Thursday, October 9, 2008
Save #7 — Fire Station Benefit Concert at the Wren’s Nest
Posted by: lain // Category: Atlanta, West End // 3:45 pm
Today marks the five day anniversary of the benefit concert we hosted in honor of Fire Station #7.
Sorry about the delay — the blogging half of the Wren’s Nest Staff is out of town.
Quite frankly, I had mixed feelings about this benefit. After all, it directly competed with our own fundraiser, just one week prior. Given a choice between saving their local Fire Station and preserving their local museum, folks are going to support the Fire Station every time, especially when tickets are cheaper. The timing could have been better, for sure.
On the other hand, the Fire Station #7 benefit rallied the community and drew plenty of attention.
Here’s the hard-hitting report from WAGA.
Too bad they never mentioned the Wren’s Nest by name. Maybe I just didn’t get friendly enough with the reporters. I feel like Live Apartment Fire should set up an advice booth on etiquette with TV reporters.
The evening was also an opportunity for the Wren’s Nest to showcase our support for the community and host influential citizens at an important event. Influential citizens like Kwabena, the chairman of our Neighborhood Planning Unit–
And Vonda, West End Neighborhood Development Secretary–
And John, contractor and West End Neighborhood Development something something–
And not to mention a few of the firefighters, formally of Station #7–
Ultimately, we had a great time for an excellent cause, my concerns notwithstanding. Though let’s hope next time camera crews come to the Wren’s Nest they at least muster the strength for a shout out.
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This post has somewhat of an awkward, bitter tone to it, which might be why nobody else has commented yet.
Either that, or the fact that you reversed order the of two words in your last sentence, leaving a final impression of confusion for all that read this post.
…thanks, Joe. Amelia proofread this one for me, but missed the last sentence, now corrected. My bad.
I think it’s awkward and slightly bitter because I feel very ambivalent about the concert, and I didn’t want to hide that. On the one hand, it brought together our neighbors to have a good time at the Wren’s Nest, and I can only be pleased about that. That it got some media attention was an added bonus.
On the other hand, this concert–which I did not arrange–directly and negatively affected our own fundraiser. That’s bogus.
To add insult to injury, I doubt we will receive any money for providing the venue (normally it’d be $1,000). And it’s not because we didn’t make our pricing clear or send an invoice…we did. It’s that our staff said one thing and our board said another. Also bogus, and precisely the type of behavior that got the Wren’s Nest into trouble before I arrived.
To me, this concert represents a tremendous conflict of interest, albeit for a good cause. Thus, I wrote the nicest post I could muster while still being honest.
Nice. Well, I am glad you are showing the necessary resolve. It’s always a challenge when you are there for the community in some/many respects - in terms of doing all you can, but still being responsible for the long-term successes of your organization.
That last sentence is still messed up, though.
“Though let’s the hope…”
Sigh… got it.
Also, the blogging staff of the Wren’s Nest is back in town. We’ll update more soon.