Making things a little (RED) on the DMB tour...

ONE/(RED) volunteers
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

(RED) joined the ONE Campaign on the Dave Matthews Band Tour this past weekend, getting lots and lots of Milwaukee supporters involved along the way!

Our weekend kicked off with the unveiling our new set up – complete with a (RED) tent, new (RED) postcards, stickers and buttons and other promotional items – we are pretty happy with how it turned out! Our team was excited to bring the (RED) message out to DMB fans – we have spent the past three summers on tour with the band spreading the word about ONE, and know first hand how eager fans are to get involved in the fight against poverty and AIDS.

We had some stellar volunteers join us this weekend to help out. Sando and Alyssa are volunteer Milwaukee area veterans that always come out to help. Alyssa is best known for being the volunteer that once got over 500 people to join ONE at a single Warped Tour date. She hit the ground running in East Troy this weekend, ready to get tons of DMB fans involved with (RED) and ONE! We also were lucky to have a new crew of (RED) volunteers join us – including our super team on Sunday that went to town, getting in the highest average of sign ups we’ve had on the tour yet. A big thanks to everyone who came out and helped us get thousands of Dave fans involved with (RED) and ONE!




It was way cool to have fan after fan come up and show us their (RED) phone, (RED) Converse or (RED) shirt! Getting to spread the word about what (RED) and ONE are working to do is always exciting, but its especially rewarding to know that people across the country are really taking the work of the campaigns and making them their own – we met countless people that are launching projects in their schools, churches and communities to build support for the Global Fund and ONE.

We are looking forward to the month ahead and getting an opportunity to talk to thousands of more people about (RED) and ONE! Stay tune for more updates from the road…

As always, you can check out more photos on our flickr site!


one campaign
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(red)
lokahi outreach
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DMB in Detroit

Our New Guy Joe gave us this quick update from a wet night in Detroit:


The day started out just as any other show. We arrived at the venue (formerly known as Pine Knob) and set up in a stretch of wooded area just outside the East gate entrance. The volunteers showed up promptly, some from clear across the state. Dan gave them the training, and with enthusiasm high they all hit the path ready to gain more signups. Then, just before Dave went on the sky became really dark. The show was postponed and the rain came down hard accented by powerful gusts of wind. We all bunkered down under the lowered One tents and held on so they wouldn't fly away. You know you have a great group of volunteers when they help hold down an aluminum tent in a thunder and lightning storm! The adverse weather passed and after the show we were able to gain many more sign ups and One band sales to spread the word. Huge thanks to all our rain soaked volunteers, and especially Mary and Kathryn for gutting it out to the very end.

-Joe

one campaign
lokahi outreach
concert outreach
volunteering
activism
dave matthews band

And then came Sacramento...

Oxfam and ONE volunteers
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

It somehow got hotter today. I leave Warped today – going to join the Dave Matthews team as we bring (RED) out for the first time this weekend. Today was a fun day though – we had a great team of Oxfam volunteers join us, and our ONE crew of volunteers did great, even though they neared heat exhaution! Thankfully, years of doing work on Warped Tour has made me an expert at helping people recover from too much sun and heat, so they made it home safely!

I somehow acquired a fan club of Oxfam supporters. I’m not sure how it happened, but I turned my back briefly to be greeted by the three guys below yelling my name. I told them I’d post their photo on our blog, so here we go:




I got to catch part of Fishbone’s set today – very cool!

Warped has been a blast – it was the shortest amount of time we’d spent on the tour (we usually do all of it) but we made the most of our time out here, getting tens of thousands of young supporters involved with Oxfam and ONE, and we also registered hundreds of voters along the way. Brian is taking over things for the next few days – lets hope he makes it!


one campaign
lokahi outreach
concert outreach
volunteering
activism
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Warped goes to Fresno

ONE supporters at Warped
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

Brian and I got a nice day off in Portland yesterday – we laid low, enjoyed the rain, caught up on work then hit up Powel’s bookstore and got some good food. Brian got to experience Voodoo Doughnut too, though it seemed to have left him partially traumatized.

