Garden Gala Approaches, Radio Series Airs

We are rapidly approaching the end of the semester and that means that the Garden Gala is just around the corner.  Most of the work we have put in to this point has put us in a position this week to where we should be focusing on last minute touches.  Yesterday, we had our last on campus fundraiser.  Our table in the breezeway ended up doing pretty well, we made over 110 dollars.  We were able to sell some shirts, a lot of baked goods, and spread the word about our event.  This time we finally learned to be more aggressive in our sales pitch and consequently, we were able to sell more goods, we didn't have to rely on getting pied in the face very much to raise funds. 

Speaking of the event, our music line-up is all but set.  We have not gotten a confirmation about Baby Boy, so he is not accounted for in the schedule.  If he does contact us at the last minute and wants to perform, we have a slot for him.  Basically, there are 5 acts and the first three each get a half hour starting at 5.  The last two bands each have a 45 minute set list, starting at around 7.  Ideally, there will be some down time in between acts, as we have announcements to be made about the raffles and silent auctions.  I was asked about possibly getting a song list together but the bands have been difficult to get that information from.  Our classmate Calvin has Haint Blue's first album which is all the songs they will play, but Bobby E. Lee and the Sympathizers are planning on playing all unreleased music and they have not gotten me a song list. 

The radio series is officially underway, and the final edits sounded very good from last Friday.  I liked the fact that they were all different because it showed the creative abilities of each group.  I particularly enjoyed partaking in the radio series.  While it was a lot of work to get it perfected in such short time, it was really fun trying to create a narrative and piece together the audio.  I decided not to speak on the radio but here are some thoughts on the pieces themselves, and on the process as a whole.  In reading and listening to the interviews from people in the Industrial peninsula you really got to understand and connect with the people.  They endured a lot of hard work and a lot of death, and speak about both as if they're a topic like the weather.  Never have I heard so many people nonchalantly discuss falling into an acid pit or being diagnosed with Leukemia.  But the one thing that remained constant is that they loved where they worked because of the people they worked with and because the labor provided them a means to a better life.  The people from these industrial communities were very level headed and very down to earth.  In terms of the process, I really enjoyed working with Jonni and Shard'a.  I think working with the other groups and collaborating and critiquing was cool because it feels like we had a part in the whole series, not just one day. 

Radio Series and Live Performers

A week ago from today, Katie and I attended the CCBB meeting to show our face in the community and let them know about our event.  We wanted to go and talk to community members from Brooklyn to let them voice their opinions and concerns with the event.  One lady, our very own Pat Wills voiced a concern about parking at the 2640 space.  One thing we should think about is maybe renting out a lot, or putting directions about where parking might be available on our Facebook page and on some of the promotional materials.  Other than that the meeting went pretty well and our feedback was apparently more positive than it had been in Curtis Bay.

Another part of the process that is being worked out right now is the radio series.  As we stand, Wednesday is almost complete.  Shard'a is writing the outro, and I just completed the introduction.  The outro should help segway into Thursdays material and Shard'a will keep that in mind.  Jonni will be 'prettying' up the piece and it should be complete by the end of the week.  Once the radio series is finalized I can focus more on the event planning aspect of the project.

On that front, we've officially gotten our first community member to agree to perform at the event.  The group Double Impact, is a high school sister duo, managed by their father and they've have agreed to play from 6-630. Were waiting to hear back from Baby Boy, another local performer.  Its important to have community members perform at the event because it brings more members to the event and its another way to connect our event to the community.  As of now we have 5 acts playing.  Basically were allotting 30 minutes for the first 4 acts, and 45 minutes for the two band acts, giving them more time for set-up and break down.   The tentative line-up is: Jenny, Jason Reid, Double Impact, Baby Boy (not confirmed), Haint Blue, and Bobby E. Lee and the Sympathizers to finish off the evening.  The next step is to communicate with the rest of the group about an actual schedule. Time has to be allotted for announcements including raffle winners, silent auction winners, and the showing of our indiegogo video. Once I confirm with the rest of the group the schedule I can ask the bands for a set-list.