I typically do a club show for Christmas but the venue moved and plans were shaky so I asked my buddy Daniel who runs the OLD MILFORD OPRY if I could do a POP UP SHOP with some friends. It helped that I run the Thursday night jam sessions there and he agreed to let us use the building. He also insisted that I headline the Opry show after the pottery show. I ended up being there almost 15 hours straight but it was a great day.
This idea had struck me in late August. I gathered five friends that I thought would work well together and that I would like to spend a day with so I guess it was an invitational show. I ended up with five potters and a jeweler. I could not have chosen a better group of people. We had postcards printed up in time to start passing them out at September shows. We also started a Facebook campaign that increased in intensity as we got closer to our date which happened to be the Saturday of the big Christmas kick off in town and Small Business Saturday.
The big day rolled around and I was a little nervous. You never know what to expect the first time you do a show but this worked out great. I rolled into town about 7 AM and the others followed soon after.Set up was smooth and kind of a rhythm fell into place as people smoothly passed each other and held the door as needed. There was a little extra room which made for easy set up and no squabbles. I basically set up my own booth, made a couple of executive decisions, and everyone pitched in to do things like set up the treat table etc. By 10 people were coming in the door and carriages were rolling down the street. Sales were strong early as established customers showed up in response to postcards. I had sold several hundred dollars worth by noon and everyone else looked to be doing well too.Traffic increased in the PM but more were strollers looking for a free cookie. Sales were still good and we also made some contacts. Apparently I will be featured in the local newspaper this week and the library would like a pre show display if it all works out to repeat next year. We are all willing if the pieces fall into place.
About 4PM we started knocking down and getting ready for my 7PM concert. Again, the smoothest crew I've seen. Everyone worked until everyone was done and the room was clean and reset.I didn't have to assign tasks or tell people to help. It was great and I really appreciate how well every single person pitched in. Here are booth shots. I didn't get one of Jeanette because her booth was crammed with people.
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Yvonne Cooper
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| One angle of my booth |
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| Another |
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| One more |
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| Rob Weingartner |
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| Bev O'Daniel |
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Pam Duncan
By 5:30 we were basically packed. I sat for a few minutes, grabbed a quick bite and tuned the guitar. My friends Dean and Dave had agreed to help back me up and they showed up about 6. Dean even had a complete sound system with him ! Sure is great to have friends. An audience showed up and I started singing at 7. I think we did about 50 songs from 1850 to 1950. When I finally slid off the stool at 9 I had to hold on to someone to stand up but it was a great day and evening . The audience seemed happy and nearly everyone stayed until the bitter end.
Super big thanks to friends family customers audience and everyone who showed up. ESPECIALLY BIG THANKS TO DANIEL FARLOW'S OLD MILFORD OPRY and MODERN INSURANCE STORE for their support and friendship.My take away from this, If you put a group together for anything, Find people who concentrate on PITCH IN instead of BITCH IN.
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