A Learning Experience

If you're looking for the moral of this story, scroll down to the bullet list.

Over the past few months, I organized / promoted a comedy show as a senior project, thinking it would be a lot of fun and unique from other projects former students had done. I can definitely say it was unique, and fun at times, but the long, harrowing journey I took to get to one short night of laughter was more painful than I had anticipated.

I originally started plans last August with the intent of having a show involving semi-professional stand-up comedians and student improvisors and sketch comedians in January. The show would take place in a small, but adequate, event center that most people in town don't even realize exists. The event center manager, strung out due to family, financial, and time management problems, agreed to the event and met with me in person once. This manager gave me little to no guidance about what they wanted to see in their venue, what it would cost me to ensure their costs were covered, and never even gave me a solid yes or no concerning the date I had in mind.

After our meeting, it became very difficult to get in touch with the manager; phone calls and emails were rarely, if ever, returned, and I felt like I'd been left hanging in limbo. One day (in mid-December, mind you), I received an abrupt email stating that the manager was no longer managing the event center, and that I needed to get in touch with the building's management. Hmm...

Fortunately, I'd already been in touch with a pub down the street that had shown some interest; I met with an owner of the pub promptly. The owner expressed that comedy had not gone well for them in the past, but was willing to compromise and let me have a fairly low-risk evening: A Wednesday in March. I was allowed to start after the dinner rush was over, and could stay into the night.

The pub owner had agreed (in person) to help with promo by putting up my posters around the pub, and advertising on their online calendar and "table tents." Good enough for me, I thought. Most of the rest of our agreements were made or verified through email.

Honestly, by this time, I was losing gumption and motivation, and was having a hard time finding an affordable semi-professional comedian in the area, so I changed course. I decided to pay a friend who had experience in improv and emcee-ing to help me before and during the show. I turned the night into the "Last Laugh Improv Battle Night", and decided MSU's improv team would duke it out against a college improv team from the next town over. Social media events were created, posters were made (thanks to this guy), and loose promo instructions were given to a generally less-than-savvy street team.

As the show date came closer, I met with the pub owner again to make sure we were on the same page. I got to the pub, and realized no inside promo that had been promised had been done, and that there was nothing I could really do about it. March's table tents were already up (without my event), and all I could ask was that some of my posters go up. One did.

At this meeting, I was asked, "What are you going to do about sound?" Oh. Shit. It was a week before the show, and I'd completely spaced technical production. Fortunately, a friend who's a wiz with a/v stuff was able to rent me a few things for cheap, and another friend with some experience in live sound was able to help during the show.

Note: Also at this meeting, I was asked what improv is... Which I had assumed had been understood, since each time I'd referred to "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" the owner had emphatically nodded along. Oy vey...

At the show, things went okay, and I felt a lot of relief knowing it was almost over. My paid emcee introduced and did his own on-spot sketch (nominal, at best), and the first group went on and did their thing, mic'd. There was a lot of feed back (my mom complained, reminding me I would need to deal with all complaints as the event administrator), and it was clear the group didn't have a lot of experience with mics or PG improv. After this group's alright performance, MSU's group took the stage and made me really proud. The group (all theatre majors) decided to nix the idea of mics and project themselves, which was incidentally much more effective, and was able to make it a family-friendly atmosphere.

So, needless to say, the show went, whether it was great or just okay, despite all the work I felt I put into it months beforehand.

Now, if you're looking for the moral of this story and what I've learned, here we go:

• Figure out how to make an effective timeline / checklist for yourself, and follow it. My timeline was wimpy at best, and I didn't even follow what little I'd written down. If I had, I would've had mics figured out well ahead of time, and wouldn't have scrambled to get decent sound (which I didn't get, because I scrambled). Since then, I've found a large event timeline I like that could be customized and watered down for smaller events, too.
• Make sure Plan B (and C and D) is a good one. When I realized I wouldn't be able to afford the comedians I originally had in mind, I skipped straight to a Plan D. In other words, my alternatives weren't necessarily as well thought out and strong as they could have been, making for a less impressive show. 
• Keep things in writing. I did this for some things through email, like how much money the pub would put toward the event, but forgot to verify important things like promo. I wish I would have been more diligent about this, so that I could have looked back on these and said, "You agreed to this, so why aren't you doing it?"
• When things feel wrong, abandon ship. I did this by feeling out the pub before I'd even officially pulled the plug on the event center. In any case, because of various details not described here, I think the show went better at the pub than it would have at the center.
• Organize dress rehearsals. I'd attempted to do this too late in the game (again, timelines). This left me with a show that looked thrown together and confused, and overly nervous performers.
• Keep on top of your performers. I was happy that my emcee was able to offer ideas and knew a lot about improv to help with the concept of the show. However, I should have checked in with him a week beforehand to make sure he was preparing something to perform and not making up some crappy sketch on the spot.
• Keep on top of your workers. When I gave my workers the seemingly simple task of postering around town, I told them each to cover certain regions, assuming they could use their best judgement about the specifics. This was apparently a bad assumption (though I don't think it should have been), since I never saw many posters other than my own. Also, I have a tendency to let my workers do what they want (i.e. be lazy) for fear of sounding like a nag otherwise. I need to find a tactic that allows me to check up on my workers without feeling like I'm breathing down their necks. Note: I should add that I was very happy and impressed with one of my workers.

