[QLab] Pricing

[Jim Carroll]

Hi Chris,

I do a lot of community theatre. We have 2 active groups that have  
productions year round and a children's theatre that is 1 or 2 full- 
length musical productions in the summer. I also do the tech for the  
local (rural) K-12 school and help out with 2 other school districts  
if they call. Roughly 8 shows a year.

 From a geek standpoint, this is a lot of fun. From an income  
standpoint, I get paid maybe $1000 across the year. I can't get paid  
for the school work as I'm on the board and  by law, have to do it  
for free. If I don't get re-elected the next time, it would double  
the theatre income.

Over the years, I've bought my own gear and can rig most shows with  
my own sound. You helped me work through QLab and a MOTU 828 MKII  
earlier this summer for our big musical last month. I'm running the  
kids show this week.

If I had to add it all up, I probably spend the total of the payments  
received each year on new gear. This will decrease as I build out my  
racks, but I'm certainly not making anything from this "hobby".

I haven't used MIDI show control and we're not in an area where we'll  
be controlling video from the board for a long time. Using QLab has  
allowed me to bring a new level of sound to the venues and has made  
my life easier (although it did crash tonight in a final dress - I'll  
send you the files later). I would happily pay $100 for the software  
in the free version at the current level of development. I'd have to  
think twice about it at $200 but would go to $150 with only a little  
hesitation.

The local schools and the community theatres don't own computers so I  
would be bringing them the technology if I was the TD. I think that  
perhaps the theatre in Lake Placid could justify this on their own.  
Everyone else would have no clue that it was available and won't be  
buying the computer anyway.

Hope this is helpful.

Jim Carroll

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On Aug 16, 2006, at 11:28 PM, Christopher Ashworth wrote:

> Just to clarify, I'm basically looking for input into what each of
> *you* would find a fair price for the work *you* do.
>
> Don't worry too much about hypothesizing about other folks--I just
> want to get a sense of what you would think is fair if you were
> making the decision to go Pro or not.
>
> And I'll just reiterate: I want to make this tool accessible.  I
> don't want to price it out of reach.  When I started this project a
> year and a half ago, it was in large part because I felt people
> needed a great tool for a much more reasonable price.  Hell, there's
> a reason I'm still offering a free version!   :)
>
> I really will try to find a price that is as fair as possible, which
> both provides the resources necessary to improve the program and
> support the hundreds of hours it takes to develop it, while
> simultaneously keeping it accessible to the widest possible group of
> people.
>
> With your input I'll hopefully find a good balance.
>
> Cheers,
> Chris
>
>
> On Aug 16, 2006, at 10:41 PM, Mike Benonis wrote:
>
>> Hmm, I never really considered individual users in my thinking...
>>
>> I suppose the price points I suggested are a bit high, especially for
>> a new product (as you stated Matt).  What matters most to me is not
>> the actual price point but a tiered system that allows users to pay
>> essentially based on how much money they have at their disposal.
>> It's not fair to make the poor high school drama department pay as
>> much as a full blown New York theatre would.  Thoughts?
>
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