I’ve had many e-mails from readers asking about Renown Magazine and the lack of a website currently up at RenownMagazine.com. It’s a bit of a long story, but I’ll try to sum up what’s going on…
Basically, the website was running on an unsecured back end CMS (content management system) that was outdated and prone to hackers. In order to ensure the site (and server the site is hosted on) isn’t compromised, we needed to move the website from the old CMS to a brand spanking new one. So the site has been taken down and the conversion process has started. The only downside is it is a very lengthy and tedious process that could take a week or two from now. But that’s okay… While there may be nothing up right now, it’ll be back soon enough. Thanks for the concern and support!
On a completely different note (because we all know I can’t just focus on one thing at one time after all)… Matchbox Twenty has announced their tour! I’ve been planning on going to the show all along if they happened to come to Toronto, regardless of who is opening for them. But it ends up that one of the supporting acts is just icing on the cake… Mute Math will be one of the supporting acts. Hecks yeah! So, provided I get tickets, I’ll be rocking out to both Matchbox Twenty and Mute Math on February 22nd at the Air Canada Centre… That’s my birthday week too, so I’ll consider it a present to myself. ha. Now hopefully I can get good seats…
Anyway, sorry I didn’t post about the Renown issue sooner. This past couple of weeks have been brutal at college in terms of the workload and many exams… We’re in the final stretch of the semester though. Almost there!
So for those who haven’t been following, my online magazine has had numerous updates in the past few weeks. Though many of you have probably already seen them, I thought I’d list some of the newest articles to join the ranks. To show I’m not biased, I’ll list them in alphabetical order…
Gosh, thank goodness for a day off. I have so much magazine work I need to catch up on today, plus I need to go to an orientation thing for college that runs from 10am to 2pm. First things first though: I need to prep some questions for an interview I’m doing with The Last Goodnight tomorrow. If you haven’t heard of them yet, don’t worry, they are brand new and their debut is releasing on Tuesday. You may have heard their first single, Pictures of You, on the radio though as it is doing quite well. The first time I heard the song a few weeks ago, I had the feeling these guys could really take off. There is just something about their sound… It’s a very infectious pop vibe that reminds me of Maroon 5 at times, without the incredibly high vocal range.
Speaking of The Last Goodnight, we’re actually running a contest on Renown Magazine right now where the grand prize is a digital camera and copy of the new CD. It’s open to residents of the United States and Canada, so boogie on over and enter! Click here for the link. Here’s a link to their MySpace profile too if you want to check out some songs…
It’s hard to believe the vacation has arrived so quickly. As I said before, it’s our first family vacation in about fifteen years (at least), so we’re all excited. It should be a lot of fun hanging out in the House of Mouse for a week. I’m just checking out some of the extra benefits Disney gives their resort guests and I sure am impressed. They really know how to treat their guests with incredible service. Three more days….
For those new to this blog (and there are a lot of you), don’t forget to check out my other profiles around the net too:
- My Tumblr account is where I link to various interesting news articles, links, photos, videos, and so on that I find throughout the net. It’s what they call a Tumblelog and it’s nice because it doesn’t clog up space here.
- My Twitter account is something that I absolutely love. I jumped on the site a couple of months before it exploded at SxSW early this year and now tons of people use it. The question is simply “What are you doing?” and you answer it in 140 characters or less. It’s like an up to date mini-blog that you can use to tell people, well, what you’re doing and other tidbits of information. You can send in entries via web browsers, e-mail, AIM, third party apps or, my favorite, via text messages on your phone from anywhere. Really cool. People have already heard big news through twitter long before on the TV or internet (such as a big earthquake that just happened). So sign up and add me as a friend!
- Flickr is another site that I couldn’t live without. For about thirty bucks a year, you can have unlimited storage and bandwidth to host all of the pictures your heart desires for the world to see. You can then link to them easily and efficiently anywhere, such as the little banner I have on the column to the right. You can bet lots of Disney photos will be coming up afterwards.
Those are just a few of profiles on the net. You can see more of them over at ClaimID. So if you’re on these sites, add me as a friend and make sure you say you found it from my blog…
Okay, off to this orientation thing, then I need to get going on that interview…
Is this long weekend coming to an end already? Aw, how unfortunate. It was a great few days off… I relaxed, caught up on some video games, did much needed music industry work and got a little bit of exercise through biking and walking. Now I won’t have two consecutive days off in a row until my vacation on August 26th. Yikes. These next few weeks will be a fatiguing stint to be sure… But I can’t wait for that vacation. It’ll help me pull through. ha.
