KindieFest 2011: Some Thoughts

May 02

We’ll have some more formal followup from all of us organizers soon — keep an eye on kindiefest.com and our Facebook page, where we’re also posting links to photos, videos, etc.– but I wanted to take a minute to get some of my first thoughts down.

  • It was a terrific year.  The panels, the music, the people, the everything — it was just a bucket of fun.
  • If I were to try to summarize the themes I heard throughout the panels in one sentence, it’d be “Be who you are.”  Whether talking about branding or collaboration or social networking or PR, everyone seemed to come back to that core notion of authenticity.
  • I really liked having some people who aren’t in the family music world on the panels — Jim Olsen has tremendous “branding” knowledge from his building Signature Sounds (and, incidentally, from being a huge part of making our station what it is), and Jonathan Coulton brought a ton of knowledge to bear on the social networking panel.
  • Even the live acts, I realized as I was driving home, were utterly and purely authentic.  When I was introducing CandyBand, I mentioned that I once awarded them the entirely fictional award “Best Kids’ Rock Band That Actually Listens to Rock Music.”  They play the music they play — and they kick ass at it — because it’s who they are.  Same with the (otherwise completely different) Cat & a Bird, and The Pop Ups, and The Not-Its, Shine & the Moonbeams, and so on.
  • Steph texted me early Sunday morning: “I feel like I was at one of the best concerts I ever saw last night.”  Man, was she right.  During every single act, I thought, “Man, I’d hate to follow that band.”  And then the next act would just kill it.  Same thing with Sunday.
  • Shine & the Moonbeams: Gonna be huge. Write it down.
  • There’s more, but I need to write an exam.  Thanks to everyone who attended, who participated, who rocked, who danced, who laughed, who hung out.  You’re awesome.

3 comments

  1. I thought the music uninspired… I also have a bridge to sell you if your interested. I thought the whole weekend was excellent . The panels this year were much more helpful to me as an artist this year than last (it also may be a case of it’s not you it’s me). As if you had tailored all of them just for me! The Friday night show was Phenomenal! Thanks to you, Tor, Mona, and Stephanie for making the whole experience positive and informative.. Thanks again and have a great day.

  2. I thought KindieFest was really wonderful. So well put together. The panels were amazing and we learned alot!! Thanks for all you do Bill, Tor, Mona and Stephanie:) The bands were so fun – kids music is truly awesome – funny and rocking at the same time.

  3. Thanks to all who organized this–well-done! And I agree that Shine and The Moonbeams are a group to watch; for me, they were one of the highlights of the weekend. I especially appreciated that the little boy was up there, wanting to sing at first but then pouting and refusing to participate! Reminds me of my own daughter when she was that age…

    One constructive critique: the space was not very audience-friendly. 3 examples — During the keynote everyone had to stand, which I get encourages mingling and networking afterwards, but it’s not “friendly” to the listeners of the keynote. And on Saturday during the panels it was either stuffy or FREEZING with blowing A/C. I heard much complaining about that. And lastly, though the sound was well-mixed it was WAY too loud for the space, even with earplugs many of us brought. We musicians have to protect our hearing and it would go a long way to turn down a bit!

    Oh, and one more suggestion: can you build in a lunch break and/or have substantial (other than muffins) food for sale there? We hated to miss any of the panels to grab a bite. I know the schedule is chockfull already but it seems counterproductive to have great panels and topics and then force the attendees to have to miss some of it.

    Otherwise, stellar panel experts and topics. Again, kudos to you guys.

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