the 2009 NBAF sponsors’ luncheon

The 2009 National Black Arts Sponsors Luncheon is the festival’s way of saying thank you to the corporations, NGOs, government agencies, and private individuals who provide that most vital of resources to the arts community – funding.

At this year’s luncheon, the sponsors were given three very special treats. The first was the official changing of the guard for the NBAF’s Executive Producer position. Outgoing Producer Stephanie Hughley was honored as a “22 year veteran of fighting the good fight for the arts” in Atlanta. Hughley will be returning to the Northeast for a second stint at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Assuming her role is Neal Barclay, formerly of the August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

Here are some clips from the farewell presentation to Stephanie Hughley.

Next up on the luncheon agenda was a candid discussion between US Ambassador and former Atlanta mayor, Andrew Young, and Bernice Johnson Reagon, founder of the Black female a capella group, Sweet Honey in the Rock. The two veterans of the Civil Rights movement shared their wisdom and experiences on topics ranging from music as protest medium to why Atlanta is THE only place where an event such as the NBAF could be born.

Since the luncheon was held at the Atlanta Civic Center, attendees were also given complimentary passes to the America I Am exhibit which will be on location at the Civic Center through September 6.

Lunch was provided by A Legendary Event, an Atlanta-based catering and special events company owned by Tony Conway. The event was planned and coordinated by Judy Hanenkrat, NBAF Special Events.

For a full list of sponsors for the 2009 NBAF, visit: www.nbaf.org/sponsors

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The NBAF Summer Festival goes from July 29 – August 2, 2009. The 5-day long festival highlights the artistic and cultural contributions of Africans and African-Americans in the US. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.nbaf.org/events. To donate to the festival, visit www.nbaf.org/support.

Behind the Scenes at the NBAF: Rebekah Jones – Production Manager

It’s a little past 8 am on Thursday morning, the second official day of the 2009 National Black Arts Festival. Several of the festival’s staff members are seated at multiple round tables on a lesser-used part of the 5th floor headquarters office. On the other side of the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sun is defiantly beaming through the last of the overnight storm clouds.

The woman with cropped, spiky hair sitting at the head of the group speaks.

“Just so y’all know, we do have a weather fairy, so it’s not going to rain on the festival.”

The woman is Rebekah Jones, who wears the double title of Festival Manager and Production Manager for the NBAF. She acts as Mistress of Ceremonies for this morning’s staff meeting, quickly running down what’s going on at each of the day’s major events and venues, and double-checking to make sure everyone has their marching orders. Since a major part of the festival – the International Marketplace – will be held outside, the topic of the weather comes up again soon, this time with a bit more gravitas.

“The only reason we will shut down is if there’s lightning. Our setups are all graded for up to 40mph winds. If there is lightning, the head of security will make the call to me or Leatrice (NBAF Artistic Programming Director), and we’ll make the decision to pause the festival, and issue ‘seek shelter’ announcements to the crowd.” Before the team disperses, she makes sure everyone has a copy of the Crisis Response Plan for the festival.

When the meeting ends, Rebekah heads back to her office and settles in behind her desk. Within 30 seconds, the small office is filled with 3-4 staff members with last-minute tactical questions for her. After handling the first few questions, she shoots me a look and says, “Time for a cigarette break,” my cue that we’ll have to conduct our one-on-one interview downstairs.

Once there, we begin.

ksolo: So how long have you been with the Black Arts Festival?

RJ: Since 2000. I think. Whatever year Stephanie (Hughley)joined. We’d worked together at another festival, so when she came over here, I thought it would be good to work with her again.

ksolo: For the layperson, what exactly does the co-title Festival Manager / Production Manager mean? What are you responsible for?

RJ: Well, I’m a Project Manager. I work as a PM for several clients, Harley Davidson is one. I’ve been the Production Manager for the Atlanta Civic Center for the past 12 years.

ksolo: Wow, do you sleep?