Our teasing of cold weather over the past three shows came to a cruel end today in Fresno today. Our volunteer crew made up for it though – Kim, Monica, Samantha and Derick saw our Myspace posting asking for volunteers on Monday and came out with little notice. Big thanks to Kim for rounding up people for us! They did a killer job – hundreds of Fresno punk rockers are now involved with ONE because of them, and they managed to survive the brutal heat. We met some very cool fans today as well, people that are doing some pretty impressive stuff with ONE in their community. We also got a ton of people signed up for our volunteer list – so next year, no excuses Fresno, we want your help!




We also got to make our ONE piñata today. It’s not exactly what we’d call a work of art, but, it made us happy. We’re using it at the non-profit fiesta party that is happening tonight. We can’t stay late, have to hit the road for the Sacramento show, but it’ll be nice to get to hang out with our tour mates before everyone goes home this
weekend…


one campaign
lokahi outreach
concert outreach
volunteering
activism
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Warped Tour in Portland

So punk rock!
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

Portland is always one of my favorite stops of the Warped Tour. The show is always held in this big, massive field that is in the middle of nowhere, a nice change from the regiment of parking lots we usually have to deal with. Plus, it was actually COLD yesterday, pretty much the only time that will happen on Warped!



We had yet another great crew of volunteers come out and join us. James recently completed the Oxfam Change training, and Lacey was involved with Oxfam when she was a student at NYU. Also joining us was Tyler, a Lokahi volunteer that did both voter registration and ONE outreach for us. We also had Goth Mom’s son come join us: Goth Mom is the Warped Tour mom that first offered to volunteer for us back in 2005. She had taken her kids to the show, saw the ONE booth, and asked if we needed help. At some point during the day, Carlos and Jessica convinced her she should get the ‘goth makeover’ being offered by some random vendor that year, and she obliged, thus earning her nick name and some impressive eye make-up. She came back in 2006, and I was bummed I didn’t see her this year. Turns out she had to work, but her son was there, and he offered up an hour of his day to help us out, which was very cool.

Portland also involved piñatas – we are making piñatas for an upcoming ‘non-profit’ Warped Tour party being held in lovely Fresno after the show Wednesday. I can’t say what our piñata is going to be – I think the Invisible Children crew will steal it if we do – but victory is all but guaranteed…


one campaign
lokahi outreach
concert outreach
volunteering
activism
warped tour
oxfam

DMB in Indianapolis!

ONE volunteers at DMB Indianapolis
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

New Guy Joe has an updated from the Dave Matthews shows in Indianapolis last weekend:

Moving from a Warped Tour Experience to DMB was quite
a shift in atmosphere. Not only the style of music,
but the whole feel of the crowd made the two almost
polar opposites, and this was a great way for me to
test my skills and push myself into uncharted
territory. We arrived at the show at around 2pm
(Warped Tour means we have to be on site at 8am!) and we were one of two non-prof tables on the tour, rather than part of a small city
like on Warped. We set up and got the volunteers up
to speed just as the doors were opening, and it was
time to go to work. Floating the crowd quickly brought
me to the realization that even though we stuck out
more in the older, laid-back crowd, this was still
hard work, and nothing is a given. The crowd was
really responsive, and positive toward the campaign,
which always gives you a boost in the field. Time flew
by, and before 'I knew it DMB was launching into their
2 1/2 hour set, and the crowd's focus was totally
enveloped in them. We rested up for the end rush that
was to come after the set was finished, and oh how it
came. As the flood of overstimulated fans bottlenecked
their way up to the gates, their eyes caught the gleam
of the white band and we were bombarded with
inquiries, donations, and sign-ups before the fans
exited into the stand still parking lots. Day two of
the Noblesville shows followed the same routine. We
had another great group of volunteers, the weather was
conducive to floating and engaging the fans, and the
end rush after the set was even more intense than the
night before. The two days of Noblesville brought
great results and another new experience for me on the
outreach tour. More shows coming up in the area, and I
hope we continue to receive this level of Midwest
love.


one campaign
lokahi outreach
concert outreach
volunteering
activism
dave matthews band

WE came to the Gorge, but our stuff didn't follow...

