NQC 2007: Follow-Up Suggestions
My first National Quartet Convention was one of the most amazing events I’ve ever been a part of. It would be hard to improve something this good, but I did keep an eye out for ideas throughout the week. Here are a few ways in which NQC could possibly be improved:
- Move the vendors’ hall closer. Fortunately, they’re already doing that next year.
- Close the vendor’s hall at midnight on Friday. That way, the groups who leave for a Saturday evening date (and there were several) can do that, and all the exhibitors that do not can pack out Freedom Hall for the big finale.
- Do more special lineups like the Eric Phillips / Joseph Habedank / Scott Inman /Jeremy Lile / Josh Singletary quartet. If you put a lineup that strong together, give them a whole set (and make and sell a video, too!)
- In that same light, I’d like to see a trio with some genuinely young artists on the stage. Just imagine what kind of a response a trio with Olivia Collingsworth, Andrew Brown, and Avery Wolfe (with Josh Pope on piano) would get! All three are vocally capable enough to handle a few serious songs; they don’t just have to sing “Jesus Loves the Little Children.”
- Every year, there are always a couple of artists who deserve to be on the main stage but aren’t. This year, the top three in my opinion were the Collingsworths, Jimmy Blackwood’s Blackwood Brothers, and the Browns.
- There have been complaints about lack of draw after Thursday’s Fan Awards, probably the highlight of the convention. The Hoppers’ 50 Anniversary celebration sparked the idea that NQC could schedule a group reunion for a favorite group each year, offering the incentive of giving them a full hour and making a videotape for them to sell. Just imagine the draw a Gold City, Kingsmen, Dove Brothers, or Cathedrals reunion would have.
I just put these ideas out there for whatever they are worth. There is no way that all of them would (or even should) be adopted, but perhaps out of the list, there will be one or two worth using.
