2019-06-17 - Festival Committee

The mid-morning brings dark gray skies to Gray Har-- who is anyone kidding, it's been this way for days now without end. It's almost noon and there's a heavy chill in the air while scattered rain drizzles down all over the town.

When Byron meets with Dahlia downstairs in the lobby, dressed professionally in his dark suit and tie, the first thing that he'll say is: "Ah, Dahlia! I hope that you didn't have any trouble getting into the complex, especially in this weather." There's this resigned lift of his brows, knowing full well that the weather is usually always like this. "Follow me and I'll take you up to my office."

Dahlia had headed from the Community College over to Bayside Apartments so she and Byron could have their meeting. No one wanted Dahlia behind the wheel of a car, ever, so it was an Uber driver that dropped her off at the appointed building. Her attire for today was a strapless, navy blue dress and black sandals. Her hair pulled back in a neat ponytail.

Byron's greeting ilicits a laugh, "No trouble at all. I'm glad we could meet. " Dahlia hated the weather here. She'd kill someone for a day of just sunshine. It'd be worth it. "I hope your day is going well?" A casual enough question as they made their way up to his office. "Everything looks rather lovely here from what I've seen so far.

"Well enough. I'll be forever grateful that my office is also in my home. Then again, it doesn't help with the work-life balance thing." Byron says with a laugh, "You either do too much in one direction than the other. For me, it's usually the work part."

There's a doorman and receptionist in this lobby and there are two other buildings just like this in the complex with their own set of staff.

Stepping into the elevator, he waits for Dahlia to join him before he inserts his key into the panel which unlocks the Penthouse button which is then pressed. "I'm glad that you've shown interest in this event that I'm planning." He says idly as he waits for the car to reach the topmost floor. His eyes linger on Dahlia when he speaks, "As you may already know, I am planning a festival to help boost the town's economy. Like any town wide festival, this isn't a small scale event."

"It's important to find a balance I imagine. You might just drive yourself crazy if you don't." Dahlia mused, turning slightly once they were in the elevator so she was facing him. "That's partly why I was interested. I dont' recall anything like that ever being a thing in this town. And it would draw a lot of people. I'm curious what the theme is going to be?" Because surely all good festivals had themes right?

She was holding a manila folder in her hands, which she seems to have forgotten about until she happened to catch it in the corner of her periphreals. "Oh. Do you know if there's any other places that've popped up around here that might have a stage and seating for rental? I'm looking into options for the acting classes I was telling you about." Her gaze back on him. "Besides the Performing Arts center at the college."

"If I must be truthful," Byron says with a pleasant enough smile, "The town itself is enough to drive anyone crazy. But no, you're right. There's just this part of my brain that I can't shut off some of the time, so I keep coming up with big ideas and this need to want to throw things together and see what sticks."

The manila folder is noted, something which brings this look of curiosity to his eyes, but he doesn't ask. "A space large enough for acting lessons..." He's trying to think. "I don't know if you can afford the theater in town, but that's the first thing that comes to mind. And as we're not a town that's often associated with the performing arts, I figure they'd have a lot of days or weeks where the theater isn't in use. But if you could find an empty warehouse somewhere, that could also possibly work."

There's the sound of a DING to be heard and the elevator opens up just across from his apartment's door. The only apartment on this floor. Opening it up, he leads her inside. "Can I get you some coffee or anything else to drink? Mimosas aren't off the table." He says with a laugh. "I also have my own espresso machine, so the coffee's not half bad up in these parts."

The penthouse suite is large and has an open concept setup. Everything is updated with a mixture of modern and traditional scheme. Large French doors open out to the rooftop terrace, which is hardly in use due to weather, but it does provide a breathtaking view of the bay. There's a large entertainment system against one wall, An array of leather couches and seating opposite that. There's also a fully stocked bar.

"That's fair. This town always has something going on under the surface. Though I can never quite put my finger on what makes it feel so off." Dahlia wrinkled her nose a touch and then shook her head. "In any case. We all have our quirks right? Sometimes that involves not being able to turn off the brain." She gave a fleeting grin. "I'm not going to see a giant conspiracy-theory looking corkboard of ideas in your apartment am I?" Teasing a bit.

"I'll make a note to call them and see about pricing. I'm not sure if I want to invest in a whole building. Not unless it takes off better than I'm expecting it will." Dahlia shrugged a touch. Then her attention is on the apartment when they enter, giving a sweeping gaze over the parts she can see. "Very nice." Way nicer than anywhere she'd lived. Even in LA. "I'm definitely jealous of your view." She chuckled, turning her attention back on to him finally. "When do you plan to have the festival take place?"

Byron can't help but laugh when she brings up this conspiracy theory corkboard, "Now you're mistaking me for Alexander Clayton," The town loon, er weirdo who is far too interested in local crime scene work, "And we're nothing alike." Even though she doesn't ask for it, he moves to pour her a cup of coffee anyone. Filling up one for himself. With both in hand, he leads the way to his office which he had left unlock for the brief period of time that he was away, downstairs, fetching her.

"I didn't think so." He says about the idea of renting out the theater. "It's a large space, made to entertain a good number of people and that's a bit overkill for what you have planned. Once inside the office, he hands one of the cups to her, then gestures to a side table with everything from cream flavorings to sugar and even stirring spoons. "Feel free to use whatever you need to flavor your coffee with." With that said, he settles down into his own chair behind his desk, noting the guest seats opposite him.

"I'm looking for a early to mid-Fall festival date. So... yeah, I know that I'm not giving much time for planning. The theme, as you were curious about is Carnival. Well, I envision this as a Masquerade, playing up the town's mysterious allure. People walking around in domino masks, plague doctor masks, plumed fancy hats. The /works/. Dressing the townsfolk up is one thing, dressing the town itself up is what I'm focusing on right now. How to transport a whimsical, magical Carnival of Venice to Gray Harbor."

Dahlia accepts the coffee, taking a brief look around the office and then stepping over to the table. The coffee quickly becomes more of a 'Would you like coffee with your cream and sugar?' situation as she stirs in hazelnut creamer and more than a handful of sugar. However, she also meticulously cleans up any mess made while she listens to him pitch his Carnival idea.

"I think that sounds exciting." She said sincerely, lifting her coffee cup and taking a sip as her attention focused on him once more. "People is the easy part though, yes." Pondering on it a moment. "Well. Maybe there could be incentive offerings to the local businesses who want to participate? They decorate and maybe make some special dishes that are for the duration of the festival and in exchange they get XYZ." Dahlia wasn't a business person, but that seemed logical. "There would just be some outlines provided to help them know how they should gear their decorum and the like. I'm sure there's some companies out there who specialize in decorating park areas and the streets that could work with the local government on getting proper permits in place and making sure nothing is destroyed in the process."

Byron has all of the necessary paperwork for this meeting set out neatly on his desk. Looking through a few of them, he leans forward to place them in front of Dahlia near her espresso concoction. "Those are the legal permits that I have from City Council in order to pull this off." A second set of papers are set down partially ontop of the first, but tilted to the side as if he's fanning them out somewhat, "And these are images of what I have in mind. I've already spoken to the town's horticulturist, the one with the plant shop just outside of town. He has ideas on how to bring both plants that look like they would be native to Italy to our town as well as interesting and curiously whimsical plants that will help play up the mysterious Masquerade part."

"But yes, I've been speaking to many local businesses in recent days and that's not going to stop anytime soon." There's this pause, his dark eyes looking on Dahlia with consideration, "I was hoping to put together a Festival Committee, which is also part of the Town Beautification Committee. This festival is something I'm hoping will be ongoing for years to come and there always needs to be early preparation for each and every year. But this kick-off event, being the first, is the most important. So someone with an eye for design and who might know best how to help dress the town up for the event. Do you think you could help me with this matter?"

Dahlia listened closely, inspecting the papers and photographs. A thoughtful noise now and again a she moved through the papers and pictures with a careful touch. When he asks if she could help with the designing, Dahlia's eyes find his again as she considers the offer. "...I think I could. I'm happy to help and I'm not expert but I like to think I know what looks good and what doesn't. I've seen enough set designs over the last few years to have an idea or two." She agreed. "Who else is helping you out with this? Becoming part of the committee?" Dahlia looked back down to the papers as she took another sip. "It will be good to have something to focus on. I'd like to see the town pick up."

Byron's face brightens on hearing this agreement and her willingness to help. "I'm currently working with Melisande Clancy, she is an events coordinator and promoter. As well as Lilith Winslow, if you remember Lily. And August Roen, the horticulturist who will be sending images of the plants he's chosen to be set up around town and he'd like the artistic eye of the Committee to weigh in on his choices. I have at least one other curious party who'd messaged me and I'm planning to meet with the town's florist for additional suggestions and added support."

