From: jonwnashville@yahoo.com   
      
   "John Shafto"  wrote in message   
   news:oj4mk2-ioj.ln1@news.mato.com...   
   > "Jon Weisberger"  wrote in message   
   > news:wJOdnUks7_5aG-rfRVn-1Q@comcast.com...   
   >>   
   >> "cowboy"  wrote in message   
   >> news:jIudnZd0yMqX2-rfRVn-uQ@comcast.com...   
   >> > who was the braintrust that came up with this schedule:   
   >> >   
   >> >   
   >> > Dumplin Valley bluegrass festival (largest in the south)   
   >> > Sept-15-18   
   >> >   
   >> > National Bluegrass Championships, Winfield, KS (largest in the country)   
   >> > Sept-15-18   
   >>   
   > [...]   
   >> And in the fourth, the venues are   
   >> almost 1,000 miles apart, and draw the bulk of their respective audiences   
   >> from different parts of the country.   
   >   
   > That  may be, but the one in KS is calling itself a "National   
   > Championship".   That may just be hype, and it really is only   
   > a regional event, but if so their pretentions are exposed by   
   > simultaneously scheduling theirs during another that is seen as   
   > "the largest in south", not an insignificant region of the country   
   > when talking about Bluegrass either.   
      
   Winfield's competitions predate the Dumplin Valley fester by a significant   
   number of years.  If anyone's "simultaneously scheduling [their event]:   
   during another, it's the Dumplin Valley promoter(s).   
      
   > I'd think the "National Championships" would have an easier   
   > time attracting talent for their competition on a different weekend,   
   > and that the winner could possibly have a somewhat better claim   
   > as "National Champions".  ;)   
   >   
   >   
   > (1000 miles is just down the street for professional musicians)   
      
   Not hardly, it isn't.  Furthermore, as previously noted, these are largely   
   two different kinds of events - or, at least, the competition part of   
   Winfield is different from a regular bluegrass festival.  Still further,   
   there isn't a whole lot of overlap between those seeking to make their mark   
   in instrumental competitions and those seeking to do so in working   
   professional bands - a lot of competitors, for instance, aren't full-time   
   musicians, and many of them don't play in bands; if and when they do so, it   
   usually goes hand in hand with dropping out, or at least considerably   
   scaling back, their participation in competitions.  The two things demand   
   different skills and different mindsets, or so I've been regularly told by   
   folks who have actually made the switch.   
      
   So I very much doubt that participation in the Winfield National   
   Championships is hurt by Dumplin Valley, or any other bluegrass festival,   
   being scheduled at the same time.  Nor, as I said, does it seem likely that   
   these events are competitive with respect to the bulk of audience members,   
   given that they draw these primarily from different parts of the country.   
   Both are pretty successful events, so it's hard to see where there's much   
   evidence to support the notion that the schedule is hurting either of them.   
      
   --   
   Jon Weisberger   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)