This year’s Fall convention in Lancaster was full of firsts for me: my first event as your new Events VP and my first time emceeing a District contest – what a rush! Here are a few of my highlights from the weekend:
My favorite moments:
· Serving as emcee for the quartet semi-finals was a moment I’ll never forget. I particularly enjoyed getting the entire audience to sing the Cry tag as well as a few polecats!
· Master classes and chorus director workshops were a hit! Our new Saturday afternoon events along with a continued excellent “Tag with the Champs” brought some incredible learning and singing to the Saturday afternoon “lull”.
· Joyful performances from all involved – I particularly enjoyed performing with my home ensembles Voices of Gotham and GOTHAM. Also a (very biased) fan of Sirens of Gotham, our sibling chorus, and Breakfast for Dinner, my fiancee’s quartet!
· Saturday night Lobby afterglow – folks were tagging until 4 a.m.! Or at least that’s the time I finally turned in for the night…
My biggest lessons:
· When I stepped into the Events VP role, I knew I was joining an incredible crew of dedicated volunteer leaders. It turns out my high expectations were still too low! I was amazed by the amount of diligent and heartfelt work by everyone behind the scenes. I helped to strike the stage on Saturday night and my body was sore for days afterward! The effort these folks put in to making our events a success is simply unparalleled. If you see someone wearing a blue Events shirt at our future events, please give them a hearty, “thank you!”
· I was so excited to rollout out our first original “Song of the Convention” at this Fall’s event. We learned a lot from the experience, including giving attendees more time to truly learn the song to be able to share in music for the weekend, so we’ve adjusted the plan from having a new song every 6 months to making it an annual song! We’ll continue with “In the Glow” for all of next year’s events, so check out the materials here and have it ready for the next event!
What’s next:
· I’m excited for our events next year as we resume our annual contest cycle. Expect our typical 2 Spring Divisions including Quartet Preliminaries as well as our Fall District contest. We have some great new programs starting up that I think you will also enjoy. If you haven’t attended a M-AD event in awhile, I hope you will consider doing so again this year!
In consultation with the Division VPs to gauge chapter and quartet participation for the available division dates, we have concluded that we will have two conventions this spring in similar fashion to last year.
- Combined Central/Southern Division convention including quartet International Preliminary contest March 24-25, 2023.
- Location still being finalized, however, will most likely be in Greater Baltimore area
- Northern Division convention including quartet International Preliminary contest will take place April 14-15, 2023.
- Location is planned to be Nazareth, PA in the same venue as last year. Details to follow.
Our District Convention will take place September 29-30, 2023. We are still finalizing location details as we are continuing our efforts to build a sustainable events model for the long-term.
· Have any feedback or just want to send a note? You can always reach me at braden.lynk@gmail.com
Thanks all – looking forward to another great year in 2023!
Submitted by Braden Lynk, VP of Events