Re: Gig List

[bassharp <bassharp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

To All,

First I wish to thank everyone who has responded so favorably in my
behalf regarding the giglist, and especially those who sent me personal
notes of encouragement and friendship. There were even several offers to
take over the giglist, so that it wouldn't be dropped entirely, in
addition to offers of various forms of help. All of the above has
prompted my decision to continue the giglist without interruption, but I
would request some help from several members who have strayed from the
requested format, as laid out in the weekly reminder as well as the
header of the weekly post.

I often receive listings in various formats:
1. All uppercase (caps)
2. Improper order of info - i.e. should be date/city/state/venue, etc
3. Website referrals
4. Missing info, i.e. city and/or state, venue, etc (TBA is OK, but
please update me as soon as info is available)

This is definitely not in the majority, or anywhere near it, but all of
the above requires retyping of information. I am a typist, but I would
much prefer a simple cut-and-paste format, to make the work a bit faster
and easier, whenever possible. 

Also, please observe the Wednesday noon PT deadline for posting to
Harp-L that same evening. I frequently receive updates late Wednesday,
as well as Thursday, Friday, etc. These are all too late for the
Wednesday night post, so they will not be on Harp-L until the following
Wednesday night. No problem for those dates that are not for the coming
weekend, but those that are, will be missed by readers who do not access
the website giglist. But even more important, the chance of missing the
AHN deadline for that listing is great, as Phil Lloyd takes the listing
from my post to Harp-L.

There have been a few who suggested a less frequent listing, such as
bi-weekly, or even monthly. There are several reasons that I am not in
favor of that:  
#1 - when I started the giglist in 1996, of course it was much smaller,
and I posted on Harp-L sometimes 2 or 3 times a week, because of my
innate idiosyncrasy of desiring to have the latest and most correct
information published.
#2 - a vote was taken among the membership as to the frequency that
would best serve the purpose, and the weekly post received the largest
approval.
#3 - it is much easier, believe it or not, to stay on top of it, and
make the updates more frequent than monthly, of even bi-weekly. It is
easier to spend a few moments a day making updates than collecting and
saving them for a large update once or twice a month.

As all are aware, I also maintain the giglist on my own website, that is
accessible to all at anytime - and this one is updated with new entries
daily. However, I do not delete outdated entries until the end of the
week (Wednesday), so the info is always available for reference for the
entire week. http://www.bassharp.com/bh_itin.htm

Regarding my response on Harp-L that was the preface to this, I did
receive a couple of unfriendly notes, which caused me to question the
validity of the giglist, as opposed to the amount of time and work that
is involved. However, in defense of the majority of players who submit
their lists, I do receive many favorable comments from them regularly,
which is very much appreciated.

I guess it's the proverbial "rotten apple", you know.

There have been suggestions regarding making the listing a commercial
venture. One typical letter stated: "Have you considered turning the Gig
list into a commercial 
offering?  Demand seems to be high enough to make a commercial go of it.
Perhaps there would be willing sponsors, advertisers, et al."

To which I responded, in all sincerity: "I started the giglist as a free
offering in 1996, but it has obviously grown to a much larger listing
since that time. In the beginning I actively solicited players on
Harp-L, in addition to many of the headlining artists to become
involved, and certainly many of them did. However, I depend on their
sending their lists directly to me, rather than having me chase them
down on personal websites and Pollstar."

And I continued: Regarding making it a commercial or paid-subscriber
listing - I have considered this, and taking all sides into account, I
am unable to see a practical solution. In other words, an annual fee
might be levied on individuals as a subscription, as does Paypal, but
the largest population of the listing is compiled of non-professional,
or sometime players, or what might be termed loosely as hobbyists. These
players usually do not have a steady, weekly gig listing that will make
an annual subscription cost-effective for them. Then we would lose them
as listed artists, and I certainly don't wish to do that. The idea of
the listing is to encourage all players to get out there and play, and
include them in the list as an encouragement to others who may be
"closet players." And definitely a pay-per-week system could never work
on a scale so small as we have.

So there you have it - my thoughts and observations, and my promise to
keep the list "on the air". So keep the updates coming in, using the
prescribed format as much as possible, and observing the deadline. And
don't forget to check the website giglist for the latest updates.

Thanks to all, and best regards,
Danny
- -- 
Danny Wilson - Santa Clarita, CA
BassHarp: http://www.bassharp.com
Dave McKelvy Harmonica Trio: http://www.bassharp.com/mckelvy.htm
Ace of Harps: http://www.bassharp.com/ace.htm
Harmonica Trio Concepts: http://www.bassharp.com/bh_trio.htm
Harpers Giglist: http://www.bassharp.com/bh_itin.htm