NESP Forum

I usually stay neutral in comments that are said but this is sure blameing alot of true fans.Not to mention all the hard work that the Soul Patrol has done.ASSOCIATION WITH US.!!!!!This is NOT my CHARACHTER at all but come on.

Mouser, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I'll explain my part
in this and I certainly don't think it's accurate to say that the SP
doesn't care about these charities. People purchased tickets to the
Harmony event which was advertised for charity. No guarantee that
Taylor would or could be part of it, but people still wanted to attend
and did buy tickets. It's logical fans would want to see Taylor, we're
a Taylor Hicks fan club and that's our connection. Plenty of the Soul Patrol are actively involved in helping charities in Taylor's honor and
are not only out for their own gain.

I was the one that called the woman from the charity to ask if it were
okay for the SP to be invited. I was asking because if they wanted it
to be private and Taylor didn't want the SP there we certainly wouldn't
be buying tickets. She was very welcoming and did give the okay. We opened it up to Harmony ticket holders first because obviously
they were Taylor fans and wanted to have a chance to see him. The charity was selling to locals as well, and we decided to see where ticket sales were at and then if they still had them, I volunteered to tell the fan sites to help them hopefully sell out their event. The
only reason the email to ticket holders was "secret" was due to
respecting the charity's wishes. It was only going to be private for
2-3 days. I think it was reasonable to give the charity time to sell
to people in the local area. This event has been out on the internet
way before this week, and many people in the B'ham area knew about it already. What is so wrong about helping them spread the
word exactly? Basically it was a simple "thanks for letting us attend,and we'd be happy to spread the word for you" type deal.
Not the way you described it at all.

I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that most of the SP is
ditching the music festival but I don't think that's true. No one that
I know that's attending is planning on doing that. The event at the
farm doesn't even start until 7:00 and Taylor goes on around 8:30.

People seem to have such strong negative feelings it's taking a lot of the fun out of being part of it. Some of that energy might have made the Convention even better had they participated instead of
coming out on the boards tearing apart anything we're trying to
accomplish. I can't imagine that's helping Taylor in any way.

Can't we all just get along? Really.

I am not able to go to Alabama next weekend, and I have no personal stake in any of the organizations participating in the various events taking place. I do hope that they are all successful, and that everyone can put aside their feelings towards one another for the sake of Taylor and the charity groups, and have a wonderful weekend of music and "harmony".

I do know that everyone I know in the Taylor fan universe cares about battered women and sick kids.
If the Hannah's Home event were within 100 miles of me, and my schedule and checkbook permitted, I certainly would go, just as I paid good $$ last year for front row Vince Gill tickets at a local venue, and felt good about it because my premium bucks went to a charity and not a ticket scalper.
The whole reason charities hire celebrities to perform at their events is to attract people beyond their usual circle of donors.

I have no right to question anyone's motives. It's fair to question my actions or what I say, but you have no idea what anyone's motives are. It's sad to say that "The Soul Patrol" doesn't speak with one mind on anything, so I find these accusations unfair and somewhat ridiculous.

It's clear from UHadMeAtYouHoo's post that the group sponsoring the Hannah's House benefit is happy for any assistance we can give them. Isn't it just possible that Taylor told someone that a lot of his fans from across the country would be in town that weekend, so it was a ripe opportunity for something like this? And I have no information on this one way or the other, however I remember him telling fans on the call in show that he probably would be seeing them in Birmingham.

I just dont get the negativity surrounding next weekend.

me neither...I am going to meet up with some faces I've only seen as names on a blog...and have a chance to compare notes...and maybe share ideas on how we can work as a team to help Taylor and each other. Plus, I've never been to B'ham.

Liz and Margaux ~ BRAVO on your posts ANYONE who knows the members here truely knows your hearts are in the right place, and that if 'we' can help others, well that's what we do

Mouser- I don't know what your problem is, but this is not the first thing I've seen lately where you have been extreemly negative about something Taylor related~ did you ever stop to think that YOUR negativity in turn has a negitive impact of Taylor??? No answer needed- just think about that...for a minute

I also herd that people in B'ham have reached out to the SP at large to get tickets to this event- so this was not the only way SP was going to be able to attend- AND for God's sakes - it's for a CHARITY. I agree with Margaux here- if I was within 100 miles and I had the money, I'd go to

Have a wonderful time girls ~ I know you will represent the NESP well

From what I've seen and read, there is frustration with how the invitation to the BBQ was handled. It was sent out to the convention ticket holders with a 'shhh' keep it quiet message. That means that as a person who had a ticket to the convention, I received a notice of the BBQ with Taylor.

My first thought was ' WTH - are they now promoting this event as a way to see Taylor?!?!?! That's the beef with this. The convention seems to be promoting this. That's what I found to be appalling about the whole deal. The convention couldn't get Taylor, so let's take the convention to him!

