Cocktail Party Fundraiser and Auction for Area Animals Helps the Helpless

On October 13, the Paws for Life and MidAtlantic Horse Rescue organization hosted a Cocktail Party and Auction Fundraiser for their dog and horse rescue center. For the night, wine and beer were donated, the catering was provided by Back Creek Golf Club and for the auction, over 300 silent auction items were available and 17 live auction items as well. This led to over 300 people attending the event and donating to the organizations cause. The night was sponsored by a host of local businesses and individuals, all listed here.

Jill Hartzler explained that the organization “rescues family friendly dogs (and the occasional cat) who are facing euthanasia, gets them spayed/neutered, up to date on shots, and figures out what kind of home they would do best in.  As MidAtlantic Horse Rescue, we rescue off the track thoroughbreds to find them new homes rather than have them shipped for slaughter.” The night’s profits are going to be used to help with the expenses of the missions of their organization.

Hartzler said that they had no specific goal, “however, the event far surpassed our expectations. It was amazing and we are so grateful to all of our sponsors and supporters.  People were extremely generous in their donations of time, items for auction and money.” In order to gather attendees for the big night, Hartzler and colleagues used ads in the local newspaper, radio advertisements, as well as social media, like the organization’s Facebook page’s, here and here. They also put up reminders on their own websites, the Paws for Life page, and the MidAtlantic Horse Rescue Page. With all the advertisements they used, Hartzler said that word of mouth worked best by far. “We had our first cocktail party/auction 4 years ago when we opened our new kennel.  We have it every other year, so this was our 3^rd event.  It is always a big hit and word of mouth from previous attendees was huge in getting the word out,” she said.

Hartzler said that they were too many highlights of the day to share. “The most memorable moment was just as a whole – standing back and seeing all of the amazing people who came just to support our causes,” she explained. And planning the event was well worth the effort. Her advice to others planning events, “Start early, have a committee, and be organized!”

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Cocktail Fundraiser for Muscular Dystrophy Association

While the country may not look too favorably on Wall Street these last few years, the supporters of the Muscular Dystrophy Association are trying to reverse that negative view. The Wings Over Wall Street cocktail reception was started 12 years by Warren Schiffer, whose wife, Toni Diamond, suffers from ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Funds raised throughout the night were donated to the MDA specifically for ALS research.

Schiffer and Diamond joined with another ALS patient, Michael Beier, who brought awareness to the Wall Street community and they rallied to raise money for ALS research. Unfortunately, Beier and Diamond have since passed away but Nicole Dupuis, Associate Director of Business Development, said “we continue to fight on their behalf with a strong committee, strong MDA staff and our founder, Warren Schiffer.”

To put together such a large and important event, takes a lot of hard work and the help of sponsors. Dupuis explained that different companies can sponsor at different sponsorship levels.  Some of the largest sponsors this year were “Bloomberg, Weeden & Co. and Etro, Bloomberg being our Guardian Angel Sponsor,” Dupuis said. The goal of this year’s cocktail reception was $10 million, and the night only felt a little short. But money isn’t everything. The number one goal of the organization, Dupuis said, “has always been to find a cure.”

Building Awareness, Bringing People Together

The other goals of these events, according to Dupuis, “are always to a) bring awareness of muscular dystrophy and how devastating it can be to individuals and their families, and b) bring people together.  Whether it is people from different aspects of the financial sector or a CEO of a major company that sponsors us with one of the families that we serve.  We want everyone to connect, learn from each other, feel that they are not alone in the fight and also see what an impact they are making.”

When planning an event of this magnitude, you have to use a wide scope. Dupuis explained, “We had email blasts to our database go out to anybody who has attended one of MDA’s social events in the past, along with those family and friends of MDA.  We used twitter and Facebook to promote the event as well as word of mouth (many of our committee members are well respected in their communities and places of business, so they were able to spread the word).  We also had a local segment on MDA’s Show of Strength this year where Warren Schiffer, our founder and Larry Schiffer, a committee member and Warren’s brother spoke about the impact Wings Over Wall Street has had.” Dupuis said, “this event took a lot of planning—a lot of moving parts.  The experience was an incredible learning experience.  My advice would be to have excellent time management.”

