Mez mail for your valuable attention!

[Sahand Sahebdivani]

Hi everyone!

When we took over the space of the big Mezrab in 2015 one of the decisions we made was to rip out the cigarette machine. It was where the little book library is today, next to the toilets. Apparently the norm was for bars not to make any money on them, they were sold to owners as a service to their visitors. Well, we weren't buying it. The second thing we did was to stop a commercial company putting up posters of concerts, as the previous bar owner had allowed. It felt weird that artists and venues were paying money for their posters to be distributed, and we had no say over which events would be promoted. The struggling artists we liked rarely had the budgets to be included. It's the Mezrab way to always do things a little bit differently. The same holds true with our pricing policy: our most popular nights are donation based, while many smaller events require you to get a ticket to enter.

Now, we love our idealistic approach to alternative economics, but we also have to be realistic about the financial bottom line, so here's something we are introducing this week in our nights. It will be done in a tasteful way that will not impact the way you enjoy the Mezrab. Some of the tellers will start to mention the brand names of products that appear in their stories. It is important to stress that the tellers are not changing their stories in any (meaningful) way. If, for instance, a pet is brought to a vet in the story, the teller might mention the name of the clinic and the area where they offer their services. If in another story someone takes a friend shopping, the teller might be encouraged to mention the brands they went looking for, something many tellers already do naturally in their stories. 

The aim is still to keep the flagship nights free of charge, while at the same time opening the Mezrab audience, invaluable as you are, to be reached by initiatives who can't invest in expensive media campaigns. For those interested in partnering with us for this new service, I have included some notes at the bottom of this mail.

And now, let's go to our events!

Tonight we have the Wednesday Storytelling open mic! Come and listen to those who signed up in advance,  or be brave enough to put your name in the hat to be picked on the spot! Doors open at 19.00, stories start at 20.00 Free night, no tickets needed! (This night will not have product mentions in the stories, as we can't control what stories open mic tellers bring, though in the future we might give more monthly slots to tellers who when signing up pick a list of partnered topics they will include in their stories!)

Tomorrow (Thursday) the Turkish Synth pop extravaganza of Duygu Alkan! Get your tickets here! 

On Saturday the Original Comedy night is back, with a stellar line up! Look!

Then after this week we have:

Tue April 7 / Mythos - A Tuesday storytelling eve dedicated to the ancient tales of folk and myth!

Thrs April 9 / ADM fundraiser - a night to raise money for one of the last real Amsterdam free spaces (who are partly in trouble because they didn't pivot to alt-alt financial solutions in time)

Fri April 10 / Spotlight Storylab - A special monthly night in which we work during the day with six students who immediately show their work in the evening. You are welcome to join this intimate storytelling event in the OTHER Mezrab (De Wittenstraat 27). Doors 19.00, event starts at 20.00

Sun April 12 / Mezjam. Let's get together to just play music, listen (and find out from great musicians what are the good stores to buy your music gear!). Everyone is welcome. No tickets needed.

Thrs April 16 / Warekes / Latin-Folk night... just listen and enjoy!

That's it for now! I really enjoyed writing this mail, while sipping a warm and creamy oat milk latte my wife got me from the neighborhood coffee shop Coffee and Juices near my house! Friendly people with reasonable prices!

Sahand & Team

www.mezrab.nl

PS, if you got excited about product partnering with the Mezrab we will be very happy to discuss how you can reach our audience, especially in a time when many audiences are turning off of social media. Our visitors are young and diverse, a top demographic to engage with in our Marketing Engagement Zone (the famous MEZ carpet, where many artists aspire to perform). Send me an email with the subject line MEZProd for more info on logistics and pricing!