Amazing event venue, experiential fundraising and some poetry!

Poetry slam. “What on earth is that?” I thought to myself when I got an invite to the finals in London last weekend. Not knowing what it was, but guessing it was something about poetry, I decided to go because it is something I have never done before.

Exploring new things.

Wow, what a great night.

For those of you who don’t know, a poetry slam is an event where poets showcase their talents and compete for the title of National Poetry Champion. They have to speak for 3 and a half minutes or less and ‘wow’ the audience with their words. The audience then cheer and have representatives who vote based on their judgment and the applause of the audience.

Of course my first thought of this was that it would be what I term old fashioned poetry, the stuff I didn’t want to learn in English at school. What I discovered by pushing my boundaries and trying it out, was that it was very ‘modern’ poetry, political, funny and explored some important social issues. I was absolutely blown away by it.

I had heard the term ‘spoken word’ before, and although this was quite clearly poetry, as it has to follow the ‘form’ of poetry, I like the term and helps me put what I saw into a more modern context. Basically it helps me get over my stereotype that ‘poetry’ is for old romantics, who write in a way I can’t understand.

So back to the detail of the night…

The talent in that room was beyond expectation and I will go again.

The highlights of the night for me were:

A 16 year old boy, who talked about hardship of being homeless and how staying positive had helped solve that situation. I assumed he was talking about himself as the emotion and feeling painted a very vivid picture through his words.

A guy who used a nursery rhyme to express how global recession had been created. This created emotions of anger and annoyance for me, if it is this simple to explain why it all went wring in a poem, then how on earth did the governments, ‘power houses’ and banks get it so wrong.

A guy who explored thoughts on who he would bring back from the deadto help change the world, he named many great leaders and inspirational people. But his closing line was to realise that we are the ones that are alive today, and if we look inside ourselves, we have the power to be as great, if not greater, and we can change the world.

So aside from the poetry, the final thing that made the night so memorable was the venue where the event was held.

Being someone who organizes events I know how hard it can be to find the right venue that matches the content of the event. You want a venue that enhances the feeling your audience gets at any given moment during that event.

The venue was Wilton’s Music Hall in east London, a small alley called Grace’s Way is home to a fantastic 1800’s building that has been part renovated, and now has a 1920’s style decor. It still has a very run down look, which I couldn’t work out whether it was intentional, or because it actually still needs work.

On reading the history and the fundraising appeal, it quite clearly does still need work. But the atmosphere that the look created was something I would not want to change.

The owners of Wilton’s Music Hall however, did want to change it, or at least raise enough money for it’s up keep. You can “ Help save Wilson’s and breathe new life into it”. To help achieve this you can conserve a brick, a roof slate, a floorboard, and to repair a dressing room you can make a significant donation of £25,000.

After my amazing experience here I did feel compelled to help. I would love to know how many of their donations came from people who had been to there and had the full experience. Like any fundraising, if you can give your supporter the full experience, you are much more likely to receive a donation.

For me the poetry, and Wilton’s Music Hall, made this an event I will not forget.

9th June 2013