Trinidad Newsday --
Shell Invaders perform under the direction of arranger Arddin Herbert.
Marina Salandy-Brown writes a weekly column for the Newsday.
Monday was the preliminaries of the large steelpan bands competition. I did as hundreds of other pan lovers do and followed the judges from pan yard to pan yard to hear each of the top Port of Spain contenders play their set pieces. Tonight will find me in the Queen’s Park Savannah with thousands of others for the Panorama semifinals to hear what alterations each bandleader has made in response to the first-round judging results. That ritual is one of my great pleasures of life in TT. For many, Panorama is a highlight of this country’s cultural calendar.
Hearing the pan thrill is an unforgettable experience. Apart from the sheer joy of the music itself, I marvel each time at the harmony that dozens of pans and their seasonal players can summon up and at the rendering of music in such a distinctive way. I marvel, too, at the incredible dexterity of so many pan players who do not read music and just respond to an oral description of the sound the drill man wants produced. Of course, these days, quite a few of the players are trained musicians who can read a music score and know what C-sharp or B-flat means. It is satisfying to hear how over the years the pan has been refined to produce a warm, round sound of depth and character that faithfully delivers the composers’ increasingly sophisticated and demanding interpretations of pieces of new Carnival music. And I will always marvel at the discipline and imagination that can turn a collection of metal instruments with seemingly only minor variations, except for the number each player has before him/her, into a full orchestra that can delight in its perfection.
It is amazing therefore that for all of those accomplishments steelpan bands can be an endangered species, along with so many of the other creative elements that make up this wondrous Carnival season. On the eve of the 2018 competition, Invaders, one of the top ten bands, lost its long-time sponsor. We all know that in times of economic woe companies cut their marketing budgets first, and that is the source of all company funding of the arts, unless the company has established a foundation that is endowed. Invaders was lucky enough to be rescued by Shell, who once before was their title sponsor.
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BACK to THE FUTURE...
Ellie Mannette & Invaders - Wizards of the Steel Drum
Pan people , with a few exceptions , do not see carnival as a business opportunity .
Others , however do , and take full advantage , while pan people focus on that panorama check.
On the subject of sponsorship , I said this a few days ago , so I'll just repeat it.
"
People only think of sponsorship in one way , but a sponsored steelband can be a powerful advertising tool for a company , especially at carnival time on the local market , and should be appreciated as such.
For example , in the last few years ( where I live ) I've heard little about Shell Oil and honestly wasn't aware that the company still existed,
I thought they had gone through like Pan Am , or had merged with another company."
Royal Dutch Shell plc, commonly known as Shell, is a British–Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in the United Kingdom. Wikipedia
Customer service: 1 (888) 467-4355
Headquarters: The Hague, Netherlands
CEO: Ben van Beurden (Jan 1, 2014–)
Revenue: 233.6 billion USD (2016)
Subsidiaries: Shell Oil Company, Raízen, Pennzoil, BG Group, MORE
Did you know: Royal Dutch Shell is the world's sixth-largest oil and gas company by revenue ($265 B). wikipedia.org
I honestly didn't know Shell was still a viable company.
Shows how much I know :)
Just now allyuh go want dem SPONSORS to PLAY THE PAN for allyuh too. Reminds me of the old Trinidad joke of a man begging you for a cigarette and then begging you for a light after you give him the cigarette -- and then the DONOR used to make a joke and say: Yuh want me to SMOKE IT FOR YOU TOO?
Pie in the sky article!!!
It is about sponsors helping Steelbands learn how to fish instead of just giving them a fish. This could also apply to the Gov't and PanTrinbago.
This could be a blessing in disguise for Invaders “On the eve of the 2018 competition, Invaders, one of the top ten bands, lost its long-time sponsor. We all know that in times of economic woe companies cut their marketing budgets first and that is the source of all company funding of the arts, unless the company has established a foundation that is endowed. Invaders was lucky enough to be rescued by Shell, who once before was their title sponsor.”
Sponsorship is good, if the company is operating at a LOSS and its continued survival is based on subsidized funding from government, the marriage is off to a SHAKY start. Things does happen Juss So?
Caribbean Airlines told to cut non-profitable routes…November 14, 2017
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — The Trinidad and Tobago Parliament’s Joint Select Committee (JSC) has recommended that Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) immediately review the viability of some of its North American routes, as these have been unprofitable and resulted in an “unabated trend of declining passenger numbers and massive financial losses.”
At a press conference at Parliament on Monday, JSC chairman, independent Senator David Small, said the problem demanded urgent attention, adding that CAL needed to employ strategies to save such routes to prevent future financial leakages, the Trinidad Guardian reported.
He also called on CAL to immediately cease all international recruitment of foreign pilots so as to ensure local pilots were instead hired.
He also urged CAL to recover the “huge sum” of money being owned by Venezuela, but when asked what was the figure Small said he preferred not to make this public as it may have negative repercussions.
But he described the Caracas route as one of the more profitable ones.
Small said during three meetings the committee “struggled” to obtain pertinent information from CAL, as partial submission of information was given, adding there seemed to be a challenge with CAL regarding the way it managed its operations. The JSC recommended that CAL immediately put a freeze on any salary increases until such time as its operation was sustainably profitable.
“CAL should immediately cease the practice of annual incentive or merit payments given the current unprofitable status of the company,” the JSC said.
SHELL Invaders - Inside The Festival
Nice article MSB, It's about time someone address the role of sponsors, I've always felt that organizational help is just as important as financial, had this been done before steelbands would have been in a much better place.
INVADERS: "FOUNDATION MEMBER STEELBAND" , FIRST CLASS PANORAMA MUSIC FROM ONE OF THE TOP ARRANGERS OF STEELPAN MUSIC IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO AND THE USA "MR ARDDIN HERBERT"HE IS ALSO THE ARRANGER FOR MY BAND LAVENTILLE SERENADERS..........ALWAYS A TREAT IN PANORAMA......HE IS FULL OF SURPRISES,,NEVER LEAVE HIM OUT OF THE PANORAMA MIX......GOOD LUCK INVADERS!