After my vacation, college starts on September 4th. Double yikes. It’s hard to think I’m headed back to the text books. I got very comfortable staying away from that setting. ha. But alas, a piece of paper is needed in this world today, so I’ll put up with it. Who knows, I may enjoy it. Registration is on the 23rd where, I’m assuming, I finalize my classes and then everything it is set in stone.
Oh, I posted two new interviews today over on Renown Magazine. One of which is my interview with Finger Eleven… Check them out…
Anyway, not much else to report on for now… Many thoughts going through the mind for various projects and endeavors I’d like to get into, but I’ve got to run for now…
Oops… Sorry, things have been crazy busy. If I’m not working my butt off, I’m in meetings or am out and about…
I did a couple of phone interviews since I last updated. The first one that will be going up is an interview I did last week with Finger Eleven. Their song just went to #1 in the USA, so we talked about that as well as a bunch of other things. It was actually a really good interview. The band member I spoke to was a good guy and liked to talk. It’ll be going online soon…
I bought a Canon 430EX Speedlite flash for my Digital Rebel XTi… I did my first “shoot” today for a new business venture my dad and partners/friends are starting up. They turned out not too bad considering the lack of lighting kits. The focus had issues at times though, which is the lens’ fault. Man, I wish I had some extra money kicking around to buy a nice lens…
Apparently I’m getting a three day weekend this week. Can’t wait! I have to go into work tomorrow and then that’s it…
Anyone following Canadian Idol? It seems Canada is doing not too bad for who they choose to send home… So far the ones who have gone home have been in my top two or three choices of who should go next. There are a couple who really need to get the boot though… Yikes…
I’m really digging this new Matchbox Twenty single… I’m looking forward to the “new” disc in October. It’s a greatest hits project with six new songs, including the single How Far We’ve Come. I’m most excited about the fact that they’ll be touring to support the disc. I’m definitely going to that show.
Today is a holiday in Canada, so I have the day off but still get statuary holiday pay. Score. I’m just taking it easy and doing some work on the computer. I guess it’s not a completely work free day then, is it?
It looks like things may be finally in motion for the “big changes” coming to Renown Magazine that I’ve been mentioning for a while now. Things could be materializing very soon… Stay tuned…
Speaking of Renown, the second interview from GMA Week went online today. Check it out here…
I’ve been playing with Skype this morning for the first time. It’s pretty cool. I made a little cartoon avatar thing through their site for free, he’s even holding pizza! I’m not sure how much I’ll use Skype right now, but I have a feeling it’ll come in handy in the not too distant future…
I’ve also been experimenting with Jaiku for a while now. It’s almost up there with Twitter, but not quite. If they could add in an update-via-SMS for North America and a code to integrate your updates into a website/blog without the feeds, I’d consider moving over. But until those two things happen, I’ll be using Twitter primarily…
Tonight is the season finale of Heroes! Can’t wait to see what happens…
I’ve still been fooling around with my new digital SLR camera. I like it. I still want to eventually pick up a lens or two, some filters, a monopod, a flash, maybe a remote control for the shutter and lighting/umbrella kits… It’ll be expensive, but if I upgrade overtime it won’t be too bad. Who knows, maybe it can help bring in some extra cash if I freelance some pictures… Here is a couple more from my testing stage:
I think I’m going to add another section on the GMA 2007 page over there that will list all of the GMA interviews as they are posted. I also need to add my commentary from the Doves, just as a fun FYI since you won’t really learn a whole lot from it. ha.
So Heroes on Monday was freaking awesome… Wow. I can’t wait until next week now.
Lost was really good tonight too. We got a few more answers. It’s just starting to bug me how slow paced it is… But the season is almost over, so they have to start releasing some juicy info soon. It looks like they are setting it up that way anyway.
American Idol… Blake was awesome last night. One of my favorite performances on the show, period. I’ll embed the video below in case you haven’t seen it. I don’t agree with the first person who was eliminated, but I had a feeling it was coming. It was cool to see Bon Jovi on the show this week though, even if his/their newer material isn’t as good as the classics.
