Before we start we just wanted to say that this gig sucks!

Weebot — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:21:32 -0800

So, how do you hire a big-name band to do a private event? I work at a medium-to-large sized non-profit in a well-to-do area that is going to be having a 50th anniversary celebration in late 2008. It's going to be big, and there is a big opportunity to raise a lot of money for the organization. As such, we're going to be spending relatively lavishly for the event. We've allocated about $40,000 to hire a band (though the organization is willing to pay up to $100,000). The questions I have are: how do you go about hiring a somewhat well-known band for an event like this? Is it really just a matter of going through their management, or are there any tricks involved? How well-known a band can you even get with that amount?

Oh yeah, bonus points for band/artist suggestions, though that's not really necessary.

(One of the administrators had quixotically wanted to see if we could get Bruce Springsteen to do it—someone had some sort of connection in the office—but when we contacted his management they politely told us that his asking price [$2.1 million] and our offer weren't exactly a match. If only we were Mr. Burns.)

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Before we start we just wanted to say that this gig sucks!