Seated relaxed within his chair, he sips from him coffee now. "Do you think that this is actually doable? And that it won't come off as terribly.." He tries to remember the words that Gina had told him, "Fake." He follows up with, "I know that we can't be as authentic as we'd like and I don't want this to be Venice exactly. This is Gray Harbor's Carnival after all.

Dahlia makes a mental note of the people he is working with. She does recognize Lilith's name a bit and nods when he mentions if she remembers. "It sounds like a good start!" She seems to prefer standing, just taking to leaning lightly against the coffee fixing table. "Honestly?" When he asks if it's doable. "I do. It's just going to take a lot of time, money, and room for error. Because if I've learned anything, it's that things go wrong more often than they go right. Some things you can roll with but others will put a whole wrench in the rig. You know?" Head tilting slightly. "I might be able to reach out to a couple people in LA who could possibly help with some decorum things too. Provide insight, if you want me to make a couple calls?" Raising a brow lightly.

There's this long quiet moment when Byron considers her offer of reaching to L.A. folk. He's probably doing budget calculations and things of that sort in his mind. "Actually, I would like. At least for the first event. From there on, we can carry this on our own shoulders. I mean, if they don't mind the trip out to some sleepy town by the bay and nothing quite as exciting as San Francisco, but we have history still. A lot of the homes were built some odd years ago. But sure, give them a call and we'll see what can be worked out. For the most part, I'd like to keep this in-town, as in, using our town resources, but I am always open to another person's perspective. Especially those who have experience in design."

"I can understand that. And I agree, it should be as 'in-town' as possible .Because otherwise it isn't really the towns. Once you let too many outside sources come in." Dahlia agreed, thinking it over a moment. "I won't promise that I can get someone out here, but I'll at least call. I have a couple favors in the wings to call in." She smiled again. "I'll let you know either way. Maybe I'll stop by and talk to Mr. Roen some about the horticulture aspect. I don't know much on the subject but it would help me I think. In envisioning how things should look." There was a beat of pause. "Is it bad that I want a mini replica of the town that we can decorate? You know like how you see in the movies when people are presenting major changes?"

Byron doesn't at all mind that Dahlia prefers to remain standing, even if his eyes keep idle watch on her in the case that he can sense that she's in need of something by body language alone. In the meantime, he continues to savor the bold taste of his coffee. "Right, see, that would work beautifully. Sharing ideas via the internet, pictures and things of that nature." Though what she asks next has him lifting his own brow for a moment, "Hmm. Now /that/ sounds like it would be an expensive endeavor, having a model of the town created." There's another sip of coffee, both brows now lift, as he mutters, "No matter how small Gray Harbor really is. Though I figure there's a scale model of the town to be found at City Hall. Though it's not one that we can altar, of course. For that, I think we'd either need to scan it, have plans made for it that we could possibly 3D print or hire a set designer or... toy maker." This last part is said after taking another sip during the brief pause. "Still, it seems like an interesting thing to have on hand."

As an afterthought, after she'd brought Roen up, he shifts in his seat to reach into pants pocket to pull out his wallet. From there a business card is removed and he sets this onto his desk and gently pushes it Dahlia's way. It's for both the Branch & Bole and the Out on a Limb service. "You can keep that if you'd like. I can always just get another one later."

"Perhaps...I'm terrible with computers beyond the simple things but my bestfriend is in town and he's much better with that stuff. So I'll take some pictures if there is one and maybe he can do something up." Dahlia grinned a bit. She leaned over to accept the cards, looking them over a moment and then tucked them into her folder. "Thank you Byron. I'll see if I can get in touch soon with them to chat and just get a better idea of things. I'll do some research on Carnival too." She reached two fingers just into the top of her dress to pull out her phone and peek at the time. Super professional. However, Dahlia doesn't miss a beat or seem to think it weird or out of place. Another smile given to Byron. "I should get going, I promised mom I wouldn't be out too long, she wasnt' feeling so well when I checked on her earlier. But I'm excited to help you out with this."

It's Byron's turn to grin, seemingly pleased with how the conversation had gone. "I appreciate any and all help that I can get." Though at this announcement that she's prepared to depart, he immediately rises and makes his way around the desk to join her near the entrance, "I'll walk you down to the lobby. And send my regards to your mother. I know I said I'd stop by to pay a visit, but I've been swamped with work." This meeting included! "It was nice of you to heed my call and volunteer your services. If you only knew how much I /really/ appreciate your help, because honestly, there's only so much that I can do." With those words, he leads her to the elevator which is conveniently like his front door. "We'll talk again soon."