Most accounts of Groove guests are positive, with few issues noted
It was much debated and somewhat hotly contested, but as it came and went, the Groove Island event reportedly went off with little to no hitches. At Tuesday’s Avalon City Council meeting, reports were given on the event that were largely positive, with speakers encouraging its return.
Dave Stevenson, Catalina Island Company senior vice president of sales and marketing, offered a report on the event, noting that it was a test to see if it worked for the community. Prior to the event getting approved, there were concerns expressed to the City Council that it would be an over-the-top party event that would create too many problems.
“It appears we all survived,” Stevenson quipped as he took the podium.
Despite a few hiccups, Stevenson said that the event had a lot of positives for the island. Other residents and business owners also had positive things to say and encouraged the city to consider more events similar in nature.
Organizers for the event also stated it went very well, despite calling it a “financial disaster” for the company. With the Catalina Film Festival also taking place, the hotels on the island were all at or near guest capacity by Sunday night, many of whom were making their first trip to Catalina.
“These were new visitors, these were people that came from a long way away to see Catalina and this was the only reason that they were here,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson said that new visitors that have a positive experiences are more likely to return for other reasons. And other reports were positive regarding the guests who attended the Groove event.
Yolanda Say, Hotel Metropole Manager, spoke to the council, saying that there were no issues with Groove guests and added that they were very nice people, some of whom told hotel employees it was the best event they’d been to, she said.
“It was a seamless weekend,” Say told the council.
Matthew Affolder, who owns Catalina Escape Room said that he dealt with many of the visitors who came for Groove Island, at the Escape Room, the Bluewater Restaurant and at the concert event itself. He said that everyone he dealt with were very friendly. He also noted that some of them came from out of state and even from out of the country, to attend the event.
“Overall, these people were amazing,” Affolder said, adding later, “We need more of these types of events.”
Judy Greer, who spoke about the Catalina Festival of Art, also weighed in on the Groove event, noting the debates and concerns prior to the event, saying that there is often a lot of time spent on arguing about things that haven’t happened yet.
“Sometimes these things are really, really good,” Greer said.
One of the hiccups involved the hospital, which had upstaffed for the weekend, in anticipation of potential problems associated with the event. Those added staff members cost approximately $10,000, according to Catalina Island Medical Center CEO Jason Paret, who spoke at the meeting.
Yet, the CIMC had only two patients brought to the hospital, one a GHB overdose (who did not provide any insurance info and later disappeared) and another who was an alcohol overdose. Paret requested that CIMC be more involved in planning when concerns over future events are in planning stages.
“We felt very out of the dark with everything that was going on,” Paret said.
Jason Beukema, owner of Whet Travel, which organized the event, said that they plan to meet with city officials, fire and police to determine what worked and what didn’t. While he admitted the event was a financial disaster, he felt that it was a positive experience for island businesses and guests.
“I think overall, it was a great experience,” Beukema said.