While it’s easy to lose focus once the event you spend so time planning is over, Dupuis offers some sound advice on the importance of follow up. “My number one priority (after raising money) was making sure I responded to all emails, got anyone involved anything they needed, returned voicemails and kept in touch with all members of my committee.  I am there to help and they need to know that,” she said.

For the guests of the cocktail evening, the highlight was “the tribute video to Robert Amaro, our spirit award recipient who passed away about two weeks prior to the event.  Though it was truly heartbreaking, it brought this disease that we talk about all the time down to reality.  Here was someone who was working with us for this event and now he is no longer here with us.  That is impactful!” Dupuis said.

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Successful Annual Fundraiser Honors Lost Friend

In 2006, Dakotah Smith unfortunately died from complications due to the rare genetic disease Mucolipidoses. This loss brought forth the charity Rock4Dakotah. Every September, in honor of Dakotah’s birthday, the charity hosts a day of fun and food to raise funds for other families whose children suffer from rare and fatal genetic diseases.

The fundraiser includes “local bands, has food, silent auctions, vendors, raffles, and kid’s games.  We even do a Ride4Dakotah Poker run for motorcyclists,” communications director Kelly Erler. Local Businesses and community members sponsor the event and is promoted year round. “Rock4Dakotah raises funds to aid in research and everyday needs of families with children who have fatal, rare genetic diseases as Dakotah did,” Erler said.

Erler explained that the charity is “In the process of starting an application process to be able to give where there is a need, such as glasses, braces for legs, wheelchairs, and other things that these families struggle with.  We also allocate a large chunk of our budget to supporting research and benevolent giving.  We also use our event, promotion of out event, and the web to make our community aware of how many genetic diseases are out there that we don’t have a cure for.”

The fundraiser never has a specific goal for the day, “Our community is extremely generous and always opens their hearts for Rock4Dakotah.  Our goal is to be able to help as many families as we can,” Erler said. This year families with affected children came from great distances to join in the fundraiser activities. “We had three families who have children that are affected by Mucoplipidoses join us this year. Another great highlight for the kid’s at our event is having a local band, Emily’s Toy Box come out.  They are great crowd pleasers and allow the kid’s to go on stage.  Their presence really promotes a family event,” Erler explained.

In order to spread the word about the September fundraiser, Erler and other charity volunteers use the Rock4Dakotah Facebook page, emails, word of mouth and mailing flyers. This year, the charity advertised in the local newspapers and ads on the radio. Erler said, “Facebook and word of mouth are typically what works best for us, considering that our entire community can be reached if just a few people post about R4D on their walls.  We are currently working on updating to a mass mailer which I believe will increase our traffic to our website, awareness and attendance.  Lastly, we do small fundraisers all year long that help to get the word out as well.”

Erler explained that being able to put together an event like this takes a lot of experience. “We didn’t have any experience when we started to plan our event 5 years ago. I would best describe the experience of planning as trial and error,” Erler said. She continued with, “I would tell someone planning a similar event to have fun, love the people you work with (because you will spend A LOT of time with them), and never lose focus on why you are doing it.  Planning a large all day events can be frustrating and overwhelming, but to watch people have a good time, and come out for a good cause is worth every minute.”

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Cycling for Sickle Cell Awareness

Latecomers to sporting events can call out, “What’z da count?” and some helpful spectator will respond with the current score of the game. Farron Dozier, SFC and Founder of What’z Da Count (WDC) wants to bring the whole country up to speed on the current score of the risks associated with Sickle Cell Trait (SCT) and high levels of creatine phosphokinase (CPK).

One in ten African Americans, along with some of Arabian, Asian, Caribbean, Indian, Mediterranean, and South and Central American ancestry, carry at least one copy of the gene that causes Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Seventy-two thousand Americans carry two copies of the gene, resulting in SCD, which can lead to pain crises, infection, organ failure, and death.

While a single copy of the allele may not produce any noticeable effects, in some cases, SCT can cause similar symptoms to SCD. There is also a quarter century of evidence that SCT can cause sudden cardiac death in athletes or those engaging in strenuous activity.