Brian shows off our kinda sad cardboard clipboards
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

Warped Tour, if nothing else, is a tour that ALWAYS is full of surprises. You find yourself surprised at how much the young fans know about the campaigns we work on, you find yourself surprised at how long you can last in 110 heat, and sometimes, you show up for the show and find out – surprise! – that the truck with all of your stuff on it didn’t make it in. It wasn’t just our stuff that was on the truck – a good chunk of the other non-profit vendors, record labels and other sponsors were in the same predicament. Brian and I are nothing if not hardcore though, and we decided that the show must go on! So we scrambled to put together a mini booth – we snagged a table (our tables came – they were on a different truck – but tables were all that we had: no tent, no totes, no chairs even, but we fixed that by finding a big bucket we could turn over and sit on…) and begged the guys in the Guitar Center Web Lab to let us print off about 80 of our sign up sheets (which kinda worked, a big thanks to them for helping, even though their printer ran out of ink before we were done…) then we scavenged our car to see what we had in hand. Thankfully, we always take our banners and signs with us rather than put them on the truck – they get pretty trashed if we do. So we had those, plus a box of white bands, plus ONE and Oxfam shirts, some literature and pens, so really, we were good to go. I then pretended we were on some sort of designer challenge show – make a booth out of stuff you find in your car and on the ground! – and I have to admit I was pretty impressed with our ingenuity. Clipboards were the biggest thing we were missing, so we made some out of cardboard. They looked a little sad, but they DID fit the overall Warped Tour aesthetic.



The Gorge is beautiful so that countered what could have been a bummer of a day, and the weather, amazingly, was even cooler than Idaho, so we were still excited to be at work. We had three great Oxfam volunteers join us: Adrian, Stephanie and John. Stephanie recently took part in Oxfam’s Change training, so she was very well versed and ready for action. The team did great – they worked all day long and got hundreds of Warped fans involved with Oxfam, and didn’t seem to mind our rather compromised set up. All in all, we made the most of our day – we got hundreds of more people involved with ONE and Oxfam, recruited some new volunteers and got to test our clipboard making abilities…

Lokahi goes to Idaho...

ONE supporter at Warped Idaho
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

Yesterday was officially the first time we have ever done a show in Idaho. Usually the Warped date of the tour hits in such a way that the overnight drive to it would be impossible for our team to complete. This year however, it fit the schedule, so we decided to give it a go. Get it? Give it a go in Idaho! This is what hanging out in a car with Brian for too long does to you…

We got lots of fans involved with what we are doing, and, importantly, worked to build up a volunteer base for the area, something we really need. All in all, Boise did represent – lots of people joined both ONE and Oxfam, registered to vote and took our information with them.

We also had two great volunteers join us. Graham and Doug go to school nearby and are very involved with Oxfam. They helped us get lots of Oxfam and ONE sign ups – Brian was so impressed that by the end of the day he was asking me, like a little kid, if ‘they could just go on tour with us? Pleeeease?’ Unfortunately, Graham and Doug had commitments that did not allow them to spend considerable time in a car, get next to no sleep, and work set up in parking lots around the country like we do on Warped, so they had to go home, but we hope to see them next summer.



The weather was by far the nicest part of the day, at least for me. After being beat up by the east coast sun and Midwest blazing humidity, Brian and I were very excited to have a day of mild temperatures…plus, nothing beats driving through the Pacific Northwest.

Warped Tour Kansas City!