We went to Mandarin, an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, the other night. It was good, as always. ha. At the end you get those silly fortune cookies and usually they are laughable, but this time I got one that was kind of cool. It said: Life is short – don’t spend too much time deliberating how it should be spent. Amen.
I’ve been missing Nashville. It’s hard to come back after doing what you enjoy doing, hanging out with friends, and making new ones to hardly a music scene at all and working at Future Shop (Best Buy). One day I’ll be moving on to bigger and better things… Perhaps even in that direction…
I’m actually liking Windows Vista. I installed it on my laptop shortly after I got back from Nashville and I’m already getting used to it. My only complaint is that it sucks up battery life even faster on the laptop, but the operating system itself seems decent. I don’t know what all the bad rep is about… I’ll have to give it some more thorough testing though.
Sorry for not posting the second part yesterday. I literally spent the entire day captioning all of my pictures that I uploaded to Flickr. So if you had seen something before and wondered what or where it was, check it out again as it will have a caption: http://flickr.com/photos/joshmcconnell/collections/72157600126982731/
Now on to the highlights…
Favorite Events of GMA Week 2007
Though there were a lot of events to attend throughout the week, there are were a couple that stick out as I think back to GMA. The first of which was definitely my favorite, but the second was a ton of fun as well…
- Monday night dinner
On the Monday night, a publicist took Brent, Chris and I out to dinner. I don’t want to say his name in case he doesn’t want it up here, but we all had a great time. Though there was a bit of shop talk, we mostly talked about everything else on the planet. Favorite mediums of entertainment (movies, tv shows, music, etc.), our backgrounds, and more. It was just a very relaxed and fun time. Brent and Chris also got him to crack some Canadian jokes, the second of which was actually really good. Ha. I hope he had as much fun as the three of us did.
- Opry Mills
Though it wasn’t technically part of GMA, this is the other “event†that sticks out in my mind when thinking back over the week. Brent, Chris, and I went to the Opry Mills mall next to the Opry House to just hang and chill out. Another friend, Katy, also met up with us and hung out for a bit. It was just an all around relaxing time, filled with the weeklong running jokes and their attempts at Canadian zingers. Then we went to the Doves immediately afterwards to begin our fun-filled coverage.
Favorite Interviews of GMA
I interviewed fifteen artists/bands over the course of two days at GMA. Pretty much all of them were fun and had their own moments, but I’d say a few definitely stuck out from the rest in this category. I’ll list the top five since it’s an easy number (ha) and I’ll list them in alphabetical order to be fair.
Those that didn’t make the list certainly weren’t bad by any means. I enjoyed them all. It’s just that these ones are probably the best of the best…
It should be noted that one of the things I hope artists/bands realize after they meet me is that I’m not just doing this for a “story.†I’m not even sure if journalism is what I want to do when push comes to shove. I want to help them out, make friends, and just have some fun with it too. When that recorder stops taping I consider everything else said to me off the record, so they don’t have to worry about whether or not I’ll print something they don’t want printed. I’m not one of those guys who will quickly scribble something down after talking to them in the hall, so I can go home and publish it for the world to see. They can relax before or after the interview, or even if we run into each other elsewhere. I’m not out to share secrets and can be trusted. ha. I think most of these artists caught on to that, which helped make them more memorable.
- The Afters
These guys were really down to earth and fun… We seemed to get along great and joked around a bit during the interview, which is always way better than those by-the-book interviews. They also stayed at the same hotel as us, so we ran into them a few times and continued a few conversations.
I have a feeling they’re going to do quite well with their next release as it sounds like it’s going to be getting a solid mainstream push. I look forward to meeting them again and wish them the best.
- Chris Rice
Here is another artist that was very down to earth. We had a great conversation about the mainstream industry vs the Christian industry and the purposes that the latter serve (if any). He seems to be quite knowledgeable on the industry and I wish him great success in the general market too.
