Rubbout Recovery

Once again, I have to apologize for the lack of posting for the past two weeks. Rubbout has come and gone, I'm still in recovery mode and feeling some withdrawals of sorts from going full-bore, no sleep, trying-to-get-my-hands-in-boys-pants mode to a complete standstill. It's very jarring!

I'll have a full personal review of the weekend online soon. In summary, the weekend was the best-executed Rubbout to date. Everyone raved about the events and energy, and I blew a load trying to get it all in place again this year. Luckily I had some committed assistance and things wouldn't have gotten done otherwise, just to let you blessed few know that.

A few hiccups in the background and some unexpected expenses but that is all to be expected. I think the biggest surprise was a big drop in weekend pass purchases this year which really kicked us in the ass financially. The numbers are always the most challenging to plan for; typically one has to go with the previous year's numbers, but in this case, we dropped from 140 weekend passes to 100 this year and need to figure out why in order to plan better for next year.

Once again I think it was partly to do to the fact there is too much to do for too few of us thus some things get overlooked or at least don't get the attention they deserve.

I'm relieved a few more have offered to commit to doing more with the executive preparations next year; one guy who does sales and trade show planning for a living, and another who does union negotiations. I think both will be very valuable additions to the team.

My big goal? Get the main marketing materials done this summer. Since we are doing an Industrial Revolution theme in 2015, anyone have any ideas on how to apply that to artwork? I have a few ideas I will entertain in the near future.