CFN – Imagine going to an event to release kick off upcoming celebrations with no signage for the event? Anyone driving by the restaurant holding the Cornwall Corus Kinsmen 2012 Lift Off would think the local Corus radio station was holding a sales meeting. The Corus Cars were prominently parked in the parking lot; their staff were there en masse, and even the intro videos to the band ended with single branding images.
Not a single one of the band images like the one above has mention of any of the other sponsors of Lift Off.
The Lift Off team have doubled the cost of a walk up weekend pass for the event, from $30 last year to $60 in 2012. Early bird and single day prices are in effect, but higher than 2011 as well.
Michael Galvin, Cornwall Kinsmen President and Media guy for Lift Off announced they were hoping for 30,000 in attendance for the event which would raise well over $500,000 for 2013 Lift Off.
The new board was introduced with many new faces during the festivities that drew about 100 people.
For an area that is focusing so much on Arts and Culture Lift Off could and should be an opportunity to really amp up the local music scene, but Rob Seguin, Music Director for Lift Off and Program Director for the Local Corus stations still has a handful of local bands opening with no local second stage. We have been told that local bands are still only being given free tix for the event and not being paid which also if true doesn’t make any sense.
Again, the good news is that Lift Off has survived another year. Hopefully saner minds prevail and that Lift Off somehow ends up being run by the city or new sponsors are brought in that aren’t so in the pocket and kow towing to one media outlet.
And the local acts are:
Thursday July 12th
Playing with Diana
Arcane Belief
Friday July 13
The Shiners
Switchgear
Saturday the 14th
Tyler Kealey
Elly May
Glad to see some of the local bands getting some love, but geez Lift Off guys; throw these artists some coin. It costs a ton to develop into the kind of artists that pull down what Rob Seguin gave to one management company for Lift Off!
Special thanks to Jamie Carr, talented morning man on CJSS who seems to have given this scribbler a special welcome to kick off Lift Off!
With Bluesfest in Ottawa, the Montreal Jazzfest and the myriad and multitude of artists on tour this summer it’s sad to see how this event is being handled.
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Again; we can only hope for a good house cleaning and progress next year as the people of Cornwall deserve better. Jacking up ticket prices while pumping dollars into the local Corus radio properties isn’t going to ring well in a community suffering from massive job losses and a suffering local business community.
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Lift Off was a respite in the summer looked forward to by hundreds of families who now may only be able to listen in the distance instead of being able to afford bringing their families to Lamoureux Park on a hot summer weekend.
What do you think Cornwall? You can post your comments below!
Rob Seguin needs to go once and for all!
“..and other person.” is as funny as “Holy Gilles Latour!”
These folks never made it to Econ 101 I can only guess. The combination of price increase and watered down product has only worked once in modern history with the sale of bathtub gin. That killed people. This will only kill the event. I will be watching the Corus Lift Off burn from the hill where the event is free, maybe. No hater.
Hopefully someone will fix it next year.
You’ll probably not publish this b/c it represents an opinion that differs from yours. That being said; I’m compelled to continue anyway. You have so much venom directed to this event; which blows me away; you obviously do NOT understand the tangible economic impact of this event on Cornwall. Perhaps you don’t care that many in our community thrive on the visitor spend…probably b/c they don’t contribute to your bottom-line. Community advocate and supporter; you are NOT! You fail to recognize the enormous effort being put forth by the numerous VOLUNTEERS associated with this event. That includes the effort of Rob Seguin and his Corus associates. You mention only Corus branding being present…the 20′ Cornwall Lift-Off flag on the patio must not have been in your line of sight….tunnel vision will do that.
Most were not suprised to see you show up at the event last night w/ video camera in hand. It would have been nice if you actually contributed to the event by actually purchasing a meal [besides the beer at the bar] like most others as opposed to taking whatever you could from the freebie trays.
Support your community and stop the bs [although I highly doubt that’s part of your agenda]
Do the local musicians play for free?
I love trolls. To answer your question; there is not an ounce of venom. I think Lift Off is amazing and I think it’s amazing that the true volunteers of Lift Off; the people the do the heavy lifting do what they do.
Your comment though touches on the true cancer of Lift Off and that is its control by people like Michael Galvin. Lift Off is a true opportunity for Cornwall to have an amazing event that features our city. It though can’t fall prey to the type of amateur and petty high school antics of its board at the hand of one media outlet.
Lift Off has to be transparent and INCLUSIVE. If that’s venom baby then take a big gulp and do some heavy thinking. Maybe venom is better for you than Kool Aid?