RJ: (laughs) Sometimes, I can’t believe I get paid to do what I do. I’m about to turn 50, so I figured, ‘Forget it. I’m just gonna do what I love.’

ksolo: With the changes in this year’s festival – the reduced timeline, the central location – has it been an easier project to manage? Or are there some things that are more difficult?

RJ: Well, the coordination has definitely been less cumbersome. There are fewer moving parts. But this year, we’re shutting down a city street for four whole days. And you have to jump through a lot of hoops for that.

In a moment of candor, Rebekah uses a four-letter word to describe the frustration of the hoop-jumping, and asks me to excuse her French. I assure her that I too speak French on occasion.

ksolo: About how many staff and volunteers do you have for this year’s festival?

RJ: With contractors and all, we’ve got over 100 people. And Keith (Hill) has volunteers on a waiting list. We have a great synergy of people, a great team.

ksolo: Do you have a favorite festival memory?

RJ: (pauses to think for a bit) Opening day. Every year. You know, this is the oldest surviving black festival in the country? Which is great, but also sad… since it’s only the 21st year. But it’s huge. It’s such an important event. Last year, we did 273 shows in 10 days. So the number of impressions is just huge. We’re in over 20 spaces this year, between festival events and events that partner with the festival.

ksolo: That’s a pretty impressive reach, especially for a city as spread out as ours.

RJ: Yep. The Dogwood Festival and the National Black Arts Festival are the only 2 festivals remaining in Atlanta that originated in Atlanta. The Atlanta Arts Festival is gone, Montreux is on hold. But we’re not just a local festival. We’re national. People plan their family reunions to coincide with the festival.

ksolo: Wow – that’s a real testament to the impact the festival has.

RJ: Yeah, we couldn’t do it without the people we have working and volunteering. We run up against a problem, and we don’t think, ‘Oh, it can’t happen.’ We think, ‘What has to happen to make it happen?’ You have to remain very fluid.

When the river starts flowing, you can either build a dam, or… you can jump in and swim.

 

The NBAF Summer Festival goes from July 29 – August 2, 2009. The 5-day long festival highlights the artistic and cultural contributions of Africans and African-Americans in the US. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.nbaf.org/events. To donate to the festival, visit www.nbaf.org/support.

the NBAF festival turns 21…

 SCHEDULE  | CONTACT |DIRECTIONS

Do you remember what you did for your 21st birthday? Did you see a movie?  Go to a concert? Go shopping? All of the above?

If you’ve been under the equivalent of a cultural rock for the last month or so, it might come as a surprise to you that the 21st anniversary of the National Black Arts Festival officially kicked off this week in Atlanta.

But if you’ve spied the signs around town and have caught the ’smoke signals’ on Facebook, Twitter, or even today’s article in the AJC, well… you already know what’s in store.

This year’s festival is slightly different than that of previous years – namely, a shorter schedule, and a single venue for most of the events. Some of the changes are a sign of the times: a down economy equals fewer donations and sponsorships, and a tighter budget.  But other changes show that the NBAF is truly a ’now’ kind of girl.

By hosting most of her events in a centralized place that’s Marta-accessible and located directly across from headquarters, she’s decreased the carbon footprint for her staff and her attendees, and made it more economical than driving to several locations.  And Lord knows, Atlanta could use just a little less traffic on the road for a few days.

Being true to the times also means making greater use of social media. So for her 21st birthday, the NBAF sent out invitations to the ‘cool kids’ – local Atlanta bloggers that will provide online coverage of 2009 NBAF events.

I’ll give you one guess who’s included in the bunch.

For the next few days, I’ll post regular updates from the NBAF via Twitter and Facebook, beginning with the daily staff meeting. I’ll also post bite-sized reviews of the NBAF events I attend throughout the week here on the blog. If I’m not completely worn out, I may even do a longer recap of each day’s events at the end of each day.

But you know how 21st birthdays go. There’s no telling what might happen. Still, I have no doubt it’s gonna be a party to remember.

