We knew driving down that Statesboro was going to be an interesting show. We were scheduled to be here last year but they cancelled/rescheduled the performance at the last minute. The reason? The organization in charge of the event had “dropped the ball” and not advertised the show. We rescheduled so they would have an opportunity to pull their act together and do a good job the next time around.
Was this year any different? Perhaps slightly. The show was reallly fun, thanks to an incredible crew and staff at the Performing Arts Center. And the venue is beautiful! But what we learned prior to the performance was that the organization that had scheduled the event was, for all practical purposes, no longer in existence and was being directed by a part-time employee/graduate student. I’m sure he was doing the best he could given his other responsibilities and class schedule. However, the result of all of this was reflected in the advance ticket sales.
In spite of the low numbers, we had a relaxed day with the crew working with us – a combination of the PAC crew and the local IATSE union crew from Savannah. Thanks to the advance preparation of Pete Davis (TD) and the rest of the guys, the show went up very quickly.
I was scheduled to do a radio interview on 98.7 The River/WTKS-AM 1920 in Savannah and, once we finished the details of the show, I did a couple of very quick personal appearances on the campus of Georgia Southern University. We wanted to increase our attendance at the evening performance and these last minute marketing ideas were our last hope.
The crowd wasn’t a huge one but they were excited to be there. And the marketing efforts worked – we more than doubled our expected attendance!
Comments after the show were very positive and a few people took the time to visit our website and drop us an email. Here’s one of those:
We had a real good time at the show last night. Four of us, three girls and one guy. We laughed at the jokes and thought the acts were well done. I’ve not been to many of these types of shows, but I truly liked the entire show. I only wish more people could have taken advantage of this venue. Please don’t write off the Savannah area for future shows. We had only heard of the show on Thursday from WTKS-AM 1290 in Savannah, Georgia. Good wishes for future success!!! We all enjoyed the show!!!
Thanks to all of you who supported us in Statesboro!