Michiana Education and Arts Club

Greetings,

Thanks for your interest in playing at The Michiana Education and Arts Club (MEAC) in Elkhart, Indiana. We are a small 501c7 not-for-profit (NFP) social club focused on arts, education, and music. Most of the financial support for MEAC comes from our member base due to government restrictions. We do open our club a couple times a month to non-members to host music, film, or art events to help recruit members and to continue to support local music, arts, and education. We wanted to send you this so that it may answer some of the questions that you may have when performing at an event at the MEAC.

Does MEAC offer guarantees?

Currently, we do not offer guarantees as we are a small NFP and do not have the working capital to do so.

Do bands play for free?

Not necessarily. The payout is based on donations. The suggested donation for an audience member at a MEAC event is $10. This donation helps to cover overhead costs and is also used to financially compensate the artists. The breakdown of the donation is as follows: 65% of the donations go towards the operating expenses of the MEAC until the monthly operating costs have been satisfied. 35% goes to the artists. Once, the operating costs have been satisfied, 65% of the donations go to the artists and 35% goes to the MEAC. Currently, our operating expenses are $800 a month. The MEAC’s operating costs comes mostly from membership dues and member donations. Annual membership dues are $35 a year and we use the public events to recruit. This means the more fans that an artist brings to an event and can get to join MEAC, the sooner the operating costs will be satisfied and the more payout that an artist can receive. Not only that, but the MEAC also streams their events on TWITCH. This gives fans that cannot make it to the venue the ability to support the artist by being in the chat and by giving donations via TWITCH. 100% of the TWITCH donations collected during the evening are split amongst the bands. That means that the more fans that an artist can get to “follow” TWITCH.TV/MEAC574 and start posting/donating in chat, then the more revenue that they can earn. The MEAC takes 0% out of the multi-cam stream of the night. The only proceeds that the MEAC will be entitled to are the Amazon Prime subscribers who Subscribe to support the venue.

Does the MEAC have a PA?

Yes, we have a 24-channel sound system complete with floor monitors.

Does the MEAC have a light setup?

Yes, the MEAC has overhead PAR cans, light controller, black light strips for each musician and a projector.

What determines the lineup for the night?

Typically, out of town bands play first, then the local headliner plays. Experience has shown that the local headliners is the drawing force, and we want to make sure that the out-of-town bands are playing for people. Many times, the local headliner brings those crowds. The out-of-town bands usually bring the virtual crowds on the TWITCH channel.

How does the MEAC promote the show?

The MEAC promotes the show by printing posters that will be shown in the front windows of the venue, sending announcements to members, and posting on the MEAC’s Facebook site. The MEAC will also run one local Facebook event boost campaign to get the word out. The rest is up to the artist. It is STRONGLY recommended that artists promote as rigorously as possible to drive people to the show. The more people who come and the more people who watch the stream/donate means the more payout that the artists will receive. It is just that easy. The MEAC will create a flyer for the event (that will be turned into a poster) and MEAC will send each artist a file to share.

Can band members and fans drink at the venue?

Officially, non MEAC member band members and fans cannot drink on the premises. Only MEAC members who are 21+ can drink at the MEAC and they must bring their own alcoholic drinks. Any MEAC member who is found to give non-members or minors alcoholic beverages will have their membership revoked immediately and will be removed from the show. We must have a zero-tolerance policy here due to local, state, and federal laws. Basically, if you want to drink at the MEAC, the easiest way is to become a member and bring your own or do so off the premises. We are working on our alcohol license and to get one, we need more MEAC members.

Can artists join MEAC even though they are not local/not attending?

Absolutely! Artists and bands are encouraged to join MEAC to support local music and to be eligible for member only events and workshops. At $35 a year, it is a deal!

If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out and we will do our best to reply promptly.

Regards,

Dominic Sobieralski

MEAC President