Most of the KC Irish Fest delegation returned home to Cowtown yesterday, a long 15 hours from Shannon to KC. First off, my apologies for the dearth of posts from Ireland. It wasn't because I didn't have loads to tell you about. It was that there was no time for the telling.
Our typical day in the early part of the week in a nutshell: up early to catch a bit of breakfast before either a bus ride or the first meeting of the day. Meetings, workshops, speakers all morning. Lunch, with more speakers and welcomes from various dignitaries. Afternoon, meetings, workshops, speakers. Quick break for a spruce up, then catch a bus to a music venue for dinner and performance showcases. Back to the hotel well after midnight. Session in the hotel bar or a local pub until 2:00, 2:30. Bed. Repeat. For the later part of the week, eliminate the bus ride to the showcases, as they were held in the hotel. Believe it or not, we even got a couple runs in, too.
Now in a bigger nutshell. We had a fantastic trip. Though we came home from this conference with fewer nuts and bolts operations ideas than in past years, we accomplished more in terms of connections and relationships with Irish arts and governmental groups than ever would have been possible if we'd not gone. This was big picture, long term stuff that will be improving the Kansas City Irish Fest for years to come.
I'll be getting into some musical highlights of bands you may see here in KC soon in posts to come. For now I want extend a sincere thank you to our Irish hosts in Limerick, Ballinasloe and Galway. We were treated like family by all we came in contact with, without exception. The legendary Irish warmth and hospitality is alive and well in spite of the economic challenges that country is currently facing.
Thank you all. We look forward to working with you and seeing you in Kansas City in 2011.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment