Sacred Successful
Making Halloween Events Worth a Haunt

As promotions director for Nick’s Sneaky Pete’s in Albany, N.Y., Bill Kennedy is responsible for the club’s annual Monster Bash, a large-scale affair from which venues of any size or budget can learn.
    “You can’t underestimate the power of the decorations,” Kennedy says. “We start advertising a month out and start bringing out the decorations every week in installments. It builds a buzz and gets people excited.
    “People want to win cash. So we offer the biggest cash prize. Six years ago, $1,000 was big. While every other club in town caught up to $1,000, we’ve stayed one step ahead by offering a bigger cash prize. But you’ve got to be able to make the money back at the door.”
    Kennedy stresses the importance of not taking a lot of time for the contest itself. “Everybody wants their time to shine; you’ve got to let everybody be seen,” he says. So, Kennedy conducts a parade through the dance floor.
    “Even if they don’t win, they just want to be seen. You have to do it orderly, because everybody’s attention is on the dance floor, and that means the bar’s not selling.
    “We’ve got it down to a science, where we can take 800-plus people and shuffle them across the dance floor in a half hour’s time. It also helps to limit the categories of costumes to just a few to keep it simple; Kennedy uses just four, which are Best Costume (First and Second Place), Best Couple’s Costume and Sexiest Female. And be sure to advertise what the categories are so patrons get excited and come prepared.
    For smaller clubs trying to compete with a larger club with a bigger budget and bigger scale, Kennedy suggests holding the Halloween event a night earlier, to capitalize on those people who are itching to hit the first Halloween event they can attend.
    “Staff must be in full costume,” Kennedy also advises. “We do two things for our staff to get them fired up every year: a cash prize for best staff costume and a pumpkin-carving contest.  It’s a great way to spice up customer-staff interaction.”                              NCB