This show may not have been the most satisfying way to finish up a senior project, but I'm happy with what I've learned, and I now know a lot of things to never do again. As my own professor said, next time I'm asked the terrible interview question "tell me about a time you had a problem and solved it," at least I'll have a solid, ready answer.

What might you have done differently in my shoes? What kind of problems have you encountered when organizing your own events?

No More Brain Pain

I used to blog (rant, really) in high school a lot. Talking about boys, school, and catty friends. When I "grew up" and ran out of those kinds of problems to publicly complain about, I stopped blogging. I didn't really get into it again until this past semester in a career development class. The intention was for this blog to be an outlet where I expressed my thoughts and opinions about happenings in the Music Industry, but I couldn't seem to find things to passionately blog and make a worthwhile article about on a regular basis (maybe I'm not trying hard enough?). Now, I'm not saying the Music Biz isn't my passion - it's just not something I'm crazy to write about.

So, I thought, "I still enjoy blogging. What else can I write about?" I thought about my past and current issues with headaches and migraines, and how I enjoy reading forums and blogs to find what issues others have and how they combat said issues. I realized that I'd to start a community like that of my own, where people could share their battles with and victories over "brain pain."

So, in addition to this blog, I've started No More Brain Pain. Like I said, I hope this can become a place where people can feel comfortable and share their struggles with headaches and other pains.

I have every intention of keeping this blog current, but I like having separate blogs for different purposes.

Speaking of up and coming blogs, you should also check out this guy's new blog: Tone Freqs :)

Pets on Social Media

There are some people who have a problem with pets on Facebook and Twitter. Some say it's illegal (maybe so, but I don't see FB cracking down), others say the pet owners have lost their minds (also possible). Maybe it's annoying, unnecessary, or just plain stupid. So explain to me...

Why in the world are people so willing to "friend" and "follow" animals on social media?

Knowing an animal must be voiced by a real person (a stranger, no less), people are still more likely to friend said animal than they would said stranger in their natural human form. But it's hard to say why. "Talking" animals aren't a novelty in this decade, and most of these animals aren't saying anything a human wouldn't. So where's the draw?

I shouldn't make this sound like I'm anti-pets on social media. That would make me a hypocrite. I'm just curious about what makes us, as humans, so attracted to these kinds of fronts that are simply hiding other humans.

What do you think? Are you opposed to pets on Facebook and Twitter, or do you think it's fun? Where do you stand?

P.S. You can find my own front on Facebook and Twitter :)

White Critics and Violent (Black) Rap

I've never really stopped to think about or listen to the racial / political debate that is centered around music, even though it's pretty clearly there. The following article clip by Dave Bry discusses Chief Keef's album "Finally Rich" and the criticism orbiting around it. I don't think much about race when it comes to critical listeners, since it is their job to listen to the good aspects of a song, rather than worry about who performs it. But that's maybe not so true.

Read on to learn about the discussion...

If you’ve heard of Chief Keef, a 17-year-old rapper from Chicago, it may be because he signed a $3 million dollar recording contract with Interscope Records last year, soon after spending two months under house arrest at his grandmother’s for pointing a gun at a police officer. Or you may have heard his biggest hit, “I Don’t Like,” a list of things he finds disagreeable punctuated with boasts of his virility, copious drug references,and murderous threats. “We ain’t gon’ fight,” he raps. “Our guns gon’ fight…” It’s a great song, mostly due to the powerful beat constructed by producer Young Chop, but one of the catchiest parts is Keef chanting “bang bang” in the background—a sound that has become all too common in Chicago, which had more than 500 murders last year.


Chief Keef is black, as are a disproportionate number of gun-violence victims in this country, and his music has been criticized for glorifying guns, which it does. He has also been criticized for being a poor rapper. His lyrics are terse and simple and delivered in a blunt, heavily slurred monotone. The Associated Press’ Jonathan Landrum called Keef’s major-label debut “woeful” and “borderline unbearable.” Nevertheless, when that album, Finally Rich (a sublimely ridiculous title, considering Keef’s age), came out in December, it had its supporters, too. Pitchfork’s Jayson Greene awarded it a 7.5 rating, calling it “ruthlessly effective.” Spin’s Jordan Sargent gave it an 8, praising Keef’s “unalienable artistic skill that so many people are invested in making you believe he doesn’t possess.” Cocaine Blunts blogger Andrew “Noz” Nosnitsky chose “Don’t Like” as his third favorite rap single of the year and tweeted, “chief keef made a fun album. i don’t know what the rest of you critics are listening to.” 