ONE Campaign and Oxfam volunteers at Warped!
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

Today Sumner pointed out that we were, as he put it, idiots. We of course accepted this, but when pressed as to what exactly brought him to this conclusion today, he replied that “you came back on for the worst days of the whole tour. It wasn’t even this hot in Texas!” We, unfortunately, didn’t have much oversight or say in determining when we’d be coming back on, if we had we probably would have thought twice. I didn’t think today was as brutal, but it was still pretty intense!



Nonetheless, we powered through the day – getting lots of and lots of fans involved with ONE, Oxfam, and registered to vote, and working with some very cool volunteers as well. Ashley came out and joined us in volunteer for Oxfam, and we had a team of three ONE volunteers: Jordan, Jared and Cameron. Jordan is in high school, and Cameron and Jared are recent grads. They became involved with ONE via their youth Christian organization. All four volunteers braved yet another day of wicked temperatures to talk to their peers about fighting poverty and social injustice. Lately, I’ve been placing a bigger emphasis on the peer outreach factor when training volunteers – what’s particularly cool, I think, about the concert outreach we do, is that we are using music as the unifying factor. Because we are at a show together, we become de-facto peers, something that transcends race and class and gender and age. Because of that, I think, people respond even stronger to what we are talking about than they would in other settings.


Also, I love the catering team at Warped. They got pretty mad at the fact that I guess yesterday people left catering a big mess, and we were all greeted with this sign:



For the record, my mom raised me to pick up after myself, so I can proudly say I was not one of the guilty ones – I even go out of my way to recycle…

Warped Tour St. Louis

Warped fans at our Oxfam table
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

Today was my first day back on Warped for me after a six week long hiatus, and though I was really excited to be back out there, Warped responded by smacking me upside the head with what had to have been one of the hottest days on the tour in as long as I can remember. Plus, I’m admittedly kinda sick and pretty sleep deprived at this point, so I was feeling pretty wiped out. It was one of those Warped days where all you could really think about from 3:30 on was how fast you could drive to your hotel in the next town (four hours away, in the case of this evening) so that you could take a shower. Which was the first thing I did.

However, we did get some work done despite the crippling temperatures. Nick, our volunteer, was great – he got over 200 people to join Oxfam’s email list, and he is also a lead volunteer for the ONE Campaign in St. Louis. We talked to lots of people today….I love doing Warped tour, I have to admit it’s probably my favorite tour/event to do. I’m a teacher, so in part I think I just connect with talking to so many young fans in a really strong way. I’m looking forward to the week ahead, even if it means back to a 8am load in-7pm load out-7 hour drive-repeat it again schedule!

GUEST BLOG! Updates from our New Guy Joe!

Our New Guy Joe with his new lady friends that joined ONE
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

Our new guy Joe gives us his version of this past week - we're pretty glad he didn't run away crying like some of the other new guys have!

From our New Guy Joe:

Westward from PA for the show in Noblesville, IN. We drove through
the night and I rediscovered just how wide Ohio is. We arrived to the venue at about 8 am and could tell it was going to be a hot day. We got the booth set up, hooked up with our two volunteers, and in no time doors were open and we were underway. The kids were very responsive, and it was nice to see that people all around are genuinely interested in the issues we are facing. The day flew by, and by the time KillSwitch was Engaging our ears without mercy, it was time to load out and hit the road back to PA.

Ohio didn't get any thinner, but night time driving, coffee, and ipods gave us the gusto to reach Burgettstown, PA where we got some sleep before the days show. The heat hadn't subsided yet, but it beats shivering any day, and the kids at the show still had plenty of energy and interest in the ONE Campaign while we floated the crowds and competed with the roars of the Warped. Volunteers brought added enthusiasm and through a great team effort we had another successful day.




