Juggling! 1.5 Weeks 'til Festival!

I feel like this week in the office has been a little bit ephemeral. It’s not even halfway through the week and I can barely remember Monday. What I do remember from last week is that it was super busy until Wednesday and things started to cool down, but apparently it’s been busy enough to leave me with a lapse in my memory.

I don’t even know how to begin to summarize.

The War Wall as of April 21, 2010

Our wonderful producers, Byron and Matt have finally finished casting K7. It took longer than they’d have liked, but with over 30 actors, the whole event is monumental. The specs for the performance space are slowly being worked out, contracts are being signed and conference sponsors are being organized. Byron is constantly taking the time to teach me valuable lessons about the challenges one faces as a producer. This is a job that seems to require a lot of juggling.

Rehearsals for both K7 and the Potluck have started, meaning that the rehearsal space next door to the office is always busy. Pluses: good company, I finally get to meet all the people I’ve been e-mailing, there’s always extra food lying around. Minuses: the occasional loud yell that startles everyone in the office. I suppose that isn’t really a minus, I mean, at least it’s entertaining.

K7 Schedule- MADNESS!

Said rehearsals mean that we are seeing Andrew, Nina and David all around the office. Busy as ever, the three of them are managing to direct/dramaturg several readings. Their lives are all short on sleep, and their levels of health are questionable, but we love them dearly and it’s truly wonderful to see their faces.

Andrea’s getting all of our materials on the streets! She had a newsletter mailed out yesterday, we had a MASSIVE flyering event last week (thanks to our wonderful volunteers!). Look for our origami lotus flyers all over the city. If you fold it up and take a picture of it in a creative place, you can submit at www.fu-gen.org/secret to win a prize!

Carin has been in and out of the office. Despite the fact that Carin had a nasty case of the flu, she has been in constant communication with us. Making sure that things happen, that people are happy, and that artists and academics will arrive, Carin's life is never slow. She's refining budgets and ensuring our cash flow is steady. Scary job, eh?

As for me? I’ve been busy nagging people to do various tasks. I feel like a big part of my job right now is to hold on to all the loose ends and slowly figure out ways to tie them together without letting one slip away. I’m learning something every day and I feel really lucky to be writing e-mails to all of the incredible people across the continent that are coming to Toronto to be part of this explosive event.

We have one and a half weeks to go! Friday you can look forward to a post from our K7-ers and next week you will see our load in! Exciting times...