[Dixielandjazz] New Orleans Jazzfest difficulties - long article

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/15/04 12:44:41 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
julepjerk at surewest.net writes:

> Rather than scale back its plans for charitable donations, the foundation 
> tapped into its financial reserves to meet those obligations. As a result, the 
> foundation didn't have much left to cover losses tied to this year's event, 
> which was hurt by several days of rain. 
> 
> Now the organization that has doled out $7 million in the past decade for 
music education, musicians' health and street festivals finds itself in the odd 
position of asking for assistance. In recent weeks, the group has approached 
the cash-strapped city, the state and the tourism industry for money without 
much success. 


While this is certainly honorable, it is not sound business at all, as they 
are learning from the other not for profit organizations that they depend upon 
for support and donations who all cut back on what they could afford to give 
to them.  Hello!  The Trees are in the way so we can't see the Forest.  You 
always must keep back enough reserves to assure your own survival or you won't be 
able to help anybody at all in the future if you go out of business.

On the foundation side, he plans to launch a "Friends of the Fest" membership 
organization in September and become aggressive about applying for grants to 
try to stabilize the group's finances. 

The Grant pots are running out of money as well, since we are at the highest 
point of unemployment since the Depression years, Those grants come mostly 
from taxpayers money and one group got tax breaks in the past few years while the 
others got unemployed, so the granting organizations cut back on the grants 
they could give out.

Simple economics of sound business.

Even though I don't smoke all that Cigarette money that funded many festivals 
and events has now gone to overseas festivals and events with far less 
restrictions on it than we have here in the USA.  Same thing applies to all those 
events that used to be sponsored by the Alcohol business.

It has not hurt the revenues of those respective industries, only diverted 
millions of sponsorship and advertising dollars out of the live music 
marketplace and it has not slowed down the sales of their products either.

Oh Well.  

How about asking the same acts that they paid $50,000.00 a day and upwards to 
come back next year for expenses only or free to make up the losses?

Their Professional Promoter has offered to bail them out for next year as 
well, but you can bet they will have a lot of restrictions on how the event is 
produced and promoted as He with the money controls the game.

Many of the other ideas Mr. Marshall has seem to be some that he and the 
Organization should have done a long time ago as well.  Got to think ahead if you 
want to stay in this game things change daily as do the hands into which the 
money flows in and out from.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins