The Double FF — Ffabulous and Fflamboyant — Bus Tour

“When do grown ups … get the chance to be that free?”

“I am so glad it was such a buzz for everyone! I am really, truly grateful and very happy.”

The Ffabulous and Fflamboyant Bus Tour around Cardiff, on Saturday 19 May 2018, was the second consecutive event I produced for Get The Chance during the Gwanwyn Festival of Creativity for Older People in Wales.

Also for the second time, Suzanne Noble, whose Flamboyant Bus Tour in London was the highlight of Advantage of Age’s 2017 events calendar, inspired our Wales-based event.

AofA’s Arts Council of England-funded events drove impressive numbers to their now 3,000 plus members-strong Facebook group, Advantages of Age, Baby Boomers and Beyond and 6,500+ followers-strong Instagram account The London bus tour helped to consolidate the AofA community, and it was the primary driver of human traffic to the group.

Through the power of our partnership with Advantages of Age, Get The Chance’s events have the chance to reach many more people. I was keen to build on the success of my 2017 event, Creative Listening, and to continue to develop this relationship.

Creative Listening could have been perceived as ‘fluffy’ due to it being set in a hot tub. On the contrary, it was quite a cerebral event.

https://youtu.be/bAj7xgrRqYQ

Similarly, AofA’s inspired series of hot tub salons earlier in 2017 were by no means fluffy.

I was pleased to have received another grant and another chance to produce. For many reasons I wanted to mix it up this time, do something different, and I felt that it would be great to do something that was for just for fun for a change, particularly because of how intense the social and political climate in 2018 had been. People needed some levity and an opportunity for some escapism. I had no intention to make light of something that warranted a serious take — but without a doubt a creative event such as a bus tour was a platform to be able to offer such levity, and I loved being in the position to be able to offer people this opportunity.

The Double FF Bus Tour offered participants a chance to express themselves — however the mood took them. There were no dictates, no rules, only to be as flamboyant as they liked — whatever that meant to them, and feel as fabulous as they could — inside and out! A chance to hop on board and be themselves — to come out, enjoy and have as much fun as they possibly could on an open top bus around Cardiff!

So, how did it go?

From a marketing perspective, Facebook was my primary marketing tool. I started to promote the event via the Double F Facebook ‘public group’ in early March —

FFabulous and Fflamboyant Bus Tour

March 12

Gearing up for a great event. It’s greatness will be measured by levity and uncomplicated fun. It will make a nice change. Please come and join us.

The Double F Facebook group page got 75 members; Fabulous and Flamboyant Bus Tour @ Get the Chance page attracted 50 members and continues to get Likes; and the Event page, attracted another 19. Examining the analytics, there is room for improvement on these social media numbers. But before I shoulder any ‘blame’ for these less-than-ffabulous results, I would like to comment on how I felt whilst working on the social media campaign. I felt confused, and somewhat overwhelmed by what was on offer on FB, and I believe the confusion stems from the option to set up a ‘page,’ a ‘group,’ and an ‘event’.

I started by setting up the Double F group,

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1409058989223408/,

which somehow got linked to last year’s Creative Listening page, and then thought I’d better set up a separate page for the Bus Tour, and so I set up The Fabulous and Flamboyant Bus Tour @ Get The Chance

https://www.facebook.com/GetTheChanceCymruWales/,

and then supposed that we needed something to flag up the ‘event’, and set up an Event page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/200768290519952/.

I thought all of these would link up simply and seamlessly and that cross communication would flow, but this was not the case, and as a result, my efforts on FB were split between 3 different places. For the purposes of managing communications with existing ‘members’ and managing promotional efforts to attract more, it became somewhat confusing for me, and I have no doubt that it was not entirely clear to the public either. And so, while Facebook does provide an excellent way to reach the public, I have a feeling that they are now complicating their offer beyond what is practicable. Or, perhaps I need to up my game, and just figure it out! I would welcome comments from others on their experiences with promoting via Facebook.

That said, Facebook analytics have provided me with some reassuring and encouraging stats:- We ‘organically reached’ 2,344 people. Reach is defined as the number of people who had info about the event ‘enter’ their screen.

The majority of those reached were females between the ages of 45 and 64 years old. Iam satisfied with these results. Perhaps my next event will attempt to address the imbalance between men and women reached.