Greene, Sargent, and Noz are white, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Keef’s detractors. Ted Bawno, who's either a wealthy older white media mogul who founded ego trip magazine in the early ’90s or a fictional construction of ego trip’s non-white staff members, took to Twitter to say, “white people love chief keef because he is the Chief of Nothing and only poses a threat to other blacks in down-trodden neighborhoods.” Brian “B.Dot” Miller, who is black, and an editor at Rap Radar, took Sargent to task directly, tweeting at him to “please stop writing about MY culture,” bemoaning “cultural tourists writing about the music of MY culture” and “outsiders like yourself in hipster media that get a hard-on by overanalyzing black music.” An anonymous reader of Noz’s blog, meanwhile, wrote him to ask: “Has anyone ever told you that because you are a white supremacist you’re promoting minstrel show music like Chief Keef, Wacka Flocka and whatnot on your blog, because you want to make sure your white race stays ahead … ?”

Damn. Read the rest here.

Jingleball

I attended the KDWB Jingleball back in December, which was basically a mish-mash of a bunch of pop artists regularly on the radio right now. Many artists, like Cher Lloyd and Owl City, had short 20 minute sets earlier in the night. Other better-known or respected artists, like Train and Ed Sheeran, had 30 minute-or-so long sets. The headliner (of course) was PSY.

PSY walked out on stage, and admired his audience in awe. PSY demanded that the house lights be turned on so that he could see and take a picture of his audience, followed by a comment that went something like, "Wow. I've never seen such a large gathering of people in one space before." (Something he says at each venue nightly, I'm sure.)

I assumed PSY would perform a few of his lesser-known hits and then finish the night with Gangnam Style. Much to my surprise, he performed Gangnam first. Andy and I looked at each other and said, "Really? Is he done?"

After a moment of hesitation, PSY said, "I've been an artist and performer for a long time, and I have lots of songs that are popular in other countries. But America only knows Gangnam Style, so..." Cue the second performance of Gangnam Style, this time with the house lights on. Then he was done.

Ponder this: PSY was paid who knows how many thousands of dollars to fly stateside and perform the same song in the same venue to the same audience twice. Insanity. Total insanity. How much must he hate that song??

The Future of the Office

When I think of the future, I like to think of myself in a large, comfortable office with plenty of desktop space and natural sunlight. I ran across this article that makes interesting predictions regarding office appliances and what will come of them:

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2012/09/26/10-Ways-Your-Office-Will-Be-Different-in-Five-Years.aspx#page1

After the intro, the article is essentially just a slide show, and I couldn't tell what some of the pictures were trying to convey. But there are some things (like Rolodexes and suits and ties) that I agree may drop off (some have already). That's okay with me; my vision of the future also involves a more laid-back workplace atmosphere and casual employees anyway.

Atmospherics

As I leisurely browsed books at Barnes & Noble the other day, I realized I'd been (subconsciously) listening to slow, smooth jazz. I began to ponder the psychology of different music at different stores, and what makes people tick when shopping.

The study of atmospherics is really intriguing to me (I'm so glad this actually has its own name). Why does the slow and quiet music work for B & N, and why do Hollister and American Eagle require blasting, overpowering beats? How are acoustics of a store chosen and built?

Fun facts (some more obvious than others):

• Since Hollister markets toward teens and young adults, marketing teams use overpoweringly loud beats (and smells) to create a "party all the time" atmosphere. Fast, bumping music is also more apt to cause a person to make impulse purchases, whether they realize it or not.
• Certain restaurants don't add acoustics because they want to let chatter and the clanging of silverware bounce all over to maintain a lively (and presumably successful) atmosphere.
• Loud music = short stays, more impulse buys. Soft music = longer stays, more thoughtful and prolonged buys.
• In advertising, music composed specifically to match a product is often more successful.

Pretty cool/creepy, eh?

To read more about this kind of stuff:

• Psychology Today
• Suite 101

The first half of this article talks about store lay-out, which is just as interesting:

• FreeholdPatch

The Beginning of the End...

for Justin Bieber?

Do preteen girls get upset when their dreamboy pukes in front of them on stage at his own show?

As most people already know, JB chirped his chips on stage at the first show of the American leg of his "Believe" tour. He after being pushed off stage, his back-up dancers continued to dance around the mess, his back-up tracks sounding incredibly just like his live vocals *cough cough*. He returned to perform an abbreviated acoustic set, only to quickly dash off stage again. After the show, he tweeted that "milk" was the cause of the problem. 

I've been debating with myself over whether or not this could be a downhill slide for JB. On one hand, he may no longer be viewed as "perfect" by the members of his fanbase. On the other hand, in a way this humanizes him, making him seem easier to relate to.

Either way, this has given many non-fans another thing to criticize him for (which wasn't affecting him in the first place).

So, it's hard to say if this is the beginning of the end. I guess we'll see.