Back to the open road chasing that white line to Mansfield, Mass. The weather broke and we were presented with a 79 degree day that gave us a huge boost in energy. Unfortunately, the tour truck that had our gear (and the gear of many others) had gotten not only delayed, but lost on the 10 hour drive from PA. A new challenge. We reserved our energy until it arrived and did a quick set up before 2pm, and hit the surrounding pavement to spread the word. The energy level was definitely up all around since the heat wasn't so intense. The bands were ripping, the kids were responsive and positive, and I couldn't help but be grateful for being able to be a part of it all. Despite our late start we were able to talk to a lot of fans, and in all the day was a success.

One more stop for me on the Warped adventure, so up to Darien Center, NY we went to Six Flags and the open air venue attached to it. The continued positivity of the fans, the awesome weather, and the overall opportunity of being part of the outreach, made this a great finale to my Warped week. The day went by quick, as usual, we got a lot more people signed up, and I was even lucky enough to have a quick but fully entertaining lesson in a new conspiracy theory from one friendly fan. Always an entertaining occurrence. So the day wrapped up, and Brian and I hit the road back to Chicago and while on the way finally discovered (by accident) that the rental car actually did have cruise control! I guess our expertise doesn't lie in cars. The outreach experience on tour is exciting, challenging, and something I would recommend YOU get involved in! I can't wait for the next adventure.

DMB in DC!

ONE volunteer crew at DMB DC
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

Carlos and I left Pittsburgh yesterday AM and headed out for Bristow. I always like working the venue here – it has a nice layout, and we usually do pretty well. We were lucky to have yet another great volunteer team join us. Nina and Jane were a mom and daughter team that were first time volunteers – they had signed up for info on volunteering at another concert and were excited to join us in supporting ONE. Jane is a lawyer working on a theology degree, and Jane is about to start high school. I always love learning about the diverse backgrounds that our volunteers encompass! We also had Terry, who first joined ONE at Live 8 in London, Eva, who volunteered with us at the DMB shows in Charlottesville last year, and Angelina and Kelly were first time volunteers that rounded out our crew for the evening. They all did a great job, talking to fans for hours and hours and getting them involved and signed up.



We also got help from Anne, our official former stalker. She’s not really a stalker, but she is a good buddy of ours and came out to lots of shows when she was a ONE organizer in the Chicago area. Now she has a fancy office in the DC ONE office and doesn’t make it out quite as much, but she jumped at the chance to help us at the Dave show. Afterwards we did the traditional post show dinner/drinks at whatever bad random chain was still open – in this case, Friday’s. Mashed potatoes all the way around…

All in all the night was a big success – we have now signed up over 4,000 DMB fans already, and we are still pretty early into the tour. Carlos and I are driving to Chicago today – I get a day off to catch up on work for most of Monday, then I meet up with Brian to rejoin Warped Tour. Dan and new guy Joe will be covering the Dave shows next week – it should be pretty productive.

DMB in Pittsburgh!

ONE Volunteer crew DMB Pittsburgh
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

I love doing shows in Pittsburgh. No particular reason why – we just do well, fans are responsive, and we have a killer volunteer team here. Brian came out to join us for the second time this week – he and Jordan were both at the Warped tour date with us two days before. Brian more or less heads up volunteer efforts for ONE locally, and we are very grateful for the fact that he comes out and joins us pretty much every time we are in town! We also had Lyzz and Riva two high school students, and Brad, Jenni and Laura rounded out our team. They powered through the night, and are responsible for the best night we’ve had on the Dave tour yet!

Carlos and I got to the venue earlier than normal, which gave us plenty of time to set up and make fun of Josh. Josh sometimes works with us – he headed up our outreach efforts on DMB last year - and this year he is on the tour doing work for Reverb. Giving him a hard time is a bit of hobby for me and Carlos, so we were glad to have some spare time before the doors opened to engage in our passion.



Once the doors opened we were off and running. The table was busy all night, we talked to tons of cool supporters, many of whom got signed up not only for ONE but also to become a volunteer for the campaign as well. We also have Edun shirts available for supporters this time around, and we are always surprised at how popular they still are!

