2008 FRFF/Grassy Hill: Emerging Artist Showcase

[ckocher]

I thought 90 percent of the ballots were lost ...?

[AnneS]

Were lost when the site tent fell on the cardboard box containing them but since then I have gathered over 300 from mail-in and Email. No add'l have arrived in the last 10 days or so. I will tally the 415 I have in the next week, may put a poll up here as well. Will also use merch sales data in final determination. We usually have 1000-1200 surveys total with votes cast for MWSS, thanks, A

[ckocher]

How do you know that your vote counted if you filled out a survey?

[AnneS]

There is no real way to know this since so many surveys were destroyed on site. We asked ppl to send completed surveys in whether or not they filled one out on-site for this reason, Anne

[ckocher]

OK, must have missed that.

[fivecentharpa]

wow. that whole situation sounds pretty crazy.
How was this email/mail in survey thing announced?? I definetly never heard about that happening. bummer.

[ckocher]

wow. that whole situation sounds pretty crazy.
How was this email/mail in survey thing announced?? I definetly never heard about that happening. bummer.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one. I guess. Not sure.

[Old Fart From Hellsdale]

Email Surveys were announced here: http://www.falconridgefolk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=235

Email Survey in PDF format was posted here: http://www.falconridgefolk.com/

[Notlob]

Were lost when the site tent fell on the cardboard box containing them but since then I have gathered over 300 from mail-in and Email. No add'l have arrived in the last 10 days or so. I will tally the 415 I have in the next week, may put a poll up here as well. Will also use merch sales data in final determination. We usually have 1000-1200 surveys total with votes cast for MWSS, thanks, A

An on-line poll concerns me deeply. We are all connected to artists through their mailing lists, myspace, websites, etc. How often do we receive solicitiations "hey, I'm in a contest for XYZ - please go to asdfsef.com and vote for me. The site tracks cookies, so if you clear yours you can vote for me every day". Some artists have highly organized "street teams". Such a contest would be a better judge of their organizations than the talent they displayed at FRFF 2008.

Since Anne has some ballots from the festival, some merch data and did put out fair notice here soon after the festival, when many people were participating on a regular basis, I say either

Call the results as of now, based on what is in hand,

or

Above, supplemented by a judging panel (think this was part of the process in the past, but Anne did not mention this aspect - didn't the "popular" vote count for a percentage and the three(?) judges count for the rest?).

or

Just declare all who participated "winners" (the question then becomes who gets to participate in the "most wanted" tour).

[sarah3335]

I would have to agree with notlob on the online poll idea. People who didn't even see the emerging artists could end up voting and it wouldn't be a very good representation of the talent at the festival.

Not sure if there is a best solution with a lot of surveys lost and quite a few people just leaving after the storm.

[john r]

i do not think the online ballot is any worse or better than the usual survey system which is a self-selected sample of those in attendance. as for street teams and email begging for votes, of ten at FR you see street teams at work handing out fliers for their favorites. as for hearing or not hearing all of the performers, there is no control on that aspect of it either with an on-site survey.

i have never thought the audience-selected most wanted is the best way to pick the most deserving singer-songwriter since very few poeple hear them all; since some of the performers literally campaign for votes at night (which can be counted as a plus if you are camped on the hill); since relatively few vote; since many people are already fans of a performer to begin with and are pre-decided; etc, etc.

on the other hand, i have seen juried competitions where the results surprised me greatly.

all that said, i think the most wanted voting is a lot of fun for many in the audience and is a part of FR.

i am curious about who does vote and how it may or may not reflect the audience, but i guess there is no way to tell. i have suspected that the voters are generally younger than the general audience, but that is based on nothing substantial except my own personal feeling that those selected often reflect the tastes of a younger audience.

ps - please feel free to disagree with me on anything i said. these are just random reflections, and could very well be wrong. you will not be personally attacked for disagreement

[Notlob]

To get into the forum I usually breeze past the festival home page, so I do not know how long the "FR08 Survey" has been there - http://www.falconridgefolk.com/files/FR08Survey.pdf

...but look at this component:

EMERGING ARTIST SHOWCASE SURVEY
Did you attend the OUR SHOWCASE noon to 4:30P on Friday? yes __ no __
These performers were chosen by a committee from 465 entries.
Which THREE would you most like to see return to the MOST WANTED Song Swap next year?

So there you go, an opportunity to give some input.

[john r]

Quote:
EMERGING ARTIST SHOWCASE SURVEY
Did you attend the OUR SHOWCASE noon to 4:30P on Friday? yes __ no __


that sort of was one of my points. this implies that you have heard everyone of the emerging artists. i wonder how many people who fill out the surveys really did......AND....if you spent 4 and a 1/2 hours under the sun.....are you mentally competent to vote??????? (joke - for anyone who missed it). it is a tough haul....i usually hunker down in a beach shade half dome with lots of water, a battery powered fan, and a hand held mist machine.

[ckocher]

I missed a good bit of the showcase this year because I was trying to get our RV out of the parking-lot mud. We were told to wait, and did so for quite a while before the farmer and his tractor finally appeared.

[Notlob]

The emerging artist showcase should be for emerging artists or those emerging in the Northeast. People like Anne Heaton and Amy Speace do not belong in the emerging artist showcase.

Until a couple of months ago, when she moved to Cambridge, Anne lived in NYC. Last I checked, both are in the northeast.

I beg to differ with your opinion, Falcon Ridge is not your local coffee house or open mic, it draws artists and patrons from throughout the US and worldwide. Its "emerging" artists should never be restricted to a geography.