Lee Jones-Freeman, promotions manager at The Plug Nightclub in Sheffield, has reaffirmed the importance of traditional networking methods for club promoters.
Plug opened in October 2005, evolving from its previous guise of ‘.Zero’ nightclub and incorporating an extra building.
Jones-Freeman, 30, joined Plug after successfully promoting his own club events in Leeds and he believes social networking sites are not without their drawbacks in his line of work.
”A massive thing for club promoters to remember is to never stop networking face-to-face. Don’t just rely on sites like Facebook.”
”Promoters can invite people to events on Facebook where you can get say 400 people who say they are attending, when it will be more like 40 who turn up.”
The club recently played host to acclaimed DJ Jaguar Skills, a regular on Trevor Nelson’s Saturday Radio 1 programme and a big hit with audiences wherever he goes.
”Jaguar Skills was absolutely mental, it wasn’t what I was expecting at all. It was more of a gig than a usual club night with a DJ.”
”He said it was one of his best performances.”
Describing his duties as ‘never the same from day-to-day’, Jones-Freeman believes there is a fairly unique appeal to Plug which keeps the crowds coming back.
”The best thing about Plug I’d say is that it’s a venue that’s focussed purely on music.”
”90% of people that come to our events, especially on Fridays and Saturdays when we’ve got artists on, are people that have specifically come to see a certain DJ or a certain live act which leads to a special atmosphere.”
Prodigy’s performance at Plug in May 2008 ranks as Jones-Freeman’s all-time favourite gig at the club.
”Prodigy in a sense are too big for Plug but we managed to get them. They played a warm-up gig for one of the festivals they were involved with.
It was pretty mental to have Prodigy playing in a small room like that.”
Jones-Freeman acknowledges Sheffield as ‘probably slightly weaker’ than cities such as Leeds and Manchester with the amount of music venues it offers, however, much like Plug he believes it has a special appeal.
”Sheffield has very strong live music. It’s produced so many good artists and bands like Pulp and the Arctic Monkeys and its heritage of music is what helps to make it a great place.”
Looking to the future, he hopes continued success will come as a result of the enjoyment the audience gets each time they visit the club.
”The main thing I’d like to achieve is to just carry on putting on big parties and seeing everyone in the club having a great time. It’s a pretty good feeling to have brought 1500 people together in one venue.”
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