Incredible Feedback From The Founders Of The Salisbury New Years Eve Event

Hey Joe:

I read your post titled 'I've Got Some Questions/Concerns About This Event'. Rightfully so you have questions and concerns about it, and I should have done a better job getting you information. However, with a first year event such as this, there is such a thing as being too busy, and the majority of the marketing we did was social media based.

I wanted your viewers to understand that tax dollars weren't 'wasted' on this event. The event was not hosted by the City of Salisbury. There was a tremendous amount of support and cooperation by the City to allow us to work with Police, EMS, Fire and Public Works resources, but such should be the case in an event that hosted upwards of 2,000 people. Public safety should always be the number one concern.

This event was a sub committee of 3rd Friday, which is a branch of the Arts and Entertainment District, through the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce. Specifically the event was fulfilled by a core group of volunteers, including but not limited to, Jamie Heater (3rd Friday) and me (Joey Gilkerson). I use the verbiage 'fulfilled' because we cant take credit for the idea. Many people have discussed and pondered doing a ball drop in Downtown Salisbury, but as we both know, great ideas are a dime a dozen. Jamie Heater said, 'Folks have been approaching me at 3rd Friday for years requesting a Downtown Salisbury Ball Drop. This was the first opportunity I have had where I felt comfortable trying to organize the event. Credit is due to all of the volunteers that made this possible."

We had over 30 volunteers at the event. Many of us met at 8:00 AM on December 31st, and did not leave until after 4:00 AM on January 1st. This does not include the 100's of hours we all had into the coordination of the event before hand. This event was 100% dependent on volunteers. All funds were privately fund raised. An event like this costs thousands of dollars to put on. We had numerous 'platinum', or $1,000 sponsors that made it possible. The City contributed $250, which we thought was fair to the tax payer.

Finally, the main concern of a bar crawl and a kid-friendly event co-existing. I can absolutely see why this is a concern on the surface, but here are the facts: This was far from a 'drunk fest'. There was not one incident within the event. The only incident included only 1 citizen, and occurred in a line to get into a bar, at nearly 1:00 AM, as the event was cleared out. The bar crawl didn't take place on-site; it took place within the cooperating establishments. The goal for an event like this is to support local businesses. To the best of my knowledge, the majority of the businesses involved in both the event and the bar crawl had record breaking sales numbers. With a free event on the plaza, that serves alcohol, if you were a restaurant/bar owner, you would want to be included in some fashion as well... or it wouldn't seem fair. And in reality, dry event or not, free to all ages or not, occupants of the nearby restaurants/bars would attend the event to see the ball drop. Its New Years Eve!

My final thought is this: If you feel as though it is appropriate to bring children to this event, please do! If you think that it is an environment not suitable for your children, please don't. I don't believe it is my place to tell parents how to parent, and I wanted the event to be as flexible as possible. The event was fun and safe for all ages that attended, and we will continue to host it in such fashion.

We want to encourage any and all that attended to provide feedback for the event so that we can improve for next year. Please direct all suggestions to feedback@nyesby.com.

Thanks for listening,
Joey Gilkerson
Ball Drop-NYE SBY from Mick Haensler on Vimeo.