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March 2004 Table of Contents
Off The Top Of My Head
Why Did I Do That?
By Jerry Evans
 If I was a preacher and had a live audience right now, (that's not to say that you who are reading this are not alive), I would probably ask you to raise your hands if you had ever done something and then looked back to say "Why did I do that?" But since I don't think most of you are into physical participatory reading, we'll just skip that and get right to the point. Three years ago, we began to feel that we needed to do something to make our Houston conference better. After talking to several of you, we decided that maybe a move to another city would be in order. The decision was made (that's a smooth way of telling you that I made the decision but I don't really want to admit it) that we should move the conference to San Antonio. We began to put the plan into place. Jackie and I went to San Antonio and met with the hotel we felt could do the job for us for many years to come. The first year went off well but not with the numbers or excitement that we had expected. We were supposed to sign a multi-year contract when we returned home. Somehow, the sales group we had dealt with had been transferred and a new group had moved in who knew nothing about our discussions concerning a contract. A comedy of errors followed and the next thing we know, we are going to have to change the time for the conference (the first time in 22 years) and move into the convention center across the street. At first, this was for a one time only and before we knew it there was no way for us to be back in the hotel until 2009 at the earliest.
We began to pray. We noticed a major drop in registrations and began to call all the former registrants. We found that the change in the week had affected some, having to leave the hotel for the convention center had prompted some not to come, but the most negative comments came because we moved. At this point, I would ask you to refer back to the first sentence. We could have tried to place the blame on many factors. The hotel, the time, the weather, or any number of senseless ideas, but the reality was, this wasn't working and excuses would not help it. We had to do something. Many of you had told us that we needed to get back to Houston but would like for us to select another area.
Thursday, Feb 5, 2004, Jackie, Melinda, Kirk, and I met with Jessie Morrison at the Waterway Marriott in The Woodlands, TX. The Woodlands, for those of you who don't know, is a planned city just a little north of Houston. We were overwhelmed at the facility. Even more than that, we were overwhelmed at the reception. A couple of great friends and customers, Darrell Bledsole and Don Barrick, met us at the door when we arrived. We toured the facility and felt so much at home. This place is stunningly beautiful with an outstanding mall next door. Yeah guys, you heard me right, NEXT DOOR! Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang's, Macaroni Grill. You name it, and it's probably around the corner, within walking distance. A complete waterway with cruises direct from the hotel will be in place by this summer. The convention facilities are second to none. I hesitate to sell this place too much because I really want you to come to the sessions. I have to give you one last sales pitch in case you want to play golf after the conference. There are nine golf courses in this little city. We are working on getting special rates if you are interested.
Well I guess you know by now, we will be there next year. The folk at our office are sincerely trying to plan the best music conference that there has ever been for this special event. Kirk asked me to make you aware that we have a special earlybird registration rate for those who sign up before May 1. $210.00 is the Earlybird Registration Fee. Register now and take advantage of this special and we won't bill you until sometime after September. You choose when! We will call you in September and confirm with you that you will be able to be with us and when you want to be billed. (See ad, pages 53, 54) A lot of what I have said in this article, I have said with tongue in cheek. We are not sure why God put us in San Antonio for two years. We know that we are trying to seek his will in everything we do with this company. We believe that He put us there for a reason and someday we will probably understand. Our job is to serve you and with His help we are committed to doing just that. I firmly believe that if you have ever been to a J & J conference, you will agree that if the music is not good, if we fail to keep the program interesting, if nothing else good happens, the one thing that has remained constant is that we will invite Him to show up. If that happens nothing else matters. If you have not been to one of our music conferences or have not been in a long time, I urge you to come to be with us at The Woodlands next year. I commit to you that I will spend my time from now until then asking Him to come.
Now with all that said, please remember that we have two other conferences in January of each year. Our Memphis and Columbia conferences were up in attendance this year and we also have great plans for them next year. These are shorter, two-day conferences that are jam packed so that we can get you a lot of information in a short time. The inspirational part of these two is just as important to us as the longer one in The Woodlands.
I am praying that God will give us the people that He wants to be there next year and I pray that you are one of them.
Jerry
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