Monthly PowerPoint Party Not Doing Well
I host a monthly PowerPoint party in a bar. I get a little money from the bar owner, but it really is a labor of love. Does anyone here do host this? Participate in this? Attend this? either in a bar or at a friend's house. I have found that friend party powerpoints are often underwhelming because people aren't afraid of their friends getting up and walking out. And friend PPT parties can rely on in-jokes.
I mainly want funny topics such as: Dumb Things I did as a kid, why Society Expects men to ask women out, and Age Gaps in Relationships.
I will allow interesting, but not necessarily funny ones: alcohols ranked by environmental impact, why it matters in baseball if you are right or left handed. But I really want to encourage people to be funny.
I have done this for 2 years. Sometimes attendance is 50+ and it is hard to get a seat. The last one had 7 people.
Attracting presenters is always a struggle. Most of my presenters are aspiring comedians. And presenters flaking the day-of is a persistent issue. This last one, I was the only presenter, as the only other person I attracted flaked. And yeah, only 7 people in the audience.
I am frustrated that I cannot attract enough presenters, attendees, meanwhile, other PowerPoint events in my city seem to do really well. I wonder why? Also, it is frustrating to see so many people laughing their heads off, and never come back.
Here are other PowerPoint events in my city that do very well:
Science-on-Tap: This event is also monthly and really packs them in, standing room only. I have attended twice and the information presented was not new to me, and was dryly presented. The presenters are PhDs. I show people their list of topics, and most people say, "Those topics are really vague and uncompelling." Perhaps I underestimate how much people care about science.
Movie PowerPoints: This is part of a Movie Club, who do a variety of events, and their PowerPoint nights are sporadic and rare. The last one had about 80 people. I found it to be very dull, it is hard to imagine many people finding it interesting when a presenter just goes over the plot of a decades old foreign film and points out superficial similarities to modern action films. And their presentations are long, up to 30 minutes. Still, it is officially a film club, so the people are likely to be friends, or at least know each other.
Poetry night: This is monthly, and not even PowerPoint. They charge $20 admission, and even charge the poets to submit without any guarantee that they will be selected. It shocks me that they can attract 60 people each month.
Pitch-A-Friend: Where people "pitch" their friend, as in, why people should date them. I am not surprised that this is popular. People like dating. It is interactive. And it is encouraged to speak to the people being pitched.
Any experience with PowerPoint parties? Any suggestions? Does it seem like I am doing something wrong?
I advertise on instagram, craigslist, eventbrite, and occasionally I shell out $59 for an ad on a blog, which is a lot more than these other events do for advertising.