Special Events

From: Mark Schaffer <mark.schaffer@folkproject.org>

Sent: Monday, June 1, 2020 1:04 PM

To: Board FP <fullboard@folkproject.org>

Subject: Special Events Committee Report to Board - June 2020

Special Events Committee Report to Board - June 2020

Dear Board,

Dar Williams’ agent finally cancelled her July 31st Special Concert at the Troubadour. That was anticipated three months ago, so marketing and ticket sales never started. A new date will be set for 2021.

The Acoustic Stayaway is in full operation and running well. We’ve broadcast 21 concerts so far, and 15 more are booked through July.

Total attendance depends on the popularity of the artist and how they manage their on-line schedule,The artists are happy with the program and say we are boosting their attendance and increasing their income. Attendance typically is in the 100 to 150 range. We began the broadcasting e-concerts early in the current isolation. The world has caught up. If we maintain these numbers in this new e-landscape, it would be great. It would be nice to return to live events soon, but that seems less likely as time mov

More performers are home broadcasting every week. It makes hiring easier. Many are new at the tech, which makes producing these concerts difficult.

Cliff Eberhardt returns on June 2nd from 7pm to 8pm, so I will be late to the meeting.

Gary Pratt and Deborah Graham have taken over hosting e-concerts on Tuesday and Friday respectively. I thank them for taking on that pleasure and responsibility.

Joe Guzzo is hosting and producing The Folk Project Television Show Sundays at 3:00 pm.He’s done three, and the show is improving with each broadcast. Joe presents FP member music, selected songs from Horses, and commentary and interviews. The premier show was introduced by a documentary presented by Toby Walker and has 93 views. The two followup shows received 48 and 49 views as of today, June 1st. The repackaging of the vast and valuable Horses catalogue should be beneficial to both shows’ viewership and the entire world culturally.

Stayaway Email News:

The twice-weekly Stayaway email is getting over 1,000 opens twice a week. Despite those great numbers, the design was updated and hopefully improved. It’s the same content with a “leaner” design: a new “read more” link, bullet points, fewer buttons, etc. It has more links directing email viewers to the web site.

One interesting change is the old “table of contents” header was replaced with a schedule of events:

The Week Links

· Monday - Song Circle - Jay Wilensky

· Tuesday - Concert featuring Cliff Eberhardt

· Wednesday - Teach Your Guitar to Sing - Bob McNally

· Thursday - Songwriters Circle - Dave Kleiner

· Friday - Concert featuring Dave Nachmanoff

· Sunday - The Folk Project Television Show - Joe Guzzo

All events at 7 pm, except Sunday at 3 pm

Thanks to the Team: Robin Schaffer, Todd Dennison, Bob McNally, John Lamb, Jay Wilensky, Dave Kleiner, Kathy Caccavale, Joe Guzzo, Gary Pratt, Deborah Graham, Roger Deitz, and Jean Scully.

Mark Schaffer, Special Events Chairman