It's been quiet on the Eastern Side

Good Morning,

I've emerged from the depths of internet research to give you a quick update. The research is going well, I currently have over 120 potential contacts.

I'm still in Russia but have moved slightly westward into Latvia now and hope to be finished both by mid-week. I began with blogs and general internet searches, and have now moved into the world of forums and myspace; there are many groups that you can join, relating to a particular country, which may prove really helpful. I have posted into their forums in the hope to spark debate and hopefully some performers.

WE NEED YOUR VOICE!

I'll be updating the Dial-A-Diva myspace this week, which can be found at

www.myspace.com/dialadivaii

Stavanger Site Visit

Just back from Stavanger. The sun was shining and it was glorious.
The primary discussions were with Mary (director of Stavanger 2008), Trond (production coordinator of Stavanger 2008) and Stein (numusic). We focused on questions of venues and technical set up. We also met with Orjan from the kommune (Stavanger Council) who will be providing the hard wiring and telecommunications for the venue. Although Greg couldn't make it over this time, it seems like Orjan and he had a useful phone conversation and things are moving on tech-wise. The only remaining issue we need to resolve for the location tech is streaming support.

After considering a few venue options it has been decided that Dial-a-Diva will happen in Kult Kaffeen, a cafe in the Sølvberget (if you have very good eyesight you'll be able to pick out the red arrow in the pic of Stavanger I took from the plane, I think it marks the spot, but I can't be sure). This is a perfect location, in the centre of Stavanger, part of the kommune and at the hub of the Numusic which Dial-a-Diva will be associated with. It's right at the heart of where Stavangerites go out of a Saturday night and Kult Kaffeen is happy to stay open for the full 24 hour duration - so Greg won't have a problem keeping the coffee flow going. There is also space for team members to retreat for breaks. It is on a square where we will stage the midway celebration with a 1/2 hour of performances and open mic.

Discussions with the sound and lighting guys were also fruitful. Lighting and projections both in the venue and into the square seem to be fairly straight forward tasks.
It has been great to meet with so many positive people - nothing is a problem!

I also met with Audhild who is in charge of Stavanger2008's marketing. We talked about ideas on how to promote the project Norway wide. The world wide aspect is down to the Dial team.

On the way to the airport Trond took me to a treasure trove of a warehouse, packed to the gunnels with furniture of all sorts. We will keep an eye open here in case the perfect office unit appears for the installation. Not only do we have a plan B though, there is also a plan C - wow.


So all in all it was a really productive site visit.
See more pics >> click here
(to see any notes or comments on the pic, click on the central viewing pic and it tells you)

also here is a map of where we are >> click here