An event by any other name...

I dig the name personally. I wouldn't over think it and by all means, don't get discouraged. Who can say the reasons why you didn't get any sign-ups? If it makes you feel any better, I would come if I lived out there! I like the idea and could use a motivational push myself right about now.

Hmm, you got my wheels turning though. Maybe Dan and Lara could add a summary lead-in that displays under the event titles on the main page where it shows upcoming events. Perhaps give us a field when adding a new event that is limited to a couple lines of text called "brief summary". That way we wouldn't have to rely on our titles being the only eye catcher.

wonder if it were free if you have more interest. people around here are kind of cheap. can't believe only 6% are paying members..geez peeps always want something for nothing..

Were you looking to do a mid-day event per se, or a "stuckness" event..which I think is a great title, because that is exactly what happens to your brain!!!

For me, it was the middle of the day that made the event tough to consider. Hard to break away from where you might be to get across town at noon.

Also, while I love me a good burrito...the prospect of smelling like a good burrito for the rest of day might turn some folk off.

Mid-day events I think are generally much harder to pull off, even though virtually all of us are self-employed, because virtually all of us still have to work during the day. And to answer your question about the name, I've gotta say that "stuckness social" is an awkward turn of phrase in my mind. Love the concept of your event, though. Perhaps you could come up with something with a little levity that conveys the same point, like the sewing groups that call themselves "stitch and bitch."

You've got me thinking, Steve... I think the current summary field would be fine if people would actually treat it like a summary. I think we can fix the over-long summary problem that we currently have by simply limiting the number of words that can be typed into that field. I'll try that first - seems redundant to have two summary fields.

While the event name doesnt exactly flow off of the tongue it certainly lets one know what the event is about...

Day events are impossible for me to go to and I dont feel that Im 'stuck'....per se...

My problem is trying to talk Father Time into giving us a few more hours during the week but so far our conversations are not going anywhere!

Rachel ... I can relate.

Although I'm new to this community, and I have a desire to host and attend events which are helpful to operating a successful business, I am looking to other bizniks like you who have hosted events in the past for inspiration.

My observation - your title and subject matter seem very good to me. I would probably attend if I already didn't have a conflicting event at the same time, which is also challenged with low to no attendance.

I think it could be the Mid-Day schedule, although I prefer daytime business events so that I can spend my evenings with my family. Regardless, I plan on scheduling some evening events to test the waters because - just maybe this community prefers evening events.

Just a suggestion - If you have no RSVP's by later today, why don't you come over to my lunch event and we can collaborate. I don't know if it's my event title, description, time, or subject matter that has not attracted many. We will probably have time to compare notes.

You can even commisserate with us and give your presentation to get real about our mutual challenges such as what we feel stuck about in our biz? You could be our guest speaker.

I appreciate your reasons for wanting to add a small fee to your events, Rachel. Dan and I worked very hard to find a way to keep Biznik free, while providing valuable incentives to upgrade to an affordable paying membership. Our business model includes fee-based events. Providing event hosts with the ability to charge a fee for their events, contributes to Biznik's income via a $5 transaction fee that's applied to each RSVP.

But I like seeing fee-based events in the calendar for another reason - perceived value. Most every indie on Biznik lives off of billable hours. Many members offer services with rates that exceed $100/hour. When they host a 2 hour workshop on their dime, provide a venue, a syllabus, handouts, and their TIME, that should be worth something to the people who attend. I'm of the impression that event hosts who charge something - even $5 - are saying, "My time is worth something and I would like you to demonstrate that it's worth something to you."

One confirmation of my impression is that over the last two years Dan and I found that the average no-show rate for free events is around 20%. That no-show rate diminishes down to 1-2% when the host ask for a fee - even a fee as small as $5.

This might make for a good discussion, and be lost under the original post. I think I'll start a new topic.

Rachel, hmm...better I suppose for those that may have not immediately gotten the subtleness of the old title.

For what it's worth, I would still come if I were out there!

Great points in this article. A lot of this discussion could be translated into a nice tips article on creating pay events.