*Forwarded Deanfest update*
Hi all,
We have had a very productive weekend. On Friday, I went to HQ in Burlington and met with
Gov. Dean. He made it very clear that he wants to speak at Deanfest, and he is willing to have his new organization, Democracy For America, help us with marketing. He expressed
his desire to have this be an event that is a bit larger than we had originally planned. He would like 100,000 people to attend!!!
This seemed a little ambitious to me, but, after considering his suggestions for
speakers and performers, it does seem realistic. He also said he would attend if held north of Boston but suggested that we look for a location closer to Boston and close to a major airport; so the speakers, entertainers, and attendees would have easier access. The Governor's support is very important to this endevor; and, therefore, I told him we would reconsider the location.
Friday night, Al, Charlene and I attended an award's dinner in Burlington with Gov. Dean and Sen. Leahy as the featured speakers. (There is information about this on the DFA blog.) We made many contacts and circulated flyers about Deanfest.
We visited one of our venue choices in Highgate on Saturday. We discussed possible attendance figures and we were told that they would only be able to accomodate up to 40,000 people. Our professional event planner is looking for new venue possibilities for us. We've asked for it to be an outdoor venue, near a hub, be able to accommodate a significant crowd, and have camping facilities nearby. We gave him some background on what our searches had already revealed. For instance, flying into Boston isn't an option because of the Convention and Loudon, NH, has a NASCAR race that weekend.
We are going to need quite a bit of money. We will do our best to get many sponsors for the event and will recover some expenses with ticket sales, but we must have money from the grassroots for two reasons: to keep the event economically accessible to all by keeping the
ticket price low and to put deposits on many things (such as the venue) before we begin selling tickets.
Thanks,
Jessica
It is important that we don't let Gov. Dean down.
We must make this an event
he is proud to have his name on. Please give what
you can at www.myvoteismyvoice.com
Thank you,
Jessica