There was a fly in the ointment yesterday. The studio that I usually book was unbookable due to loud renovations happening next door! Okaaay… Unfortunately, this is one of the interesting obstacles we have to face when dealing with somewhat impromptu gatherings.
I learned last year that booking a 3 hour block for a space on a regular basis was too costly unless I had people committed to showing up. So this meant how long I booked the studio space was dependent on how many people would actually show up. For us actors, our lives often get in the way due to all sorts of reasons and commitments are sometimes unavailable until the last minute. There is also the possibility that no one would be able to commit at all. So I needed the flexibility to be able to book at the last minute, which can cause some problems. So today was the first such.
First I texted the 4 actors who said they definitely wanted to be there today, just so that they knew "tonight" had a chance of being cancelled unless I could find a solution.
I then called up a colleague and he told me to get a hold of a photographer acquaintance of his, giving me his contact info, supposedly after he had spoken to him to make sure this was at all doable. I figured that if this was the case, I should be able to get a hold of him right away. Well no one picked up the phone, so I left him an email.
Then I went to check out a community centre in my neighbourhood that another colleague of mine was using for another group workshop that I attended a few days ago. What do you know? The space was available, although I was told I was lucky because their spaces usually get booked really fast. The only problem was that it wasn't as nice a space as to what we were used to. So I went to the photographer's studio to see if I could catch him there and no luck. Well that's it. I had to make a decision quick and the Gathering would only happen if everyone was okay with the location change. After all, the usual studio was more central Toronto (midtown-west) and this place was more in the east. So I texted everyone and let them know the location. Trouble was, I needed to know answers soon. So, 5 minutes later, I started calling instead. David was fine. Great. One down. Anna wasn't sure. F**k. Was it because I said it was in a basement or because it's in the east end? Well, she's one out of 3, which we could still work out. Besides, she said she'd get back to me. I tried calling Edgar but all I got was voice mail. Frustrated, I decided that rather than calling up Zan right away, I would get something else done that needed to be done so I could get a confirmation from Edgar first. I don't know why I did that. Was I afraid of driving Zan crazy with my antics, making her think I didn't know what I was doing? Where do I get these crazy ideas?
Suddenly while I'm driving, I hear a ding from my phone. I pull over and see that I got a text from Edgar. He's okay with the location change. So then I call up Zan. No problem on her end either. That does it. I head back to the community centre and finalize the deal. Then I text everyone back with the precise location details.
I drive off to my other chores. (Funny thing, I get a call from the photographer just a few minutes afterwards. He didn't hear his phone ring during lunch. Oh well. At least he told me to call him back again if I ever find myself in another jam.) Precious time has been taken from my day but fortunately, when I head to the space "tonight", I'm just a 5 minute drive away.
An hour later, I'm driving back but before I do, I text Anna one last time and say:
"Hey Anna. If you'd prefer, I have one person tentatively set for tomorrow afternoon @ the regular space. So, you could book for that. FYI, Tonight, we are 5 with you rather than just 2 and the space is not terrible."
5 minutes later, she says she's coming. All right! It all worked out. Whew! What a day!!
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