Tonight I leave for Rochester, MN for the IJA’s annual juggling festival.* I come home on Sunday. Originally I wasn’t going to go because we really can’t afford it, however I’m putting in a bid to take over their magazine’s contract which is up for renewal, and Dan said he thought my chances of getting the contract would be much higher if I put in an appearance and talked to the board members and basically spent some face time with the people who will be making the decisions.
The guy who currently has the contract will be there, and so I want to at least even the field a little bit.
So nearly a week of juggling workshops, socializing, and so on, but all in the name of business. Woohoo!
I made up two sample magazines and had them printed at a local shop and I’m bringing those to show to the board at the business meeting. I also plan on having one-on-one conversations with as many board members as I can. The board won’t vote until October, but I want to get in their faces about it as much as possible while I can.
*I met my husband at the festival in 2004
Are there going to be any public demonstrations or exhibitions? A juggler’s parade perhaps (the temps should be back down to the upper 80’s by this weekend). Anything a local person could watch?
BTW, there’s a Model-T convention in Rochester this week too - such a happening place!
There are competitions and shows, and there are spectator passes to the gym. Go to the link on the page for full info. The shows and competitions are WELL worth it. They’re amazing stuff.
Why did you make up two sample issues?
Shouldn’t you make THREE, and juggle them in front of the board?
Seriously - good luck on your pitch to the IJA board!
Sounds like a lot of fun. It’s cool you do that with your guy.
I’ve juggled for years, but never got past the basics. One of our Xmas traditions was me juggling the glass ornaments. Oddly I impress people more with 2 in 1 hand juggling than 3 in 2. I tried to get up to 5, but never got more than a couple of complete cycles (in very poor form). I have gotten into a couple of impromtu exchanges with strangers at the grocery store in the fruit section. You can sort of tell if someone is tossing an apple from hand to hand that they can juggle. I’ve done it so infrequently of late I wouldn’t try the apples now much less glass ornaments.