Australian Songwriters Conference - Thank You

To all my wonderful ASC 2010 family and friends,

This is just a quick note to say thank you all so much for your lovely emails and phone calls the past few days. I will reply to each of you individually but my inbox is overflowing so it may take me a little time.

My heart is overflowing too. My vision for ASC is that it not only gives you a place to learn your craft and further your songwriting career, but that it also provides a haven of support and nurturing. So many of you, attendees and faculty alike, have expressed your joy at experiencing all these things - and that leaves me feeling a depth of gratitude that is beyond overwhelming.

ASC wouldn't be what it is without the openheartedness of the faculty. We were all very blessed to have an incredible team of professionals joining us this year. It was, without a doubt, the most cohesive faculty we've ever had, and each one had valuable insight and wisdom to share, don't you think?

Jason Blume's passionate and charismatic approach to learning the tools of great songwriting is quite definitely the cornerstone of the event. Thank you so much, Jason, for all you are, and all you bring, to ASC.

Alan Roy Scott brought a special and exciting new slant to the event with the way he work-shopped songs on the spot. Wow! That was amazing. Alan, thank you for joining us this year - I hope you'll come back to share your experience and expertise with us again.

Shane Nicholson, Mia Fieldes, Di Torossian, David Rowley and Laurel Smith - Thank you all so much for sharing your knowledge, wisdom and time with us. Each of you gave wonderful talks that were relevant, interesting and very well received. I have heard wonderful reports from many of the attendees about each of you, and you all truly encompassed the meaning of openheartedness that is ASC.

To our brilliant dedicated mentors; Lyn Bowtell, Toni Koch, Ross Stagg, and workshop presenters; Andrea Szabo and Doreen Van Bree - many thanks for your dedication and the time you spent with attendees. You were all amazing and inspiring, and I truly appreciate each and every one of you.

A massive thank you goes out to Sean Rudd of Peppertone Productions and Scott Cairns for their great work in the Production Room this year. I've had fantastic feedback from the attendees who spent time recording and learning from you both. This element of the event has proved itself to be incredibly valuable for attendees and I really appreciate the time and effort you put in up in the"Blue Room". Kudos to you both.

The Publisher Pitch Sessions were a great success, with a number of talented attendees gaining the attention. Thank you Robert Case of New Pants / Old Pants Publishing, Matt Donlevy of Peer Music, Steve McPherson of Hillsong Publishing, Lisa Fiene of Lizard Tunes / Copycare Pacific, Sven Tydeman and Ritchie Neville of Kittygroove Productions and David Rowley of Rowley Music for taking time out of your busy schedules to listen to the fantastic music of our attendees this year. An extra special thank you to Rob Case and David Rowley who spent the weekend mentoring as well as inspiring us all.

My thanks goes out to all the songwriter organisations who joined us again this year to ensure that our attendees were made aware of the services available to them: Songsalive!, Australian Songwriters Association, Songwriting Society of Australia (the three groups also forming A-Song), APRA and Nashville Songwriters Association International. The work each organisation does is absolutely vital to Australian songwriters and I appreciate all of you being at the ASC again this year.

To our sponsors; Industry & Investment NSW, Regional Development Australia (Central Coast), Gosford City Council, APRA/AMCOS, Ettalong Beach Tourist Resort, RAW Music & Media Group, Macron Music, Peppertone Productions, Kittygroove Productions, Songsalive!, and Wattlegum Web Works - a big thank you for your support and assistance this year. Most of these sponsors have been with us since the beginning and their ongoing support is gratefully acknowledged.

A big thank you also to my ASC Team: Rusty Wallis of RAW Music & Media, Eliza Warner from Eliza's bookkeeping, my wonderful and hard-working executive assistant Kerrie Garside, Michael Kucera who looks after all the AV so well, Terri Rowe for a great job capturing all the wonderful moments on photos and video, Karise Higgins who helps all year long at ASCSA Song Feasts and Gatherings, and also worked so hard during the ASC, Rhubee Neale, our beautiful and hardworking event assistant whose grace and calm demeanour are always a joy, and our newest team member, Trish Griffiths who worked hard in the lead up to, and on the day of, the Ettalong Beach Acoustic Buskathon this year. I couldn't have done this without you all by my side.

That's it for the moment. I will be sending out updates and information about upcoming events through ASC Songwriter Assist and some of the initiatives I am hoping to move ahead with over the next few months. There are a number of great activities coming up so look out for my emails.

Fianlly, thank you to Toni Koch, Lyn Bowtell and Robert Case for the beautiful song they wrote for ASC. "The Power Of One" is phenomenal and I'm still overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness, love and support. To all who sang and played on the stage, fell off the stage (Toni!) and forgot their lines on the stage (Terri!) - you took my breath away and reminded me that "The Power Of One" truly stems from the Power Of Many. I love you too.

Be happy, be inspired, be creative and above all else, be true to yourself.

Hugs,
Lisa