Hey everybody, Before we gather on Monday, we wanted to give you a snapshot of where things stand and what we will be discussing.
Orange Blossom Revue has always been about more than music. Through the Blossom Charitable Foundation, it is one way we bring people together, enrich lives, and invest in positive change in the community we call home. That purpose matters during the long days of preparation and throughout a festival weekend that asks a lot of us. We are working to build a festival with lasting vitality and a meaningful place in this community for years to come.
That long-term goal has shaped some important changes this year—the biggest being our new partnership with Rise Up Selects (RUS). Based in Salt Lake City, Rise Up produces Reggae Rise Up in St. Petersburg and runs several proprietary events. They are stepping in to help us manage production, marketing, and talent buying, bringing a level of expertise and industry relationships that are already making us a stronger, more sustainable festival.
On the ground, Rise Up is coordinating key parts of festival production, including setup, stages, sound, generators, tents, and portable restrooms. They have also connected us with experienced professionals to manage the bars—covering purchasing, staffing, inventory, and payouts—and will oversee backstage hospitality and merchandise, where their merch director is helping us rethink what we offer and how we sell it. On the marketing side, they are creating the digital content you have been seeing lately. After rebuilding our Facebook presence from the ground up, we have now passed 6,000 followers, which is 1,000 more than when we started.
As we head into Monday’s meeting, we want you to know that some roles will look different this year, and we will talk through those changes together. With Rise Up managing key operational areas, our team can focus more on the guest experience and making the festival welcoming and well-run. One prime example is camper arrival, which is one of our biggest opportunities to improve. By dedicating more people and ideas to this area, we can make the process smoother for guests and give our camping team stronger support than we’ve been able to in recent years. We will share more as the plan takes shape.
In closing, we want to be straightforward about ticket sales. Our transition to a new event team set several things in motion and took longer than expected. As a result, ticket sales launched later than planned and are not yet where we need them to be. That delay is on us, not Rise Up Selects.
Now that the right support is in place, we can all help build momentum. If you have the capacity, please talk about OBR, share our posts, and invite your friends, family, and coworkers. If you know someone who might be interested in sponsoring the festival, send us their contact information—we would be glad to connect with them.
Joey Traum, Reed Goodhue, or both will join us from Rise Up via Google Meet. We have sent a meeting link for anyone who cannot attend in person, and we will do our best to record the meeting so everyone can catch up afterward. We will send an agenda shortly.
Today’s meeting starts at 5:30 and is located at:
Bunting Tripp & Ingley
230 E Tillman Avenue
Lake Wales, FL 33853
You can also join via Google Meets: https://meet.google.com/xxv-yjei-buo?authuser=2&hs=122
Homework
FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions)
The time and care you give to OBR matter well beyond festival weekend. Your work strengthens the place we all call home, and we are grateful to be building this together. We look forward to seeing you Monday and moving ahead toward this year’s festival.
Rusty + Reid