CakeWalk is a weekly column by Mary Ann Porch dedicated to every baker who has ever struggled to achieve the right consistency with their icing, unsuccessfully searched for the perfect cupcake topper or just wants to learn something new. Because with a few helpful tips, cupcakes are a cakewalk.
Last week, we discussed how to lay event foundation for your city's first CupcakeCamp, and this week we're going to tackle what is probably the most difficult part of the planning process: securing a venue.
Around this time last year, I began the search for what would be the site of the first CupcakeCamp NYC. I decided that a bar or restaurant would be the best locale, but honestly, I can't remember my thought process behind this. I believe I decided on this type of venue because I had recently heard about an event at a West Village restaurant that was essentially the pie version of CupcakeCamp.
In hindsight, the type of venue you choose is extremely important. I'm glad I decided on a bar early on as I didn't want to worry about the child factor.
What's the child factor? It's this: I had images of parents dropping their kids off for what they imagined to be a daycare service/evening activity. I had visions of a small, unsupervised child picking up a cupcake topped with pecans and stuffing their face, only to be on the floor moments later suffering from an allergic reaction to nuts.
As you can tell, I'm not a parent, and don't get me wrong - I do love kids. But for this event, I wanted to keep it adults only. I figured most people over the age of 18 know about their personal food allergies and frankly, their attendance doesn't require a parking lot for strollers. Basically, I wanted to simplify logistics, and making this an 18+ event saved me a lot of time.
However, there have been plenty of CupcakeCamps that have been all-ages and family-friendly, so don't discount the rug rats just because I did.
Another challenge you're going to face very early on are venue owners wanting to charge you for the space. When I began planning CupcakeCamp NYC 2.0 and just got laid off again...) so I had zero dollars to put towards paying an event rental fee.
In my mind, CupcakeCamp is all about the free spirit of the event. I wanted to make my event free of charge so everyone who wanted to attend could do so(with the exception of my age restriction). Also, I love cupcakes, but not enough to cut a personal check for thousands of dollars. And yes, that's how much venue owners were asking for - between $3,000 to $4,000 to use their space for 3 hours on a Sunday night.
During week 3 of my search, Rachel Kramer Bussel, one of the founding editors of Cupcakes Take The Cake, suggested I get in touch with Happy Ending, a bar in the Lower East Side of New York. She had held book readings there and said they were open to new event idea pitches.
Happy Ending, the site of the first CupcakeCamp NYC. The event was such a success that Happy Ending invited us back for this year's event, CupcakeCamp NYC 2.0.
I sent an e-mail to the venue owners, confident I was about to land a space. And then I waited. And waited. And waited. Perhaps it wasn't that long, but it felt like ages waiting for a response. However, I finally heard back from them and they loved the idea. They offered me use of Happy Ending for free and we agreed on the date and time (which I agreed to be flexible on since they weren't charging me).
I learned that when pitching a venue that you want to use free of charge, one does actually have some selling points. When asking venue owners for their space, remember to mention:
Free advertising/PR: I promised to include mention of the venue on the CupcakeCamp NYC blog, and obviously they were going to be included on the flier. I also let the venue owners know that I was conducting PR outreach and that they would be included in mentions of the event.
New customers: I know for a fact that many of the CupcakeCamp NYC attendees had never visited Happy Ending, so I could promise them an increase in new customers. Additionally, since they had quite a bit of say as to when the event was held, they were able to pick a time when their sales were traditionally low. This meant an increase in sales with no effort on their part.
Clean-up: I promised the venue owners that "we" (which meant me at that point, but the venue owners don't need to know this) would clean up after the event. This might seem minor, but trust me - no one likes the idea of picking up thousands of cupcake wrappers.
Another thing to think about when you begin your venue search is the use of social media. When I started my venue search, I was already talking about CupcakeCamp NYC on the official site/blog and had set up a Facebook fan page. I'm also active on Twitter and had begun mentioning the event in my tweets. Two days after agreeing to hold the event at Happy Ending, I was contacted by the social media manager at another New York event space asking if they could host the event. I was shocked after seeing their space online that such a prestigious company would want to host my event free of charge, so it goes without saying that you never know who might be listening and interested in your event.
My point? Tell everyone what you're doing. Facebook and Twitter can be a powerful tool.
After you have secured your space, breathe a sigh of relief. As mentioned, I found this to be the most challenging part of the event planing process. Now, you can move forward to step #3: Designing your official artwork! And trust me, this part is fun!
Still have questions about how to plan a CupcakeCamp for your city? Send me a note to mary_ann_porch@hotmail.com. I'm here to help!
On an end note, I want to say that the folks at Happy Ending are some of the coolest people I met along the way while planning CupcakeCamp NYC. They were always there to help - both before and after the event - and overall, were just a joy to work with. I can't say enough about how awesome they are.
Mary Ann is the founder of the New York City chapter of CupcakeCamp NYC, an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment. She is also the founder of Puff and Choux, a blog dedicated to the pastry and dessert arts. You can contact her at mary_ann_porch@hotmail.com with any questions, ideas or just to chit chat. You can also follow her on Twitter at @MaryAPorch.
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