Inspired by wacky publicity stunts performed by radio disc jockeys of the past, Dace Anderson and Arielle Young plan to stay up for 24 hours to raise money for their nonprofit music school.
“We don’t have money for advertising,” Anderson said. “We put our money into tuition assistance. We try to get into the community and work with the community to get our name out there and to let people know that we exist. So, we’re always trying to think of new things.”
A simple idea led to the concept of a 24-hour webathon set to start at 10 a.m. July 27 and end at 10 a.m. July 28 to raise money for the school.
Anderson wondered what could they do that was a little bit crazy like the kind of publicity stunt that involves sleeping someplace strange like a billboard yet could involve the community. It started off the with the idea that he and Young, who together run Dace’s Rock ‘n’ More Music Academy in Maple Valley and Redmond, would stay awake for 24 hours and stream it live on the Internet.
“Then as soon as I got that idea then maybe we could have some of our bands play,” Anderson said. “Then there was this explosion of an idea where we could get all these people that we know, that we have come into contact over the years and have become friends with (help them).”
So, the idea was to start in the morning with Stacy Loftis who would lead everyone through some yoga to warm participants and views up, as well as talk about her business as well as her experiences with Rock ‘n’ More.
Anderson noted that would naturally lead into bringing in a local coffee company then it just snowballed from there.
“Then our mental Rolodexes were spinning,” Anderson said. “It turns out we know a million interesting people who do a million interesting things.”
The purpose of the whole enterprise is to raise money for the music school, with the first $15,000 generated going directly to the tuition assistance program, then additional money would go toward other initiatives the pair have brainstormed.
There will be performances by bands such as Eclectic, who offered to take the 3 a.m. slot, and Heat which is a group of youngsters who will also do a tae kwon do demonstration. Young’s sister is going to offer up a cooking segment and Mitchell Fund, the drum instructor for the school, is putting together a video on mining crystals while the Maple Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra pre-recorded a segment, in addition to video lessons for a variety of instruments and Maple Valley Deputy Mayor Victoria Jonas has a time slot, too. In the middle of that, Young said, she and Anderson will break in much like PBS telethon emcees to talk about how awesome Rock ‘n’ More is and encourage viewers to donate to the cause.
There is no need to wait to donate, Anderson explained, as those who wish to support Rock ‘n’ More can make donations now.
“You’d think the most difficult part about this whole thing would be booking 24 hours of entertainment,” Anderson said. “But that’s been easy. It’s the next generation of fundraising for non-profits.”
Young said another reason this event is important is it demonstrates how Rock ‘n’ More is carving out its own niche in the music school business.
“One of the other reasons that we’re doing this whole thing, too, is what differentiates us from other places: we like to bring people together,” Young said. “And we’ve really been spoiled by the local business community in Maple Valley. It’s awesome to give back.”
To view the webathon log on to www.rocknmore.org.
Ultimately, Anderson said, the event is a celebration of the community and the people they’ve connected with since Rock ‘n’ More opened.
“It came from just that little seed of an idea,” Anderson said. “It sort of worked its way into a 24 hour long party with all of our friends and doing things that are entertaining and they’ll tell all their friends and their friends will tell all their friends. Basically coming together for what I think is a pretty cool purpose.”
