Survey Results for the Cap City Comedy Club Venue
By Jim Ivy
The September 10th event featuring the Alamo City Jazz Band was held at a new venue for ATJS, the Cap City Comedy Club. According to Treasurer, Malcolm Rodman, "We had 115 in attendance, including 88 members and 27 non-members". This compares to an attendance of 180 members and guests who were at the All Star Event held at the Red Lion on June 11th.
A twelve question survey was posted on www.atjs.org to give attendees an opportunity to voice their opinions about the venue. Of the 115 people who attended, 31 of them responded to the survey. Here is the results of the survey.
Convenience
How convenient is the location of the Cap City Comedy Club?
The mean ranking for convenience is 4.29 out of a possible 5.0. This compares to a score of 4.36 on the survey that followed the event at the Red Lion which is located only a short distance from the Cap City Comedy Club.
Parking
How adequate was parking at the Cap City Comedy Club?
Ease of finding a parking place is also an important consideration for ATJS members. Cap City scored an average of 4.13 compared to a score of 4.52 at the Red Lion event.
Service
How pleased were you with the service at the Cap City Comedy Club?
Cap City scored 4.10 for service, compared to 3.00 at the Red Lion.
Food/Drinks
Did you order food or drinks during the concert?
This question was included in the survey to get an indication of how profitable the ATJS event was for the venue. Of those who took the survey, our members took advantage of the food and drinks at both Cap City and the Red Lion in an equal percentage. This is supported by the fact that both venues have expressed an interest in hosting our events in the future.
Acoustics
Could you hear the music and announcements well during the concert at the Cap City Comedy Club?
The acoustics and public address system at Cap City scored 4.7 on a scale of from 1 to 5. This is considerably better than the Red Lion score of 3.78.
Visual
Could you see the musicians well during the concert?
When considering the audience's view of the musicians, Cap City scored 4.77. Again this is much better than the Red Lion's score of 3.56.
Dancing
Was the dance floor adequate?
According to those who responded to the survey, the dance floor was Cap City's weakest point. Cap City's score for this question was a low 1.71. This question was not included on the survey after the Red Lion event so there is no numerical comparison. However dancing was much more prevalent at the Red Lion than it was at Cap City, so it can be assumed that the Red Lion dance floor is superior to the Cap City dance floor. This makes sense since the Red Lion space is organized around the dance floor while Cap City is organized around the stage with the dance floor off to one side.
Ambiance
Neither survey included a question about the ambiance of the setting. However several comments in the "feedback" section suggest that ambiance is something that should be taken into consideration in selecting a venue.
“Cap City was more an auditorium than a club, needed moody lights and real dance floor”, and “a bit institutional feeling....sort of like my high school cafeteria” are a couple of the comments that indicate that ambiance is a consideration.
Future Events
How would you rank the Cap City Comedy Club overall as a site for future ATJS events?
Cap City scored 4.19 compared to the Red Lion's score of 3.58 as a site for future ATJS events. It was chosen by 20 to 7 over the Red Lion when respondents were asked to compare the venues directly to one another.
Venue Comparison
Of the following venues, which do you prefer for ATJS events?
- Saxon Pub
- Club Max at the Red Lion Hotel
- Cap City Comedy Club
- Other
Respondents who selected "Other" were asked to suggest a location. However no respondents suggested any location.
Selected comments from survey respondents:
- I liked both Club Max and Cap City. Each had problems serving us -- we expect to eat and drink for three hours and they do not seem to expect that. Club Max was too small but may get better. Cap City was more an auditorium than a club, needed moody lights and real dance floor (or two, maybe one in back for shy dancers).
- After the Club Max performance, the Hotel announced their plan to enlarge the area. This is good news, if true. Dance floor is the second consideration -- a must! Area has access to food & drink, restrooms, and parking. ATJS audience enjoys listening, dancing, eating & drinking with their JAZZ!!
Feedback
The final question on the survey was a general question solicting feedback, "Do you have any comments or suggestions that will assist ATJS in planning future events?".
Selected responses:
- If we have enough space, we can start encouraging friends to come. It is hard to do that if the place is too small and tattered, or has too little parking space.
- Get some hardwood for the dance floor.
- The Cap City seemed to want this gig to go well. The wait staff was plentiful and attentive. The service was excellent. The food was good, and was served promptly. The drinks were a little pricey, but the food was quite reasonable. The sound man started the band off a little on the loud side, but was responsive to requests for lower volume. The room was a little cool at first, but the staff turned the AC down. The stage, sound system and sight lines are the best we have had at recent ATJS events. The acoustics are acceptable, far better than those at Donn's. The bathrooms are clean and attractive. We did not have to share the event with the Red Lion's guests or the Saxon Pub owner's friends. I also liked the absence of the big TV sets. The shopping center parking lot never filled up quite all the way. No one was using the reserved parking spaces at Drakula (a Romanian restaurant), and it is closed on Sundays. In any event, there are more parking spaces than there were at Donn's Depot. The overflow parking lot is easy enough to get to.
- The service and facilities were quite adequate, but the excellent stage lighting and the monitored sound system were the most notable positive feacures.
- If the venue would like us to eat lunch there, it must open by noon. I'd be glad to do that.
- The Cap City Comedy Club was pretty good, although a bit institutional feeling....sort of like my high school cafeteria. I liked the extra room. I didn't like not being able to walk thru all the tables to talk to other jazz fans. I could access some, not all. I prefer Club Max, but it might not be large enough. I'll make it a point to order lunch at future locations if it's available. After all those years at Donn's I forget and eat first elsewhere. There might be some place better, but I don't know where it is yet.
- Too much AC
- Some of had planned to eat lunch at the club and found it not open yet when we arrived at 12:30. I feelstronly about finishing before the music starts so we can listen without distraction. Please tell us in the next notice the time the venue opens and will serve food.
- I think there was a misunderstanding regarding the hours of food service. Those of us who showed up early to eat were told that food and staff would not be available until about 1:45 pm. They recovered well however, and this can be all be worked out in the future. I think Cap City is perfect for our venue IF they would install a temporary dance floor of the type used by several private clubs and hotels. Perhaps they don't have this facility since they are billed as a comedy club, but worth asking about. If the Red Lion remodel improves sight lines, that venue is great also.
- See above. We need a good "HOME" for ATJS.
- I suggest putting the band in the far corner and letting the dancers have the dance floor that is there. Of course, if it can be moved, the dance floor should be right in front of the band on the level with the tables, leaving the band in the same place.
- We were encouraged to go about noon and have lunch----but the manager only showed up at half past noon and advised that no food would be available until about 1;30pm ---SO we had to hunt for a lunch place nearby which inconvenient and not enjoyable.
- COMEDY CLUB WAS FAR AND AWAY BETTER THAN ANY SITE, INCLUDIND DONN'S. THE SOUND SYSTEM AND SPACIOUSNESS ALONE SHOULD BE THE DECIDING FACTOR.
- Committee doing fine job.
- Committee doing fine job.
- Cap City is too much like a high school cafeteria. Dance floor is inadequate. Long rows of tables make visiting awkward. PA is good but do not plug the piano directly into the speakers. Strange to have the piano sound come from the rear of the room while the other instruments are coming from the front.
- We looked forward to having Lunch. The food was awful and so was the service. No wonder they automatically add a 15% gratuity. We so looked forwarded to Dancing. There was "no" dance floor.
