Sunday, October 31, 2010

Ghost of Tour de isla - UPDATE 10/31

Happy Halloween!
It's a beautiful day for bike-riding here on South Padre Island -- please join us!


Here's the rough plan: meet at Boomies by 3 pm for the costume contest; from there we will duck in at Jake's (even though they did not respond to my request for treats, a TDI without Jake's just wouldn't be a TDI at all); then up to kelly's; Paragraphs Bookstore (4:00ish); One Particular Harbor; Chill; the Massage and Healing Arts Center and then end at Padreritaville sometime between 5 and 6.


We will stop at each place long enough to to do the meet and greet and "where's my treat?" thing and then if we are having fun we will stay a little longer or push on the to the next stop.


I will tweet/Facebook updates at every stop in case tourers want to join us. I will be on a bike but you may use any form of transport that you so desire. 


See you at Boomie's!


Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Ghost of Tour de Isla - Details

OK, Fellow SPIslanders --

How long has it been since the last Tour? The low-rez photos I found without digging too deep are dated 1996, and I have a T-shirt design and brochure dated 2000 and claiming to be the 13th annual. 

So has it really been 10 years since the last Tour?

Aye carrumba. We are so overdue.

So here is the plan: We will meet ... somewhere (TBD) at 3 PM on Halloween. Wear a costume, please -- even if it is just a silly hat. Bicycles are the preferred means of transportation but you can walk, drive, take the Wave, whatever you like. And then we will follow a vaguely pre-defined schedule to every participating business gathering treats as we go. (That means you’d best make sure you have a backpack or a basket on that bike.) We will post photos and updated reports of our progress on facebook and twitter so participants can join (or abandon) the Tour at any step along the way.

Bars/Restaurants/Shops

Just confirm that you are participating by emailing spisandy@gmail.com and we will put you on the list below, which we use to generate our traveling party map. The only requirement is that you have a “treat” for the participants. Could be a piece of candy, a special price on a special drink or munch, a song or a dance, a set of cheap sunglasses, a coupon for next time -- whatever you feel comfortable offering. I will try to get riders to sign up in advance to give you some idea of how many "treats" you need to have on hand, but there is no way to give a totally accurate prediction, of course.

Would you very much like to be the first or last stop on the tour? I am taking applications ... ;)

Participants

Watch for a sign-up sheet on Facebook - I will be sending out invitations to all locals on my friends list but signed up or not, EVERYONE is invited.
Pace yourself. YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED OR ENCOURAGED TO CONSUME ALCOHOL AT EVERY STOP! ;-)
Wear a costume: No trick? No treat!


List of Businesses who have signed up to participate (as of 10/10/10)

Paragraphs on Padre
One Particular Harbor

Need a special pumpkin to display at your business? We can carve your logo in one!  Or you can opt for a more traditional spooky face model. Proceeds go to support the unlitter campaign. See some samples of our work here.


Friday, October 08, 2010

The Ghost of Tour de Isla



(stay tuned!)

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Musicfest Musings

I was out of town for the most recent one, but I have attended all the others and I can tell you that you do not create a successful event like this by throwing a bunch of money at a big promoter and hope it does the right thing. We need to start from the bottom with something small and friendly and let it build on its own success.

I love listening to music, I love playing music and I have hosted nearly a dozen house concerts in my backyard - each successful in its own way. (How do I gauge success? People came and listened and bought CDs and put money in the tip jar and talked about it the next day.) I have a lot of friends who are successful musicians and I am fully aware of how little $ it takes to give really talented folks an excuse to come to the beach. So if someone entrusted me with a small budget - say something in the $5000-$20,000 range - this is what I would do.

Seek out bands and solo performers with wide variety of styles and dedicated local (RGV to Austin) followings. Offer them a smallish stipend and a nice place to stay (easy to do during the off season). Forget the bouncy tents and trying to appeal to kids - a music festival is not for kids. Make arrangements with venues of all sizes to host the shows - rock and roll and/or country acts at the bayside clubs; jazz and blues at mid-size venues (Padreritaville, Wanna Wanna) and folky acts at really small venues (the SandBox Inn, Blackbeards’ patio). Headliner would be someone like Del Castillo - a great band with local roots that will draw fans from Brownsville to Austin. Charge everybody the same price - $10-20 - for a bracelet that gets them into everything. Use smartphone apps to tell people what is going on when. Don’t attempt to tie it in with fishing or food or arts and crafts or anything else - not at first, anyway. Make it all about the music and make people drive or ride the wave or their bikes all over the island to find the kind of music that appeals to them and then let them post how much fun it all was on facebook so that their friends will be all fired up about coming to the next one.

I guarantee the merchants up and down the island would be smiling and asking how they can help with next year’s event. I have said and continue to say that I think SPI should strive to be Austin-On-The-Beach emphasizing music and art in our off-seasons. Start small, and build on success. Give folks a good excuse to come to the beach.

And here's a good excuse to come to my next house concert - Jason Weem at the SandBox Inn on Nov. 7 -- it's my birthday party, too!

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

ghost of the tour de isla

OK, Fellow SPIslanders --

How long has it been since the last Tour? The low-rez photos I found without digging too deep are dated 1996, and I have a T-shirt design and brochure dated 2000 and claiming to be the 13th annual.

So has it really been 10 years since the last Tour?

Aye carrumba. We are so overdue.

So here is the plan: We will meet ... somewhere (TBD) at 3 PM on Halloween. Wear a costume, please -- even if it is just a silly hat. Bicycles are recommended but you can walk, drive, take the Wave, whatever you like. And then we will follow a vaguely pre-defined schedule to every participating business gathering treats as we go. (That means you’d best make sure you have a backpack or a basket on that bike.) We will post photos and updated reports of our progress on facebook and twitter so participants can join (or abandon) the Tour at any step along the way.


Already got plans? This can fold right into them. We will tweet, IM and facebook minute by minute updates as to where we are and what we are doing so you can join in at any point on the traveling party.

Bars/Restaurants/Shops

Just confirm that you are participating and we will put you on our facebook party map. The only requirement is that you have a “treat” for the participants. Could be a shot, a piece of candy, a special price on a special drink or munch, a song or a dance, a set of cheap sunglasses, a coupon for next time -- whatever you feel comfortable offering.

List of Businesses who have signed up to participate (as of 10/10/10)

Paragraphs on Padre
One Particular Harbor

Need a special pumpkin to display at your business? We can carve your logo in one! Or you can opt for a more traditional spooky face model. Proceeds go to support the unlitter campaign. See some samples of our work here.



If you want to participate more fully, we would love to sell you a very cool carved pumpkin - delivered no later than Friday, Oct. 29. If you want people to hang around a little longer, volunteer to be the starting or finishing site for the Tour. $50 gets you a cool one, and a percentage goes to support the unlitter campaign.

Participants

Meet at the agreed-upon bar or restaurant at 3 PM (?) On bike, on foot or drive your car.
Collect your trick, an then move on to the next stop on the map.

Rules

Pace yourself. YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED OR ENCOURAGED TO CONSUME ALCOHOL AT EVERY STOP! ;-)
Wear a costume. No trick? No treat!