We also talked about different online networking tools and ways that bands can interact with their fans more. The internet has made it very easy for bands to do so now. Chris is a very nice and easily approachable guy who knows what he’s doing…
- Jessie Daniels
This interview took place in the middle of the second day of interviews after I had already completed a ton of them. So far most of them were pretty straight forward and my questions were answered, but that’s about it. But Jessie and I talked a bit before and after the interview about random things, she ordered her lunch while I was there, and there were just a number of other factors that made it feel like a very relaxed interview. It seemed more like we were just hanging out and having a conversation than a formal interview. It was a nice break from the routine since things didn’t feel scripted. Hopefully we’ll get the chance to talk again, in an interview or not.
Plus it was held on the top floor of The Hilton. That was such a cool hotel… I only had two interviews there, but I loved going inside every time for other things.
- Kevin Max
It was great to finally meet Kevin in person. He’s always very opinionated which makes for a great interview. Last time we spoke, I tried my best to stay away from any dc Talk questions… But this time I asked if I could drill him a bit on one or two. He said yes and gave a bit more insight into the dismemberment of the group. It should also be noted that he did a fun showcase at BB King’s on the Monday night.
- Manic Drive
What can I say? Whenever Manic Drive and I get together, all rules are thrown out the window. We just have a ton of fun and get sidetracked very easily, yet we still pull out an interesting interview. It’s always great to run into these guys. We go way, way back.
So there you have it, my highlights of GMA Week 2007. Lots of fun was had, new friends were made, and there were just so many memorable moments that I could probably keep listing them off for pages. But these are the ones that I think back to instantly when reliving GMA Week 2007.
Thanks for following me during my trip to Nashville. The thousands of you have easily surpassed my previous monthly averages and helped prove the work wasn’t in vein. Ha. I look forward to attending again next year when we’ll do it all again. And no, that wasn’t supposed to rhyme…
Keep an eye out for some final Nashville tidbits, such as videos, trickling onto the blog in the next few days. I didn’t get the chance to take many, but I did take a few as I walked the streets and buildings.
I also have my commentary from the Dove Awards up on Renown Magazine soon. I’ll let you guys know over here when it goes up.
So GMA Week 2007 has come to a close. It was a busy week to be sure with very little sleep, but it was still a ton of fun. I’m really glad I went down. I flew for the first time since I was three, I lived in downtown Nashville for a few days, I met up with some old friends and made some new ones, I had both fun and interesting interviews, I could put faces to those I have been working with for years, and the list could go on. It truly was a great experience.
Here is a list of my thoughts on the place, the week itself, and the Dove Awards. Tomorrow I will post my favorites of the week, so look out for that.
Nashville
First of all, there’s the city. From what I had experienced in Nashville, I really loved what I saw. The city was quite beautiful and the people were all genuinely nice, with the exception of one of the McDonalds employees who was sort of emotionless. I was honestly expecting cowboy city, but I only saw a massive amount of them on Sunday night. Ha. During the week it was mostly suits and (I’m assuming) tourists walking around aside from those attending GMA.
The few venues I attended for showcases and what not were pretty cool too. I really liked BB Kings, even if the sound was pretty rough…
The architecture on some of the buildings was quite impressive. Then with all of the trees and landscapes, it helped add to the overall homey nature. It really felt like a small town.
Honestly, if I good job came up and I was able to work out the whole working in the States thing, I think I’d actually consider the relocation. But who knows what the future has in store.
GMA Week 2007
As previously mentioned, the week itself was crazy. I was constantly running around, consuming lots of water, and sweating due to the warmer temperatures. My back got a little sore from carrying the heavy backpack everywhere, but it was worth it. It was fun to walk around the Renaissance and Hilton Hotels, both of which are quite amazing to look at inside and out. I was especially impressed with the Hilton and its lobby.
It was also fun to run into people I knew from the Ontario music scene. It helped make the event a little more familiar…
Another cool aspect of the week was seeing how many people were familiar with me and the site. I was expecting to do a fair bit of self promotion down there, but pretty much every one at labels, management, companies, and even the artists themselves knew myself and the site. I really appreciate everyone’s support.
Of course, I have to mention that the best part of all was finally seeing my longtime friends Brenten Gilbert and Chris Unthank in person. I also got the chance to meet and hangout with Robin Parish, someone who I’ve communicated with a few times online over the years.
The Dove Awards
One of the places that a lot of people asked if I was going to see is the Grand Ole Opry House. Well, I did end up seeing it… Sort of. We had to walk way around the back of the building into the media room which was situated backstage. I never actually saw the inside of the auditorium or main lobby. But that’s okay, it was still fun.
