Behind the Scenes with JJ: Natasha Bedingfield at The Big E

From LA to West Springfield, Natasha Bedingfield pulled up to The Big E Friday night only minutes before the concert was scheduled to start. Missing her connecting flight, Bedingfield arrived in Hartford at 7 p.m., still needing to make the drive from the airport to be at The Big E by 8 p.m.

While the frustration of missing a flight and all of the rushing may have been more stress than a lot of people could handle, Bedingfield, a true professional, managed to calmly arrive at The Big E and get on stage by 8:08 p.m. The rain did not put a damper on that diva’s “pocket full of sunshine,” and she performed for dedicated fans who did not let the weather keep them away. Armed with Big E ponchos, the crowd didn’t miss a beat throughout the show. They all could really “feel the rain on their skin” as the show wrapped up and Natasha hung out with The Big E crew for about an hour before jetting off. That’s what happened last night at The Big E, but as far as the rest, it “is still unwritten.”

Below are several pictures from the concert.

ESE President Wayne McCary gretting Natasha

Day One at the Fair: One down and sixteen fun filled days to go!

Its opening day here at The Big E and everything has started off with a bang. Yesterday, the Fair hosted a pre-Fair press conference and media party. The Press Conference revealed about The Big E’s Economic Impact of $22 million brought into the West Springfield area, and stories were already posted on the web by the time the media party started at 6 p.m. At the party, The Big E welcome area media personnel. Between the catered food and The Big E’s own cream puffs, nobody went hungry.

Today, The Big E hosts Military Appreciation Day, honoring those who currently serve in the military and veterans. The opening ceremony took place at 10 a.m. at the gate 5 Flag Plaza where The Big E honored Spc. Kenneth J. Iwasinski, an Army infantryman who made West Springfield his home and was killed October 14, 2007 in Iraq.

Tonight, Natasha Bedingfield will grace the Comcast Arena Stage, performing all of her hits. The concert is at 8 p.m., and tomorrow I will post details from JJ about everything that took place behind the scenes and before the concert.

This morning has already proved to be a busy day. My task today is to hand out new Big E buttons for our on-grounds campaign. The buttons boast little phrases such as “The Fair with Flair,” “Pro-Cream Puffs” and “The Bull Stops Here.” Anyone who is spotted wearing a button during the fair will have the opportunity to win prizes. Prizes may be anything from tickets to come back, a free cream puff, or even concert tickets.

Right now, out my office window, Malo is setting up on the Court of Honor Stage. We can hear their instruments preparing for the show to take place in just a few minutes as people gather to watch. They play daily at 12p.m. and 6 p.m. It’s a nice break from work to hear music flowing through the office.

Picture Tour of the pre-fair grounds

The operations staff works so fast around here. Last week the fairgrounds looked like an empty parking lot with a few scattered buildings. Today, that parking lot is filled with food vendors, craft exhibits, rides, benches, and ticket booths. The flavor of the Fair is on its way. Just outside my window is a mini-donut booth which is such a tease since no one is working there yet. It just sits there making me impatient in anticipation of those warm, fresh donuts.

I took some pictures so everyone could see a little bit of what is happening this week, four days from opening day.

This is the beginning stages of The Big E Super Circus. The poles now hold up the massive tent that was lying on the ground this morning.

The food vendors are moving in, setting up shop and making us hungry.

The Giant Slide: Possibly one of the simplest, yet greatest attractions at The Big E awaits the screams and cheers of all who ride.

The Comcast Arena Stage is still in a trailer, but it will be up and ready for Natasha Bedingfield next Friday.

These benches wait to surround the Court of Honor Stage. That empty space will be full by Friday.

This massive crane is moving rides into place in the midway.

Here’s where those rides will end up.

Last, but not least, in this picture tour is Commerford’s Petting Zoo where rumor has it there will be baby lemurs this year.

More from JJ - the man with the job everyone wants!

Natashe Bedingfield is in Europe right now, but I just got off the phone with her people. They are flying back into the states on Monday to come to The Big E!
Everything is pulling together for a great show on Friday!!!

--JJ

Only 6 days until The Big E, and you can not believe the craziness.

Take a walk outside the back door of our office and you might think you took a wrong turn and ended up at a golf course. Twenty golf carts are lined up just outside so that all of the staff can easily and quickly get from one end of the Fair grounds to another prior to the Fair opening. For our department we use our cart to bring the media to different locations for photos and interviews.

