BS: Cheer me up?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: Nemesis
Date: 22 May 02 - 08:27 AM

Hi Helen,

Oh! Then my kid sister's just emigrated out to roughly your part of Oz! (Abraham Lincoln is dead - but I have heard of this theory about the dead communicating thru the Internet -

Hey, ABE! Very profound - if you weren't missing the point altogether - but then, as you've been dead for quite a while now, I guess it's understandable if you're somewhat out of touch with the zeitgeist (oh, sorry, that's a word in contemporary useage derived from the German word for 'spirit of the times' - which you ain't .. Or is it the thought of trying to people excited in the Arts and theatres, etc getting your goatee?

Progress update anyway: the local BBC radio station finally got back to me. Yippee!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: Helen
Date: 22 May 02 - 02:53 AM

Hi Hille,

I'm in Newcastle, New South Wales - 100 miles north of Sydney.

AbrahamLincoln, I thought you were dead.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: GUEST,Abraham Lincoln
Date: 22 May 02 - 12:48 AM

Most people are as happy as they make their minds to be.---Abraham Lincoln

Get off the pity-pot, your happiness is within YOUR control.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: Nemesis
Date: 21 May 02 - 12:40 AM

Dear All and Helen,

I'm constantly amazed by the support Mudcatters show each other - good to know there's friends out there in times of crisis (personal or otherwise).

Helen, Hi - thanks for all the good words and advice: being accomodating is something I'm personally having to take on board and realising that 'pleasing all of the people all of the time' doesn't work. Saying a lot of 'Pee off' in the last few days :)

Whereabouts in Oz are you? Hille

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: Helen
Date: 20 May 02 - 07:43 PM

Now is not really the time to think this through in detail, but keep it in mind for other work you plan to do.

Think about whether you are being too accommodating with people who don't pull their weight. (I'm talking about my own experiences as a Union rep having lots of "commitments" to take action, or even back me up in important meetings, and then finding myself all on me Todd when it really mattered.)

Delegation is the key. Not being afraid to confidently and purposefully, respectfully but firmly, delegate jobs and ensure that the person(s) understand what has to be done, when, how, to what standard, etc. Also standing your ground at the commitment stage and the later wavering-commitment stages and saying: do it or pee off out of my way so that I can find someone who will do it.

BTW, this suggestion also comes from my training people in management and business skills. The difference here is that you are volunteering, getting paid zip except satisfaction, so it is even more important that you look after yourself in the whole process, and don't let other people (or you) run you ragged.

Anyway, keep up the good work, hope it all goes well, wish I could be there. (That's the second time this morning I've said that I wish I could go to the UK from Oz. Hmmm??)

PM me when you have had a bit of rest and recuperation after the festival, if you want to rant, or chat, or whatever. Or even if you just want to hear some terrible jokes or something.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: GUEST,Okay, hands up, it's me ..
Date: 20 May 02 - 04:32 PM

Hille and it's WORTHING, Sussex.

Cheering up slowly with the fantastic response from the musicians (still zero take up from local press/media) and some great acts coming on board for a mere pint or so ! BBC2 Young Folk award finalist (Philippe Barnes of AlljiggedOut), people from Hobgoblin Music playing, a great local Irish band Flash Company, a Blues guy: one of the founder members of the legendary Savoy Brown ..

Mind you, hearing the true anecdote today that the local council turned down £40,000 worth of Notting Hill Carnival/Virgin Radio event a few years ago (too many cars to park apparently ...) so, it was taken to Southport instead ....... why am I not surprised?

Still, little acorns n all that :) Hille xx

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: Cappuccino
Date: 18 May 02 - 02:47 AM

There are always just a couple who do all the work, and often just the one.

Keep going, mate - it's going to be twice as satisfying when you turn it into a success.

(You wouldn't care to at least mention the town, would you?!)

- Ian B

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: GUEST
Date: 18 May 02 - 01:40 AM

Have you checked your own insurance riders and are you prepared for lawsuits and possible bankruptcy?

