Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Armadillo Bazaar to get new producers

Updated: Monday, 13 Dec 2010, 12:05 AM CST
Published : Sunday, 12 Dec 2010, 5:50 PM CST

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The location of the annual Armadillo Christmas Bazaar is being held at a new location, but there are other changes going on behind the scenes that will impact shoppers.

Longtime producer of the show, Bruce Willenzik, 63, is preparing to pass on the production of this show he has put on for the past 30 years to four young women he hand-picked.? Willeznik's life partner Annie Harding, 55, has been the associate producer of the show for the past decade.

"This is about sustainability," explained Willenzik.? "We want this show to go on for many many years after we are gone."

Willenzik is now in the process of training Anne Kelly, 28, Elia Albarran, 25, Melissa Stewart, 36, and Amanda Barnett, 28, on how to handle the 35,000 visitors and more than 100 artists the show draws.

"It is a lot of responsibility but it is a huge honor," said Albarran.? "I have been coming to the Bazaar since I was a baby."

The four women have worked at the Bazaar in the past too.

Willenzik will not be giving up complete control until he is 'too old and too tired' and told KXAN the philosophy and purpose of the show will remain the same.

"It is not so much like change just as it is accentuating and trying to bring some of the fresher things and we don't want the show to get stale," Albarran said.

Willenzik plans on training the women over the next few years, but it is likely you will see them running the show on their own by 2020.

This year the 35th annual show will be held at the Palmer Event Center instead of the Austin Convention Center. This move is not permanent, but only happened because another company reserved the convention center.

The show opens this Wednesday and will run 10 days.

?Albarran said show producers will also be offering deals and reaching out to potential visitors via social media like Facebook.

?

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?.


View the original article here

No comments:

Post a Comment