Dozier, along with cyclist Demarco Pierre, want to raise awareness of Sickle Cell and ensure that carriers understand how to monitor their risk by tracking their CPK.

Cycling for Sickle Cell

Historically, SCD, which can affect children as young as five months, resulted in early death. Today’s health care can provide normal life expectancies.But, as Dozier learned, most carriers are unaware of their status, or its possible complications. “The conversation around Sickle Cell Trait for some reason has died off,” Dozier notices. “In my opinion mostly because their children who had the disease died so young and no one really understood the impact of that gene.”

Dozier himself learned firsthand, after a routine military exercise nearly led to his death. His CPK count at the time was over 10,000. Typical numbers are between 60 and 400.

Today, Dozier is healthy and tracks his CPK count, and, with the creation of WDC, has restarted the conversation, working to teach everyone how the trait is passed from parents to child, and what carriers can do to ensure that they, and their offspring, stay healthy.

Dozier had already been considering a cross-country motorcycle ride for the cause when Pierre of CityCrewCycling “showed up wanting to do a cycle ride from NYC to Pennsylvania.” Pierre’s young child carries the sickle cell trait, and the child’s mother has SCD. Eventually, Dozier and Pierre settled on a 123-mile, one-day ride from New Jersey to New York, scheduled for August 18, 2013, with events before and after the ride. To date, five team members have committed to the ride, and Pierre hopes that number will double before the actual event.

Putting the Fund in Fundraising

While CityCrewCycling is preparing for their big ride, they still need to raise money to purchase at least one bicycle, at a cost of $725, for the event. More cycles or funds to generate more publicity for the ride would also be welcome. Currently, they’re seeking sponsors large and small to underwrite some of their financial needs and already list Mary Tennant of Vollara as their first corporate sponsor.

WDC sells T-shirts and hats with their logo to increase their fundraising efforts, and are planning benefit concerts to raise money in advance of the event. To Dozier and the rest of his organization, the campaign is “more than a cause. It’s a war and,” he points out, “all wars…need to be funded.” Most important to the success of their efforts is that, “We need the cycle first so he can start training.” They’d also like to raise seed money for a series of free or by-donation benefit concerts. “As we plan this project,” he explains, “there will be various programs that people can choose to help fund the events.”

Symptoms of Success

WDC would like to see all at-risk individuals tested so that they know their trait status, and to that end, they’re also planning to purchase a mobile testing unit, “so when we travel the city or health events we can offer the community on the spot free screenings.” Providing genetic counseling as well as pain and health issue counseling is another goal. By asking questions like, “Are you having Sickle Sex?” and, “Do you know if your mate has the trait?” WDC is restarting the conversation about SCT and hoping that potential carriers can make better-informed decisions about their reproductive choices.

WDC is already “planning three major city events in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and downtown Philly,” in addition to the Awareness Concert in New York. They’re also working on staging comedy shows and jazz concerts, during which they’ll take a few moments to talk about the cause. Dozier envisions a series of “luncheons with speakers and doctors to share and answer specific questions,” that only experts can answer. He also sees the importance of “partnering with club promoters in LA and Las Vegas to allow us to speak to the people and share a few minutes about who we are and what we are up to in the world.”

Along with homepages, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, email, and newsletters, Dozier has been hosting a blogtalk radio show for a few years. WDC DA MOVEMENT airs every Monday from 1 to 3 p.m. In additions to discussing his work on trait awareness, he discusses “various other topics like mental health and wellness, bullying, lupus awareness, and sports.”

Positive Outcomes

Dozier is excited about the big event. On the 18^th of August, 2013, after the ride and the main event in New York takes place, he’ll be able to see the fruits of his efforts. At the same time, he knows that “the smaller settings” are equally important, “because we get to be in the community where the disease hides out,” and, while “having fun and bringing the entertainment,” he’ll also be offering on the education he’s working so hard to share.

For Pierre, the anticipation around the big ride is rising. He and, “the CityCrewCycling team are looking forward to taking on the road,” and, just as importantly, are looking forward “to having the public’s support. The more people that show up for this event, the more attention we know we’ve brought to the cause.”