Excellent insurance coverage helps everyone sleep better at night. May I suggest contacting your

AllState Insurance Agent?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 May 02 - 06:19 AM

Good luck. A couple of friends and I produced a cultural arts festival for three years running and finally had to pack it in because we couldn't get any others involved. They all wanted to come to it and enjoy the day as we had great talent, vendors, food, and activities for kids, but none of them wanted to get into the nitty-gritty hard work to pull it off. We actually had lives that took over, so it fell by the wayside. It was really tough to let it go after a series of meetings in which we all voted as to how much we were willing to personally get involved. The three of us had a lot of fun but it was a LOT of hard work. It has been my experience that there is always a core of a few who really do most of the work and others are quite willing to let them.:-)

On another note, it is difficult for me to understand how the whole PEL, "no trad. music having a following" thing could actually be the case over there, though I know it is so. Just not the image I and many others have had all of these years!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: GUEST,Perking up slowly :)
Date: 17 May 02 - 05:41 AM

Guest, you play it - I'll sing it! (Delegation, that's what someone suggested and I'm taking that message on board :)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 02 - 02:26 AM

Play and sing

Im a Lonely LIttle Petuna In An Onion Patch

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: GUEST,Getting it back together today
Date: 16 May 02 - 12:47 PM

Thanks for all your support and kind words. I started the club with 2 others because there was no where in the town (100,000) to go for a decent (live music) night out. The others have dropped away and now I'm doing everything: a couple of other people have come on board in a different capacity and together they and I are also trying to organise this Fringe festival (for same reasons as we started the club). The Fringe we have arranged has a large visual arts input (organised by the 2 people in the entire town with any kind of motivation for that sort of thing). We have all kinds of music events we could stage - but there are no venues with PELs. Last year we were threatened with GBP60,000 fines or some such amount for having an acoustic event in someone's garden. We have surveyed all the Free House pubs that might have space for an duo (the town centre is now dominated by Super-Pubs)and have managed to persuade one other Landlord to let us stage a musical act. (For free I might add!). We have been out in the streets trying to give away stuff calling on people to get involved. We've had public meetings about the Fringe (and only the Artists came). I've sent P/releases to all the local newspapers and radio stations - with no acknowledgement. I've targetted the local journalist who produces this "Colonel Blimp" style town supplement with the entire programme and he will consider "snippets" to put in his supplement. I've managed to get 3 barrels of beer for the one event two day/all-day music festival I'm arranging at the pub where we hold the club - the same Landlord who offered us a marquee for our club night later that month (well, it was going to be up anyway for a Beer Festival that weekend) and then when I went back to say I could get a big name/draw guitarist for a concert on our club night (a Friday) said his beer sales were more important (this after I'm giving him two whole days of musicians playing for free, in exchange for 3 barrels - which the breweries are donating anyway. The same man who, after me running the club for over year, still hasn't even stood me, let alone a crowd pulling act playing for free, a drink). The local Council charge several hundred pounds (unless a registered charity) for using the few open spaces left (they've sold the rest off for luxury housing developments) and insist on restrictions on posters (no fly posting, fair enough).

I'd love to delegate but talking to the other 2 today - after 6 months solid of flogging this idea (in one form or another) nobody else has come forward wanting to get involved. I will though (an idea sparked off by reading above) dish out posters and flyers to all the musicians playing: I've got a huge budget of 25 quid out of another brewery for printing.

Um, it's happening on the South Coast, in Sussex in July ........ and I can't necessarily advertise it too much because the Landlord insists a PPL is adequate (no it ain't if I want to advertise bands) and last year one complaint brought the Environmental Health Officers down on us like a ton of bricks.