The night was long though. We got there are 4 pm and left at midnight… Eight hours! Chris, Brent and I all sat at a table together though and kept things interesting with our amusing commentary and quick-witted comments. They made it a lot of fun and the time passed by rather quickly. Though I don’t agree with a number of winners as there are some artists who should have taken home a trophy or two, there’s not much you can do about it other than have some fun with it.
I also got to say hi to some of the people I met that week one last time before flying back home the next day. It’s too bad I can’t seem them more often.
I was trying to get this finished for posting much earlier, but I’ve been distracted off and on with installing Windows Vista onto my laptop. Part two is almost finished, but I am really tired so I’m finishing it tomorrow.
So check back here tomorrow for a list of my favorite events and interviews of GMA Week 2007 to wrap up my coverage.
I’m back home. I actually got back at about 6:45 PM but I relaxed, ate, and didn’t do much computer stuff. Now I just finished uploading pictures from yesterday and today in Nashville, including backstage at the Dove Awards. Here they are…
I’m going to post one more final post about my trip to Nashville tomorrow to finish up the coverage. It’ll just be me giving my final thoughts on the week, the city, and the events. But first, I’ll give you a journal of my traveling journeys today…
NOTE: Sorry about Twitter not updating this afternoon and evening. I guess their text messaging went down or something. How annoying… Also pictures from today and tomorrow (the trip home) will probably be uploaded tomorrow night or something when I get back to Ontario. I need to get to bed asap tonight.
So let’s see, what did we do today? Brent and I went to have breakfast first of all. It was good. I ate four cinnamon buns and a yogurt. We bumped into a couple of the members of The Afters since they are staying in our hotel, so Brent and I chatted with them briefly as we both have met them before multiple times.
After Breakfast, we went back to the hotel room and picked up some things, we headed back over to the Renaissance since Brent had a few interviews left to do this morning. So we went to the press room for a second and Chris was there finishing up some publicity work with one of his clients. Brent shortly ran to his interviews, so Chris and I sat and talked in the lunch room for about an hour. A couple of friends and acquaintances came into the room including Neal Morse as well, but we mostly just chatted with each other. We then decided to walk around the Convention Center for half an hour. I then walked back to the hotel to finish packing a few things, then I crossed the street and mailed my guitar that I won back home.
After that, I went back to the hotel room where Brent and Chris were now waiting so we could all head over to the mall. We grabbed some food at T.G.I. Fridays where a friend from years ago, Katy, came and hung out with us for a bit. She is going to a school in Nashville and it was great to see her after knowing her for so long.
Brent, Chris, and I met with Chris’ sister and her two friends in the parking lot, then headed across the street to the Opry House for the Dove Awards pre-show. We got there at 4pm, an hour and a half before the pre-show started. The six of us got good seats with power plugs for our laptops. Chris, Brent, and I are sitting at one table each with our own laptops plugged in, then sitting directly behind us are Chris’ sister and friends. We were easily the two loudest tables backstage. Ha. We were just having a blast with our own commentary, inside jokes, and just all around fun conversations… We had a great time… I did a running commentary of the entire night and that will go up sometime later on.
There wasn’t a break for us backstage in between the pre-show and the actual awards show. It was brutal… We got there at 4 pm and it went until 12:15 am. And let me tell you, that eight hours is a very long time for me to stay still. Mind you, I got up to the washroom a couple of times and stood for twenty minutes or so just for a break. But even then, it was brutal. It was good to have Chris and Brent with me to keep things interesting and fun. We actually had the guy in front of us shake our heads afterwards saying we made the night for him and that we said everything he was thinking. Ha.
We ended up not going to Rocketown for the after show because it was so late already, it was raining, and we’d have to walk ten blocks. Plus we need to get up early, so that’s just too much to take in. ha. So I didn’t get to go to Rocketown, which I really wanted to check out. But oh well, next time. I definitely plan on going to Nashville again, if not for GMA Week next year than just some other time to hang out. I really enjoyed the city. More on that later.
