by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Jazz is by definition an improvisational form of music, and this year’s marketing and promotion effort for the Jacksonville Jazz Festival is reflecting that proud tradition.
Every City department has absorbed at least a 10 percent budget cut. For Special Events, the department that produces the Jazz Festival, World of Nations, Skyblast and other events designed to improve the quality of life in Jacksonville, the austerity program has led to changes in how events are promoted to the public..
“Everyone is doing more with less,” said Christina Langston, special events public relations manager.
One way the City has promoted the Jazz Festival in years past was with window displays at the Florida Theatre, site of the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition. This year, that effort has been taken to a new level by Events Specialist Amy Jenkins. This year’s showpiece is at the Landing, where Jenkins has installed a display in space near the entrance adjacent to Starbucks.
“The design incorporates all of the different elements of the festival,” she said. “There’s the music and the performers, the 30º Latitude Wine Tasting Experience, the Art at the Met art show and the Sunday Jazz Brunch.”
In keeping with the “minimum budget to get the job done approach”, Jenkins said she personally provided many of the props for the displays and added, “My apartment is pretty empty right now.”
Rachel Nudge, public relations director at the Landing, said partnering with the City to promote special events is nothing new.
“We offer space for the City to promote events on a regular basis. It’s always part of our plans for the Florida-Georgia weekend and Sail Jacksonville, and now the Jazz Festival. Any time we can help the City promote an event, we’re glad to help,” she said.
In addition to the Landing’s partnership to help promote this year’s Jazz festival, Downtown Vision Inc. (DVI) has chosen a jazzy theme for the First Wednesday Art Walk held eight days before the April 11–13 festival begins.
The St. Johns River City Band’s Dixieland Ensemble will perform at Hemming Plaza that evening while Sergio Laza, the artist who created the 2008 Jazz Festival poster, will be signing his wok in the plaza.
The 2008 Jacksonville Jazz Festival also has a MySpace page for the first time, and if you purchase festival tickets online, even the tickets include promotional messages.
“If you purchase a ticket for Saturday admission to the festival, the ticket will have a message about the Sunday Jazz Brunch or the Wine Experience,” said Langston. “We’re taking advantage of all the technology and new media opportunities. It’s how you market to the younger demographic.”
For the complete schedule of artists and events included in this year’s Jacksonville Jazz Festival, including a link to the MySpace page, visit www.jaxjazzfest.com.
Photo by David Chapman