A Debacle and a Sun Rising?

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Written by Tony Adams

Friday, 05 September 2008 10:33

Last weekend we had a benefit to help raise money for the space costs for Militant Language. It was kind of a disaster.

Turnout was pretty low. We made the mistake of having it in Wrigleyville on a summer Saturday. Years ago in my early twenties I loved it. Now I totally get why so many folks would rather be on any other street in the city than on the corner of Clark and Addison at 11:30 on a Saturday night.

But that was not the main problem. It was the entertainment that really went sour. We had three acts booked.

A solo singer/guitarist, who lost a string.
A hip-hop trio who lost a rapper. They've played for us before and were good. This time, not so much. Without the whole of the group they phoned it in. Instead of their set they played music and grunted into the mic, like a drunken off-key karaoke singer. It was brutal.
The final planned act lost their bassist two days earlier. So they couldn't play, but one of their guys dj'd for the rest of the night-which was pretty cool of him.

We've had pretty good acts at all of our fundraisers prior to that, but apparently the stars were not aligned this time. We're grateful to those who swing by and it looked like most had a good time in spite of the un-tertainment. I guess you can't win them all.

Special event fundraisers are always a little dicey, and we learn from each thing we do. We made the mistake of making the night less about the event and more about the fundraising. We should know better, but it's easy to rest on laurels. Everyone is having fundraisers. I get half-a-dozen flyers each week. They tend to cancel each other out. The event which needs to be the main factor for people, otherwise it's no different than any other organizations fundraisers.

But there were some huge pluses. We raised more money than we have at many of our fundraisers. A lot of folks who couldn't make it donated online. Most of the donations were $5 (what the cover charge was for the fundraiser). It doesn't take a hundred bucks to help. Some gave more if they could, but smaller donations add(ed) up quickly.

It is heartening that so many took the time to help even though they couldn't make it that night. And we know how to make it better each time we go forward. All in all, it turned out much better than we had thought the next morning.

cross-posted at Tony's Blog