Pink Armchair

Okay...here's some info about Thursday... 1. The weather -- I'd wear layers. Park West is close to the lake, which tends to be cooler (especially at night) than other parts of the city. So if the forecast is 67 and sunny, it could be as much as 10 degrees cooler there. Or not. Be prepared for anything from high 60s to high 40s and you should be fine. 2. The line -- I had originally thought there was going to be a separate line for people with booths reserved. But it looks like that is not going to be the case. Just one line. But not to worry -- if are in it when the doors open and seating begins, it moves quickly and you won't be in it for long. (I know this from my personal experience.) 3. The reserved booths -- From what I've heard, the venue is labeling the booths with people's names and you'll be able to find yours. If they don't end up doing it that way, tell the usher you have one (not sure how this will work but I think it will be obvious). Also, Clay's people reserved some booths that they will undoubtedly release, so they might shift people around a little, or save them for NJU folks. 4. What time? -- As I posted above, you might want to get there by 6:30 to get situated, order your drinks and socialize before the show starts, since they tend to want to clear the room fairly quickly afterward. 5. I.D. -- I don't know if they'll do this the night you're there, but as you come in the door, you might be carded just to make sure you're of legal age to drink alcohol. (Yeah, I know...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) Just make sure you have an I.D. with you if you want to drink -- they'll give you a wristband. This being a special performance, they might not do this, but I figured you might as well be prepared. 6. Ticket -- If you forget your ticket or, God forbid, it never came in the mail, I think the box office has a list. I will check on that, but that's another reason to bring your I.D. 7. A special request -- if you happen to chat up any NJU people in line or inside the venue, if you could keep the whole "booth reservation" thing to yourself, I'd appreciate it. Much as I wanted to, there was no way I could extend that offer to them as well (not having access to their information), and it would be nice if they didn't feel discriminated against. All the seats are good, so they'll be very happy with where they end up, I'm sure. That's it! Some of the above may not work exactly as I've outlined (it seems to keep evolving), so some flexibility will be much appreciated! We're just trying to make it the best experience possible for everybody. It's going to be a great show! Looking forward to seeing you there.

Regarding Chicago concert tickets: I'm told by my customer service people that they were mailed today. Apologies for the delay. If you don't receive them by the day before the show, please let me know -- we can put your name on a WILL CALL list, reprint the tickets and have them for you at the box office. No worries! Please contact me via my OFC email, pinkarmchair @ gmail.com (remove the spaces) -- I can collect all such messages in one place and it would be much easier to keep track. Thanks a lot.

True, and I'm grateful for that. It would just have been nice "peace of mind" to know that I could get a Chicago deep dish pizza before the show, without having to worry about getting there at a decent time of day. The seats are all really good. My advice to you: Go get that pizza. My apologies to anyone shut out of a booth. I don't suppose there would ever have been enough. But the floor seats are excellent -- all of them. Not to worry. I wish so much that you could all be there, but you will be in spirit.

CHICAGO CONCERT ATTENDEES, PLEASE READ! Hello, everyone! I have what I hope will be some good news about seating for this show. As I’ve posted before, Park West is "first come-first served" general admission. And that’s still true for the seats in front on the level closest to the stage. That level, which has tables and chairs, is a flat dance floor about 30 feet deep. As is true for the rest of the venue, cocktail waitresses circulate, so drink up and don't forget to tip. *g* Further back from the area down front, there are rows of booths on progressively elevated tiers, some seating 2-3, others seating 4-6. In the last row of booths, I’m estimating, you are no more than 60 feet from the stage. My friends and I attended a show there last Sunday and sat in a second row booth (about halfway back in the venue) and we had a great view of the stage. The acoustics were incredible, too. By special arrangement with Park West for this show, you can call and reserve a booth, for as long as they last. Clay’s people and the promoters have put a hold on a number of them, but there are a variety of both sizes still available. So if you aren’t particular about being right down front and don't feel like standing in line, give the venue a call. The number is (773) 929-1322, and you can call between 10 am and 4:30 pm Central time. Just give the box office guy your name, tell him how many are in your party and they’ll fit you in where they can until the booths are gone. (He will probably ask you if you have tickets already – tell him yes. I’ve been told they’re being mailed at the end of this week or early next week.) Park West doesn’t often let people reserve the booths ahead of time and usually levies patrons a surcharge when they do, but I talked them out of that, figuring you were paying enough already! *g* One last FYI, for those who choose to stand in line: there will be no stampeding for seats. It's not allowed. Just so you know. Ushers seat the patrons, an individual or group at a time. Every seat in there is a good one, and I think you’ll be very pleasantly surprised when you see how small the room is. Also, please don't reserve a booth if you aren't sure you're going to want one...I really want to ensure they're available to as many who need/want one as possible. Apologies in advance if they run out before you get one. That's it, I guess! Looking forward to seeing you, and thank you again for your support of our station.

