What a long, strange trip it has beenBy Christopher Bradbury
Snowbird Extravaganza has been a part of my life ever since the very first CSA Annual General Meeting held at the Florida State Fairgrounds on February 27, 1993. I have had the privilege of working at the show every year. Well, I actually missed the AGM in 1994, but every year I would make the annual journey to Florida for the (as far as I know) only snowbird event of its kind in the world!
We have seen a lot of changes to the show over the years, but the focus of the event has never changed. Invite snowbirds together to celebrate their lifestyles, and find ways to make their lives better. In April of 2002, the job of producing the event was entrusted to me. Let me tell you, it was a challenge I did not take lightly. Think about it, we have to throw a convention, an information meeting, a showcase of live entertainment, a luncheon and a consumer show all under one roof and all of which tens of thousands of people are going to attend. There would be no room for error or delay, the deadline was the deadline, because the people were coming. Fun stuff, eh? I certainly thought so at the time.
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| Hats and T-shirts five bucks! What a deal! |
Extravaganza volunteer does a little web training @ the Internet Café |
Exhibits are always a hit at the big show in Lakeland |
| When we picked up the ball for the 2003 Snowbird Extravaganza, our main objective was to continue producing the event the way it was. No changes. Institutionalize the institution. We hoped to dissect and understand all the inner workings of the machine in intimate detail. Once we proved to ourselves that we could duplicate what those who came before us had created, then, and only then would we be able to effectively tune it up and ultimately find ways to improve it.
Those of you who joined us at Snowbird Extravaganza 2004 may have noticed some changes. My favourite was the main event in Youkey Theatre. You may have been there I was. I was the guy in the suit who recognized the support of the corporate sponsors who pay for the event so that snowbirds don't have to. The most interesting challenge to arise out of that job this year was the fulfilment of my goal to bring new and exciting entertainment to Extravaganza. Entertainers such as Peter Appleyard. To be completely honest with you, I had never heard of this guy before, but I had been looking for the right jazz act for years. One day, Bill Leeder called me and told me about Peter, saying that he was right for our event and our snowbirds would know who he is. I gave the standard reply send me a tape so that we can hear his work and we will take it from there. When I heard him, I couldn't believe it. Peter had played with all of my jazz heroes around the world, and now he wanted to do our show. Once I understood what I was dealing with, I got on the phone and found a way to make it happen. When Peter was up on the stage playing the vibes with his ensemble, I could hardly believe that this was our show, that this was Snowbird Extravaganza. I had also been connected with this zany character named John Bressler. Again, I sought out his material and just listened to his CD while I drove back and forth to work in my car. Who was this guy? His music was touching, infectious and it was original. Coupling the effect that his music had on me with recommendations from Ronnie Prophet and our friend Doug King of King Entertainment, who takes care of all the technical production at the show, I took a bit of a chance and booked John for all of the "Snowbird Special Events" on the 2004 winter schedule. They told me that I wouldn't be disappointed, that snowbirds would love him. They were right on the money. |
 A few snowbirds enjoy lunch at the Snowbird Extravaganza Hospitality Center.
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| John got up on that stage with his strange spinning creation, the Phantom Grand Piano, and got the audience moving, really moving. He was running all over the stage, yelling at the crowd, taping people to their seats, and he even managed to get the entire room to stand up and pretend that they were barnyard animals when they participated in the Old MacDonald sing-along with which he ends his act. This guy was nuts, but the people loved him. Beautiful. |  Snowbird Favourite John Bressler at the helm of the one-of-a-kind Phantom Grand Piano |
| We closed the show with The Diamonds, and this is where the fun began for me. Over the years, in the interest of efficiency, we had evolved to the point at which we pretty much relied on individual performers playing an instrument or singing with tracks, background music, kind of like karaoke. This year, we had Peter Appleyard with his four-piece band, John Bressler with his piano monstrosity and The Diamonds (four singers, a drummer, a guitar player, a bass player, a piano and horns). Well, you can imagine that this took a little more time to co-ordinate backstage than just letting a veteran like Ronnie Prophet step out with his guitar and microphone, which incidentally is an enviable talent itself. Then the bomb was dropped on me. Time was needed to set up The Diamonds, about 10 minutes of time as a matter of fact, and no matter how I tried to work around it, it came down to Doug King telling me that I had to go out onto that stage and stall the crowd for 10 minutes! Ha! Who, me?
Ultimately, there was no turning back. We decided to hire The Diamonds and stalling for time needed to be done to make the show go on, so that is what I did. I went out on stage and talked for 10 minutes about the initiative behind these events, the schedule of events for the 2004 season and the features of the show. I made those poor people endure my boring personal stories and miraculously managed to find enough to talk about to give the crew sufficient time to set up the grand finale of Snowbird Extravaganza. My participation in the Main Stage Event in Youkey Theatre was the least exciting component of the show, but the emcee, in this situation, was a very necessary element. I also know that despite the fact that my "act" wasn't very captivating, it was worth living through to get the benefit of The Diamonds' fantastic performance. |
 Keith Ross and his band save the show
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| Upcoming Events (Subject to change) | ||
| Snowbird Extravaganza Lakeland, Florida January 25 & 26, 2005 |
Winter Texans' Snowbird Extravaganza South Padre Island, Texas February 7 & 8, 2005 |
Canadian Snowbird Celebration Mesa, Arizona February 15, 2005 |
We managed to hire The Diamonds to perform at The Canadian Snowbird Celebration in Mesa, Arizona and we took John Bressler along with us to the Mesa show, the Winter Texans' Snowbird Extravaganza and all of the CSA Winter Information Meetings. Both acts received standing ovations in every city.
Seeing the thousands of people appreciate these performances was very fulfilling for me and for the rest of the show team. Making people happy is what we try to do and this time it worked. We hope to see you all at one of the 21 events which we have scheduled for the 2004-2005 season and if you have any comments, questions or suggestions we would love to hear them. We want to grow and make the "Snowbird Special Events" the most anticipated shows in town, and we don't mind getting a little help doing it. Thank you.
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