As you read this column, I will be checking out of the hotel on 53rd Street and Seventh Avenue and heading to LaGuardia to fly back to Ohio.\u00a0 I have been in New York City for the past four days attending the APAP (Association for Performing Arts Presenters) Conference.\u00a0 The enormity of New York never ceases to amaze me each time I come here.\u00a0 Everything for everyone is here.<\/p>\n
I spend hours each day meeting with agents who represent thousands of performing artists; from solo artists you have never heard of to huge stage shows and artists nearly everyone recognizes.\u00a0There are many performers who want to work.\u00a0I have appointments with certain agents I have planned to meet with and then I leave some time to browse and see what is new or what I have not noticed in the past.\u00a0After five years of booking for the NPAC and Fountain Park, I have forged relationships with many agents and agencies.\u00a0It is nice to see them each year face to face.\u00a0 I believe this is a benefit when dealing over the phone or in emails.\u00a0There is a trust that is built in when you get to know each other in person.<\/p>\n
Next year will be our fifth season at the NPAC.\u00a0Our 2012-13 season will be something special.\u00a0 It will certainly be a year of celebration, and we will do it in grand style!\u00a0 I have already met with our Programming Committee at the NPAC and we have discussed some ideas.\u00a0 I am ready to report back on these ideas and share some new ones.<\/p>\n
You never quite know exactly what you are getting when you book an artist, but certain due diligence helps make wiser decisions.\u00a0 This is what I am looking for when I talk with artist reps and agents.\u00a0 First of all, you want a concert or show that is of top quality.\u00a0 Then I want artists who are happy to perform and are gracious you have hired them.\u00a0The longer I am in this business, the more important this becomes.\u00a0There are few shows we cannot present in our state of the art facility at the NPAC.\u00a0If we don\u2019t have it, we can usually get it — if it makes sense to.\u00a0 Then pricing enters the equation.\u00a0With 1,200 seats, many concerts fit our size, but some are meant for, and priced for, large arenas that seat three to four times more than we have. I am finding more and more that agents are telling me there are artists who just want to work, so they are willing to negotiate.\u00a0They realize there are only so many arenas and many more PACs.<\/p>\n
Once in a great while, situations occur that were never dreamed of.\u00a0 For instance, when we booked Steel Magnolia, Meghan and Josh were on the rise in Country music.\u00a0Their demand was increasing.\u00a0Then Josh has \u201cissues\u201d and enters rehab.\u00a0Trying to protect their livelihood, Meghan continues on with her band and tries to survive without Josh. \u00a0She hired a guitarist to fill in the duo vocals, but cuts her performance on us short.\u00a0 We had little information to go by and were as surprised as our patrons by this.\u00a0In talking with The William Morris Agency here in New York, they knew little more than we did.\u00a0They apologized and we apologize, but we were all blindsided by what has happened to this duo.\u00a0We wish them the best and hope their career can continue.\u00a0 For those of you who attended Steel Magnolia\u2019s concert, you can tell that Meghan has a great voice and her band was good.\u00a0 Sometimes, you just don\u2019t know!<\/p>\n
Back to the future!\u00a0 There was a band I was looking at for the NPAC next season.\u00a0 As I went walking down Seventh Avenue toward Carnegie Hall, I noticed a big photo and poster of this band advertising they would be playing Carnegie Hall next week.\u00a0Talk about timing!\u00a0 Like I said, everything is here in the Big Apple.\u00a0Just keep your big eyes open.\u00a0They will never suspect you\u2019re a visitor that way!<\/p>\n
Oh, one more thing; as I was sitting in a theater last night, I overheard a lady talking to visitors from Uganda.\u00a0She mentioned she just heard Jenna Bush Hager speak and she was very interesting and gracious.\u00a0I just had to \u201cbutt in\u201d and say that we were having her in Van Wert in a couple weeks. I was proud to say so!\u00a0Don\u2019t miss her on January 24 at the NPAC.<\/p>\n
Oh, and another \u201cone more thing\u201d;\u00a0I found some exciting entertainment for Fountain Park while here in New York.\u00a0Although it seems like we haven\u2019t had much winter yet, summer will be just around the corner!\u00a0 See you in Van Wert!<\/p>\n
FIN\u00c9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As you read this column, I will be checking out of the hotel on 53rd Street and Seventh Avenue and heading to LaGuardia to fly back to Ohio.\u00a0 I have been in New York City for the past four days attending the APAP (Association for Performing Arts Presenters) Conference.\u00a0 The enormity of New York never […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-03 06:14:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18876\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}