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Friends and Family Support Oregon State Representative Hopeful 

The months leading up to this upcoming November election are rife with talk about politics. While the focus is mainly on the national level, for Rebecca Goodhouse, her focus is strictly on the state level. This could be because of her personal connection to the race. Goodhouse’s husband, John is running for State Representative in Oregon.

The Goodhouse campaign hosted a casino night and silent auction to raise funds for the race. Goodhouse ordered tickets to pass out to family and friends. Goodhouse explained that the event was “open to the public, but of course our closest supporters and family were invited as well.” The goal was to raise $2,000 and that amount would be matched by another organization and Goodhouse said that they were able to raise almost the entire amount.

Goodhouse explained that her husband is a very active member of the community and involved in many organizations, which meant that they were able to sell tickets to many people who believe in his position for State Representative. They also used Facebook and MailChimp to spread the word, but said that the paper tickets worked best.

In attendance for the night, Goodhouse said, were current State Representatives and a Senator. She said that the most memorable moment was “the oral auction ,that one of the current reps ran, at the end of the night, when guests were bidding with their poker chips!”

Goodhouse said, “Planning the event was easy; the hard part was promoting the event.” She advises promoting your event well in advance! And for such a high profile event, Goodhouse specifically did not invite the press because she wanted everyone just to have fun. It was meant to raise money, but also to blow off a little steam in what is a high pressure career. And ordering from TicketPrinting.com took a little more stress away from the event.

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Band Hosts Event to Aid Service Men and Women

Pat Salas assembled his band The Mangled Digits, and put on a show in order to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. Salas said that everyone volunteered to put the show on and that “most supplies and equipment was donated by individual people.” Salas ordered tickets to promote the event and Salas said the whole idea was to “raise money for wounded warrior project and to make more people aware of the organization.” Salas said that they were able to raise $400; a bit short of their goal but Salas said, “we still hold are heads high though because something is better than nothing.”

To organize such an important, Salas started planning 6 months beforehand. “We started with 4 potential major sponsors to having no sponsors at all. Persistency is key! But when you’re only a 6 piece local band you get thrown to corner a lot,” Salas said. But every hardship is a lesson in disguise and for Salas and his band; they learned it’s important to “have a fairly large team of people with skills in each department you need to cover. Marketing, recruiting, law, etc,” he said.

Salas and his band were mostly responsible for advertising as well, posting regularly to Facebook and handing out flyers in the community. And for Salas, it was all worth it. “The highlight for me was the generosity of the locals in Galena Park, TX. Not only were they paying admission fees but also donating extra money to the cause,” he said.

The Wounded Warrior Project was started after September 11, 2001. According to their website, the Wounded Warrior Project is meant to “serve military service members who incurred service-connected wounds, injuries, or illnesses on or after September 11, 2001 and their families.” As well as “to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured service members aid and assist each other and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of injured service members.”

To date the Wounded Warrior Project has helped 20,891 service men and women, as well as 1,579 family members of soldiers.

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Melodic, Ambient, Alternative Indie Rock Gets Real

Eric Owyoung started making music at the age of 7, counting himself fortunate to attend a school with a “decent” music program but, more importantly, to have supportive parents who “were pretty much behind anything we wanted to pursue.” Without their help, he doubts he would have the musical ability he possesses today, an ability that makes his current project a success.

Future of Forestry formed in 2006, after 6 years of performing under the name “Something Like Silas.” They just released their tenth album, Young Man Follow, with two tours planned in 2012. With haunting melodies and deep, faith-based lyrics, Future of Forestry has found its identity playing alternative ambient rock.

