NATC 2017, ruminations

Okay, I promise this is the last post about NATC.  But now that I've dissected what I enjoyed and why, I wanted to put some thoughts and questions out there...

1.) All those taiko groups that aren't on social media.

We heard that about 50% of the groups in North America aren't on social media.  So that means they're not seeing the threads on Facebook, seeing what's out there, sharing what they're doing.  I wonder why not?  And then I wonder if it matters?  Would it be more trouble than it's worth?  Would it really enhance their experience?  Food for thought.

2.) What/who is the "future of taiko"?

At Taiko Jam, On Ensemble was referred to as "the future of taiko".  But are they?  Nothing bad to say about OE, but when I see what the "taiko landscape" looks like since they started, I see a lot of the same stuff out there.  And that's not a critique either!  Just an observation.

I definitely see their influence out there, as people and groups both try to emulate what they see in OE as well as being more open to different approaches and musical sensibilities.  But there's still an overwhelmingly large number of community groups and those numbers seem to be growing just as much as ever.  Maybe the actual numbers would tell a different story, but I don't see the future of taiko being much different for quite a while.  That's not a good nor bad thing, just...a thing.  Am I wrong?  Tell me otherwise!

3.) Where can NATC go from here?

I heard there were about 700 people at NATC 2017.  That included workshop leaders, performers, participants, volunteers, people at the marketplace, observers, etc.  That's a lot of people.  But it's really not been able to get bigger than that (Stanford was the largest so far but I forget the number).

It's hard to find facilities that can provide all the things we need for all the workshops and performances, while also provide housing and food and still be affordable.  And it's hard to find volunteers since there are a LOT needed already, and a larger conference would just add to that number.  Anything outside of the major "taiko hubs" means finding people to help is really hard!

I know some people wish NATC was longer, but then it makes it harder on some people taking even more time off work - people including workshop leaders, facilitators, etc.  Possible, just difficult.

Half the attendees are new to NATC (first-timers), so that means the half left over (~250 this time?) are people who have come before.  If we're only seeing about ~250 people that have been before, after 10 conferences, does that mean people stop wanting to come/can't come, or do people stop playing taiko?  Or are we just not able to let those people sign up because we have to limit our size?

Granted, maybe we don't need a larger conference!  Maybe this is the ideal size and even with resources to make it possible, a larger one would just be too cumbersome.  I know TCA probably talks about this sort of thing, but I think it's a good topic to think and talk about as part of the community.

Anyways, that's it for NATC-related posts, I promise!  Not sure how many posts I've got left to go, but it's almost coming to an end!