Well, well, well. Where do I begin?
Let me say first off, what an honor it is to represent this club! You all pulled together, stepped up, and helped pull off Michigan Magic Day 2016 in such a way that, as Jim Folkl put it, "raised the bar for future conventions"! Thank you, thank you, thank you, for all your help, all your ideas and suggestions, and for all your encouragement and kind words.
WE DID IT!
Thanks to Art Goyette (master of the registration desk), Ken Magee (our forever auctioneer), Dan Jones (our money man), Jim Folkl (transport extraordinaire), Randy & Pam Smith (donated the snacks for Friday night - THANK YOU - and Randy's photography skills and Pam's ticket taking Sat night), Mark O'Brien (may the light always shine on you), Joaquin Ayala (backstage guru), Scott Mitchell (my go-to guy for whatever I needed), Jim Molnar (keeping things secure, and suggestions on the fly), Jim Placido (making magic in the lobby), Linda Triemer (balloon artist - so sorry we never got to utilize your talents to the max), Bill Brang (master of raffle sales, and a very cool costume), Scott Kindschy (among other things nonchalantly mentioning WCC as a location), Jim Ruth (generously donating the proceeds from the Magician statue auction), Gary Segadi (a utility guy who pitched in and helped whenever, and wherever needed), Karl Rabe (web master, and mastermind of our awesome ticket sales), and Molly Larson (who was with us in spirit after illness kept her down)!
As you probably have heard (if you didn't experience it first hand), everything went flawlessly. I don't believe we had one single issue the entire weekend!
We probably had somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 people at the show Saturday night! And our own Gordon Schott and family did a masterful job (as always), closing the first half of the show. Lots and lots of pictures on Facebook, and soon, I'm sure, on our site.
Once the final bill from the college comes in, we'll be able to sort through all the costs. But we are within spitting distance of breaking even. I don't think we made much if anything (all those last minute little things can break a budget), but we didn't blow the nest egg either!
I don't know about you, but I'm ready for 2020. We've got a great system down, a fantastic facility, and made some great contacts, and some new fans.
Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you to all!
Magically yours,
John Russell
