Hey all,
I wanted to give an official announcement about our annual Summer Guitar Gathering conference.
We will not be having a Summer Guitar Gathering conference this year.
We're not stopping the summer conferences - we're just taking a break for the year.
The reasons...
1) Our previous venue - Trevecca University - has dramatically increased their facilities use expenses.
Trevecca has made the decision to start charging "facilities" fees. This has happened across the board, in every department, for every use, for every building. The fees they are requiring are to the tune of over half of our current conference budget. The conference has always been a bit of a labor of love and not a huge money maker by the time everyone got paid. The addition of these new "facilities fees" just took it out of reach and over the top.
So, long story short, we're looking for a new host venue and didn't want to try to force it this year just for the sake of having the conference.
2) Paulette and I have put on the conference for 10 or so years by ourselves - from months of planning, to moving every chair to writing every check - and in short, we simply felt we needed a year to rest, and get new vision for the event.
So, we're not stopping the summer conferences - just taking a break for the year to regroup, find a new venue and get some new ideas and vision for the future.
Just wanted everyone to know. It's a joy serving you all in this way. Looking forward to 2025 and getting it back going again.
BUT, the 2024 Fall Fingerstyle Guitar Retreat is still on and un-affected. (And it's going to be a great retreat).
Love you all, - Steve and Paulette