The Low Down

Now that I'm fed and slightly more awake, I'll give you a little bit of an idea of what will be going on up here this week. When we get to Cape Breton (we spent last night here in Halifax), the next few days will be spent in conference discussion. Speakers from various festivals around the country will speak on topics such as fund raising, entertainment issues, sponsorship, marketing, promotions and finance, as well as a few open forum round table discussions. Tomorrow afternoon Keli and I will give our little talk during which the other delegates will likely catch up on their sleep. Each evening will bring a music showcase featuring Atlantic Canadian musicians. Six performances are scheduled for tonight, 25 minutes at a time. Those showcases are for the conference attendees specifically. Booking agents will be there as well in case we want to sign anybody up for next Labor Day weekend in Kansas City. There will also be all the concerts being held as part of the Celtic Colours Festival...115 different bands and solo artists by my count. We have a delegate badge that lets us come and go to those shows as we please. After all that, there's a Festival Club session with assorted performers from earlier in the evening that begins after midnight and runs until it stops. Sleeping is clearly not on the agenda. We're going to hear ridiculous amounts of music. The conversation with our counterparts from around the country last night at dinner and at the pub later has already been lively and energizing. It's a really great bunch of folks.

So many great ideas to steal, one hardly knows where to begin.