Here's the story:
I couldn't think of any really good venues in St. George other than the park and the Electric Theater. Well, I emailed the booking manager at the ET 3 times, never seeming to get a reply. Frustrated, I decided to call the park reservation department at city hall. I talked to a lady that told me that I could definitely do the park, but it would be $350 to hold a "special event" there, but (fortunately) I would be able to go before City Council and "plead my case" for a fee waiver, only to find out that I would still have to purchase insurance (among many other grueling and money consuming tasks). I guess you could say that I was getting very discouraged because 1) I don't have the money to do something like this, 2) I'm running out of time...fast, 3) there would be so many things I would have to do in order to hold the concert at the park, and 4) I don't have a lot of people that would be willing to help/sponsor/donate time/services. Finally, I received an email from the ET saying that they would not be able to facilitate my event. That made it even worse.
On Tuesday, I made a list of things I needed to do in order to get this thing in motion:
1. Call The Pod (the only other place I could think of)
2. Call Laura Woolsey at city hall to talk about "money" for the park
...plus 13 (less important, mind-daunting tasks)
I got home and found the number for The Pod and called. It went straight to voice mail (...great). I left a message then proceeded to cover all my bases via email. About 5 minutes later I get a call from an unknown number. I answer expecting it to be the pod...nope, just LAURA WOOLSEY! (That's weird in itself, since I was planning on calling her next). She proceeded to tell me all these things I needed to do in order to be put on the next city council agenda in order to get my fee waived. Things like filling out 2 different forms, then submit them to the police captain; get proof of insurance by talking to my insurance agency; draw an event diagram; safety inspection; write/submit letter for fee waiver mentioning what bands, hours, and indicating that all funds will go to B:WM. Oh, did I say that in order to be put on the next agenda I had to have all this done by July 2nd? Yeah...it's June 22 and I have 1 1/2 weeks to complete all these forms/applications/letters/etc. My mind was going crazy. Let's just say it was less than easy to fall asleep that night.
Now it's Wednesday: I get home from work and check my email. STILL no email (or call) from The Pod. I'm so frustrated. I'm worried and stressed. That night I told my mom how I was feeling and how frustrated I was when people didn't take their responsibility seriously. As I was telling her this, I checked my email...for the 10th time. OH MY GOODNESS, AN EMAIL! From Elisabeth Gardner? The lady in charge of TP.
Her email:
That sounds neat. Is it a day or evening event? We have a commitment the night of the 6th, but the evening of the 5th is available or the 6th in the daytime. You can collect money at the door, and hold a silent auction. Any donations to the Pod are appreciated for use of the space, but not required. I will call you in the next week or so, to discuss ideas.
Now the coolest part about this story is the fact that I was freaking out as I opened this email. God knew how stressed I was and he fixed it and made the stress decrease quite a bit.
I think this post is long enough, but I just had to share with all of you reading this...I hope someone is reading this and realizing the amazing opportunity that is going to come from this concert!
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