Posted by Lee Stofer on December 14, 2002 at 11:48:29:
In Reply to: Atlanta TC posted by Atlanta Tuba Dad on December 13, 2002 at 16:58:33:
Yesterday's Atlanta Tubachristmas was the best and worst one I've attended, depending upon which yardstick you measure it with. The registrar recorded 410 registrants, possibly the largest turnout ever, and even the least mature of the group behaved rather well. I thought that the overall level of musicianship and citizenship displayed by over 400 people ranging from youngsters to oldsters was nothing short of a miracle. It was wonderful to see so many colleagues and acquaintences at one time.
On the other hand, the logistics left much to be desired. There was not much advance publicity, details about registration and rehearsal were not easy to come by, and construction in the vicinity did not help matters. In the CNN atrium, I doubt that anyone past the first row heard a word that Dr. Phillips said, due to the lack of even a basic PA system.
My understanding is that Don Strand, the coordinator for the Atlanta Tubachristmas, has had to deal with a different representative from CNN each year for the last three years, and each successive new person has had no knowledge of Tubachristmas and its history, and therefore has been basically clueless.
Don is an insanely busy man, and I think that several of us here in Atlanta need to come alongside him in this next year, offering to do some of the work necessary to make this a world-class event. No one should expect him to accomplish all this by himself. If I manage to get a website going for my business as planned in 2003, I can post all the information about the event there.
Lee Stofer