Which means that yes, I am asking you for money. It’s been about a year and a half, but finally, instead of writing about Kickstarter I am once again using Kickstarter.
RUCKUS NYC means a lot to me, and I hope you’ll want to be a part of it. It’s the next step in work I’ve been doing for six years with a whole host of musicians and other artists. We’ve been putting together huge evenings with lots of different acts in all kinds of different styles, and the shows we’ve made have always been amazing.
If you read this blog, you’ll know that I also care deeply about helping artists build their careers, learn new skills, and engage with audiences. And RUCKUS NYC’s conference day is a reflection of that work. Victoria Nece, Zach Herchen, and I have been working on this event for a few months now, and we’ve got an amazing concert planned, and a really impressive range of speakers.
We’ve also tried to balance our need to pay everyone fairly (it’s a point of ethics with us to pay working artists), and the need to keep the event cheap – after all, it’s for working artists. I think we’ve done a good job with $25 for the concert tickets, $65 for the conference, and $75 for both together. It’s going to be an interesting needle to thread, as a producer, but I think that we can do it, together.
After the last RUCKUS concert at Exapno in January, everyone was so excited. They wanted us to do it again right away. We’ve taken some time to work on other things, and some time to dream up this new structure for an event, but now we’re back. The concert in January was a huge success, and this is the next step. It’s bigger, it’s more professional, and the conference day gives it a whole extra dimension, and makes it even better for artists.
Now that the Kickstarter is up, I have to tell you, I’m scared. Did we make something worthwhile? Is it really as good as we wanted? Will people be able to pay this to make RUCKUS NYC a reality? We hope so. RUCKUS isn’t our dream for our own art. It’s our dream for how to help all of us do this better. For us, it’s a way to help.
If you think we can do better, please tell us. If you want to work on RUCKUS NYC, get in touch – we need you. But most of all, if you think this is a great idea, please back our Kickstarter, and get a ticket for the whole day.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you.