The good news is that I’ve finally heard back from the Randall, and they would be happy to have our lecture series.
The bad news is that it is no longer free. Not that it was ever actually free — it’s just that previously, they just took our door money that we collected the night of no matter the amount. The Randall (of SF Parks and Rec) want to move to a more business-like relationship, which I can understand.
On the face of it, it is not that much: $127 for the 3 hours we would occupy the building (accounting for a little setup time, a little take down time, and a little socializing).
Typically, we averaged probably around $60/lecture which is obviously not enough to cover that time, let alone the measly speakers fee that we afforded (~50), nor the $90 that I spent 2 times a year to do some mail marketing, nor the occasional Facebook ad (which I self-funded).
Most speakers had never really expected the fee, but we still need a little more nonetheless. The easiest solution might be to move to a paid ticketed system and charge for something like a $5 or $10 dollar ticket, or something sliding scale. To do that I might need a way to be more than just a guy running a lecture series, but a small organization (with a non-profit sponsor) that can claim 501C(3) status.
If you’ve any ideas, please send them my way!
SF Natural History Series 