We’ve got a four hour drive ahead of us, then we’ll be setting up for the Bristow show…

GUEST BLOG! Updates from Former Intern Brian, aka 'Red Hawk'

Brian "Red Hawk" is king of Warped Tour...
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

I’m handing over the blog reigns momentarily to our Former Intern Brian, who is now known as Red Hawk (see attached photo for explanation). Here is his version of the past few weeks:


Despite the passage of only two weeks, our start on the Dave Matthews Band Tour now seems like a blur. In an epic drive, Brande drove from Long Beach, CA, to Milwaukee to retrieve me. I experienced the last 17 hours of the drive into Massachusetts. The drive was long and we hit construction making us later than we’d hoped, but that’s how touring goes.

The Massachusetts shows provided a wicked accent and the biggest donation anyone has ever given me. While I enjoyed the Boston area accent Brande made me well aware of my own Midwestern take on the word “bag.” Now I’m self conscious about it. (Editor’s note: seriously, you need to hear how Brian says the word ‘bag’. It makes me heart all of Milwaukee.)

I digress. We finished the Mass. shows and headed to Hartford where Brande split off for Virgin Music Festival and I picked Jessica up for a four show run on DMB. We had one volunteer per Hartford show and both did great to boost our numbers. Both volunteers even braved the post show mass exodus of the less than sober crowd and sold wristbands with me.



The next day put me on a 7-state drive to rejoin Warped Tour with Joe. Upon arrival we received a warm welcome back from our friends in the Take Action area (by warm I mean roughly 95 degrees plus Midwest humidity). The early mornings and late drives on Warped are a stark contrast to the DMB Tour. The first few days are always hectic, gathering forgotten supplies and adjusting to the change in schedule. Whether it was regarding the oppressive heat, general fatigue, or randomness, Joe soon became familiar with the phrase “Welcome to Warped.” This phrase especially applied on August 9th, when we returned to Massachusetts for Warped.

Not only was the whole tour late, but the semi truck containing everything we owned except our three tables got lost. At that point there’s no amount of improvisation that can save you before that truck shows up. So we waited and waited until the truck rolled in around 1:30 pm. The Oxfam interns helped us unload our stuff and we rushed through setup. The rest of the day turned out to be very productive with everyone taking turns floating and tabling.

Buffalo, New York, offered one of the cooler shows I’ve experienced and it boosted our energy. Volunteers and weather affect our work the most on Warped so when we have volunteers and/or great weather we get pumped for the day. So thank you to all of the volunteers that have helped us thus far. I hope to see some of the old West Coast volunteers in the coming days…

DMB in Philly

ONE volunteers at DMB Camden
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

Philly has offered us some of our greatest highs (Live 8, U2 shows, etc) and also our…I wouldn’t call them lows, but our most…challenging dates. There is a tailgating culture that is wholly unique to the Philly/Camden area, matched only perhaps by New Jersey in its robustness, and tailgating tends to only mean one things: severe inebriation. That said, the Dave shows that Jessica and I braved the past few days were quite productive – we got lots and lots of people signed up involved with ONE, met some very cool people that are now on our list to be volunteers, and we got to experience both Tattooed Mom’s and Chickie and Pete’s, two of my favorite places in Philly to hit up when on tour.



Monday was Jessica’s birthday, so I took her out for sushi, then we hit up Tattooed Mom’s, a great dive punk bar that I’ve gone to for as long as I’ve been coming to Philly. Once inside, it only made sense that we’d run into Curt and . Curt and I had a ‘hey, I know you from somewhere totally different’ moment on the first night of the Dave tour. We quickly realized it was Warped Tour – Curt works for Epitaph Records and it’s very cool subsidiary label Anti, and was there to promote Xavier Rudd, who was opening for DMB on the first few nights of the tour.

