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My weak excuse for not blogging for a month!

Posted by Cody Heitschmidt --Went Live: Sunday, October 11, 2009


The last month has been a great one for my Family and I.


My kids sports teams are doing great and keeping us busy.

Both the kids are doing good in school (Momma is quizzing the 10 year old on multiplication tables right now)

Work has been busy and good.

My main reason is none of the above though cause those have been the normal for about the last 7 years.

A couple of months ago The City of Hutchinson, Ks (where I was born and still call home) announced that due to budget constraints it was contemplating not renewing a contract with a local non-profit theater to continue managing our local community concert hall. Memorial Hall has been a part of this community literally as long as everyone can remember and for the past 5 or 6 years the Fox Theater has been done a great job of managing it as a community venue and concert hall. When I read in the Hutch News that Memorial Hall was potentially going to be moth-balled my mind began to race. I started a discussion with some friends and family and we generated a question in our minds.

"Would it be possible for a private group to take over management of a publicly owned building, make more use of it, promote it heavily and maybe make a few $$. All while guaranteeing the City of Hutchinson a pretty drastic swing towards the positive in budget concerning the building?"

Well... we convinced ourselves it was possible. We began discussions with the City and last Tuesday the City Council ratified our decision.

As of Jan 1 2010 Hutch Hall Productions will take over the Management of Memorial Hall in Hutchinson, Ks.

I am not quitting my day job as I don't see that much potential is the management of the Hall. We will be hiring part-time help for the day-to-day management and administrative duties. But... the last couple weeks worth of evenings and weekends have consumed a fair bit of time organizing and brainstorming.

Honestly I have selfish intentions in writing this blog post. I love the feedback I get from the readers of these blog posts and I would love for you guys to share your ideas on how we could make this venture benefit the City as a huge success. Thoughts?? Ideas??? Concerns???
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7 comments to read/post yours:

  1. I think its great you're so involved with your community, it really shows that 'home' means so much to you. Its admirable to be so involved, almost contagious. I wish we were ALL as motivated and willing as you are. Best of luck!
    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Branli...

    We are gonna need the luck!
    ReplyDelete
  3. Luck really has nothing to do with it. Hard work, dedication, follow up and fairness will be what I think this will take - qualities you've proven you have - Memorial Hall does a great deal for this community and so many enjoy what it brings through events. I'm proud of you for taking it on and I know you well, you have a "plan" and people to support you and help out - I happen to one that will always be there for you!
    ReplyDelete
  4. Cool deal Cody. I will look forward to seeing what kind of changes and new opportunities this venture will bring to Hutch.

    One question. Wondering if you could explain this a little better? "I am not quitting my day job as I don't see that much potential is the management of the Hall".
    I assume you are talking about finacial potential because, prior to reading this part, it sounded like you were pretty excited about the potential. Are there not enough possibilities that would require full time attention to Memorial Hall?
    I hope you don't misinturpret my intent of writing this (often times reading something is different than hearing it)because I do have full faith that you will do a good job.
    ReplyDelete
  5. Aaron,

    I am definitely talking about the financial part. I don't see the guaranteed revenue for me as a replacement to my day job. We will have some part time help but I think the ongoing success of the Hall will be easier to achieve if we don't drain resources by having bigger full time salaries.

    The potential for use and adding to the community is huge. The potential for us to get rich and quit our day jobs... not so much.
    ReplyDelete
  6. Utilize the hall to book shows people will attend. 2 or 3 years back, Paul Rodriquez came, and packed the house. It was a great show, and an act that you don't see in Hutch, let alone in Kansas. Hutchinson will support this, and the events that will take place, as long as it caters to the people that attend events. Not the blue hairs that always complain. Serving alchol is a must. Events will get weak attendance if alchol is not served. If an event is geared toward children, then that's a different story, but any other event must have alchol. If not, the attendance will not be as high, and the next event will be even lower. Making it unique to Hutch is also a must. Why must an event be held downtown? The opportunity to offer a unique atmoshpere is great, and that will allow it be successful as well.
    ReplyDelete
  7. Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
    Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!
    ReplyDelete

I love the discussion in the comments.. so... GO FOR IT!

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