CityBeat Takes Over MidPoint

The MidPoint Music Festival has a new new boss for 2008. The old bosses, Bill Donabedian and Sean Rhiney, will remain on as advisers.

Overall I think this is great news. There are some big challenges ahead for CityBeat, but if they start work now, capitalize on established partnerships, and build up new connections, I think the festival will be a big success.

The initial thought of the festival each of the last couple years is on where will it be. Many have been whining about where MidPoint should be, specifically wanting it to not on Main Street. It has no other possibilities other than OTR and/or Downtown. Since the press release included an event is at Below Zero on April 9th to announce the new vision of the festival, I would surmise Midpoint is staying at least in part on Main Street/OTR. It makes sense on the level that businesses are picking up on Main and Vine. The negative is that these venues are not currently regular live music venues, like they were in the past. I say that point is moot for a simple reason, there are only a handful (maybe two handfuls) of music venues in town that have regular live original music. Those venues are peppered throughout the area, and have no cohesive force that would draw people out for something like this. Few of those venues, especially those in Northside, have stepped forward to be a partner on MidPoint in the past. They've done that mostly for good reason, the target market for MidPoint shouldn't be the grizzled aging hipster sitting at the bar at Northside Tavern. That person either will never change their musical tastes or they already shop at Shake-It and know many of the acts playing the showcases.

CityBeat needs to start with a definition of the festival. What is the point? Who are they trying to reach? My take would be be to bring 3 groups together, unsigned/small label/up and coming acts, media & music industry members, and most importantly the audience. The musicians would want to impress the media/industry by impressing the audience. The media/industry would want to connect or observe the audience and get the vibe out what people like and don't like in current musis. That makes the audience the key. Midpoint needs a large and wide audience.

To get a bigger audience you have to make get them to get in their cars and drive to Main Street. You do that with a hook. Have a Main Stage, say Sycamore Gardens (Red Cheetah) where you have a mix of bigger local bands (Greenhornes, Pearlene, Heartless Bastards) who would not play Midpoint any more, and then get 1 large act for Friday and Saturday Night. The Greenhornes might be big enough. You might need to start the showcases an hour earlier and then end them at the time the headliner would go on, say Midnight. Let the late night slots be second look spots for bands that stay in town, want to play twice, or are willing to be the alternative to the main stage.

This new main stage would be an additional ticket. I'd establish the following price points:
1. One venue one night, not including the Main Stage
2. One night all access minus the Main Stage
3. One night all access plus one night of the Main Stage
4. All weekend all access minus the Main Stage.
5. All weekend all access plus the Main Stage both nights
6. The delegate badge - access to everything, including the conferences, preview parties, etc.

What you wouldn't do is sell a ticket just to the Main Stage. You also could, if the headliners are big enough, sell out the Main Stage and have the normal showcase schedules. That would be hard to predict and plan for, however.

Another important change to make is to have CityBeat make this a conference in part for music journalists. Target them specifically. Free attendance for any good music journalist! Let the blogs in too! I personally appreciated my media credentials for the 2007 festival and I really liked the gift bag last year!

Other ideas - provide more organized opportunities audience/artist interaction. Get more local business tie-ins like Park+Vine. Increase the team running the festival. Bill and Sean did great job, but they did too much themselves, not letting other take over important functions. This can't be the Dan McCabe dictatorship, Dan needs to build a huge team (not that he wouldn't anyway). The Cincy Blues Festival has a good team structure, look to it for some guidance. Also get WOXY AND the rest of the local radio stations involved, somehow. I think WEBN was there last year. The idea is that all of them would want to sponsor a stage or do live remotes, anything. Don't make them compete, let them all in.

The 800 pound gorilla in the room for CityBeat is how they will get local media coverage. It is touchy because CityBeat is a local media outlet and other media outlets would be hesitant to promote something their competition is sponsoring. MidPoint requires coverage in the mainstream Cincinnati Press. That mens getting the local TV/Radio news to coverage it. It also means getting the Enquirer to cover it. As much as the Enquirer tends to suck and it just has no music coverage to speak of, it has many readers who if they know about the festival could come. I also have to say that includes CinWeekly. The more the coverage the festival gets, the better. It would be nicer if CinWeekly actually asked to cover it, but I fear getting a cover from them might take some prodding. This festival is worth sucking up to your foes. Cincinnati has the talent for a music movement. No matter what all the burn-out hippies and coked out scenesters say, we have the makings for a music scene.

More from CityBeat is here.

Shame On OH-02 Dems!

The Democratic primary in Ohio's Second Congressional District (where Jean Schmidt, a Republican, is the incumbent) has gotten really nasty, really quickly. Victoria Wulsin actually went so far as to launch a website to attack Steve Black for the way he characterizes his house on his tax returns. (He's claiming it as a farm, which gives him a tax break.) Black has responded by buying ad time to criticize Wulsin for her alleged ties to malariotherapy (now widely discredited, at one time a few doctors speculated that for some reason, malaria might kill the AIDS virus); this is a rehash of the rant that the Cincinnati Beacon has permitted to permeate its once-interesting blog (I hear the Dean is going to rename the Beacon "Ihatevicwulsin.com").

