The main thing in a rider is to make sure that your every need, that you don't carry yourself, is listed out - but with variations to accommodate the types of houses you'll play. Like your crew needs - list the basic, but put add-in lines like "additional riggers, if required to be separate by local contract". Truck loaders especially are often separate in local contracts. I always get a chuckle out of the christian band riders, since they play a lot of churches and other non-traditional venues. They'll actually have two crew lists - one for professional crews, and one if the crews are volunteers. The volunteer crew list typically has twice the number of hands listed, and goes into very specific details about age, dress, etc. etc. But their riders are written for the types of venues that they'll play, and the situation that they come across at those venues, so its appropriate.
Dividing your rider into sections is also appropriate - i.e. a proscenium theatre section, an arena section, indoor venue section or outdoor venue section, etc. I read a lot of stuff about arenas and outdoor set-ups in the riders that cross my desk, since they have to cover all their needs in all the environments that they'll be called to play in.
Listing your typical day is helpful (if you have one), what you're traveling with, etc. Very important is number of vehicles in your party. This sounds like a no-brainer, but I can't tell you how many tours come here and can't tell me how many vehicles they have. Or they forget to mention pertinent things like "oh, yeah, our bus has a 20' trailer on it" or "Oh, didn't we mentioned the opening act? They have their own bus and truck - you can park them with no advance notice, right? And unload their truck at no extra expense, even though the truck loaders were dismissed earlier?" Parking is an issue almost everywhere and the venue needs to know what you're bringing.
Current and correct contact information for venue questions is a must; you never know what odd thing a particular venue has to deal with that they'll willingly call you in advance to sort out. I have a manual pit - it takes 5 guys an hour to drop it. So, a rider might causally mention that they want the pit down, but its not something that can be done in advance here unless a promoter gives the authorization for a separate crew call to do it.
Please also go over your rider for typos. I recently had a rider cross my desk that said in the crew needs section:
2 house spot ops
house electrician
2 spotlight operators
And then in the lighting section: We need two (3) spot lights. [exact wording]
I sat for several minutes scratching my head - do they need two, three or four spot ops?
The main thing to think about when writing a rider is to take nothing for granted. Do not assume a single thing - about available weight, ability to lag into a floor, parking, lighting availability, dressing rooms, sound, loading docks, power, etc.. I had a promoter assume once that I had a full concert lighting and sound set-up. He got a shock when I said "No, I'm a road house - I got 40 parcans in the basement, but that's it" Heck, one time when I was working with a small touring company I showed up somewhere and they had lied about even having a stage!
-Centaura
