Will events go the way of the dinosaur?

The end of the developer incentives has given me a lot to think about as far as events. For those that don't know it -- I am events manager at the Phoenix Spa Resort. I've been booking events there for the last couple of months. Some are low-brow, some are high-brow, all are interactive (except for maybe the fashion shows). We do a few educational classes a month, we do DJ-hosted dances several times a week, we've done live music, mud-wrestling, picture contests and other events -- I really don't need to go through the list. And I had a lot of things planned for the first of the year.

The thing is -- a venue like the Phoenix Spa costs money. Perse doesn't even break even and with the end of developer incentives she isn't likely to ever be able to do so. Live performers cost money. DJs cost money. Hosts cost money. I get a salary for what I do. Don't get me wrong - I work hard for the salary -- really hard. I probably spend about 10-15 hours a week on event production. Its a lot of work. I mention this not because I want to complain but because I want to stave off any "well you should do it for free" type comments. Thats a lot of hours to put in to do a job for free. DJs pay for a stream and their equipment -- same with live performers. Anyway all this as an explanation that I produce events, I know how much time it takes to produce them and what it costs to produce them, and that the following thoughts are coming out of a vacuum.

Now I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that, while Perse would like to make a buck or two, breaking even and providing good events inside SL was the original goal. And now that's not going to happen. So she's now got some hard thinking to do about how much of her own personal cash she wants to sink into SL for purely altruistic purposes.

Which leads me to incentive. Putting on events in SL is a lot of work and where, now, is the incentive for doing so? This developer list thing that LL is doing is nice -- I guess -- lets hope they put more effort into policing that than they've put into policing the events calendar or it will become the same stinking pile of shit and be worthless. But what else? Why should people build magnificent builds and hold events there if its going to cost them oogobs of money and just benefit the Lindens?

I understand that this has been abused. I understand that something needed to be done. But you have announced that you will be taking away a huge incentive for there to be any cool events at all and haven't replaced it with something else. This leads me to think that there won't be anything else. This leads me to think that events are going to slowly dwindle down to nothing.

Are you expecting that we will produce events at info hubs? Why? Why would I (or any other event producer) do that? Do I have a relationship with you? Is there some reason I would spend a lot of hours producing an event for you? Are you going to pay me to put in that much work? Perse is a friend. And she pays me. And we are building something good and cool here together. What are we (LL and I) doing together?

I don't really care that much about developers incentives but I do care about people being able to build and hold events without having to go broke. Because they won't do it if that's the cost. And right now, that would be the cost.

To quote someone else:
"make people pay entrance fee to your events"
If your events are really good quality, then people will pay to get in the door... just as in RL.

The Shelter plans to survive, and no, we don't intend on charging admission - or charging for anything, for that matter. Most of our guests aren't established in the world yet, and well - it seems counterproductive to do so in our situation, at least.

Content creators have lavished us with freebies and prizes in the past, and the community has been most generous with donations - hopefully that wont change. Some belt-tightening will be in order, and I may have to downsize a little - but I plan to be here until we just can't run anymore.

Did I mention the Shelter takes donations? Feel free to send a Linden or two to Sheltered Ambassador