Oftentimes the event organizer is too busy to actually participate, but because most of the work had been done in advance, I was able to feel like a participant. I was able to really enjoy and feel part of the day, which was amazing.

Judging the mood on the day of the event — it was high spirited! The weather was ideal — it could not have been better! And the Royal Wedding on the morning of our 1pm scheduled event was quite likely a contributing factor to the sense of occasion that was in the air. The cumulative effect was wonderful.

“The Double FF Bus Tour… ‘…took a great event and made it better.”

As a producer, I am confident the event went very well, and that it achieved its objectives — we had a chance to do something different, be ourselves and have a fun day out with a group of older people. Measuring the degree of levity and volume of uncomplicated fun — our cups were full and spilling over.

The experience also offered me a learning curve — there were things that could have worked better. Logistics were the primary problem, having a starting point in one place — The National Museum of Wales — and an end point in another — Cardiff Bay. The problem this presented only became clear as it was occurring, by which time it was too late to change. And so, after the full loop through Cardiff City Centre, down to the Bay, and back up to the Castle, participants who had parked their cars in the City Centre near to the museum did not want to go back to the Bay for tea and cake. We were only a handful of people at Ffresh. Too bad we didn’t think to start and end in the Bay, that actually would have made much mores sense …..But that is part and parcel of doing something for the first time. You cannot possibly think of everything. The other was that, due to road closures for another big event going on, which we hadn’t been previously aware of, the bus driver had to improvise the route. For example, I don’t think an open top bus would have gone under the rail bridge in Riverside except under these circumstances — and in their feedback some participants said they’d found this scary. I’m very sorry about that, but it was something that was out of my control. I did check back with the bus company on this matter and I am relieved and reassured by their response:-

Dear Leslie,

Yes, we used the route through Riverside due to diversions on the day.

As you can appreciate we have been running the tours in Cardiff for over 22 years, the bridge although appears low, with a very tall person standing, they clear the bridge with a lot of room. 

We have route risk assessments done on all roads covered by our main tour,  and any roads covered due to diversions. We have used the Riverside bridge route many times over many years.

I am grateful to the bus driver, Maria, for her professionalism and for being such a great sport. She really entered into the spirit of the day. I am also grateful for Lynn Hoare’s contribution — she brought along an array of costumes — hats, feather boas, masks, capes, etc., from Marigold Costumes — which were there for the borrowing.

“The costumes were wonderful; you could see people change as they put them on.”

Another big thanks to Lucy Purrington who was our stills photographer and videographer on the day. Please enjoy her photos in the is article! Here is the short video Lucy produced.

I was thrilled to have connected with Bethan Frieze, the conductor of choir Only Menopause Aloud, and for the choir to have been part of the day. Their contribution added a huge surge of energy!

The event could not have happened without the extra sponsorship from Spice! I am especially grateful to Rachel Gegeshidze and her team for helping promote and attract participants to the event.

 

And, of course, to Guy O’Donnell, Director of Get The Chance, to Emma Robinson at Gwanwyn, and to Suzanne Noble of Advantages of Age.

There was a lot of positive and constructive feedback, amongst my favorites, pulled out and highlighted in this evaluation:-

Bethan Frieze, Conductor, Only Menopause Aloud, captures a special essence with hers:-

‘When do grown ups (who are not performers) get the chance to be that free?’

Suzanne Noble joined us on the day, and her comment makes me feel proud:-

‘The Double FF Bus Tour took a great event and made it better.’

“A really happy couple of hours…I suspect that it will stay a very happy memory for all.”

Leslie R. Herman

July 2018

 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom works by being a true blockbuster and tapping into what makes them great watches. Simple and engaging characters that move from one set-piece to the next. Along the way we see wild images and feel a gamut of emotions and leave feeling satisfied.

(5 / 5)

I enjoyed the first Jurassic World movie enough but found there were many pointless elements, plot points that didn’t make any sense and some wasted potential. It did, however, make a lot of money so a sequel was inevitable. But they announced that J.A. Boyegar was taking over the reins as director. From his Gothic horror movie of The Orphanage to Disaster movie The Impossible and the best movie of last year with A Monster Calls he has quickly built-up a reputation as one of the top filmmaking talents. His movies cut deep into human emotions, whether they be fear, endurance or dealing with reality they are emotionally driven. He adapts himself to using some similar shots that we know from this established franchise (one particularly iconic helicopter shot) and more chatty and joky characters and has made something him and is part of a franchise.

