All the BIG PLAYERS on the LOCAL PAN SCENE uniting to provide a strong FOUNDATION for the ISA. And they have PRODUCTS and NAME RECOGNITION. What they need now is IDEAS and IMPLEMENTATION. I am really hopeful that this organization could take root and grow into a MASSIVE REDWOOD.
But this leopard cannot change his stripes and I hoping that the leaders of the ISA see the need to integrate EXPATS into the marketing and production plan. All the pictures and names I see so far (leaders and consultants) tempt me to believe that I am looking at a INTERNATIONAL STEELBAND FOUNDATION/ASSOCIATION
Yet still, at the end of the day, I have to jump off the CIP SHIP and try to get a sail on the ISA SHIP even though it seems that there are NO SEATS for EXPATS on this NEW PAN SHIP.
Odw just put up an article by PETER BLOOD outlining the agenda for the ISA and I don't see any mention of BRINGING BANDS BACK ON THE ROAD FOR CARNIVAL -- ROLLING ON THE GROUND.
So I guess that Cecil Hinkson will have to go down to THE MECCA and start his own ASSOCIATION.
But ah eh sailing on that BACK TO THE FUTURE SPACESHIP.
Replies
Labour, in today's reality by Andy Johnson, Trinidad Express, today's edition, Pg. 12;
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20170621/editorial/labour-i
Fathers day blessings Aquil.
It's a positive sign that people in the Mecca are warming up to the fact that something has to be done about the steelband, but if they don't have a plan of how to capitalize on the ready made market that carnival provide they ain't saying nothing that pan people ain't hear already.
Claude, I'm waiting on some money, when I receive it I'm going to hook up with Alima Garcia in T&T, about two years ago she told us in the Forum if she had the sponsors she could have steelbands on the road for carnival, I just love how this woman talks, For those who might want to know who Alima Garcia is, she is the person the responsible for "Pan On The Avenue"
Alima Garcia and her HUSBAND really love PAN. And they have ADMINSTRATIVE SKILLS and SOCIAL/POLITICAL connections. So you are in GOOD COMPANY.
I have to declare my hand now and say I that I am in FULL SUPPORT of the INTERNATIONAL STEELBAND FOUNDATION to the point where I am willing to work with them in the area of MARKETING THE MUSIC -- GLOBALLY. But I have to LIKE THE MUSICAL PRODUCT ... something I have made quite clear for years on this forum. And when it comes to PAN MUSIC it's kind of hard to WIN MY FANCY ... but if yuh in yuh in. So I in!!!
Let's wait to see the attendance of the JULY 22ND show and see the LOCAL LEVEL of interest and the quality of the production and then we could have a better idea of where things might go from there.
NUFF RESPECT, Cecil!!! Yuh going and put yuh money where your mouth is!!! Doh let MERRTONESTOTHEBONE overcharge yuh eh. And yuh doh have to rush to pay dem PAN MEN one day after Carnival eh. Look what KEITH DIAZ does do to them and they doh complain. And yuh know because yuh is ah EXPAT they go threaten to buss yuh head if dey doh get pay by ASH WEDNESDAY. Real double standard!!!
It was never about the CIP, it is about the better meant of the organisation. If any new organisation come on the scene and could move us in the right direction, no probs. In the matter of fact, if the CIP share the same vision with any old or new organisation, we should combine forces. We at the CIP welcome positivity toward the improvement of pan.
Aquil: Dem is some SWEEL-HEADED leaders you are looking at there; they are NOT ABOUT to join forces with no CIP. Take a look at their list of CONSULTANTS with their SPARKLING CREDENTIALS but none of them know ANYTHING about the OUTSIDE PAN MARKET. The first thing the ISF should do is fly to New York and London and establish two headquarters pulling in the resources of EXPATS. Now, finding the RIGHT EXPATS to man those branches will be a real big headache. And they are more likely to pick the WRONG PEOPLE than the RIGHT PEOPLE.
Next they need to establish headquarters in Sweden and Japan!!! Then they could call themselves THE INTERNATIONAL STEELBAND FOUNDATION!!!
So you see: This PAN ADMINISTRATION THING in the MECCA is like taking a BOAT to Tobago nowadays.
I have a VERY SIMPLE PLAN that they could implement at relatively low costs and high returns -- but too many cooks in that KITCHEN. The truth is that they have BRAND NAME and PRODUCTS (the perfect foundation) -- but they are SHORT ON IDEAS or any UNDERSTANDING of the FOREIGN MARKET that they are planning to exploit. The problem is that they will NEVER UNDERSTAND that they DON'T UNDERSTAND the FOREIGN MARKET.
So unless that 11-person committee finds the right HUMAN RESOURCES (from foreign) to school them in FOREIGN -- DEY SPINNING TOP IN MUD. By the way: Do children still spin top in Trinidad? With all the crime ah have to figure all dem kinda ting so done. Just like man playing pan on the road for Carnival while other men and women pushing. All dem days done, boy. Where is my pardner Gregory? Any big news on the horizon?
Claude, when yuh building a house you have to have a solid foundation, or like some people say a good parent is one who teaches a child to walk and knows when to walk away. It starts with your FOUNDATION.
These are big ideas requiring thoughtful examination before implementation. But first thing first, steelbands started as an integral part of the carnival celebration, that’s the foundation. Pan historians correct meh if I'm wrong.
The steelband today has lost its meaningful place in carnival, for that matter it has lost support in the Mecca of Pan. You can’t talk about “how much MONEY pannists could make on tour” without knowing/experiencing what kind of impact the music coming out of those instruments had on community life and the effects it had on its people dancing in the streets, some would question its authenticity and others my try to re-create the experience in their home in foreign.
How do you market that sense of spirituality? I say you have to start from its birthing place, your home, and BUILD on it. Everybody seeing $$$ from PAN but nobody wants to do the WORK, STRATIGIZING on its development and marketing.
This is a big opportunity for all steelbands in the country, it should be starting with year round activities for the steelbands. One step at a time, use the technology available to build your revenue stream with local and foreign participation.
I was NOT hired as a consultant nor do I play one on TV. Just my 2 cents for what its worth.
"Chip n' Jump Carnival"- Live Steelband Parade Trinidad Carnival 1960
Glenroy Joseph