Re: [Harp-L] Does SPAH need harmonica competition? another editorial



At the risk of revisiting the Old Philosophy vs. New Philosophy (pre and post 2001 SPAH Leadership) banter, attracting the public and harmonica players who would not otherwise attend a standard issue convention plus providing the news media with stories was successfully accomplished in 98 at the Blues Blow Off on Thur and at the Toots Concert in St. Louis in 99. 
 
Anyone attending those shows will remember a packed house audience with a large number of outsiders in attendance and a line at the door where tickets for that one evening's show were sold (I believe the Blues Blow Off was $10/ticket and Toots was $15). Thought went into choosing who the performers would be and the press releases sent to all the local papers, TV stations, radio stations, etc. I even remember giving a noteable Blues Radio DJ in Detroit "backshish" in '98, a regrettable reality in the world, in order to get an extra media push to the blues community. 
 
The local St. Louis jazz radio station afternoon drive time personality was hired to MC the Toots/Kenny Werner show in '99. You can bet that we got a lot of extra radio exposure from him during the week before the concert.
 
Curtis Salgado and I even drove out to a Rod Piazza concert the week of the convention with '98 Blues Blow-Off flyers to pass out to those waiting in line for the show and stick in the windshield of all the cars parked near the theatre, an opportunity just waiting for SPAH.
 
The result was everything we'd hoped for and more, with enough extra income to justify the expenses.
 
If SPAH really needs this type of exposure to evolve and grow, look for what worked successfully in the past and model it.
 
Personally, although a competition has its own excitement surrounding it, I feel it creates a different energy for a convention in enticing outsiders. It worked in Trossingen during the years I attended the World Competition, but it is quite a different undercurrent to the proceedings than what SPAH has been.
 
The Iceman
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Philharpn@xxxxxxx
Subject: [Harp-L] Does SPAH need harmonica competition - in brief

Maybe what SPAH needs is a harmonica competition that would draw outsiders 
(the public) and harmonica players who would not otherwise attend a standard 
issue convention plus provide national news attention.




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