alienpal, one of my PBS colleagues who is program manager at WKNO Memphis, posted this tonight at the OFC and asked me to share it on other boards -- she doesn't post anywhere else. She called around and got a rough status report on where Clay's special stands so far with the other PBS stations. In some cases, as you'll see, she's included some pledge phone numbers as well. She and I will update this list periodically.

Thanks...I was just coming over to post that here. Thanks, everyone! (I'm sitting in the pledge studio waiting for him right now...yikes!)

PBS PLEDGE INFORMATION FOR TOMORROW NIGHT! Since I have managed to collect all my information, I decided to go ahead and post this on the boards now, instead of waiting until tomorrow. As you know, Clay’s big PBS premiere is fast approaching! I can hardly believe it -- I bet you can’t, either. I wanted to give you some specific information about the broadcast and how you can pledge. TIME: 7:00-9:00 pm CDT, tomorrow, Saturday, June 12. (5:00 PDT, 6:00 MDT, 8:00 EDT) PHONE NUMBER: 1 (773) 588-1111 LIVE BREAK TIMES WHEN WE WOULD LOVE SOME CALLS: ---Break #1: 7:20-7:28 pm CDT ---Break #2: 7:48-7:58 pm CDT ---Break #3: 8:16-8:28 pm CDT During these times if he is inclined and as others have done, Clay might circulate and pick up some calls from people who pledge. You can call starting a minute or so before 7:20 and throughout the broadcast (and afterward), but calls during these breaks will be especially welcome! THANK YOU GIFTS: ---Tried & True CD with a PBS-exclusive audio track, which I believe is “Build Me Up Buttercup” -- $55 (physical CD or digital download -- I think the digital download has the additional track, ask when you call) ---Tried & True DVD -- $75 ---Tried & True CD (physical or digital) and DVD together -- $125 ---SPECIAL CHICAGO PREMIUM -- $250. For all you lurkers out there and for others who haven’t heard about it, I guess it's time to put this out there: on October 14th, Clay has agreed to do a special, one-night only, intimate benefit concert here in Chicago at a 650-seat (accessible) venue. Seating is general admission. If that sounds good to you, please join us at the $250 dollar level! You can only pledge for this by phone, as they have to track the numbers. Yes, we will ship to Canada. And you can group all your pledges into one call – you don’t have to call a bunch of times. They don’t care about the number of calls (we hope there are a lot, though!), only the final amount. LIVE CHAT: I will be hosting a live chat from the studio tomorrow evening from 7-9 pm. I thought it would be fun to provide those of you not in our viewing area with a play-by-play of what’s going on, take questions, and give you an opportunity to participate in the event. The URL for that is www.wttw.com/clay. If you would like to pledge for the CD and DVD online, there are links to do it from that page, and you don’t have to participate in the chat if you’d rather not. AND FINALLY… Obviously, many of you are not going to be able to pledge here AND at your local station. That’s fine. I’m sure your local station will appreciate your donation in August. However, as I’ve said before, it’s vitally important that Clay’s special make a good showing in its debut airing. So anyone who can pledge even a token amount ($20, $30, etc.) to WTTW that evening will be much appreciated. It will certainly show the rest of the PBS system who are scheduling their August pledge drives right now that there’s a lot of interest in this program! And there’s nothing that communicates that better than a lot of buzz and phones ringing when the hosts and guest are live on camera. A huge, HUGE thanks in advance to everyone who can make a pledge, large or small, tomorrow night! Supporting this program will give the rest of the PBS system confidence that Clay can do equally well for them, and obviously helps WTTW tremendously, too. Again, THANK YOU!

