APPENDIX F

Key Organizations and Resources

Who to Call, Where to Learn, and Where to Get Help

Throughout this book, certain organizations come up again and again — the people who can help you preserve your hall, stay legal, license your music, reach tourists, run your leagues, keep your guests safe, and care for your staff. This appendix gathers them in one annotated directory, grouped by what they do. Web addresses and program details change, so treat these as starting points to search for the current contact; the point is to know who exists and what they can do for you so you’re never facing a problem alone that someone is standing by to help with.

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Preservation and Heritage

• Texas Dance Hall Preservation, Inc. (TDHP) — the nonprofit dedicated to saving Texas’s historic dance halls and the music and culture they hold; inventory, National Register help, a matching preservation fund, dance tours, and a community of stewards. Your first call for a historic hall. texasdancehall.org. (Ch. 31.)

• Texas Historical Commission (THC) — the state historic-preservation office; administers historic designations and the Texas historic-rehabilitation tax credit, and offers preservation guidance. (Ch. 31.)

• Texas Heritage Trails Program — a THC regional-tourism initiative promoting heritage destinations; a way to get your historic venue onto the cultural-tourism map. (Ch. 19/24.)

• Texas Film Commission — Location Library — lists Texas locations (including venues) for film, TV, and music-video productions; how to put your room in front of location scouts. (Ch. 9.)

Regulatory and Legal

• Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) — licensing (via the AIMS system), seller/server certification, hours, marketing and pricing rules, and enforcement. The agency your license lives and dies by. tabc.texas.gov. (Ch. 28.)

• Texas Lottery Commission — Charitable Bingo & Raffles — regulates and licenses charitable bingo and qualified-nonprofit raffles under the Bingo Enabling Act and Charitable Raffle Enabling Act. (Ch. 13.)

• Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and your local health department — food permits, handler certification, allergen and labeling rules (with the SB 25 packaged-food provisions). (Ch. 20.)

• Texas Workforce Commission — employment, wage, and workforce matters (outside this book’s PR scope, but the place to start on those questions). (Ch. 32/Appendix G.)

Music and Licensing

• The four PROs — ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR — the performing-rights organizations you license with to play music lawfully; most venues need all four. (Ch. 28; Appendix E.)

• Texas Music Office (TMO) — the state’s music-business office; runs the Texas Music Incubator Rebate (TMIR) program for eligible venues, maintains the Texas Music Industry directory, and connects venues to resources. A genuine, underused ally. (Ch. 31/32.)

• Texas Country Music Association — a membership organization supporting Texas country artists and the venues that host them; networking, awards, and visibility. (Ch. 7/8.)

Culture, Tourism, and Community

• Your local Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) / tourism office — wants to promote you to visitors, may co-market your events for free, and can advise on (or grant) hotel-occupancy-tax tourism funds. Often the single most useful local call. (Ch. 24/32.)

• Travel Texas — the state tourism office; promotes Texas destinations and experiences, including music and dance-hall heritage. (Ch. 19/24.)

• Tejano Conjunto Festival / Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (San Antonio) — keepers of the conjunto tradition; a cultural anchor and partner for venues celebrating Tejano music and dance. (Ch. 6.)

• Your local chamber of commerce, SCORE, and Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) — free and low-cost business mentoring, marketing guidance, and networking for the small-venue owner. (Ch. 32.)

Games, Leagues, and Trivia

• League organizations — APA (American Poolplayers Association), BCA (BCA Pool League), ACL (American Cornhole League) — ready-made structures, rules, and player networks for pool and cornhole leagues that deliver recurring crowds. (Ch. 11/12.)

• Geeks Who Drink and other trivia operators — turnkey pub-trivia hosting and question sets to run a reliable weekly trivia night without building it yourself. (Ch. 13.)

Safety, Safe Rides, and Severe Weather

• TxDOT — “Drive Sober. No Regrets.” / #EndTheStreakTX — the state’s impaired-driving-prevention campaigns; partner messaging and materials for your safe-ride efforts. (Ch. 24.)

• MADD Texas (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) — resources and partnership for promoting sober rides and responsible service. (Ch. 24.)

• Uber and Lyft — rideshare programs and occasional venue/event partnerships to get patrons home safely (and reduce your dram-shop risk — though it never eliminates it). (Ch. 24.)

• National Weather Service (NWS) and your local emergency-management office — alerts, planning guidance, and coordination for severe-weather and event-safety plans. (Ch. 25.)

For Your People

• Southern Smoke Foundation — a Houston-born nonprofit (founded by chef Chris Shepherd) providing emergency financial relief and free mental-health services to workers in the food-and-beverage industry. A genuine lifeline for the people who run your room — keep it on hand for your staff, especially in a crisis or its aftermath. (Ch. 24/29.)