Today my job was to take one the carts out with a photographer from the Republican. We circled around the entire Fair Grounds getting pictures of Fair preparations. His pictures consisted of eggs in the incubators, the state building cleaning crews, Mardi Gras floats and so much more. The pictures are going to be in the newspaper next Wednesday!

While touring the Fairgrounds I saw the Giant Tent of the Big E Super Circus in the process of going up. The Food Vendors are moving in and all of the booths and craft exhibits are setting up. RVs and mobile homes are arriving as vendors use them as home-base before and during the Fair. The two entertainment stages are being put together; chairs are being delivered and the stages themselves are going up. With only 6 days to go and so much still to be done, everyone will have to work quickly.

The Job that Everyone Wants!!!!

So much is going on around the Eastern States Exposition to get ready for The Big E which opens in 15 days. The Marketing department, where I am, has been busy promoting the Fair and the entertainment. But our department doesn’t deal directly with the entertainers, and we thought everyone might like to hear from the person who does.

The man who has the job everyone wants, John Juliano, books the talent that comes to The Big E, and that can be some BIG name performers that he gets to work with. His official title is Special Events Director which includes talent buyer. However, just because the talent is booked doesn’t mean his job goes on hold. Right now, just 15 days before the first show, JJ is promoting the concerts, monitoring ticket sales, and tracking down managers. The managers still need to give him information on what these stars need: the sound and lighting, transportation, accommodations such as food and hotel rooms. JJ deals with so many details that tend to be last minute and can be quite stressful, but he wouldn’t change a minute of it.

What kind of last minute details does he deal with you might ask? Well, just two years ago when Brad Paisley was coming to the Comcast Arena Stage, JJ ran into a small fiasco with the stage. At that time, Paisley was touring with a brand new $3 million video wall that was quite the display. About 2 weeks before the Fair, JJ found out that Paisley was bringing this new screen that, come to find out, was TOO heavy to hang from the roof of the Comcast Arena Stage, and Paisley would not perform without the screen. JJ and his team had to scramble to find a roof that would support the screen and could be installed within two weeks. They found a company in Georgia that built and installed a roof before the beginning of the Fair. The roof went up and Brad Paisley performed on the first Sunday of the 2006 Fair. One day and thousands of dollars later, the roof came down and the old one was put back up. All in a days work for Mr. Juliano.

But JJ’s job is not just damage control. He gets to meet some down to earth stars and their teams, where some great memories are born. A recent memory that he shared with me took place last year when Trace Atkins came to the fair. Before concert time, an incognito Trace Atkins, who wore a baseball cap and dark sunglasses, toured the fair taking time to see all of the little aspects of The Big E. JJ found it amazing that a big star like Atkins would take the time to see our Fair and that he was there all day but no one knew. (You never know, if you’re here on concert day, who you’ll run into.)

After September 28, when the fair is over, JJ will begin to look for next year’s talent. His job involves keeping up on every genre of music and looking for the next big hit. Last year The Big E hosted DAUGHTRY, Trace Adkins, and Montgomery Gentry to name a few. JJ said that his secret to continuing to provide great shows is to not book the same talent the following year. That’s why this year The Big E will host Fergie, Natasha Bedingfield, Sugarland, Jordin Sparks, LeAnn Rimes, and Jason Aldean, to name a few. After these shows, he will continue to watch MTV, CMT and VH1; he will search online and talk to people of all age groups to see what music people are into. Next year he will bring a whole new flavor to the Fair. He’s been doing it for 25 years and loves every changing minute of it.

Keep checking back here and leave questions for JJ as stars arrive and the Fair unfolds.

Glamorous Pop-Stars Coming Soon to The Big E

As a Fergie and Natasha Bedingfield fan, I am very excited to be at The Big E this fall while they will both be here. At work I hear their music floating around the office as different pieces of media are being produced. Seeing it all come together increases my excitement for the concerts.

Concerts are so much fun to attend. Between the screaming fans and the rockin’ music, there’s not much that I enjoy more. With a show like Fergie, the music is so great that you can’t help but dance in front of your seat (I don’t think anyone really sits at a show like hers). But with Natasha you just want to belt out the lyrics!

The closer we get to the shows, the more ticket-selling details that have to be handled. It is pretty neat to see how the other end of ticket sales is handled. We open up the seating chart to see which seats are filled and which seats are still open. Right now we’re designating the radio contest tickets. We work with the radio stations in the greater Springfield and Connecticut area to put together contests to win free concert tickets.

An Evening with Fergie is on September 28 and Natasha Bedingfield performs on September 12, so time is tight with getting the contest details worked out. Deadlines make the job even more exciting.