The other concern is timing. The farm is 45 minutes or so from Sloss. The BBQ starts at 7:00. The last performance is by LiMBO and ends around 7:30 or so. Taylor takes the stage at 8:30. Timing, folks, is an issue. Do we stay and watch LiMBO and risk being late to see Taylor? Do we leave early and miss LiMBO? Do we come after the BBQ buffet and only for the Taylor performance? The pub crawl starts around 10:00. Do we leave as soon as Taylor finishes his performance to high tail back for the pub crawl? Keep in mind, the drive is 45 minutes each way. Will we participate in the auction at the BBQ? These are all valid questions.

I understand the concerns. Are we going to leave Sloss Furnance en mass, show up at the BBQ the same way, exit there as well? Was there a reason this was not previous known to the SP? Remember, we will be coming to Taylor's home town, where he has family and friends. We need to give Taylor the same respect we want - he deserves that. The last thing any of us want to do is to embarrass Taylor (or ourselves for that matter).

I don't think anyone is saying 'don't go' but rather raising issues about the timing of everything. To leave one place for another in the middle of their performance is disrespectful. Whether it's for LiMBO, Taylor or anyone else.

Keep in mind, the convention is for his fans. The BBQ is for Hannah's Home, another area charity. We need to be mindful of our reasons for doing whatever we do - be it the convention, the BBQ, or anything else. Whatever we do, let's make good memories of the week-end and have lots of fun! That's what I plan to do!

Candy and Claudia are in B'ham finalizing all plans and schedules.
All the details will be released at the convention to the ticket holders,
with maybe a few announcements in between.

The woman at Hannah House charity knows when our event is scheduled to end and knows many of us will arrive 8:00-8:15. She
didn't seem to have a problem with that. Will some of the SP leave
the festival early to get there? Possibly. It wouldn't be my plan, as
I agree on supporting the bands at the festival. I didn't ask what time
their auction was taking place, but I will email her to get the answer
to that question. I know I will be too broke to be bidding on
much of anything.

Mandy, Harmony is not promoting the Hannah House event. I
think I've been really clear on how it all came about but you keep
bringing this up. I thought it was a good thing to let you guys know
there was an opportunity to see Taylor in between the festival and the pub crawl. Other people have emailed me expressing their gratitude that we let them know. I never dreamed it would turn into this drama. You already knew about the event before our email. Why were you keeping it a secret, knowing the SP could attend?

This is all making my head spin. I say let's go with your plan-
"Whatever we do, let's make good memories of the week-end and have lots of fun! That's what I plan to do! "

I thought the email about Hannah House came from the convention group. That's why I thougth they were promoting it.

Are you saying that you personally sent this out to let the convention people know about this? If that's true, my apology to the convention planners.

I was under the impression that the music festival went until 9:00 pm or so, and ended only a short time before the private party and pub crawl. I didn't realize it was ending so early and that there was a break of 3 hours or so between the evening events. I've seen different times and schedules on the various boards and have given up trying to keep the times straight until I had a final events schedule.

I admit to learning about the BBQ before the email went out. I admit I said nothing. Why? Because to do so would have been unfair to the convention and to the BBQ to try to mix the two. I felt that if the fans were supposed to know about the BBQ, this would have been all over the boards more than just a couple of weeks before the convention. Afterall, the convention is about the Soul Patrol while Hannah House is about the specific charity.

There isn't an "official" posted schedule yet, as they are finalizing last minute details and schedules. Many of the bands are appearing in other places that same day too, and everyone is working hard to make everything fit in the best way for all involved. All the details will be announced at the convention and I'm sure updated info will be posted as they have it.

The email that was sent came from Harmony as they had the email
list of the ticket holders. In hindsight, it would have saved a lot of
hassle if it just came from me, but it never occurred to me that it
would matter. We were delivering good news (we thought) to the
people that were helping to make the convention happen. I apologize
if this confused people. The person at Hannah House knew I was
part of the Harmony group, and was fine with us sending it out to
you guys. I get the feeling even if I had sent it out from my name, the same people would have been upset that Harmony didn't send out the email to their ticket holders. If we hadn't notified people, they
would've been upset about that too.

The woman also told me that they couldn't advertise through the
media for their event as it was "invitation only" but it was okay for
"friends to tell friends,etc.". That is actually how I heard about it,
through a friend. I was very clear about asking "Is Taylor okay with
the SP being there?" and she said it was okay. If they did not want
the SP there, they would have said "sorry, this is a private function
by invitation only" simple as that.

ETA Here is the email I got re dinner and auction...
The dinner is casual and we'll begin serving as soon as the gates open at 7. The auction starts at 8. Thanks again for all your help.

If people want to do dinner at Hannah House they will have to cut out a little early and may miss one band. Many of the bands playing during the festival are playing elsewhere that night. Possibly, you could miss the last band at the festival, but catch them later that night out in B'ham. Personally, I'd be inclined to stay for the band,
and aim to get to the event right before 8:00. Then you could still
do the auction and be there in time for Taylor.