Pickin' In The Park Founder Lisa Jacobi

When we started the first Pickin' In The Park®, we thought we would just gather up a few musicians and send the word out to others in the area to “come pick” each week. But since we had the luxury of a few months of prep time, we decided to bring on a sponsor & partners to help cover some of our publicity costs. We sent out invitations to musicians via free press in the newspaper and on the local radio.

On the first night of Pickin' In The Park® over 1000 people, picnickers and musicians, showed up… more than the entire population of our town.

Every Thursday evening since, Spring through Fall, rain or shine, Pickin' In The Park® is a place where folks get an early start on their weekend. The numbers may vary; sometimes only 400 people attend, other nights we top 1500. But the enthusiasm for this event on the part of the musicians, listeners, sponsors and partners has never let up. It now belongs to the musicians and community, and the organizing team is just the “overseer.”

Now, we are taking the next step and helping folks across the USA to host a Pickin' In The Park® in their community. From musicians to picknickers, from organizers to partners, all of you can work together to create a place where musicians of all musical genres can come play acoustic music in a fun, entertaining atmosphere that is respectful of the surroundings and each other.

To insure that the integrity and quality of Pickin' In The Parks® are kept consistent and to help you stay organized, we've come up with the necessary written agreement so that everyone will run their The Pickin' In The Park® with the same spirit of intent. The agreement basically outlines the following:

1. We will send you a 60-page Pickin' In The Park® Event Operations Manual with companion CD-Rom to eliminate the startup efforts on your part and to keep the look, presentation and feel of The Pickin' In The Park® consistent.

2. We need to charge $39.95 to cover our materials, printing and postage. Click here to order. It also keeps folks from just asking us for the handbook and CD-Rom without a real intent for putting on the event. Trust us, this is not a money-making venture on our part, but we do need to keep our accounting sheets in balance.

3. We will give you the right to use the Pickin' In The Park® name and marks at no charge.

4. You promise to hold Pickin' In The Park® consistently.

5. You promise to run a clean event that

• families can attend if they choose
• keep it free
• keep it acoustic
• you won't damage the reputation of the Pickin' In The Park® name
• and you will be fair with the musicians who play there.

Are you ready to see the contract? If so, click here for the Pickin' In The Park® sample contract.