Hello, M-AD Members!
What an incredible District convention we had in York this year! As your VP of Events, I am grateful for your enthusiastic participation and attendance. And where else but M-AD can you be treated to that level of talent from both the quartet and chorus contest in the District-level contest?! The performances were truly outstanding.
As you are aware, the District Board’s priority this year has been to find ways to make our conventions more financially effective and sustainable. While we are certainly not yet complete in our continued evolution, I am pleased to report that we were successful in turning around our negative trending from the past several years: we have improved from a $50,000 loss from events in 2022 to an expected net-neutral for our events in 2023! Our attendance numbers have also improved, going up by 12% from 2022 to 2023 with over 1,500 total attendees across all 3 conventions this year.
We also recognize and appreciate that work remains to be done to improve the accessibility and overall flow of the event. The concerns we saw in York mostly related to travel distances to the hotel, the lack of centralization of the convention block and afterglow locations, and parking concerns at the venue. We endeavor to continue to grow our attendance numbers and overall satisfaction by offering programming and events that YOU want to participate in, so we appreciate the feedback to help us balance financial priorities and the overall quality of the M-AD event experience.
I may be biased, but I truly believe we have the best Events Team in the BHS! That said, we are always looking for more support to continue our optimization. If you are interested in volunteering for any role to support the District or the Events Team directly, please reach out to our District Leadership Development Committee Chair Bill Colosimo or directly to me at braden.lynk@gmail.com. Your volunteerism is a big part of what makes the M-AD event experience enjoyable for all who attend.
As a reminder, here are our dates for 2024 – final locations will be announced soon.
- March 22-23, 2024 – Central/Southern Division and Quartet Prelims
- April 12-13, 2024 – Northern Division and Quartet Prelims
- Sep 27-28, 2024 – Fall District Convention
In harmony,
Braden Lynk
M-AD VP of Events