Here’s where you’ll find me:

Thursday, July 30

 

Meet Me at The Festival!

beer connoisseur online launches

 

Dear BonVivant Online Reader,

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently started blogging for Beer Connoisseur Online. For the past few months, the folks at Beer Connoisseur have been working hard to get both the print and online versions of the magazine ready for release.

And now, it’s ready.

The Beer Connoisseur Online website went live a couple of weeks ago, and to celebrate, Beer Connoisseur is hosting a launch party.

 

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When: Tuesday July 21st, 2009

Where: SweetWater Brewery

What: A SweetWater Brewery souvenir glass and beer tastings. Connoisseur Cask tapped and poured, live music, brewery tours, photographer and more!

Details: Magazine Subscribers** – $10. Non-Subscribers – $12.

 

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**Subscribers enjoy – VIP brewery tour by a SweetWater tour guide and access to the VIP seating area with a complimentary cheese pairing.

To become a Beer Connoisseur subscriber, visit the website. Use promotion code: FBC-0103 to get exclusive benefits.
To RSVP:email launchparty@beerconnoisseur.com with the number of people attending and whether or not you are a subscriber.

Cheers!

k

the bonvivant gets down to business

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion.

He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.”

-James A. Michener

I’ve been writing this blog for about a year and a half now. For those of you who’ve been reading for a while, you know that I mainly rant and ramble about: food, music, culture, and occasionally, society and spirituality. In a word – life. Or the ‘good life’, as I define it.

It’s occurred to me, though, that there’s one pretty big chunk of life in general and my life in particular that never  gets touched on this blog.

Work.

Well, I shouldn’t say never. One of the more popular posts I’ve written was one in which I counted down the days before I left my last job. I thought it would be fun to share the idiosyncracies of my daily work life, since  that we all know and hate.

Apparently, I hit a nerve. Something about that clearly resonated with every one of you, because I never got so many comments on your own experiences (and frustrations) with work and the workplace. Case in point: 

I am so envious of you!!!! I’ve been looking for a new job for 8 months now — and it is a slow and painful process. I feel trapped in hell. I can’t wait for the day when I can quit.

I’m jealous. My job is sucking the life right out of me and I can’t seem to find anything else at the moment. It might better if I go on commission; I might double what I’m currently making. However, money isn’t everything, and if I could find a job that I love doing I’d take it even if it doesn’t pay much.

I’m quitting my job for a better Federal job between now and springtime, and I’m only giving these fools three days notice. When they lay people off (company terminology is surplus), the lay-off list comes out on Wednesday to let people know they will be out of a job on Friday. So when I do that, and they beef, I’ll tell them I’m just following company policy.

I am sooo happy 4 u! I needed that motivation as I am still on the plantat…. I mean the same dead end job….

 

Most of us spend more hours of every day working than doing anything else – including sleeping – but it seems to be the one part of our lives that we get the least amount of satisfaction or enjoyment out of. It seems that work – or at least the way we are used to experiencing work -presents the largest barrier to our ability to live the ’good life’. Work is either not providing the financial benefit that we need to acquire material comforts, or it’s not providing the emotional or mental satisfaction that we need to feel fulfilled.

If we could make our work – whether it’s working for ourselves or for someone else – as enjoyable as our play, wouldn’t our lives be so much more…good? It’s a question I’m interested in answering, because I think I’m not the only one who could benefit from knowing how to make that possible.

I’ve decided to add a new category to the blog for all things ‘work’. In this category, you can expect to see commentary, books, articles, links, and my own personal opinions on how to make work more fulfilling, productive, rewarding, and fun. Hopefully, we’ll all learn a little from it, and move that much closer to integrating our work with the rest of our lives.

Before I go, I’d like to pose a question as my first act of research.

Are there any of you out there that truly enjoy your work? And it doesn’t count if you say, ”I  like my work, but, or with the exception of….”

I want to hear from people who can say that they enjoy and are fulfilled by what they do for a living.

For those of you who can’t say that wholheheartedly:

What is it about your current work situation that is less than ideal? Is it the environment, the people, the pay, the commute, the crappy coffee in the breakroom?

Inquiring minds….

 

happy monday,

k