A follow-up, as I'm getting these questions on other boards: I would say that if you can only pledge once, by all means support your local station. One thing that could help: after this June airing is over (not before), maybe send just one polite email to your local station saying that you heard about the show and hope they will air it. Don't spam them, though...they don't have the time or manpower, usually, to deal with that. "Out of towners" pledging isn't that uncommon -- according to my pledge team, there are other fandoms that routinely do this (one they mentioned to me was the Yanni fans). Believe me...wherever you're calling from, they're not going to turn down your money! (And will probably say, "thank you very much.") The other stations, I believe, only see the total amount raised for each show. Might they suspect that people are pledging from out of area? I suppose, but again, it's not out of the ordinary. Again -- I'm probably shooting myself in the foot by saying this! -- if you can only pledge in one place, do it at the station you actually watch.

I was talking to a PBS colleague in another city last Friday, and she reminded me of something pretty important that I should tell all of you about pledge. So, in the interest of full disclosure... PBS PLEDGE INFO – PLEASE READ! To those of you who are planning to pledge in June and are new to the process: when you make a pledge to a public television station for a DVD, CD, book, tote bag, mug, toy, etc. (PBS likes to call them "thank you gifts" – TYGs -- because it's a way of "thanking" the station for broadcasting the show), don’t expect them to arrive on your doorstep right away. In fact, when it comes to PBS, the wheels tend to turn a bit slowly. Sometimes the stations don't place the orders for the TYGs with the fulfillment houses until the drive is over. Fortunately in Clay's case (and ours!), his special falls near the very end of our pledge drive. Still, it’s possible that whatever you order might not show up for 4 weeks (it could be sooner, but maybe not). Barring any big snafus, you should certainly receive it before the DVD is available on Amazon and at other retail outlets, and definitely before it shows up on anyone's TV in August. (This would, of course, not apply to any instant audio download if they end up offering something like that.) I just wanted you have this information ahead of time so you aren't blindsided and can make an informed decision about pledging here. It is still of utmost importance that Clay's special pledge well in its first preview airing so the other PBS stations pick it up. And that is the main reason it’s going to be crucial to pledge in June. I hope you will.

PLEASE READ: NEWS ABOUT THE PBS SPECIAL! I have some news that I've had to keep to myself for several weeks. But thank goodness I’ve finally been given the green light to tell the fans, so here goes: As you know, Clay's special is premiering on PBS in August. But the show is actually airing on ONE U.S. station in June: WTTW in Chicago. Yes, my station. As a result of a major selling job I undertook when I landed back at work after the Raleigh taping (an endeavor that involved browbeating, threats, groveling and the relinquishment of any future offspring *g*), my station's VP of pledge obtained the rights to "preview" the special before the rest of the country. So, viewers in the Chicago area will be able to see it live on WTTW (Channel 11) on Saturday, June 12 at 7:00 pm CDT. And anyone in the U.S. and Canada -- and presumably, anywhere else -- will be able to call or go online once the show starts and pledge for the DVD and (I think) a couple of versions (physical or digital download) of the CD with additional tracks. Which means that you won’t have to wait until August to order, although whether you’re going to pledge in June or not, it's vitally important that you pledge your local stations when they broadcast the show in August if you possibly can. Clay’s show needs to do well all over the country, not just here! (I have a feeling I'll be reminding you of this again later. *g*) Right now, it looks like the CD will go for $55, the DVD for $75, and the CD and DVD together will pledge at $125. Closer to the broadcast, I'll provide you with the phone number and URL. Please do me a favor and don't contact my station looking for additional info -- our Customer Service reps are underpaid and overworked as it is. *g* If there's something you need to know, just ask me and I'll try to answer. *** There is another special premium that we are thrilled to be able to offer exclusively for this Chicago pledge drive and premiere broadcast of Tried & True – you’ll find information about that in the Members Only section.

Just wanted to pop in and wish a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my old friend ldyjocelyn! Hope you're having a great one!

The last movie I saw was Bewitched -- I thought the script was a bit of a mess but there were some hilarious moments in it -- mostly Will Ferrell's. If you're familiar with the original series, there are a couple of things in it that are falling-on-the-floor funny. Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine were amusing but mostly wasted. It was an interesting premise and it didn't quite work, but it's certainly worth renting when it comes out on DVD.