[Dixielandjazz] Support Your Local Cultural Association

[Stephen G Barbone]

One of the best ways to gain support for live OKOM performances is to  
join your local Cultural Association. What do they do? See the below  
website for what one of the several in the Philadelphia Area do.

http://www.brandywineculture.org/Capacity%20Building.html

Click on the "here" under the Annual Meeting to see a typical meeting  
presentation. It may be hard to understand the outline, but in the  
flesh, this was very informative. November's program is about internet  
radio and how to utilize it.

Then surf the site. See especially the <member registry>. Note the  
venues that are listed among the rest of the members. Barbone Street  
has played MANY of them over the past two years. Venues like West  
Chester University, museums, public parks, townships art centers, and/ 
or Longwood Gardens, are well supported by audiences and they feature  
multiple programs of live music many times a year.

What better program could these types of venues present than one like  
" The Roots of Jazz - A Unique American Art Form", or something  
similar? It works wonders for us.

Also click the link on <Organization Events> to see what the Marketing  
Peer group will discuss this coming year through June 2009. (I am a  
member of that focus group)

This is a great way to expand the audience for OKOM while making  
money. Cost to join was $50 for my band and it was one of the best  
investments I ever made in terms of networking,  gigs, money generated  
and LOCAL audience expansion. I also joined the Philadelphia Cultural  
Alliance with similar results.

I urge band leaders to explore their areas for similar organizations  
and to join them where possible.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband