May 5, 2004

Spring Fever hot event for area teenagers

17-year-old puts on ambitious concert for nearly 400 teens at Civic Center


By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

       Grant Gilbert exhibits prime entrepreneurial traits: innovative ideas, calculated risk-taking, solid market research and determination to succeed.
      Just a month shy his 18th birthday, Gilbert has already clocked significant real-world experience and honed his business savvy. Although graduation from Central High School has been fast approaching, this spring Gilbert has been focused on another ticking clock: the months, days and hours before his Spring Fever 2004 teen dance began.
      Held this Friday evening at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center, the event drew nearly 400 area youth for an evening of dancing to music spun by DJ Madman Mike from Detroit and played by The Planet The, a progressive band from Portland, Ore.
      Gilbert began working on the dance nearly 18 months ago, determined to bring fun and safe entertainment to youths ages 15-19. An underserved population that most adults shrink from, Gilbert strongly believes this age group deserves entertainment they want to hear. He vividly recalls the days after he first received his driver's license, driving around with his friends looking in vain for something they wanted to do.
      "There's nothing offered for kids, it usually takes a lot of effort to get something going for kids under 18," said Grant, who is dual-enrolled in Northwestern Michigan College's aviation program. "When you start adding them together, there's a lot of kids who are being neglected, it's a huge market."
      Gilbert, with a hugely ambitions plan, booked the Grand Traverse County Civic Center for Spring Fever 2004. He envisioned 2,000 kids coming to the dance and advertised it heavily to schools around the region, including both Traverse City high Schools as well as Kalkaska and Elk Rapids.
      Principals he approached with flyers and announcements were supportive and helpful. Although the attendance was far below his hopes, Gilbert is philosophical about it and determined to host more dances.
      "This was the first one so I learned a lot of things from it," Gilbert said. "Next time, first thing, I won't try to mix punk and pop together. Luckily everybody had a good time and for the next event, they'll tell more of their friends so it will be bigger, better."
      Gilbert also found an ally in Tim Schreiner, county parks director, who helped him navigate the legal, security and logistical hoops needed to schedule an event of this magnitude. For future events, Gilbert said he is looking at a smaller venue that would have fewer security restrictions; at the Civic Center he had to pay for City Police Officers as well as other security staff. While his first concern is safety of the kids, he said a smaller, private location will work better for everyone.
      "Security for this event was flawless, there was not one complaint," he noted, fulfilling a crucial goal of his first dance. "Any other show I do will have security, just maybe not police officers."
      Once a date was selected and the idea approved, he turned to business ally Royce Deans for help with the music. Deans, a longtime family friend, owns both a record label called 5440 or Fight! and publishes a magazine entitled Copper Press. Gilbert has interned for him on the magazine.
      Deans sifted through the bands signed to his label and came up with The Planet The as the most appropriate and danceable. This band wound up building a whole tour around Spring Fever 2004, making the venture a win-win scenario for all involved.
      "I was intrigued by Grant's enthusiasm for this project," Deans said. "He had quite a vision and I was impressed a kid would have that."
      Gilbert also plans to network with the founders of Jacob's Well, TC Local and Orion's Gate, other organizations that have hosted teen events in the past.
      "What I'd like to see happen, the kind of vision we all share, is to provide entertainment for kids," he said. "Even for kids in their 20s there's not a lot to do. We all have the same goal: provide a constant flow of entertainment."