Now we’re back at the hotel, pretty much packed everything and are ready to sleep for the early rise and trip tomorrow. We’ll get up early to grab some breakfast, make sure we have everything, then take a cab to the airport. We’ll say our goodbyes, shed a tear (ha), and hop on our own planes. It stinks Brent, Chris (who I already said goodbye to tonight since I won’t see him tomorrow), and I can’t see each other more often. But we talk all of the time online and act the same way with each other online as we do offline, so it’s like we hang out all of the time. I thought that was really cool when we met each other in person…
Anyway, I’m out. It’s bed time. Tomorrow it is the final day of my trip/coverage: the trip home. Stay tuned.
So I slept in a little bit this morning, which was nice. I got up at about 7:45 am, I think. Brent really slept in though, but maybe that’s just because Americans have less energy than Canadians. I don’t know. I’m just waiting for him to get ready so we can go downstairs and have some breakfast. I hope it’s still running… I think we have another forty minutes, but I’m not sure. If not, then he better order pizza this time or something.
He has some sort of interview at 9:30 I think. Or maybe it’s 10:30. I don’t know. Either way, he has a bit more work to do this morning, whereas I don’t. I’m going to do my final rounds around the convention center and Renaissance Hotel today since I probably won’t get to again. Then I’m going to check out the mail place to make sure I can mail the guitar, as I said last night. You know, I can never spell “Renaissance” right… Thank goodness for spell check.
The main reason I’m posting is to let you know I sorted the pictures by day now for GMA Week. If you want, you can go to its collection page (click here) and it’ll list the different days. Or here are the direct links: Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
Now all of the pictures are showing properly in the preview page, so that’s good…
It’s 9:04 am now… I think we may be going soon. So I’ll talk with you later. I’ll try to get one more entry in before we take off to the mall at about 1:00pm, because otherwise you might not hear from me until tonight or tomorrow since we are going directly to the Dove pre-show and Dove Awards from there.
Pictures from today are now up in the Flickr gallery. In case you were wondering, captions ARE coming… But I think I’ll do that after the week is over, as I barely have enough time as it is. So if you are wondering about one in particular, ask in a comment/e-mail or keep checking back to see when the captions go up. I’ll mention it here. For now, here’s the photo gallery with the new pics: http://flickr.com/photos/joshmcconnell/sets/72157600127080374/
By the way, that preview page doesn’t show all of the pics though. If you want to see them all, I’d start at the latest one and work your way back or something… I think I may just create separate folders for each of the days so you can see them all in the preview page, but maybe that’s a tomorrow job.
So my final batch of interviews all went well. I had a lot of fun doing them. The final interview for me at GMA Week (at least as of right now) was, of course, Manic Drive. Just as you would expect, we had a very civilized and thought provoking discussion… Or maybe not. We get sidetracked very easily. ha. But we still talked about some new things as well, so it had its element of seriousness…
After the interview, the three of us went up to some special VIP suite on the top floor of the Renaissance Hotel. It was awesome.. A little food buffet, free drinks, a member of staff to get you the drinks and keep the food coming, a big screen tv, and (most importantly) a wall made of glass for an amazing view of the city. I posted pictures of the view in the Flickr gallery. It was great to hang out with the guys again, but then we had to go on our own ways…
I decided to head back to the hotel and relax. So I came back at about 6:50 pm and began doing some work on the computer. I was really hungry though, so I ordered pizza for delivery. It took almost forty-five minutes! Yikes. It was really good though… I ate three quarters of it. ha. Then Brent finally came back from his nighttime festivities at about 7:50 pm, just after the pizza arrived. We hung out here and talked, watched some TV, etc. until about 10 pm when we went to a late night Centricity Records showcase. It went until about 11:45 where Downhere closed the show. They did an awesome job… Such a great band…
Now we’re once again finishing the night by updating our various websites and pages. But man, am I feeling the lack of sleep now… It hit me during the second last band at the showcase. I can’t wait to sleep in a bit tomorrow since we don’t have anything planned early. Except I think the breakfast is served until 9:30, so I guess we’ll have to make it for that. ha. Other than that, I’m not sure what I’m doing tomorrow morning. I’ll probably wander a bit one last time. Then I think I’m going to try to figure out shipping the little guitar I won back home. I think I should be able to fit everything else in my bags, which is excellent.
Hmm.. I think I’ve figured out where some of the GMA Week pictures went. It seems it isn’t uploading them all at once, which is odd. So now I know what to look for to tell me if it uploaded all pictures or not from now on. That was really weird though…
Anyway, once again I am off to bed. I’m really tired. Goodnight all.