The Most Important 2%

Owyoung has a clear head when it comes to understanding his path. For him, it’s all about the music, all the time. He sees the life of a touring musician as a compromise: “being on stage and playing music is pretty much the only redeeming factor for being on the road and killing yourself with lack of sleep, fatigue, and home sickness. Ironically, it’s like 2% of the job, but that 2% makes everything worth it all.” Things always go wrong, he reports: “some speaker blows up, someone left the 9 volt batteries at the last gig, someone put the wrong address on the website for the venue, or someone didn’t read the tech rider and forgot to take out the green M&Ms (I’m kidding).” What goes wrong isn’t important though, compared to the ability to overcome problems in the name of art. “The name of the game, when it’s tour time, is adaptability. People who don’t adapt well just don’t do well on tour. It has to be about the people and enjoying each moment as it is, not as it was expected to be.”

He understands that transformative power of music, the way it can transport the listener, creating strong, and sometimes confusing emotions. He remembers clearly, being a child and freaking “out when my sister brought home some U2 cassette tapes (War and Unforgettable Fire). I put them on headphones and felt so incredible; I thought for sure it was a horrible sin to listen to such music and be affected like that.” At the same time, music can bring people together in ways that are equally remarkable. He finds “the fact that I can sit in my living room one night and write a lyric, then show up in some random club all the way across the country, in Missouri or something, and all these people are singing their guts out to that song,” to be both “beautiful and scary.”

The Future of Future of Forestry

His “fans tend to be very techy people, the kind of people that have to buy the new iPhone when it comes out.” It’s the “young but mature music nerds” who truly appreciate Future of Forestry’s “thickly orchestrated style of music” and the “very technical aspect to the band, especially live.” To keep up with their base, Owyoung reports that digital outreach focuses “on whatever is relevant at the time. We used to invest in MySpace. Now, it’s Facebook and Twitter. Tomorrow,” he jokes, “it will be something strange called ‘Twitterface,’ or something like that.”

For Owyoung, this is all secondary. “I’m a terrible example,” he says, considering the challenges of working as an independent musician, in charge of his own publicity and bookings, “because I probably don’t care as much as other musicians. I focus a lot on the music rather than publicity. I guess then, my advice is to balance the two. You can’t have good publicity and bad music. No sense in promoting a turd right?”

What Owyoung cares about is his ability “to keep growing, to keep making music, and to make sure that I’m doing something new rather than just following the trends. I just released the album Young Man Follow. Going into 2013,” Eric Owyoung and Future of Forestry “will be working on new music once again.”

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Car Wash for a Cause, With a Twist

Summertime can sometimes mean a lull for fundraising. School is out. Potential donors are on holiday. Most folks are taking it easy and not thinking too much about anything beyond how to beat the heat. But, at the end of the season, important programs and projects still need all the support they can get, so you shouldn’t shy away from planning a fun summer event.

On July 22, 2012, Janelle Johnston and the Santa Ynez High School Girls Volleyball Program did just that. Girls Volleyball is a favorite fall sport at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School, where the Pirates hail from, and like many high athletic teams, it needs to look to the community for extra support from time to time.

Ticket Sales Ensure Success

A carwash is a favorite fundraiser for many organizations. The overhead is pretty low. A parking lot, access to soap and water and volunteers are all that’s really needed. The summer fundraising season sees many of these. Most rely on signs and the tireless enthusiasm of their volunteers to attract a crowd.

The Pirates realized a little extra preplanning would ensure their success. They decided to sell tickets to the carwash before the event. The girls got the idea to sell tickets for a carwash came from the basketball team, which held a similar, very successful fundraiser about a month and a half before.

“Their tickets looked so great and pre-selling worked so well for them,” Janelle explained.  We were inspired to do the same.  We made twice as much as we usually do at car washes, so we are very happy with the results!”

The tickets added an extra dimension to what could have been a regular run-of-the-mill car washing event. The collateral was simple but professional and bore the school’s pirate mascot, as well as the date and time of the event.

There’s no magic formula when it comes to trying a new fundraising tactic. The novelty is sometimes enough. With tickets sold ahead of time, drivers don’t need to make a spur of the moment decision to have their car washed. They can redeem the ticket at any time on event day or not at all. Tickets allow potential donors to contribute, without feeling obligated to follow through.

Direct Sales and Word of Mouth: Invaluable

“The girls were just asked to sell to friends and family and some also sold tickets in front of a local grocery store.  The only other advertising we used was an email announcement by a friend with many contacts in our community,” Janelle said.

