We had a family brainstorming session on Monday. I asked Maria and James to write down all the ideas that they thought of to raise the funds for this trip. (see July 25, 2009 for our backstory). We came up with some great ideas for fundraising. Later, I divided the ideas into categories. Some were small things we could try and then, there were larger events that would take planning.
I also know the importance of the media. We needed to spread the information many different ways to be effective. First, I planned out this blog, next we set up a MySpace page http://MySpace.com/SupportDensleys, and then I thought of our local media. Our town has a newspaper that comes out weekly, the staff has always been supportive of events and people from our county; I made a mental note to draft a press release.
I thought of our local radio station. They do a great job broadcasting the high school football games live; they interview local newsmakers, and have great musical programming.
I was getting more hopeful thinking of the possibilities. I put aside my list-making and chose to move forward and take some action. I dialed the radio station’s phone number.
A man answered with a very “radio broadcaster-like” voice. He was friendly enough as I stumbled over my words. I tried to think of a brief, yet succinct way to tell him of our project. I told him that we recently auditioned in Seattle and out of the 170 people who auditioned only 45 were chosen, and three of those lived here in our town. I told him we were starting our fundraising campaign; I began to describe the Los Angeles convention and its opportunities for performing and attending workshops.
He interrupted my explanation with a story of his own, describing a mother that he knew “years ago who took her daughter to something like that and was very disappointed in all the money they wasted on the experience.”
His voice became patronizing as he barreled on, warning me about the “dangers out there” and “be very, very careful”…..I tried to share with him why this was different, and my own background in the entertainment field. I know first-hand that there are flaky situations lurking in the entertainment industry.
Each time I spoke, he cut me off. I knew that he was trying to be kind, that he had obviously been very moved by this acquaintance’s plight; and yet, I was frustrated that I wasn’t allowed to share in the conversation. So I became silent until he wound down.
I asked if I could write a press release.
He replied that he would only run a press release if it said nothing about raising funds. Since the radio station was a “for profit” business, they deserved some monetary compensation for assisting us in raising funds.
Hmmm, odd that the compassionate warmth was now missing from his voice.
I thanked him and hung up the phone. I consciously was taking deep, slow breaths, calming myself down, giving him the benefit of, well…faulty information, when the phone rang.
On the line was a relative. I started to share with them this new project and how we needed moral support, and what a great opportunity it was for learning.
As with the radio exec, I must have touched a trigger spot with my dear one; I heard lengthy cautions about our project, and a reminder that you should never, EVER, give agents money to promote you,etc. Actually, everything this person said I already knew and whole-heartedly agreed with. Unfortunately,I wasn’t able to interject my perspective on why this program was different.
Internal sigh. I listened, knew they loved me and wanted to protect me, and I changed the subject.
Wow, Day 1 of gathering a support team and getting the word out had left me deflated. Oddly, I wasn’t worried, nor second-guessed my decision to participate; however, I was curious. I searched the Better Business Bureau site for any information regarding the sponsoring acting school.
I found that they have been in business in Seattle for many years. Currently they have an “A+” rating from the BBB. That is the highest score. I perused the websites of both the school and the iPOP convention. I decided to make a Word document by extracting from each site, comments from agents, parents and students, along with a list of the Seattle performers who actually received work due to the convention. I thought it would be a neat little two-page report. What I found was very interesting. It will be in my next posting.
