For the love of Rally, post your highlight here!

[matto]

Quote:Hey fellow dot-ers. I managed to bump into a few of you.... U guys are awesome! Rally was so fun and inspiring! Don't really have one main highlight..... the whole trip was a highlight Hmmm, so where were you hiding little devil? I didn't see you anywhere... You and jensen I missed somehow

[asiabackpacker]

Hang on....I take everything back....I just remembered the real highlight of the weekend.....Friday night, open mic. Longhaired, hippie-looking dude steps up to the mic, and says:"Testicles, one two."Maybe it's just my juvenile sense of humor, but nothing else all weekend really topped that now that I think back

[tedsingingfox]

You're welcome Ted. And Michael is right, I can't lie about music... [/quote]Glad to hear it. And don't forget to keep pushing me to write. I'll be eager to let you hear the stuff that's about to be created.Ted

[tedsingingfox]

Quote:Hang on....I take everything back....I just remembered the real highlight of the weekend.....Friday night, open mic. Longhaired, hippie-looking dude steps up to the mic, and says:"Testicles, one two."Maybe it's just my juvenile sense of humor, but nothing else all weekend really topped that now that I think back Allright, backpacker, I axed about you all weekend. Were you wearing a dot on your badge? I was eager to hear if you had ultimately chosen a song to work on and bring with you...Ted

[audiorayne]

Quote:OK, I have finally narrowed it down to ONE particular highlight.For me, THE defining moment was sitting down with Matt Hirt for about 15 minutes, asking for his feedback on a couple of instrumentals I've written, and being told that I have a knack for writing beautiful, melodic, emotional music that is eminently usable and could very well still be making me money 25-30 years from now. WOW. Thank you, Matt, for taking the time and for the words of encouragment.And just to put the cherry on that paricular sundae, I was sitting in the lobby of the Westin Sunday morning, typing away on the boards when I heard, "Hey, Ted!" I look up, and it's Michael Laskow walking up to me with open arms. He gives me a huge, sincere hug, and we begin to share stories of the weekend. At the end of it, I tell him I think I can flat out tell him the one moment that will stick with me the most, and I proceed to tell him about my sit down with Matt.Michael reacts/responds with: "Jesus, Ted. Matt doesn't have it in his nature to lie OR to coddle people just for the sake of being nice OR to give out phony compliments. He is a very tough nut to crack and even harder to impress. You better take what he said to heart. And then, I would say it sounds like congratulations are in order." Then he laughed and gave me another hug.Holy S**T!!! I'm still not completely back down on the ground.That has totally changed my head, changed my focus, and hopefully will ultimately change my life.Thank you, Matt. Thank you, Michael.TedHey Ted,Some of the posts here really jump out at me and yours was one of them. Just want to say thanks so much to you and to others who've had shining experiences at the Rally for sharing them with us. I hope next year I'll be able to post a highlight like that!I also would like to say (I'm echoing a lot of what's already been said, I know) - Michael Laskow is a real inspiration to me. It's so rare that anybody in this world these days (let alone a business person in the music business) is so genuine, supportive, and caring. I find his influence creeping more and more into my daily life - how I interact with people, the emails I write, my attention to things that matter, the importance of being honest and "real" with people, and actually getting to know them. Not only the music business, but the world in general seems like a better place to me because I know there are people out there like Michael.

[tedsingingfox]

Ain't it the truth. Ain't it the truth.Michael rocks. They just don't make CEO's like that. Not in MY experience, anyway. We ALL are blessed by his compassion, his passion, and his desire to see us all get better, smarter, and ever closer to our own dreams.

[nomiyah]

Some highlights:Sat next to Martin (gitarrero) at dinner, I recommended he order a hamburger as long as he was in America (from Switzerland), and then had fun watching him eat it with a knife and fork. (Yes, In-n-Out burgers are better and cheaper. I like the double-double.)Hanging out in Dot Lounge (the tables in the lobby of the hotel where dots were always to be found), there was a lot of drinking going on. The bar stopped serving at 1:15 am, but we weren't done having fun. So Matt went up to his room, grabbed all the drinks from the wet bar and brought all the little bottles down to the lounge. Then Aub and Liam showed up with some beer and buffalo wing Doritos. But then the guy from the bar told us we had to finish the drinks because they had to close up. Aub and Matt argued with the poor guy, asking him to let us drink at least until 2 am. It was pretty funny. We finally went upstairs and continued hanging out. The only thing funnier than the drunk musicians demanding to keep drinking, was watching Steve jump on Aub's lap and kiss his long wavy hair and then watching Aub jump on Steve's lap to kiss his bald head. I guess you had to be there.Hearing about how Bill Clinton had slept in the Presidential Suite and later George Bush slept there. When Bush heard Clinton had been in the same room, he demanded a new mattress. Maybe sleeping on the same bed might have made him into a democrat?Having our forum community be appreciated and acknowledged by Michael, that's a real honor.There were too many highlights, I'll be back on this thread with more.

[aubreyz]

I was hoping some of those highlights would have stayed just between us dots Seriously, there are so many highlights it's hard to pick just one, but I've been trying to think what was THE defining moment for me. My goals as an artist and band are tempered with the reality of the industry and market age limitations. I'm trying to do something that has astronomical odds even for someone half my age. However, at one of the A&R Q&A panels, a question was posed about age. The reply gave me much hope. Paraphrased, the response was pretty much if you have a look, are in shape and present yourself in a marketable way, bottom line it's about the music.There was no inference that the door is wide open for those of us who aren't twenty something, but at least it's not nailed shut either!My other highlights were the one on one times with mentors, Michael Laskow, Chris Baptiste, and all of the dots. There were so many classes and sessions that it was impossible to go to everything, but everything I went to was a learning experience. One of my few regrets is that I didn't get to spend as much one on one time with some of the dots as I would have liked...Aub

[hummingbird]

Highlights:- being able to talk in person to many of my forum friends who have supported & encouraged & propelled me into the new millenium.... love you all - having Ted Lowe say he "really liked" one of my instrumentals & give me specific suggestions on the few short pieces I played for him - Steven Memel's Driver's Ed class 'It sounded better at home' - Steven is so motivating and gets right to the heart of performing well. I took his advice to heart...- and incorporated it when performing at the "open" open mic later that day... where, when I mentioned I was Hummingbird, some folks who I hadn't met seemed to know who I am... and said some lovely things about me (apparently there are lurkers here who don't post much... hi to you -- get posting!)- Mentor lunches that included the opportunity to ask questions of a total of 12 mentors! Awesome.- seeing Michael Laskow give Matt Hirt a "community leadership award" for his contribution to this forum - well deserved, Matt!!- a plethora of interesting panels & classes - always too many to choose from and some you wish were given twice so you'd have a chance to attend- jamming with Casey in the lobby at Registration & over the next couple days- hanging in the sunken bar with the drunken Dots - meeting Michael Laskow live and in person at least 4 times during the Rally. Hope you take a holiday Michael, you work amazingly hard. Kudos to you and your staff for another great Rally!- meeting each of you who came up to say hi.There's probably more but I just got in, am still rocking from the train & the boat, and I'm sleep deprived...!cheersHummin'bird

[brennanhester]

It does seem like everyone had a lot of fun! As I predicted, I went to the Rally, and I saw a lot of you there, and I was too shy to talk to anybody. Maybe I should hire a self esteem coach for next year!