Music City Feis

WHAT WENT RIGHT

• Registration and tabulation were once again contracted out to eFeis.
• Prompt email communication if they thought there were problems with a registration.
• Preregistration was run up in the Grande Ballroom on the 10th floor, along with music, a buffet line and a drinks counter. In a change from last year, lines were split by dancer's last name.
• This feis was once again well-advertised online.

WHAT WENT WRONG

• Non-dancing competitions were not counted toward the family maximum. Again to their credit, the extra money was contributed to charities like in previous years.

GRADE

WHAT WENT RIGHT

• Music competitions were run the night before dancing on one of the downstairs stages. This is a growing trend in the Southern Region, and it's one I hope grows nationwide.
• Adult competitions were scheduled with the kids on stages E and F downstairs instead of upstairs in the ballroom as in the previous two years. Not only did we have time to catch our breath between dances, Devonna and I actually saw our daughter's softshoe competitions.
• Same age group/same stage scheduling on all stages
• Adult Treble Reel at the end of the day
• Speaking of the end of the day, Treble Reels and awards ceremonies started far earlier than they did last year. I'm not quite sure exactly how they did it, but I was impressed nonetheless.

WHAT WENT WRONG

GRADE

WHAT WENT RIGHT

• Excellent signage throughout the site, telling people what was in each room
• Two stages per ballroom on the ground floor as was done last year, with the same beneficial effect on number of musicians needed.
• The dividing line between stages was marked by bright police tape.
• Excellent sound insulation between ballrooms, despite leaving the rearmost partition in each dividing wall open to allow easier access between rooms.
• Two vendor areas -- one in the hotel lobby, and a smaller one in one of the side rooms heading back to stages A-F. This freed up the main hall in front of the first floor ballrooms so it wasn't as crowded through the day.
• I continue to like how the hotel runs Irish music over the speakers in the public areas throughout the weekend.
• Aggressive water service all day
• The buffet line out in the lobby vendor area had breakfast and lunch service going throughout feis day. The Lunch buffet was run for an incredible length of time, as it was last year.
• Two rows of competitor seating per stage were provided along the sides of each downstairs ballroom. Dancers didn't have to stand while being racked and stacked for their competitions.
• The committee enforced a traffic pattern for dancers entering and leaving each stage. Dancers took the stage on its outside, then left the stage on its inside (coming down the middle of the ballroom to do so). This was a Good Idea™ given the size of the ballrooms.
• The Results Room and Awards Room were merged into one big room with no engraver in it. This removed the biggest show-stopper with last year's feis.
• Devonna thinks there were more seats this year than in previous years.

WHAT WENT WRONG

• Parents with dancers on stages A-F downstairs and the stage on the 10th floor at the same time had to choose which one to see. Not a problem for us this year (see above), but it might have affected someone.
• Deep but narrow stages downstairs.
• The downstairs ballrooms were (as last year) on the narrow side, and were frequently crowded early in the day. The traffic management pattern onto and off the stage that I mentioned above helped reduce this a bit.

GRADE

WHAT WENT RIGHT

• A strictly-enforced No Camping policy in the main hall, which also contributed to the relative ease of movement throughout the facility compared to previous years.
• The Feile Minnesota system of competition listing at the stage (Now, Next, and Calling) was in use again this year.
• Just when I swore I would never complain about the size of this feis' Treble Reel trophy again, they went and got larger trophies. Could someone please pass the A-1 to make my words taste better?

WHAT WENT WRONG

• Results posting was a little on the slow side, but nothing approaching the geological time scales of last year.

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