Finals Night feedback from a young poet

[admin]

Hi, I received this email via VPH, and asked Jordan if I could repost it. He said yes, so here it is:

Dear Van Slam,

I went to your finals night yesterday (Monday) and was utterly blown away. I'm seventeen and live in the little town of Maple Ridge. A T.O.C. that is often wandering the hallways of our school (Thomas Haney Secondary) told our Writing and Lit class about your show and so I thought, why not! I just wanted to tell you how much all of the poets inspired me to write more and with such power. I love to write now, but I am nowhere near as talented as your group...I hope to grow in that direction one day. Slam Poetry has opened my mind to new ways of expressing myself. As an art student I am constantly searching for these vehichles to transfer my emotions. I was searching your site and saw that you need a graphic designer for logos and whatnot. As I am going to attend my first year of University next year at Emily Carr, I'd be honored to help you guys out which would really be helping me out aswell! If you don't need any help, no worries. I will continue to make the trip out to your slam nights and soak up every minute of them. I just want to thank you all so much for being amazingly talented and for inspiring me so much.

Sincerely, Jordan Young.

PS: I am determined to get my Writing class out for a youth slam night ASAP.

[Shannon]

Awesome!

Thanks for sharing.

[ritallin]

Hmm. I've been wanting to do a proper logo for Bill Brown's 1-2-3 Slam for quite some time now. Do you think this young man would be interested? 

[Sean]

Because we seldom toot our own horn...one of the teachers that brought kids to the show on Monday...and though this is addressed to me I wanted to share it with all the volunteers.

"Hi Sean, I wanted to take a moment and thank you for a wonderful, amazing, inspiring... experience. My students and I feel changed today and I hope that change - a greater desire to share experiences, explore the personal and the personal response, take risks, fear less will last until, at least, our next Slam Poetry event. We are thinking of maybe havving our own event at school."

[Sean]

Another one...

Hey Sean,

I was at the slam on monday and I really liked that one poet who read "David Suzuki Doesn't like this Poem"... I am wondering if you could pass on my (and my friends') appreciation - and if I see him again I'd like to buy his book!

Thanks,
Julien

[rpriske]

Wow, what great and awesome feedback!

[Sean]

Hey Sean,

Just wanted to say thanks to you and the entire crew involved with the Poetry Slam finals last Monday. I am relatively new to enjoying Slam Poetry, and wasn't sure what to expect Monday night. To make things more interesting, I brought my 68 year old (never heard of slam poetry) Mom as my guest! Needless to say, the evening was more than I hoped for...the talent was fantastic, the MC nailed his role and said exactly the right thing at the right time, and every one of the poets blew us away. From Antoinette's personal history to RC Csekowski's "Bang Boom Pow" we were challenged, moved, and entertained.

Thanks to you and your team of volunteers for making it all possible.

Regards,

Geoff

[Father Goose]

It is freakin' fantastic to see all this great feedback!

Do you think he means RC Sikorski, the remote control helicopter guy?

But seriously, the feedback has been outstanding.

[Shannon]

Agreed!  It is so nice to read that from the teens up to the retirees, slam has reached out and grabbed them.