Repressive, non?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 16 May 02 - 06:23 AM

Where is all this happening ?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: Bobert
Date: 15 May 02 - 09:36 PM

I feel for you. Raelly. It is a total bummer to put work into something and not have it come off the way you had hoped. Lots of time it does come down to money. If you have the money to promote an event that you can afford a big name, then fine. If you don't, it is tough, but not impossible. It just means that your town is lacking in recognition of it's own artists. This isn't easy to overcome but can be done so with free concerts in parks which cost little to hold or promote and sometimes can be held in conjunction with other events yoyr town does promote, such as crafts fairs or plant shows, or whatever. Once you have some recognition of your artists then the whole thing becomes easier. And don't try to pull anything off with lazt, unmotivated people because for rvery one of them there are 10 folks anxious to be given a chance. Unmotivated people just bring down the motivation of others. Take the unmotivated person and tactfully tell him or her that apparently the promotion part of the event is not their cup of tea and adk them to concentrate on their muscial contribution. This will either get them off their butt... or more imporatntly... yours...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: 53
Date: 15 May 02 - 07:13 PM

Good luck.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheer me up?
From: C-flat
Date: 15 May 02 - 06:52 PM

I'm sure your festival will be a huge success and you will have accomplished what YOU set out to acheive. Others may have a different agenda for getting involved and detract from what you feel is the spirit of the thing but as long as you have met YOUR targets and people go home happy afterwards then what better outcome could you have? Just be wary of who you choose to share the load when you're organising the next one! You haven't told us where and when this event is taking place, maybe a few round here would be interested? Good Luck. C-flat.

Subject: BS: Sob, cheer me up?
From: GUEST,Guest (just lost it I guess!)
Date: 15 May 02 - 06:35 PM

I've been spending hours, days, weeks working my butt off tirelessly (all day until 3am every night for the past 3 weeks)towards getting our first Fringe Festival off the ground. I'm also running a club singlehandedly because the other starter/instigator(?) can't get off their butt(literally) and help out (over 6 months now of "I'm not up to it - I'm not feeling well). 'Kay, fair enough - but we're also supposed to be in an 3 x acappela band as well. Last month let down an important gig for the last and final time because we turned up, but the musical lynch-pin "wasn't feeling well". We haven't been able to sing at our own club for months because "I'm not feeling well". So, insidiously musically have been left high and dry: kept thinking "this month will be different".

So, for the past weeks have been concentrating on publicity efforts: all the local media, radio, etc etc ad nauseum. And j'know, what? nobody's really interested because (to us a first fringe festival is significant in THIS town) but the media/radio are based in the next town that is bidding for City of Culture (yes, far more fascinating) Here, we are marginalised in airplay, news items, reporting, and the local press are indifferent or incompetent (possibly both?)

Last weekend I took part in a huge festival event organised in the next town: 15 choirs amalgamated (300+ people singing was awe-inspiring) - huge amounts of effort, lots of work, lots of committment, special songs composed, people travelling 100's of miles to take part, sleeping on floors in sleeping bags, special choral arrangements - the works and I take my hat off to the organisers of this event. And that was was just event of many..

Tonight (and for the next couple of weeks), on the local radio we have, purportedly, music from that town's festival. In fact, it's all the presenter's musical mates - who are not contributing towards their festival or our festival and actually don't even live in the town - and guess what? Our fellow-instigater has (strange this?) been able to get off their butt for the first time in months and is on the radio performing (badly)(which is one consolation)

So, yes, sorry I'm very upset - I'm going to go away, have a good sob and think about getting a proper job that pays me (instead of me subsidising the club/ our festival/ their festival)

(I'm upset for everyone that is making an effort here there and everywhere, not because we are all altruistic suckers, because we care enough to make an effort (a huge effort in some cases), not because we want glory - we're doing it for our communities and to sort of make the World a happier place. Is it worth it?)

Sorry - I've never done this before - whinge on Mudcat (or anywhere else really) and the above is probably incomprehensible without going on and on: I just feel completely overwhelmed right now at the unfairness and the ethics(? lack of?)and all sorts of complicated issues around (oh, I don't know, the cult of celebs maybe - I mean, they command huge amounts of money and publicity for doing buggar-all - while the rest of us ...

Sorry - I keep saying sorry ...