Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Many many months ago I tried to capture the essence of how the concept of the GGOL came about. You can review that information should you care to by flipping back to my original post on the subject. Basically what it amount to is remembering to say thank you to the people who get you a job by finding out what they like and sending a thank you gift that’s appropriate for the person who landed you the gig. I figure if it was an agent that got you the job you’d be paying them a commission. If it’s a friend or associate that helped land you a job then some sort of recognition of their efforts is in order. Some performers end up becoming part-time agents and simplify the process by just charging you a commission, but I have no desire to take money out of my friends pockets… Some sort of acknowledgement of my recommendation or the efforts I put in to get you the gig is most certainly appreciated though.
This seems to come up most often when I’m organizing a larger program or event like the work I do at the PNE Street Stars Program or the recent work I did with the BC Street Jam program during the Olympics… Some of the time performers ‘get’ the concept right away and enjoy the challenge of coming up with the right ‘token of their appreciation’ sometimes performers are completely oblivious of the fact that some sort of thank you might be appropriate. I’m fine either way, but I find it interesting that the performers who do ‘get it’ seem to go on to have more successful careers for some reason… Hmmmmm…
The Project Dynamite Boys who came to the PNE last year (Alex and Dave) were two guys who not only ‘got’ the concept, they thoroughly embraced it. Smart boys those two and a really fun high-paced show. They’re going places I can assure you of that and they make it pretty easy as a presenter to bring in because they’re on top of their game. They were only in town for the first five days of the PNE in 2009, but made sure to present me with a lovely bottle of Mcallan 10 Year Old Scotch… A very nice acknowledgement of the efforts that had gone in to getting them the gig if I do say so myself! Now I’m not as much of a scotch drinker as I used to be, in fact I’m trying to cut back on my consumption in general… Give my liver a bit of a break, but the point is that they ‘got’ the concept.
About a year ago now I performed at the Oklahoma City Arts Festival. Had a great time and my shows were very well received. This particular event has a budget to bring in one Street Act for their festival and they like to mix it up every year. I’m well aware of how this works and always love to pass along my recommendations as to who might be a good alternative. This does two things. It keeps the client happy, and it gets a gig for a friend who you know will do a good job.
Back in January I got an email from the producer of Oklahoma City asking for suggestions and recommendations for who would make a good act to bring in for the 2010 Arts Festival and I happily suggested the Project Dynamite Boys… I sent them a heads up email letting them know that they might be hearing from the producer, and sure enough, one thing lead to another and they got the gig…
Then I see on their Facebook page that they were off to find a GGOL for me as a thank you for the gig… I write saying the appropriate thank you and letting them know that I’d keep my eye on my mail box… So I keep my eye on my mail box, but nothing comes… I wait weeks, then it dawns on me that this might have been some elaborate joke, so I write to Dave to check. He assures me that it’s no joke, so I continue to wait…
Finally I get a letter in the mail from the Canada Border Services Agency stating the following –
This is to advise you that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has intercepted a mail item addressed to you that contains an intoxicating beverage(s)/liquor (as listed below) and transferred it to Canada Post.
1 Bottle 750 mL of Whiskey
The importation of such items by mail is prohibited under the Importation of Intoxicating Loquors Act.
Consequently, Canada Post must dispose of the item(s) in accordance with “Non-mailable Matters Regulations” under the Canada Post Corporation Act.
Doh!
Lesson learned? Don’t send Booze in the mail… Thanks for thinking of me though boys!