It’s funny, for a guy who is running on about four hours of sleep right now, I’m really not that tired. My legs are a little sore though. I’m sure I’ll be feeling the tiredness tonight, especially since we are probably going to a late night showcase (starts at 9:30 pm). We’ll see.
Man, Brent has three bottles of Coke sitting by the window all in a row. I wonder if he’s even going to drink them… I just drink much needed (and appreciated when given to me) water everywhere.
Anyway, so the day began with Brent and I heading over to the Nashville Convention Center for the Provident Media Blitz after grabbing a couple of things from our hotel’s breakfast buffet. It was in the lowest level in a large room with concrete flooring. In one corner were chairs and tables set up with a mini buffet of some breakfast goodies. I only grabbed a bottle of water. I’ve been living off of bottled water this week.
Aside from the public corner that you walk into after signing in for the media blitz, there is a huge section curtained off. Inside that big section are a ton of little mini sections with a table and chairs. That is where the artists/bands were. It was actually kind of cool… You would look around and just see all of these black curtains with names of bands on them. Behind each of those curtains were the members. It was pretty massive. Of course, when they weren’t doing any interviews the bands would come out and join us in the public area too and mingle.
So originally I was supposed to do an interview at 8:30 am with Brian Littrell (Backstreet Boys). I guess he couldn’t make it though because he had to prepare for the Dove Awards tomorrow night… That’s too bad. Apparently they sent me an e-mail, but I never received it. That’s okay though, it happens. We’re going to try to do something at the Doves tomorrow night…
That being said, I did three interviews back to back from 9 to 10:30 am. They all seemed to go well, in my opinion. In between interviews, Brent and I would let each other know how our interviews went, joke a bit (his usually being Canadian jokes, of course), and then went on and did our thing. He then went off to do some more interview while I had a bit of a break before my next inteview over at The Hilton. So I wandered the streets of Nashville a bit, took some pictures, and mingled in the buildings while killing time. I then went to the press room to charge my camera’s batteries and do some work on he laptop as I waited for my interview with Jessie Daniels over at the Hilton. The batteries charged fairly quickly, then I had to run quickly to the other building a few blocks a way. Boy, while it’s overcast today, it’s still really humid. I keep sweating. ha.
The Jessie Daniels interview went well… Very laidback and fun. Hopefully she enjoyed it too… At all of my interviews I have been handing out pencils that say Canada on them. They seem to be a hit. My Xbox 360 has been a topic of discussion multiple times too… ha.
So then I went for a walk and got some McDonalds for lunch again and brought it back to the hotel, where I am situated right now. I was really hot and sweating, but now I am kind of cold from the air conditioning. ha.
I think Brent is finishing up lunch somewhere with someone. No, wait, he’s at a Word media blitz thing… Then Chris is doing work for his publicity company for the afternoon. I’ll probably go see him in between my interviews. I have a bunch from 2:30 to 5:30 now, with one or two breaks in between.
I’m going to catch up on reading some web stuff and relax a bit before I leave soon… So I’ll post again tonight. Looks like we may be going to a late night showcase too…
Well, Brent and I are here at the hotel and we missed the first shuttle to the EMI showcase. So we’re leaving in a couple of minutes to make the next shuttle a 8:15pm. Chris is at a World Vision showcase until we arrive…
We just got back from having dinner with a fairly new publicist (though the company he works for has been around for some time)… The four of us had a great time. We just talked about any thing and everything… Music, movies, tv shows, technology, sports, our history… Great time. Brent and Chris even got him to finally make a Canadian joke at me, since they do it continually. Thanks guys. I feel loved.
I hope the publicist had a good time too. I think he did. We’ll probably run into him at the showcase tonight…
I’ve been running into Robin Parrish from Infuze continually. It seems like you run into the same people numerous times over the course of the week, but I think I saw him three or four times today in passing. He’s working hard on content over at Infuze Magazine. We’ve talked occasionally over e-mail in the past, but it’s been good to formally meet.
The shuttle leaves in fifteen minutes and it’s probably a ten minute walk to the pick up point. Time to run… Keep the feedback coming. I’ve been getting a good response. You are allowed to comment though.