The Camden shows were pretty fun, despite the threat of a massive thunderstorm. Jessica and I were able to set up quickly and get to work. We had three great volunteers join us on Tuesday – Brit and I had just met at the Virgin festival four days before. She came out to volunteer with her friend Brent, and we also had Maria join us, rounding out our team. They did GREAT, going non-stop for hours and getting lots and lots of fans signed up. As always, the venue staff at Tweeter was super helpful, and we owe a special thanks to merch guy Bo for letting us steal his hand cart over and over.

Jessica flew home to Seattle this AM, I’m heading out to Pittsburgh where I’ll pick up Carlos, who will be helping me out for the next two shows.

Virgin Festival!

Joe talks to ONE supporters at Virgin
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

Brian and Jessica took over the Dave shows in Hartford this weekend, while me, Dan, and our new guy Joe headed down to Baltimore for the Virgin Festival. We worked Virgin last year when it was a one day event, and we were excited to get another opportunity to take part, this time over two days. After the initial shock of humidity and heat subsided, we got to work – we did both outreach for ONE and also had a Lokahi voter registration booth as well. We had a lot of success and fun – there are over 2,000 new ONE supporters and 100’s of registered voters as a result of our work, and we got to check out some great sets as well, with the Beastie Boys and the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s being the stand out for me at least. We got to also hang out with our friend Extrawack Bob, who was there manning the Oxfam booth. Good times all the way around, and new guy Joe didn’t seem to get scared off, which is always a bonus!



We had some cool ONE volunteers join us this weekend as well. On Saturday, Andy and Tracy came out. Andy had recently become involved with ONE, he’s in the Navy and does stuff that sounds way cooler than anything we’ll get to do. We figured it was his military training that kept him going all day strong despite the heat! He also sent us a very nice note on Monday, thanking us for the opportunity and giving us some words of encouragement – something that is always great to hear! Tracy came out on Saturday and Sunday, she’s a recent Southern California transplant living in the Baltimore area. On Sunday we also had Sara, Deidree and Sajid rounding out our team – all are involved with ONE locally. I love learning about what brings volunteers to us – it’s by far one of the most rewarding parts of what I do day in and out!

I’m back off to the Dave tour in Camden – I’ll be working with Jessica while Brian and Joe take over Warped Tour.

DMB in Boston

ONE Volunteer Crew
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson

DMB Boston

We kicked off our third summer on the road with the Dave Matthews Band yesterday. Getting here was a bit of a challenge – last minute approvals meant we had to pack up and leave the west coast pretty fast and more or less book it to the opposite coast to make it to the show on time. ‘You’re driving to Boston?!?!?” was the response I got most of Saturday as I informed friends of our new plans. I’ve driven coast to coast for this sort of work many times before, and there is really no other way to get a truck and a ton of stuff where it needs to be, so I guess it just doesn’t seem like all that big of a deal to me anymore. Picked up Brian in Milwaukee then we made our way to Boston, getting to the venue with literally minutes to spare. Our first volunteer crew of the summer tour was a powerhouse – we had nine Boston based ONE supporters come out to join us in all, and they were patient in putting up with the first training I had done in over a month, one done about a total of 7 hours sleep over the past three days. We ended the night with hundreds of new ONE supporters joining the campaign. On Thursday we had Amy and Wendy join us, volunteering their time to help us recruit more ONE supporters. Amy is very active with the local Boston ONE chapter – she helped us to recruit volunteers for the Boston shows - and had volunteered with us in the past. Wendy was a first time volunteer, she is from South Africa and feels a strong connection to the work of ONE. She also became our point of amusement during the night – at one point, she accidently asked fans if they wanted to ‘sign up to end world peace’, instead of world poverty, getting quizzical looks, but also getting people to stop! Once we all laughed and joked about it, it was on her brain, so she kept saying it on accident over and over!

It was great to be back on the ground with the Dave Matthews Band crew again – we are very excited about the weeks ahead!