Now for the synopsis. Jurassic Park was meant to be a park where they brought Dinosaurs back from extinction and the people could experience them. This was obviously a bad idea but lent itself to a great scenario so they did it anyway. It went badly. The Dinosaurs got free and now run the island, that is the current situation, but the volcano at the center of the island is about to erupt which will wipe out all the Dinosaurs. Some say they should be saved because they are living creatures others say they can never be controlled and are man-made so be left to their fate. A special group is financing a rescue of two of each species and they recruit Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) from the last movie to assist, she then brings in Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) also from the last movie because of his expertise and connection with Blue the Raptor.

From here on the movie strings together set-piece to set-piece and thematic elements into a whole. It isn’t at the non-relenting passe of Mad Max: Fury Road but it is brink and with a bountiful serving of variations. There are suspenseful moments of having to sneak around, chases, and confined situations of claustrophobia.

There seems to be a resurgence, since the release of The Force Awakens, of using practical effects and prosthetics again and I am so happy to see it. C.G.I. is a wonderful tool but it is not the answer to all, practical effects give weight and believability to the creatures. C.G.I. ages very quickly and a real, well textured and painted model or puppet won’t. As well as that it gives the actors something to genuinely act with.

There is an understanding that Dinosaurs are the biggest predators that ever walked the Earth and to be around one that eats meat, is one of the most dangerous things you can do. It is quickly established with the dread the characters talk about them, the fear that flashes on their faces and a few selective devourings of characters. Even the herbivores are so large that if you get in their way, you will be flattened.

When development of a movie begins there is what is called “Concept Art” these are pieces of art that seeks to give a feel for the tone and mood of the movie and give the filmmakers something to work towards visually. They are usually expressive and quite beautiful. Through the movie, you can see moments in which were clearly taken from a piece of illustrated art and are some truly beautiful and haunting moments of cinema.

Thematically the movie is focused on the original movies concept as well as going further to Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein (she even gets a cameo in the movie in the form of a painting) and that is the responsibility of creation.

This movie is a reminder of what a great experience you can have sitting in the seat of a theater and seeing the images on the big screen and hearing the loud sounds all around you. It respects the original material and boldly pushes it forward and will have you in awe and tremble in fear of Dinosaurs.

Jonathan Evans

The director of Get the Chance, Guy O’Donnell recently met with Aisha Kigwalilo. They discussed her background, a new arts project called G.I.R.L. Xhibtion and her thoughts on the arts in Wales.

Hi Aisha great to meet you, can you give our readers some background information on yourself please?

Hi, I’m 19 years old and I live in Cardiff, yet I am of African descent. Currently I’m an undergraduate student finishing 1^st year study of International Relations and Politics however I have not always been in this field. Throughout high school, college and now I’m involved in music as a vocalist and songwriter.

So what got you interested in creative expression, the arts and social activism?

Creative expression has been something I have always embodied, in my music, dance and musical theatre phase. However, my interests in social activism and supporting human rights and social justice has always been brewing; it was being placed in an environment such as politics that reminded me how important those issues truly are. Considering the fact, leader fellowship programme, TuWezeshe Akina Dada gave me this opportunity I believe that, even though I’m not an artist myself, art is the best language to translate feelings that leave words speechless.

Thanks Aisha,  can you tell us more about TuWezeshe Akina Dada and  G.I.R.L. Xhibition?

TuWezeshe Akina Dada is a leadership programme built to encourage, mentor, and inspire young women to live to their full potential. Operating since July 2016, TuWezeshe selects young women from England, Wales and Scotland, training us how organise our own projects of activism in both the British and African diaspora.

The projects we decide to create surround the lessons taught in our training, gender-based violence, identity, and empowerment. G.I.R.L. Xhibition lies in empowerment, because it focuses on how society only gives platforms to certain narratives. With the limitations communities face when it comes to representation, numerous narratives can shape an individual yet many of those narratives hardly explored. G.I.R.L. Xhibition aims to present the narratives of the ordinary, through the expression of art. Making the unconventional, the new conventional.