For events like carwashes, direct sales and word of mouth advertising are invaluable. It’s important for participants to see who they are contributing to. Sometimes it helps if they can put a face to the cause. A personal connection can make all the difference.

And in the case of this particular event, it certainly did.

“Our plan is to do the same thing next summer but with a little more time for the girls to sell.  We anticipate being able to raise all the money our program needs with the one car wash next year!”

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Photography Captures Moments in Time and Puts Smiles on Faces

“Ohana” means “family” in the Hawaiian language, and family is what photographer Danielle Meyerson strives to create, document, and celebrate. “Photography is not just about capturing great images,” she explains. “It’s about the customer experience.” Photographers who focus on art but fail to address client needs can’t create “rapport and lasting relationships.” Being flexible, never giving up, and giving clients what they want allow her to create an ohana: a close-knit family of customers.

Meyerson’s “style is defined by the love of art,” while her work strives to reveal “the true essence and inner beauty of each individual.” She envisions her finished product hanging on walls, evoking smiles every time her customers walk into their homes, “a reminder to people of things they cherish.” Her “excitement for capturing moments in time” is evident in her work.

Since 2009, Meyerson has served as owner, operator, and photographer in the business she began with her husband, Ward Meyerson. She wears “all the hats: photographer, designer, manager, marketer, HR, PR, business development,” and has learned that success comes from “constantly evolving and improving” services.

Businesses Giving to the Community

Originally conceived as “portrait fundraising” studio, to “give back to the community,” Ohana Photo Studios has evolved to offer “family portraits, corporate portraits, model portfolios, editorial, event photography, school portraits, seniors, graduations, digital art, weddings, underwater photography, videos…almost anything!”

Meyerson believes in “giving from the heart, being grateful for what we have and sharing what we can; whether this is physically donating time to external community causes, via monetary donations or sharing knowledge and information.” To this end, a portion of the studio’s revenue is donated to Catholic Charities Hawaii “to enhance the positive impact this organization has on Hawaiian families and the greater community.” In addition, the studio cofounded a scholarship fund with the Augustin Educational Foundation (AEF): “a percentage of every dollar spent on school portrait packages goes towards scholarships.”

A Value Based Photography Studio

Giving to charity is just one external expression of Ohana Photo Studio’s core beliefs. Success, she believes, cannot be measured merely in dollars and cents: the way she achieves her goals is just as important to her as the goals themselves . To Meyerson’s mind, “a commitment to uncompromising values and integrity should always guide our decisions.” There is no “good enough” at Ohana Photo Studios. They are always seeking to raise the bar.

Creating a relationship of trust with clients is of the utmost importance, and Meyerson achieves this with a commitment to accountability. “We do what we say we are going to do,” she explains, “when we say we are going to do it.” Ongoing staff development helps maintain high standards of excellence along with a culture of trust, respect, and organization. To that end, she works to “build a corporate culture of creativity and capture the talent, energy, and commitment of all employees.”

Creative Services, Clever Events

Meyerson is proud to document all the important moments of her clients’ lives, and cherishes “being a part of that special moment in history where a customer has allowed us to ‘turn their life into light’ through photographs.”

She is available for all iterations of these memorable occasions: “precious moments where a family has just welcomed their ‘newest edition’ and bundle of joy into the world, photographing a ‘ground breaking’ or ‘blessing’ (which we do a lot of in Hawaii) of a new business or center, witnessing parents proudly watching their child graduate, to capturing a young couple in love,” and also enjoys less conventional work: “creating an innovative ‘digital art’ piece,” or doing “green screen” event photography, where the client’s image can be superimposed on any background, and they can add their favorite celebrity to the image.

Tickets for Photography?

When Meyerson needs to shoot hundreds of people in a short space of time, she uses bar coded event tickets that double as a “customer identification mechanism. We scan each ticket prior to photographing attendees, which means we can identify each customer accurately,” an “invaluable” function when you’re dealing with so many faces.

Recently, Meyerson won $500 of free printing in TicketPrinting.com’s 15^th birthday giveaway, and she looks forward to using this windfall to create promotional materials like stickers, QR codes, programs, and posters. She also plans to “use perforated tickets for an up and coming competition.”

