This edition of the Newsletter may be the most important that I ever send you! Please Read Every Section!

President's Newsletter To The JCS Membership and Friends

December 1, 2018

Ed Linehan President More Jazz In More Places! 1,000 Members by 2020 Expanded Member Services We Need Your Help

Many Jazz Club Changes for The New Year Starting in January To borrow the opening line from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities : "It was the best of times, It was the worst of times..." This very aptly captures the current condition of The Jazz Club of Sarasota. On the one hand the Club is pursuing exciting new programing formats and venues represented by the this year's slogan More Jazz, In More Places , while on the other hand only 437 of the three thousand people receiving this newsletter are dues paying members. This is not sustainable ! Last year we had to dip into the club's cash reserves to cover our operating costs. That's right, ticket sales, sponsorships, donations, grants and memberships where not enough to cover the cost of the nearly 50 events the club produced. We have to do better in all of those areas. By the way, we have only one part time employee and three very part time consultants providing services. The bulk of what we do is based on a loyal core of volunteers and Board members. When we covered last year's deficits we used one third of our total reserves. Obviously we can't do that again. We also can't continue to raise ticket prices. So we must do better in ALL the other revenue areas, and that is what we intend to do. We will begin by announcing a Membership Campaign with two goals: To increase our dues paying membership from 437 to 1,000 by our 40th Festival in March 2020. So over the next 16 months we need your help to more than double our current membership. Don't miss our new member incentive programs below; and, To improve and expand our member services. There will be more details about these efforts below, but first we want to provide you with new and updated information about upcoming events.

Jazz At Two!

Friday Nov 30 Skip Conkling's Dixie Mix

Music 2-4 Doors Open 1:30 Unitarian Universalist Church 3975 Fruitville Rd Tickets Sold Only at the Door $10 members $20 Non-Members

Dec 7 - Greg Nielson Dec 14 - Sarasota Jazz Project Dec 21 - Lorri Hafer Quartet Dec 28 - Scholarship Winners Come Hear The Young Musicians We have Given Scholarships To!

Do You Need Help Ordering Festival or Monday Night Jazz Tickets Online?

FREE Help! We know that some of our members and guests find it difficult and confusing to order tickets online. Help is on the way! On two Sundays in December volunteers will assist you with your purchases. Just bring your credit or debit cards. There will be no cash or check sales. All processing fees still apply, so the cost is exactly the same as if you did it yourself at home.

Sunday Afternoons On Dec 9 & 16 From 1 to 4 PM 1001 Cocoanut Ave Corner of 10th St in Sarasota 4 Volunteers will help you make your online purchases for Monday Night Jazz Cabaret and for the Festival First Come, First Serve! If this proves to be popular we will repeat it in January

Monday Night Jazz Cabaret At Florida Studio Theater

Are you ready to buy your tickets and select your seats online? Just Click the Links Below! Unfortunately FST can't process member discounts online. Members will have to call the Box Office with their member code. 941-366-9000

There's only 100 seats per performance at the intimate Court Cabaret and we have already sold many series subscriptions! Full Dinner and Bar Service Available!!! Non-Member Price - $39 Member Price $35 Series Subscriptions No Longer Available!

Whitney James and La Lucha Monday Night January 14 Click Here for Whitney Tickets

Gumbi Ortiz Latin Jazz Monday Night January 28 Click Here for Gumbi Tickets

Fred Johnson Trio Monday Night February 25 Click Here for Fred Tickets

Jeff Rupert Quartet Monday Night March 11 Click Here for Jeff Tickets

Brandon Robertson Quartet Monday Night March 25 Click Here for Brandon Tickets

"Generations of Jazz" Sarasota Jazz Festival Week March 3 - 9

Click Here To Visit The Festival Website for More Information and to Purchase Tickets

Two Great Hotel Offers Hyatt Regency Hotel Site of Festival Concerts

Offer #1 4 Night Hotel-VIP Ticket Package That Saves You Up to $654 Only 25 Packages Available - Offer Ends December 31 2018

Offer #2 One to Four Night Stay No Tickets Included Saves You Up to $76 Per Night Limited Availability - Offer Ends February 6, 2019

