drops. The options are endless. QUIZZAME A REVELATION AT MAROONDAH SPORTS But there is one promotional ace up every venues sleeve that probably isn’t acknowledged enough. “OK, Brayden,” you are probably thinking, “you have my attention, what’s this promotional ace you are speaking of?” Well, here it is. Engaged staff. Simple as that. There is no better promotional tool at your fingertips than an engaged staff member with a smile on their face and a genuine enthusiasm about what they do. At Full House Group we spend a lot of time working out what separates a good venue form a great venue. Time and again the same answer comes up. It’s rarely about huge marketing budgets or viral advertising campaigns. These things might help but it’s always the staff that make the difference in my experience. Let me give you a couple of examples. A few weeks ago I visited the Elsternwick Club in Eastern Melbourne. They have been having heaps of success with their weekly APL poker tournaments and I was keen to find out what the magical ingredient that made all the difference for them was. When I arrived I was surprised to find a humble bowling club in a quiet street, not your traditional poker venue. As I walked towards the venue I was intrigued to find out what was bringing them success. It didn’t take long. As soon as I entered I was greeted by Pete, the smiling and enthusiastic Venue Manager who went out of his way to chat to patrons, collect glasses and tidy the bar. Pete was totally engaged in what he was doing and his attitude was infectious. The atmosphere was fantastic. Who wouldn’t want to play poker there on a regular basis? TAKING YOUR WEEKLY POKER TOURNAMENT TO THE NEXT LEVEL A few days later I went a little further around the bay to the Frankston RSL, where I met Jana, the Marketing and Events Manager. Jana had recently taken on our QuizzaMe Game Show trivia and I wanted why she was having so much success. Again, the same thing. Jana walked around to every player and asked them how they were enjoying the event, taking a moment to chat and wish all her patrons well. Just like at Elsternwick Club the atmosphere here was fantastic! Jana was the perfect promoter for her venue. In my last article I discussed how important Australian pubs and clubs are in their role as the social hub of their communities. The power they offer