Looking to the Future

Successful businesses must “always evolve with market needs and wants,” Meyerson has learned. Flexibility and adaptability have served the company well as they expand their line of services: most recently to include a School Portraits Division and an Events Division in 2011 and a Media and Weddings Division in 2012. Photographers who continually fine tune the customer experience, listening to client concerns and creating positive long-term relationships, ensure repeat clientele and a bright future.

“Never give up,” she advises. Keep at the task until you can give the client a product they want, rather than “what we want for them,” and be sure your business is “flexible, adaptable” enough to change as market demand changes. The motto of Ohana Photo Studios is “Sharing the art of turning light into life,” and there’s plenty of light, and life, in the future of this business.

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A Lifetime of Music

At the age of 8, Brian Silber told his mother that he wanted to play violin.

After an assessment at a Baltimore conservatory, it was determined that Silber had a “good ear” and was well-suited for the string instrument. For $25 a year, he was able to rent his first violin, complete with bow and case, and join the elementary school orchestra. By age 13, he was the youngest first violinist to ever perform with the Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for 4 years, playing “the same repertoire as the major symphony orchestras in the world, putting on 4 big concerts each year in the conservatory’s concert hall,” albeit with a new violin.

It was “very cool,” Silber recalls, “very gratifying, and helped me to form a much higher level of self-esteem and pride.”

Island Music Journey and Kids of Note-ability

Today, Silber seeks to instill that same level of self-esteem and pride in the children of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. His organization, Island Music Journeys, brings world-class artists from around the globe to perform and teach, to inspire, “to encourage and to foster perseverance [and] dedication, with the hope that it leads to the development of character and self esteem in these children.”

To further this goal, he is also working to launch a new program, “Kids of Note-ability.” For the first tier of the program, he envisions bringing together 50 public school kids between 4^th and 12^th grade for professional instruction in steel pan, guitar, piano, and voice. He would provide instruments, sheet music, and small group instruction to children with an “enthusiasm and interest in learning a musical instrument.” Children and their parents would sign a contract “in order to participate, which requires real responsibility, both for the care of their instruments (while on loan), for attendance, and for practicing and coming prepared.” He envisions by-invitation musician’s residency sessions for a small group of gifted students, starting as early as 2013.

Every musician Silber invites play two concerts: a public one, for which he sells tickets, and a private, hour-long concert followed by a Q and A session exclusively for 100 invited music students, exemplifying Silber’s goal. “These performances serve as one of the most inspiring and one of the best learning experiences” available to young musicians, “to be close to, and in the presence of this kind of musical excellence.” They “encourage and…foster perseverance [and] dedication, with the hope that it leads to the development of character and self esteem.”

The World’s Most Outstanding Acoustic Musicians

Over the last 5 years, Silber has “invited some of the world’s most outstanding acoustic musicians” to perform on St. Croix, including Jimmy VanCleve, Josh Shilling, Mountain Heart, Tim and Myles Thompson, Martin Hayes, Mark O’Connor and his Hot Swing Trio, Richard Smith, and Julie Adams.

Brazilian virtuoso Celso Machado recently performed a sold-out show for Island Music Journeys. Silber added 20 additional seats, but many fans had to be turned away, due fire code regulations. Celso, sometimes referred to as the Bobby McFerrin of Brazil, is a guitarist and composer who is also “known for his ability to make music and intriguing sounds from everything and anything, including paper, rocks, sticks, every part of his body, the microphone stand.” At one point in the performance, “he sounds like a tropical rainforest, with rolling thunder…rain and all,” encouraging the audience to help create the rain sounds. Silber recalls, “the weather was clear all night, just until he began his rainforest segment.” Then, “it just began raining lightly, reverberating on the tin roof of the performing arts theater. It stopped just as he finished. It was a surreal experience for all, and one many still speak about with amazement.”