Therefore, with donations from Comic Relief TuWezeshe’s founder FORWARD UK has partnered with Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel Wales thus each fellowship is granted £500 for their project. However, for personal reasons and I believe many could relate to I have registered G.I.R.L. Xhibition to be a fundraiser for Velindre Cancer Centre. It is something that hits home for me and I know it is a narrative many individuals can relate to, thus all profits e.g. ticket sales, drinks will be donated there!

 

One of the Get the Chance team, Amina Elmi is involved in the exhibition in Cardiff, how did local females get involved in the project and how did you select the work to be exhibited?

Well I selected Amina Elmi to model for G.I.R.L.’s promotion campaign. In the actual exhibition, nine artists from across the UK (Cardiff, Newport, Bath, Bristol, Swindon and Portsmouth). I wanted to select ordinary girls like Amina because I wanted to help expand the platform of the representation of black women, to ordinary girls and those of African and Caribbean descent. Amina’s poster is one of four other posters, each one designed differently and highlighting their character/personality. They aim of my campaign was to highlight the cultural and personal dimensions. I selected each girl based on their individuality and the differences that them similar to me, others, and perhaps yourself!

We asked Amina to give a personal response to her involvement in this new intiative.

How did you come to be involved with this project?

Aisha and I were friends in college. We recently caught up with each other and Aisha told me that she was planning an exhibition. I was really impressed as she was so passionate and excited when explaining the project to me. Later, she then asked me if I wouldn’t mind being in some photos for the promotion of the event.

Can you tell us more about your work featured in this project?

Myself and 3 other amazing young ladies were asked to do a photo shoot. This was for the promotion online and leaflets that Aisha was going to make. In the photo shoot, Aisha made sure we were all comfortable and reminded us that she wanted us to be ourselves. This allowed the photos of us girls to represent a different types of black women.

You have spoken in the past about the lack of representation of Muslim females in the mainstream media. Do you think projects like this go some way to improving the situation?

Definitely. This exhibition is about black women. A group I feel is restricted by stereotypes and ignored by the mainstream media. By showcasing different types of black women this exhibit is defying those assumptions. In my case, Aisha wanted to highlight that the experiences of black hijabi women are also valid.

Thanks Amina.

Aisha, Get the Chance works to support a diverse range of members of the public to access cultural provision. Are you aware of any barriers to equality and diversity for either Welsh or Wales based creatives?

I’m aware of the barriers to equality and diversity in Wales to a great extent, presently I’m noticing a growth in Welsh based creatives showing more presence, especially in Cardiff’s art festivals. When I was searching for the artists I made sure to provide Wales based creatives (Newport and Cardiff) the opportunity to showcase in an art exhibition I believe, has not been displayed in Wales. And I hope after this exhibition, more Wales based creatives will be inspired to develop exhibitions like G.I.R.L.

There are a range of organisations supporting Welsh and Wales based creatives, I wonder if you feel the current support network and career opportunities feel ‘healthy’ to you? Can more be done?

Well, I am receiving a great deal of  support from the National Museum of Wales, which is exciting! But except for that the current support network I am receiving at this moment is from individuals, specifically artists in their own right within the Welsh university community and friends; I believe that is more than ‘healthy’. Yet more can be done, because when looking at the works of all nine artists I realised that in exchange for them volunteering their artworks to such a great cause, the least I can do is provide them the exposure and attract creatives and galleries within the Cardiff area.

If you were able to fund an area of the arts in Wales what would this be and why?

This is a hard question but honestly, I would direct my funds to art departments in Welsh schools and universities. There is scene there that deserves to be noticed, I believe that many artists get discouraged to continue as it is considered an ‘unrealistic’ career choice especially in African and Asian communities. If art students are given more platforms to showcase and interact with other Wales based creatives/artists that will be worth something!

What excites you about the arts in Wales? What was the last really great thing that you experienced that you would like to share with our readers?

What excites me about the art in Wales is the subtle growth of creative expansion. I appreciate the Celtic and culturally Welsh inspired to the postmodernist statement exhibitions taking place in Wales! I just hope G.I.R.L. Xhibition can contribute to this growth of expansion and open up another avenue the Welsh creative community can explore.

Thanks for your time, Aisha

Thank you for having me!