Donavon Frankenreiter - The Independent - 2/21/2009

photo: Dan, Lotti, Brooke, Nicole with Gary Jules.

by Nicole Parisi-Smith, San Francisco Chapter

What a great show! A big thanks to everyone who facilitated a very smoothly run evening - the Independent's House Manager, Jason (coincidentally, a fellow Surfrider member), and the chapter's amazing on-site volunteers - Dan, Brooke, and Lotti.

We had a cocktail table in the far right corner, right next to Gabe and the merch booth. We distributed our brand new 2009 beach cleanup schedule postcard, National's "10 Ways" and "Rise Above Plastic" handouts, and the wallet-sized seafood and sushi guides.

The show sold out in advance of the show night. It was a full house, with a line of fans snaking down Divisadero Street, in place before the doors had even opened.

Lotti and I circulated through the crowd with these handouts, and talked with fans before the music started, and between breaks. I met 2 Surfrider Lifetime Members, a lot of people who were already familiar with Surfrider but weren't on our Chapter's email list, and a handful of people who were not familiar with the organization. Thanks to Dan and Brooke who took care of the t-shirt sales, Surfrider membership registrations, and fans who stopped by the table!


photo: Dan and Brooke at the Surfrider table.

We signed up a few new Surfrider members, and helped 1 or 2 fans renew their Surfrider memberships. Everyone who completed a membership form with us received a free Surfrider t-shirt, which turned out to be a great incentive to get people to register on the spot. We also sold a few t-shirts to fans who were already Surfrider members.

We also held a successful raffle. Fans who gave us their name, email address, and for the purposes of the raffle - their cell phone numbers - were entered into a drawing to win a Surfrider t-shirt, that night. The winner of the drawing was a great Surfrider member that I met while circulating throughout the audience with Surfrider handouts, named Cory. It was great to see such an enthusiastic Surfrider and Donavon fan win the raffle.

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photo: Surfrider volunteers, Gary Jules, and Corey.

After the show ended, since we were right next to merch, and since Gary Jules came by to say hello to us (creating a buzz around our table), we were able to reach a few more fans on their way out of the show. It was great! We tossed our Surfrider San Francisco branded Chico bags into the crowd that had gathered around our table, and received a very positive response from fans who appreciated the free reusable bags:)

The show itself was great. Gary Jules played an opening set to an enthusiastic audience, and later joined Donavon and his band on stage for 3 songs. The show ended with an acoustic performance of "Call Me Papa." At several points during the evening, Donavon held the mic out to the audience, to sing into. There was a lot of singing along, generally speaking, throughout the night. What a fun show!!



Thanks to Chapter members Damian and Zeina who came by the table, to say hello, while they were at show.

Additional thanks to Tony at the Independent, Tom at Partisan Arts, Allen at Another Planet Entertainment, Tito, Donavon, and Gary!

Special thanks to Surfrider San Francisco Chapter members Andrea, Adelina, Woody, Barbara, Sara, and Carolynn, and Washington, DC Chapter member Chris, who helped out in the days leading up to the show.