I'm disappointed in the direction this campaign has taken. Senators Clinton and Obama have set excellent examples for Dems in the national primary, limiting their criticisms of each other to policy positions, and avoiding the "politics of personal destruction" that has now taken over the Black-Wulsin race. At a time when most Second District voters probably still don't know a ton about Steve Black, he's chosen to spend the days prior to the election attacking his opponent's character. And Wulsin--who will likely win the nomination again--doesn't have the good sense to win graciously, but instead started the ugliness with what seems like a pretty gratuitous personal attack that isn't likely to consolidate or win any support.

If I were a Second District constituent (I'm on the eastern edge of the First District), I think I'd be writing in Paul Hackett in the primary contest.

East Price Hill: Incline Square On The Rise

Griff's most recent post reminds me that I've been meaning to link to an article for the past several days. The Enquirer reports that a plan--and lots of cash--are in place to develop Incline Square in East Price Hill:

Backers of the hilltop development aren't elaborating yet, but they promise that the neighborhood they're redeveloping will also include a steakhouse,gourmet pizza parlor, 24 condos with views, a banquet/reception facility,nightclub with outdoor areas and live music, an upgraded park and a concrete pier on which people can walk for a downtown view.

I'm hopeful that the project (in which John Cranley is heavily involved) could mean a detente between Griff and Cranley with respect to their long, bitter feud over the Bank and chain sports bars. (I don't know if Cranley knows he's part of such a feud, but Cincinnati Blog readers know it.) The article's lede is:

By late next year, developers say, you should be able to have a beer at
Incline Square's new sports bar with a view of the city.

Maybe if Cranley has a chain sports bar to visit in Price Hill, he won't be so insistent on one in the Banks. And maybe Griff won't object to a chain sports bar that's farther from him than the Banks will be. Might there be peace in our lifetime?

Finally, we should talk a little more about the old inclines. One of the most interesting ideas I heard during the last Council election (coming, as I recall, from former CPD Officer and Cincinnati NAACP President Wendell Young, who didn't prevail) was a suggestion to rebuild some of the inclines. I think much of the reasoning that applies to the benefits of streetcars applies to inclines. And if you visit other cities with big hills, inclines tend to be an attraction themselves, bringing development around them. In Pittsburgh, for instance, there's three inclines that I can think of, (the "Mon" Incline, the Duquesne Incline, and the Mt. Washington Incline), and at the top of each is a pretty highly developed area with either restaurants, shopping destinations, or both.

Could inclines be an answer to development for some of Cincinnati's neighborhoods outside of downtown? And with talk of spending lots of money for the streetcars (that would spur development primarily in downtown and Over-the-Rhine), isn't now the right time to raise the issue?

UPDATE: Here's some pretty neat pictures of the old Price Hill Incline. And here's an interesting discussion (hosted by NKU) of the historical link between development and transportation, including the inclines, in Cincinnati.

Welcome Lavomatic

As a neighbor my nose has smelled the delights of Jean Robert's newest establishment in OTR. When I've parked by car I've smelled the aroma of what I don't know, but it is tempting. I've not been by, it was packed on Tuesday. I am looking forward to their Brunch starting next weekend. I've noticed that parking on the street is at a premium. I wonder how busy it will be tonight with Final Friday going on. This is a prideful day for my Neighborhood. Now we just need another restaurant across the street!!!!

Witte Doesn't Get It

Pete Witte is a Westsider and supports the Westside strongly. In a letter to the editor Pete takes the typical Republican stance on public works by wanting to know when his streetcar will drive by Price Hill Chile. Pete goes on to show his lack of foresight by not see the potential of people living in OTR and Downtown. Pete, you will get yours when the city is able to build up new residents and therefore a bigger tax base. 20 and 30 somethings are not going to move to Price Hill in droves. Sure, OTR doesn't have the massive population it could have. Guess what, put in a street car and it will have a massive increase in residents.

The city is not going to grow its economy by focusing on neighborhoods that do not have the practical purpose of building a large economic base. Downtown, OTR, and Uptown are the core of City's Economy. OTR is lumped in because it is in the middle. Is that fair? Fair in governance doesn't mean that everything the government does has to be divided by an accountant to make sure that each person living in a Price Hill ally has a streetcar stop outside his humble abode. Instead government picks projects that IN THE LONG RUN will help the entire city. OTR has the potential that no other neighborhood in the city has to become a large and vibrant residential base.

Pete also I think suffers from suburbanitis. He, like John Cranley, appear to be focusing on preventing the Urban core of city and the region from become more urban. I don't know if Pete adheres to Cranley's philosophy of what I think is a miniature form of suburan Terra-forming. We live in a city. We do have suburbs. Suburbs exist because there is an urban core. No urban core, then the suburbs will fail. We will not be a Metro area that has anything to offer if we wipe away the urban core and replace it with a sprawling wasteland of conformity.

Yes, We Knew Cummingham Was an Ass

It is actually a good thing that the rest of Country is able to see that Bill Cunningham acts regularly like a complete asshole.

civility has left the GOP. I will praise John McCain for having some civility and trying to chide his party. He will have no impact. Cunningham has likely had a non-stop stiffy since he first spoke to a member of the press about this. Attention is Cunningham's crack and he is addicted.

Streetcar Update

The Finance committee meeting took place yesterday with now reports of a streetcar plan implosion. CityBeat has a good summation of the meeting. The Enquirer also has a article.