thought I'd drop in to describe the logistics for somethingood so that people can be clear on what we can/cannot provide.

basically the set-up for each station will consist of:

• chairs (up to 10)
• a table with donation boxes and material related to the BMDP
• stands with a poster and a chalkboard that the buskers can use to say who they are, when they're performing next
• a PA system

I think we made it sufficiently clear to most groups that we can only provide a PA system! (although strangely enough, people ask whether or not we're providing a drumset after this) we're very sorry about this, but the reason why we can't provide more is because it will cost us a lot of money bringing down guitar amps and drumsets on a daily basis and could even double the budget - and I don't think that's fair to the donating public at all.

that said, we have some fantastic bands (I mentioned them in a previous post) who want to do their bit, whom we would like to see play as well. so that's why we're doing the closing night, where we will get a decent set-up for a full band down.

regarding the PA system: each system will cost us approximately $100/day to rent. now, that's not so bad because it works out to about $12.50/hour. but this is only on the condition that the station is being used for the whole day!

the fact of the matter is that in certain cases where groups are only busking for one hour, the station only remains open for an hour. so that hour works out to a $100 hour! so if you've only signed up for one hour please consider extending your busking by one or two more hours. this makes things a lot more viable for us and it means you can help bring in more donations too. so please give it some thought and talk to your liaison officer about it. :)

also, a note regarding signing up for slots: please, please do not sign up for slots you cannot commit to! this is because you're going to be taking up the time that someone else is keen on and if you pull out (as some groups have done, unfortunately) our manpower department have to scramble to recontact other groups to see if they're still interested.

I will probably put the (tentative) schedules up sometime today/tomorrow - because of logistical issues we're doing some juggling so there may be some surprises.

I can't leave the last post sitting right at the top of our blog, especially given what happened today.

I'm dead tired and I seem to have lost the ability I acquired in JC to think past midnight, but in quick summary: I called Shaw House yesterday and sent them an email to follow up, this morning I woke up to them responding with 'no objections' and putting me in touch with someone about storage and utilities.

the person I spoke to was incredibly helpful too - was concerned about how much we'd have to move everyday and wanted to situate us best - it was fantastic!

so shaw house is good to go. I can't say how many problems are resolved by their provision of storage space. am so relieved.

I don't know whether or not I'm allowed to be annoyed, or if I should apply for a license to feel that way. you know, notify the appropriate authorities that I feel that something's gone wrong and people have been unpleasant.

after sending an email detailing what we're doing and the kind of help we need, I got this reply from a certain building's management:

Hi Claudia
Thanks for your interest in our building. Unfortunately we have bookings for a number of weekends in June.

well... perhaps I should have made things a little clearer. so I sent an email in response clarifying
that we wanted to use the area outside of the building as well as nearby utilities. they replied saying that this was LTA's concern - that's true, but they didn't give me an answer about utilities or storage. I sent this in response:

Hello!

As I mentioned in my first email, what about the powerpoints [description of location]? We would really appreciate it if we could use them as our buskers need the power for amplification.

Also, we have some items like chairs and stands which we would need to store in an area nearby - could [name of building] sponsor some amount of storage space for these items?

We would be very grateful for these as we are a charity project and are seeking to keep costs as low as possible - your help would be as good as a donation to the BMDP. Thank you for your consideration!

Regards,
Claudia

and perhaps I had asked for too much, because they told me:

Claudia,

We regret we are unable to assist you in this event.

oh. well. have a nice day, too.

I leave you to draw your own conclusion about how kind people are in certain parts of Orchard. fortunately, this is a small part of Orchard - everyone else has been really helpful so far, even going as far to discuss placement and so on with me.

yeah, I'm wondering if I should ask them for an explanation, or if that will annoy them enough to drive us away altogether.

and again a flurry of days have passed since I last updated. so where are we now?

well, the BMDP have just come off several huge recruitment drives and I've been sending official emails as 'Claudia Chang, Chairperson, Somethingood 2006' all over the place - unfortunately, I've come to the conclusion that a title least impresses where it most needs to impress. so really in the face of the world I am just toddling around asking for money. not the most charming of images. grins.

over the past couple of weeks, however, what's really begun to come together are our opening and closing events (the latter more than the former). and I'm really excited to tell you all that we will be closing the festival with 4 great bands - A Vacant Affair, Auburn's Epiphany, West Grand Boulevard and ZHEN. I'll post more details and a poster you can stick on your locker when we've confirmed the venue.

for the opening event, we're probably going to do a simple ceremony - Jane Prior, the chairperson of the BMDP will say a few words, so will our Guest of Honour, after that we'll have a group open the busking for us. we've not yet confirmed who this mysterious Group will be, but I assure you, Good Things are happening.

