{"items": [{"author": "John", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/100633726263571579985", "anchor": "gp-1321892334417", "service": "gp", "text": "For our dances in JP we say: \n
\n The fee is usually $10, students $6. But we also take less if that's what you can afford.\n
\nThat sets the standard for expected admission but allows people to suggest their own reduced amount. We also have an extra donation bucket. The \"usually\" is because for occasional dances such as the New Year's Eve dance or the Harvest Ball we increase the fee.", "timestamp": 1321892334}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1321892834871", "service": "gp", "text": "@John\n my main problem is how to interpret \"if that's what you can afford\".", "timestamp": 1321892834}, {"author": "Andrew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/231428450258425?comment_id=231502366917700", "anchor": "fb-231502366917700", "service": "fb", "text": "With contras, there is a standard rate to compare to. In Boston, I think that's currently $8 (because my usual dance is the NEFFA Thursday contra), sometimes $10. If the dance has a goal/cause I support (like BIDA or the JP gender free) I'm ok paying more than the standard $8 I see in Concord.
Other considerations: I know that organizers aren't getting rich (or maybe even breaking even) running most dances. I feel comfortable or compelled to pay \"my fair share\" which is an economics question. What do others pay, scarcity of the resource, what is the service worth to me, what is the cost and effort of providing the service, what is my ability to pay, do I feel welcome? These days, getting to the dance can cost more than dancing. If it's a dance, how does the cost compare to a show at passim, symphony hall, the paradise? To a balkan dance or a swing dance? In the end, I want to find a sweet spot between too selfish and too generous.
If the dance has a pot-luck, I like to contribute, but if I think I find that most dancers don't (like at BIDA) then I feel put upon to bake something, since it's an extra investment in time and money, and I'm not a baker (or snacker) by habit. At the first couple of BIDA dances I baked something, now I just kick in a buck or two. I feel that if I'm paying $10 to dance, that it's fair for the organizers to provide a cup of lemonade at the break. I have always considered Charlie Seelig to be an angel for the dozens and thousands of amazing cookies that he has baked and brought to contra dances.
I go to bluegrass night at the Cantab most every week. They pass around a hat, suggested donation $7 (they do not collect at the door). I don't know what the average take is, but I'm sure it's less than $7. I know some well-to-do people who put in more. I almost always put in $7, though I might put in $5 if I'm standing in the back of a crowded noisy room rather than sitting with a view of the band. I also always buy a beer at least, and tip the waitress, so for me it's usually $13 for one hour of live music and a beer there. It seems to me that at the Cantab it's mostly young people who are happy to spend on beer but not so happy to throw into the hat. I think they are there to hang out with their friends, not so much for the music (judging my the level of crowd noise).
David Kaynor's dances in Greenfield have long had suggested fee or barter equivalent, and folks would bring a pie or even non-food. Many contras allow you to work instead of paying - the NEFFA contra has this for cashier door duty, and it seems nicer to me than a voluntary sliding scale. (I understand that they are not mutually exclusive.) If I think about the question at all (and I prefer not to) I like the idea of people putting in their fair share. At the same time, I realize that organizers and callers and musicians are probably putting in more than their fair share.
For regular events, I use existing examples as a guide. For one-time events, I would find this question even trickier.", "timestamp": "1321901004"}, {"author": "Allison", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103741579182942078941", "anchor": "gp-1321901655029", "service": "gp", "text": "I think one way to approach it is to ask: if the price were fixed for everyone, what would be the maximum price that I would be willing to pay in order to attend, given my current budget? It doesn't matter if that price is unfair to other people because if you feel obligated to pay too much, you won't go (and hence won't pay anything at all) and the others would end up needing to pay even more than they would if you attended.", "timestamp": 1321901655}, {"author": "Peter", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103618186481362054522", "anchor": "gp-1321903451684", "service": "gp", "text": "In recent memory I've never encountered such an event where I had any doubt I could afford the max suggested. I wonder whether I should actually toss in a few extra bucks to help subsidize the people who can afford less whom I have several reasons to want to be there.", "timestamp": 1321903451}, {"author": "Adam Yie", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/114873051319510815414", "anchor": "gp-1321914273630", "service": "gp", "text": "@Jeff Kaufman\n Would you mind elaborating on why meeting donations come from a different category?\n
\n
\nAlso, the link to the meeting is broken.", "timestamp": 1321914273}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1321914693137", "service": "gp", "text": "@Adam Yie\n link fixed.\n
\n
\n\"Would you mind elaborating on why meeting donations come from a different category?\"\n
\n
\nJulia and I divide our money into roughly four categories: necessary spending (housing, food), donations, allowance, and saving. Meeting donations aren't saving, and it's an optional activity, so it's not \"necessary spending\" either. This leaves donations and allowance. If I'm giving money away to try to make the world a better place, my quaker meeting is not the best place to give. Other places do much better, so my donations should go to them. This leaves allowance, which makes sense because meeting fills a similar role in my life to other social events (contra dancing, music, eating out) that also come out of allowance.\n
\n
\nSome of this is that I'm not religious; I go to quaker meeting because I enjoy doing so, not because I think I'm religiously obligated to.", "timestamp": 1321914693}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1321914964934", "service": "gp", "text": "@allison\n \"what would be the maximum price that I would be willing to pay in order to attend, given my current budget?\"\n
\n
\nThis suggests that if I really enjoy doing something, and they have a box out for donations, it might make sense for me to put $30 in even if they have a sign saying the suggested donation is $5.\n
\n
\nIt's also hard to tell what the maximum price someone would pay is. When I was at swat I would not have been willing to pay $30 to attend the (swarthmore) english scottish ball, but now I spend 16 hours on pubtrans, bus fare, train fare, and $15 admission to attend. And vice versa for neffa.", "timestamp": 1321914964}, {"author": "Allison", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103741579182942078941", "anchor": "gp-1321920070089", "service": "gp", "text": "@Jeff Kaufman\n \"This suggests that if I really enjoy doing something, and they have a box out for donations, it might make sense for me to put $30 in even if they have a sign saying the suggested donation is $5.\" It's your thirty dollars, and that might make up for other people donating less, like in the meeting example.\n
\n
\n\"It's also hard to tell what the maximum price someone would pay is.\" True, but usually people have a good in-the-moment gut impulse. I look at a tomato's price and can say \"that's too much\" or \"that's a great deal.\" Whether or not I'm willing to spend a set amount depends on how much I've been craving tomatoes, how much else I'm planning to buy soon, and how close I am to my budget limit for the week/month/whatever (that is, how much I've already spent). Since discretionary spending really boils down to spending things on things to make you happy, so basing the decision on gut/emotion/impulse seems reasonable. For the dances, you're also paying travel to see places and friends you might not otherwise, which is different than just the entrance fee.", "timestamp": 1321920070}, {"author": "John", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/100633726263571579985", "anchor": "gp-1321922441859", "service": "gp", "text": "We judge how much we want to pay for things partly by comparison shopping. For contra dances the regular rate is usually $8 - $10 with occasional instances of more. Knowing that these dances are non-profit with the revenue gong to pay for rent, musicians and callers, and miscellaneous expenses like insurance and stuff as a consumer I assume the dance has set its rate to cover costs and build up a reserve for emergencies. My attitude therefore is I'll pay what is asked. And for dances it is a pretty good deal - dancing, good music, meeting up with friends and many congenial people for a ~3 hour stint. And you get some exercise too. Movies, bar hopping, and most other forms of entertainment are much more costly. My RedSox ticket costs $50.", "timestamp": 1321922441}]}