Stardust XV is finally over!!!
Well, for those non Bizaders, Stardust is an annual Bizad talentime.
It's been amazing how everything just fell in together in 1 month. And, I can truly see God's hand at work. It's really been a faith journey, cos this event would definitely not have been possible without His intervention. Well, if you want to hear the whole story, read the next paragraph and on. But, to cut things short, the most important thing was that it's over and that it didn't screw up majorly. Short for a few technical glitches here and there, most of the stuff went on fine. So, now, I can finally channel my energy into studying. Yes!! Studying...
Ok, the details. This Stardust comm came together only 1 month before the event to put things together. Yes! So, that means, effectively, our publicity started only 1 month before the event. And, if you count the CNY week in, it effectively meant that we had less than 1 month of preparation. It's really amazing how so many things fell in place slowly, but surely. Sure, in the beginning, I was so worried about the whole event. Think about it, when I officially sat down to think through this event, the selected date was 5 weeks away. Plus, My comm only had 2 people. Me and my vice. It was only a few days later (in which the time was about 4 weeks to the event) that I managed to get someone to do publicity. With everything not confirmed (only date, venue and price) we just had to publicise with whatever information we had. Also, we didn't have a confirmed sponsor for the event. So, prizes wise, there was at that time no prizes at all. So, just wack first and publicise the important information first before anything else. And, I really thank God that he sent people to make up the comm slowly, but surely. And, in fact as things happened so quickly (less than 1 month to plan a major Bizad event is really tough), we had no time to sit down and think, ok, we need to do things the ABC way, we just did everything we could, not even bothering how things are done, just as long the result was there. Can u imagine, I only had one full comm meeting and the next meeting was the event itself!!!
Anyway, as our publicity went out for the 1st 2 weeks, there was no response at all (people were supposed to email us, but no one did.) After we got the music company to confirm their sponsorship and their prizes which we publicised on the posters and emails, there was still hardly any reply. Think of it, 3 weeks before the event, no one even hints that they are interested to sign up or even enquire. (And, if u add in the CNY week, where most people are MIA-ing and the week of the auditions, it cuts the effective publicity to 1 week left before people get caught up in the festivities.) It's really quite scary that this is a major Bizad event, and somemore it's talenttime and no one signs up. I mean, what kind of talentime would that be? A solo act by Joanne and Comm? And, most importantly was how I was going to answer to the music school if we had so few participants.
The MC (Main Comm: like council) kept asking us to push back the date. But, when reviewing the calendar, there was really no suitable date after the 18th Feb. Why? Because, after that it's mid-sem break. And, mid-sem break means that the mid-sem tests are coming and it would go all the way from the mid-sem test to working on the project in full force (yes, majority of the Bizad modules got project. Can't escape one...), preparing for presentation of the project and then finally handing in the report. (That's pretty much the time schedule of most Bizaders once it hits the mid-sem break.) And before you know it, it'll be exams. And, this period of time is one period that is hard to get the crowd as everyone is busy with project and studying furiously. So, we just had to do it and get over and done with it.
So, imagine the stress we were all under. Can't push back the date, no participants and no money (as we were on a tight budget). And, yup, as I was worrying under stress, I suddenly had the thought to pray. (Not that I don't pray, but I didn't pray specifically for the event). So, I did, and guess what? The next day when i checked the email, there were a few enquiries. Well, at least that was a stepping stone. And, as I was tending the booth, 1 girl handed us her application form. So, yes, I continued praying specifically for Stardust, asking God to send more people, and enquires began filing in, people began msg us to ask about details. I strongly believe that it's by no means of coincidence, because before that, the email inbox was almost empty with no new messages, and as I began to pray there were always new messages and new enquiries each day. Praise the Lord! And, yup, when we did our last email blast, it was during CNY week. Bad week do to email blast, as half the world would be too happy celebrating to even think of checking their mail. but, we had to do it. The closing date was 13th feb, by then, we managed to get a 10+ confirmed people. And, God's grace didn't just stop there, enquiries still continued flooding and in one night we had so many more entrys!! We unofficially extended to closing date to 15th feb (the last day of the auditions) and up to 15th morning, we still had one more entrant!!
Really, it's really God's hand at work. Whatever you may say, I know that it was God answering my prayers. And, yup, we were also trying to sell tickets, but, as usual, ticket sales were low. We were afraid that we might not be able to reach our target. And, also it was worrying that we would not be able to fill up the auditorium with a reasonable number to allow the sponsors to have a good impression of us and make their sponsorship worth it. So, yesterday, I prayed specifically for the event to run smoothly and also for the ticket sales to go up. And, yes, it did! It went up above our target. Indeed, God really provides so abundantly! So abundantly that when I saw the figures, I myself was surprised!! And, when I stepped into the auditorium, I was surprised at the number of people! Praise be to God who gives so abundantly, as long as you ask.
Yes, and I am going to say this again, it is really by God's strength that I managed to survive this month of preparation. So many times, in the beginning I felt like giving up and tell the MC to look for someone else. But, as I committed everything to the Lord, He made things fall in place in HIS time. He knew when was the right time to get what things together, and come to think of it, I think if everything came together at the beginning, things may not have fallen so well as we might have slacked off and do less in our preparation.
Thank you Lord!!! I can never thank You enough and I can never praise Your Holy name enough, but still Thank You Lord and All praise, glory and honour are Yours!!
