Crazy Week!!

The last couple of weeks I have been going at break-neck speed. As I wrote in my last blog entry, I had been consumed in planning and producing the "Third Rail: Cost" health reform summit at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The planning stage was definitely a busy time.

The week of the conference I traveled to NYC with several other Gary Musick team members to conduct auditions there for singers and dancers. It was a whirlwind trip (we did get to see Burn the Floor on Broadway though). We saw over 100 singers each day and at least 50 dancers each day.


First thing in the morning, everyone was lined up and ready to get registered.

Dancer group 1 warming up for the audition. Our head choreographer (Bruce Stegmann) led them through a challenging combination and narrowed the auditioners into a final call back group.

Jennifer Pippin, Gary's admn. assistant and all around wonder girl, made the day breeze by organizing all the auditioners. Kirk Hunkler (who has worked for us many times as a singer) assisted her in the process.

We saw some great talent and I came back ready to hit the ground running. It was a sprint to the Third Rail conference that loaded in 2 days later.

The Schermerhorn is a beautiful venue for just about anything. It made a great back drop for this conference. My job as the producer of the event was to manage all of the elements of the day (everything from parking, valet, off-site busing, catering, security, signage, stage set, production equipment, staff and interacting with all the sponsoring groups). It was made much easier by wonderful people like Danelle Cain at Vanguard Health Systems, Heather Martin from the Schermerhorn, and Tess Coody from GDC Public Relations Firm in San Antonio. Of course, our Gary Musick staff were all-stars as usual and were the real meat behind all of this--Gary, Jonathan Yeaworth, Jim Sheridan and many more. Thanks, guys!

Here are some pictures from the event...(I really loved how the screen surrounds looked in that room)

Governor Phil Bredesen was an important part of the day and a very nice man. He opened the conference and then moderated one panel and participated in another.

Julie Gerberding (Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2002-2009)

No matter what your view of health care reform may be, this was a conference for everyone. It addressed the less popular but maybe most important component--cost. It was a non-partisan discussion and very interesting to observe. You can watch the sessions online if you're interested at http://www.thirdrailcost.com/. Our guys taped it and we had a live web stream that day. It is still available in sections online at the website above. Thanks to everyone who made that day such a success!

I am into rehearsals now with the new NCL Spirit cast. This holiday weekend, however, is family time. LOVING IT!! Tonight we're hanging out with Jeff and Anna Berry and tomorrow night we're going to see Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina in concert out at the Arrington Vineyards with our friends Ryan and Sarah Williamson and Beth and Byron Williamson. We're so excited about it!

One last thing to share...this morning Ella cracked me up by saying, "Daddy, do I have to wait til I'm older to get baptized? I mean, I can already swim in deep water, and hold my nose and EVERYTHING!" Love it!