right! we're also approaching people who could probably help us out by donating funds to print t-shirts and rent PA systems, so I'm hoping that every cent our buskers raise on that hot, sweltering day itself goes to the BMDP. where it should go.

hmm... we've also got some publicity material on the way (shiny posters and things like that) but we've got to confirm sponsorship first, so we can thank them in a grand manner. ;) when that's happened, I'll be posting them here as well so you can stick them on your friend's locker.

regarding licensing: we've filed for the police licenses (the house-to-house and the public entertainment) but we have yet to file for the MDA license because we're still waiting on people to send their details in! so if you want to register, do it soon, ya? and how soon do I mean? HOW SOON IS NOW! grins. but yeah. do send it in as soooon as posssssssible.

I should add a note about logistics - basically the golden, silver and bronze rule is that if you need logistics outside of what we can provide (chairs, PA system) then you would have to justify that. it's going to cost us money to bring this stuff in so we can't take money out of the public's pocket without putting it back. yup. so I hope those concerned about what we can and can't provide will bear this in mind. for the opening and closing events, we're working with a musical equipment company (heh, I think you can guess which one) for sponsorship.

the image of a busker I have in my mind is really closely tied to the regular buskers I see everywhere, in jurong point, junction 8, the orchard underpasses, where have you. it isn't so much about getting heard than it is about just being heard, if you know what I mean. yeah, if you listen to the libertines (whom I have just turned on for the first time since last year) you should be playing france, not what became of the likely lads.

so, radiohead did an acoustic set.

A curt "how are you?" from Yorke was his only welcome, though "Karma Police" needed no introduction, even with the frontman on guitar and Greenwood's beanpole frame hunched over an upright piano. The audience were soon in full voice. It was an instant reminder that despite all the sonic trickery Radiohead were first and foremost songwriters of distinction.

Yorke's muscled banter between songs was lost to us up in the gods, but it was clear he was a proficient busker, hitting a taut rhythm on "There, There" to which his partner added a crunchy accompaniment on his electric guitar.

Then Yorke finger picked precisely first newie "Arpeggi". As well as carrying a beautiful melody, he sang his most plaintive tune since "OK Computer". It was a straightforward arrangement, but no less beguiling for that. Another new tune had Yorke sample his voice to devise a rhythm, Laurie Anderson style. Like its peers it was propelled by a direct beat with an insistent tune on top. On the more proggy "Fake Plastic Trees" the pair met the crescendo to its emphatic chorus before the wearied finale. Greenwood even betrayed a sense of humour by peppering the number with seagull cries to add his own brand of subversion. Yorke, meanwhile, half-read green messages from small notes before chucking them away for the simple slogan, "It's not too late".

I'm posting this because I guess the singaporean music scene has disappointed me vaguely with their inability to offer acoustic - and while I would be one of the first to claim that radiohead are unmatchable, surely we could try?

I believe I may have committed the cardinal sin of blogging: not posting enough.

okay, so in my last post I said we had problems, but I didn't really say what they were, other than that they pertained to licensing and they were pretty big.

for obvious reasons, we need to apply for licensing from the appropriate authorities for the various aspects of our festival - namely, fundraising and performance. the license for fundraising (the house-to-house license) is fairly straightforward with the support of the BMDP, as you can imagine - we only need to detail where we'll be soliciting the public, approximately how many people will be involved and how we're going to go about that.

we're having lots of problems with the licensing for performance, however. essentially, we need a public entertainment license from the police and we need an arts entertainment license from the media development authority. in 2004 when we were still with RJC, we only needed the public entertainment license and the house-to-house license. since then, things have changed - we're no longer with an educational instution, evidently policy has changed (although I'm not sure what exactly) so we need an arts entertainment license nevertheless.

while this sounds reasonably straightforward on paper, it's hellish in practice. it means that we need every performer's name and the time they're scheduled for on paper when we submit the application, it means that we need the whole festival organised even before it can be given the green light.

so if the publicity person from somethingood is pushing you to register, now you know why. :)

our secondary problem is logistics. while I've approached a couple of firms and got a decent quote from a friend's contact, it nevertheless remains that we may have to spend thousands on just getting sound systems. and if we cannot find sponsorship, the money comes out of the public's pocket. the festival is still more than a month away so I refuse to go down that avenue - if you're good enough to donate, you don't deserve to have your money spent on something else. because donations are the end, not the means.

with all this happening against the backdrop of the general election, I must say I've been finding out things. great things - finding out there are so many people out there striving against the cliches to make a difference, hearing people talk of ideas like they would of action. it's an exciting world, to say the least.