How great is the demf card? Discounts at starbucks? What does starbucks have to do with electroinc music? Though it looks like they made a killing off the so called limited card
By Adam Graham / The Detroit News DETROIT--While the Detroit Electronic Music Festival is a free-to-all event, festival promoter Pop Culture Media is touting a $30 All Excess Card as a bigger, better way to experience the festival. The All Excess Card entitles its bearers to discounts at Starbucks, C-Pop Gallery and the downtown Comfort Inn, which is already booked for the weekend. But the card's biggest selling point is access to what's billed as exclusive on-site VIP party areas, DEMF artist meet-and-greets, complimentary soft drinks and the use of private restrooms. Pop Culture Media has sold more than 2,000 of the cards, and will sell up to 10,000. "We did it because the demand was there," says Tolly Marcus, director of marketing for Pop Culture Media. "People wanted to be able to buy VIP access to the festival." Card-holders will be corralled between the DEMF Main Stage and the CPOP/Detroit Free Press Stage. The area is "pretty wide open," says Tolly Marcus, director of marketing for Pop Culture Media. "It's designed to process a lot of people." Kelli Hand, DEMF board member, says she doesn't see the necessity of the card. "What's the sense of having them when everything is supposed to be free?" she says. Though the cards are billed as being limited in quantity, Hand says, "2,000 doesn't sound limited to me. I thought 100 would be limited." DEMF-goer Matthew Peabody of Grosse Pointe isn't willing to buy a card just yet. "I like the idea of it," says Peabody, 25, who has yet to miss a day at the DEMF, "but I'm not sure I want to shell out for it this year. To meet the DJs would obviously be cool, and free soda is always a plus, but this weekend, my money's going elsewhere." --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