The Show Must Go On

On another occasion, Silber wrung success from a near catastrophe when a musician scheduled to perform 2 sold-out shows was unable to travel to St. Croix after contracting Lyme disease. “I thought there was no way that I could salvage this event,” he remembers. Before panic completely set in, however, it occurred to him that he “did have a phone number for one of the country’s finest bluegrass fiddlers, Jimmy VanCleve, whom I met at a music festival the year before.” VanCleve’s parting words had been, “Don’t be a stranger.” Silber called him up and, a day before the scheduled concert, VanCleve agreed to fly out to the island, bringing with him the extraordinary pianist Josh Shilling. Silber’s girlfriend donated 70,000 air miles and the musicians got on a 6 a.m. flight to St. Croix.

But the show wasn’t saved yet. A few hours later, Silber received a phone call from Miami. The performers’ plane had mechanical problems, a delay that ultimately made brought them into St. Croix 8 hours late—2 ½ hours after the show was supposed to start.

What does an event organizer do in that situation? Well, if he has contact numbers for all 100 ticket holders, he calls them all up individually to apprise them of the situation and inform them that the Friday performance will be rescheduled for Sunday. He attributes VanCleve and Shillings’ “willingness to come…put on some of the finest performances our island residents have ever seen,” with saving his project from an “early demise” in its second season. In the following 2 years, he invited VanCleve’s 6-piece group, Mountain Heart, back to the island for “some of the finest, most electrifying music we’ve ever heard.”

Getting Noticed, Selling Tickets

It was fast thinking and fast acting that saved that concert, but it’s old-fashioned publicity that sells those seats in the first place. “Good first impressions are paramount, and I’ve made sure that attention is put to every detail and component of our events,” Silber says. He designs his own ticket online at TicketPrinting.com, having some fun in the process. He also uses the company to print posters and fliers, which he considers “very professionally printed” with “full color and sharp images.” They’re “very reasonably priced,” and “look first class,” to create that perfect first impression.

“My posters always look awesome,” he says. “I place up to 50 all over the island. And I hand out hundreds of fliers for our events.”

He also makes use of an extensive radio campaign, 260 minute-long spots across 3 stations for 2 weeks prior to any given show. Usually, the local papers will run some articles on the events right before the show, and “this year,” he reports, “we have the support of one of the major TV stations, so we’ll be on TV a good bit for our next event.”

In addition, he’s found that he can streamline the process of selling tickets by using Ticket River, a virtual box office that allows him to sell seats any time, track sales online, and make the purchasing experience simpler for customers. “I would ideally like to see every ticket sold through Ticket River. It has made my job much easier,” says Silber, who believes the site enhances sales, resulting in an increase in revenue. He sends out 100s of emails before every concert, emphasizing that, in addition to purchasing tickets at local retail outlets, concert-goers can easily purchase tickets online at Ticket River.

The Future is Bright

Silber is excited about what’s upcoming for his organization. He’s optimistic about reaching his funding goal for Kids of Note-ability and recommends readers check out the website, which also includes “a wonderful section devoted to the scientifically proven benefits of music in our lives.” In the meantime, he’s worked out “other ways to benefit the interested musicians on St. Croix, such as scholarships and one-on-one residencies with invited top notch musicians from around the world.”

He’s also looking forward to his next scheduled concert. In February of 2013 international champion guitarist Richard Smith will perform with cellist Julie Adams. Opening for this act will be “2 remarkable and gifted violinists,” the Marnai Duo. These violinists will also be featured “in a Sunday afternoon concert at a very lovely and historic church, encouraging a much different segment of our island population to attend.” Music lovers will “be dazzled by these women’s arrangements on gospel, spiritual, and a breath-taking repertoire from the Broadway musical, Porgy and Bess.”

Silber plans to continue putting on concerts and planning performances for his music students. This spring, he’ll offer a “week long residency for invited, world class musicians to come here to work (one-on-one) with selected dedicated students,” and says, “scholarships based on merit are part of our mission as well. We’re continually fine tuning the benefits that can be provided.”

Celso Machado demonstrating how one can make beautiful sounds and music from a rock. The Brazilian musician had picked it up on the beach on St.Croix the day before. He said, “when I found it had a small hole through it, I knew I could make music with this.”

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