2008 Florida Jam, a rousing success"
Pianotuna@aol.com wrote:
The "Keyboard Convention" is over for this year. If you were unable to attend, this is what you missed.
Tuesday: The morning was set-up time for all players and their equipment. At 1:00 pm, all who wanted to play were invited to perform some of their favorite tunes. It was indeed gratifying that we had performers from all skill levels, beginner to "pro". For supper, most went to the VFW which was located just down the street from the Jam site. The VFW has an "all you can eat" spaghetti dinner complete with a glass of wine for $5.50 . There was live music but we opted to go back to the convention site. Some played, there was a spontaneous jam with 3 - 4 folks playing. Others were answering questions from less experienced players.....Mini-clinics and live music...what a combination. Wednesday Wednesday: We got started promptly 10:00 am. Six of our "significant others" decided to forego the "Mini-Clinic" portion of the Jam and headed for the Tarpon Springs sponge docks for some shopping and exploring..
http://www.spongedocks.net The day started with Frank Lanning from Piano Distributors demonstrating the Yamaha Tyros 2 Central Florida's Exclusive Yamaha Dealer
WWW.pianodistributors.com Much interest was shown in the great new features of the Tyros. It should be noted that Bill Norrie, who was unable to make the trip "across the pond" sent 3 excellent sequences that he had recently completed. They were played much to the appreciation of everyone. We broke for lunch and some of us went to the American Legion where Jim Helwig and his wife both ate lunch for $5.50. You have to love these prices here in Holiday, Florida. The afternoon was workshop time where Jim & others did a great job of presenting material, hand outs were made available for everyone to take home. Supper was at Sioux City and Prime Rib was one of the specials. It was a 2fer. That's a 2fer-one price. Sorry we had to drive so fast to get there by the "2-fer" deadline of 5:30. After which it was back to the site for more "jamming"
Thursday: Started promptly @ 10 with the presentation of the Roland E 80 shown by "Music Matters"
www.musicmattersfl.com The presentation was narrated by Jay Hunt and played by Tommy Johnson. To see what you missed, visit
www.tommyjohnsonmusic.com It should be mentioned that Tommy has agreed to perform for us next year - don't miss it!! The Roland has some great sounds and new features not found on other boards right now. A short business meeting was held where it was decided that we would have next years jam in Holiday because of the price and the close proximity to most of the attendees. Also there seems to be some interest in having a future jam on the Florida East coast. For that, we may need to add to our "reserve" funds. A small surplus was achieved this year. Jim Helwig and Bernie Ackerman wanted someone else to take over the planning of next years Jam to gain a different perspective on activities etc. Harry Babcock & Clair were gracious enough to accept next year's responsibilities, and were elected for the 5th Annual Jam. A good round of applause was shown as appreciation for a job well done for Jim & Bernie. The meeting was adjourned. No program would be complete without Peter Davey doing some ditties from merry 'ol England. If you have not caught Peter's act (the Chirpy Chippy), you really must. We broke for a late lunch. Later in the afternoon those who wanted to went back to the site to jam, and try some of the new things we had learned.
Thanks for all the help from everyone who assisted in cleaning up and tearing down the tables. Harry and his teams are already working on next years convention agenda. Hope to see you next year !
Convention Site Coordinator, Bob Rippe (Pianotuna)
PS: The 2009 Jam will be at the same place in Holiday, FL on March 24-26,2009
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