Bookers have the unenviable task of dealing with musicians full-time. They have to book enough shows that will draw decent-sized crowds to keep the venue open. They field dozens of phone calls from bands that want to play out and then must turn down those bands they think aren't ready. When a booker does the job well, he or she is invisible. The band shows up ready to play, paying customers show up to see and hear them, the club has enough staff on hand to accommodate the crowd and everyone has a good time.
Bookers have enough problems.
Shannon Hill over at the Creepy Crawl. They want to hear a demo tape or a CD before they'll even call you back if your band is not on their list. This is a stumbling block for bands that haven't been around long enough to do any recording or don't have the money for a decent demo. Shannon scores major points here because of his policy of giving just about any band a shot. Several local bands have played their first-ever public shows at the Creepy Crawl without having any recorded work to their names.