Click Here To See Details of Hotel Offers

Sarasota Jazz Club Membership Changes

The Jazz Club Membership Fee has been $60 for more than ten years. The benefits of membership this year includes : $330 in reduced admission fees to JCS performances Free rides to & from Jazz club events by iTNSunCoast Free Luxury Bus transportation to and from Ft. Lauderdale to the Jazz Cruise in January (provided by the Cruise Co.) Addition Jazz Cruise onboard Perks (provided by the Cruise Co.) Weekly Eblasts of local Jazz Events 3 Publications of the magazine "Sarasota Jazz Sounds" General Member Support provided by the Club Office New Membership Fees & Renewal Schedule The JCS Board has approved New Membership rates that will become effective January 1, 2019. Current members will see No Rate Increase until their current membership expires on September 1, 2019 . The New Rates are: General Member - $75 Working Musicians - $40 Restaurant/Venue Members - $100 All new memberships will be good for 12 months starting on the actual date that the person joins. Membership renewals will no longer be tied to one specific annual date for everyone. Expanded Benefits A new Jazz Club Website with dedicated Member pages Website to include a musician directory with contact information of member musicians available for Private Parties and other events Event/ticket assistance programs (see FREE HELP above) Member meetings and surveys to identify high interest performers for coming season at Jazz At 2, Joy of Jazz, Jazz on the Water, Jazz in the Park and other events We will also involve members in designing types of programs. For example Latin Jazz Weekends, Blues Nights, perhaps even dinner/dance events. What would you like to see added. Restaurant discount programs for Jazz Club members A standing membership committee will work to expand these and other member benefits.

New Member Incentive Programs

As stated above, we want to more than double our membership over the next 16 months. We would also like to add younger members. The average age of our festival attendees this year was in the mid-70s! Here are our first four membership incentives programs: #1 Holiday Gifting! Current members may obtain full year memberships for friends and family members from now through Dec. 31st for just $50. That's 33% off the new member rate of $75. At the end of the 12 month period from when the member was enrolled they will be eligible to renew at the FULL member rate. An individual may only be gifted once and may not combine this with any other incentive program; nor may they take advantage of any other incentive offer in the future. To take advantage of the Holiday Gifting Program you must see Carline in the Jazz Club Office; or see me (Ed L) at Jazz At Two on Fridays; or come to one of the two FREE HELP afternoons at the Starlite Room described above (Sundays Dec 9 or 16, 1-4 PM) #2 New Member Sponsorship! Current members may obtain full year memberships for friends and family members starting on January 1st through February 28th for $60. That's 20% off the new member rate of $75. At the end of the 12 month period from when the membership was purchased the new member will be eligible to renew at the FULL member rate. An individual may only be sponsored once and may not combine this with any other incentive program; nor may they take advantage of any other incentive offer in the future. Instructions To Follow. #3 Ticket Redemption Program! Starting January 1st, 2019 any non-member (excluding former members) attending an event with a full price non-member ticket may redeem the full value of that ticket within 24 hours of the event towards a $75 membership. For example if a person attends Jazz At Two with a $20 non-member ticket they have 24 hours from the end of that performance to redeem their ticket and get a full year's membership for the difference - in this case an additional $55!  An individual may only join once using the Ticket Redemption Program and may not combine this with any other incentive program; nor may they take advantage of any other incentive offer in the future. Instructions To Follow. #4 Pay Your Age Program ! Starting January 1st, 2019 any non-member (excluding former members) may become a member by simply paying their current age as indicated on a government ID. For example if today a person's ID indicates they were born on February 20, 1969 that would make them 49 years old. They would be eligible to pay $49 for a full year's membership. No one would ever pay more than $75. An individual may only join once using the Pay Your Age Program and may not combine this with any other incentive program; nor may they take advantage of any other incentive offer in the future. Instructions To Follow. That's it for now, but we will be looking to develop additional incentive programs in the future based in part on the effectiveness of these efforts. Let's Get Those People Signed Up!

How about... A New Development Effort Designed to Support the Long Term Expansion of Jazz Club Activities & Growth in Membership

Click Here To Donate or Sponsor Specific JCS Programs

Click Here for Ways To Support The Jazz Festival

330 S. Pineapple Ave. Suite 111 Sarasota, Florida 34236 941-366-1552 W-F jazzclubsarasota.org