Why isn’t 94.7 Hits FM part of Lift Off? According to the BBM books they are way ahead of Corus in most Demographics and reach into Montreal. Why on earth shouldn’t Lift Off have as much Community support as possible? Why shouldn’t Lift Off be supported by CFN as well as we are the largest media outlet in Cornwall; the number 6 website OVERALL in our city, and our reach outside is huge with us being #215 in Ottawa alone?
Why aren’t there country music acts, or blues, jazz, hip hop, reggae, ska, punk, metal…..I’m sure if you get the point.
Why is Lift Off pumping dollars into Corus while giving them such prominence? Good for Corus. I don’t blame them. They’re a company, but they pull this with every event they participate in. Either they get what they want (generally exclusivity) or they don’t participate. That’s not being a good neighbor or community member. Is it?
As for the event itself at the restaurant; the crowd support alone should be indicative as a Red Flag Warning. Take out the Lift Off board and Corus staff and you there weren’t too many people there. In a city of 46,000 people what does that say? And now by doubling the Lift Off prices it opens the door for Ribfest to do very well; but of course, Corus has that covered too, right?
Finally, the fact that you’ve chosen to stay anonymous shows your lack of sincerity and character. If you can’t defend your point without name calling you have no point. If you can’t defend your point by standing in the light instead of hiding in the dark what does that say about you?
You know my little troll; many complain that Cornwall isn’t growing. That it’s stagnated at 46,000 people. Think about this. With the influx of seniors our population isn’t going up. That means that people are leaving. Cornwall has such huge opportunities, but it will not truly enjoy and fulfill them as long as people behave like yourself and like the people RUNNING Lift Off who love to hide behind the blood, sweat, and labour of hundreds of true volunteers who really deserve better.
Cornwall deserves better. So there. Your comment was posted. Cheers and thanks for the opportunity to put to rest some of the spin and lies you’re little friends like to swallow.
Cornwall can do w/o trash talking idiots…what an appropriate pseudonym you chose for yourself. There are so many ways that your statement (diatribe) is in err that I just have to start point by point.
1. How can you possibly understand the tangible economic impact of this event on Cornwall when the committee refuses to be transparent with its financial statements. The public is putting money into this event and we don’t know where its going.
2. The volunteers have always been recognized for their work and a large part of the insistence of financial transparency is so the volunteers can see what all their hard works is accomplishing.
3. Is Lift-Off it’s own sponsor? Off course Lift-Off is going to have a banner at its own event. What kind of a dumb observation is that or did you just run out of things to rant about.
4. You criticize Jamie for not buying a meal? Did you follow him around the room and count the number of appetizers that he ate? Given your attitude and a lot of the people present it was probably healthier for him to select food at random.
5. When you start using your real name your comments may take on some form of reality. You are obviously connected to Lift-Off and are part of the group that doesn’t like to have their deeds exposed.
Re: Trashing talking’s “opinion.” What was expressed is not actually an opinion, it’s mostly a trashy personal attack on a reporter who is doing what reporters are supposed to do: to shine lights in dark places for peoples’ better understanding. CFN has been lauding the good work of volunteers from the beginning of the discussion.
I think you’re onto something Mare. And to my Troll friend here is an example of Mr. Galvin in action when he responded via comment to a previous Lift Off Story.
http://cornwallfreenews.com/2011/09/is-lift-off-in-trouble-kinsmen-to-decide-this-month-to-continue-sponsorship-september-6-2011-cornwall-ontario/
God bless all the volunteers in Lift-Off. If this event is run with mainly volunteers then please tell me where the $500,000, that they want to raise, is going? It would seem that half-a-million dollars should be accounted for to the paying public and other citizens. Simple question: where is the money going?
Too bad for negative people. Lift off has come a long way. I go every year and pay for my tickets.It is a wonderful festival to have in Cornwall and seems a shame to knock something so greatl. I have friends that come from out of province not just out of town to come and listen to the line up and see the balloons. As for money spent , really people , Entertainment is not cheap. Have a little faith in your community. People work very hard to build up this community and bring various things to Cornwall.
Yes Sherry, a lot of people work very hard to make this a better community. It’s not limited to the Kinsmen & Corus radio clique.
Well so far I like the events however nothing except the Fire Works and the CAS kids park was worth a heavy mention sorry. I get lots of people put in time and effort on a volunteer basis however don`t think us naive enough to think the big shots aren’t rewarded.I would think that the influence of bands was directed by a few chosen no doubt and with little input from the public. Price increase for what??Bands are ok but not for all for sure and I for one would love a public vote from 100 bands or so. Oh well the rich get richer and we just rant about it.