VISIONARY - Music Inc. Magazine

Music retailers in Joplin, Mo., were
devastated by a deadly tornado
that blew through on May 22.
Palen Music Center was one of the
few fortunate enough to not sustain any
structural damage. Its Joplin location
reopened a week later — and garnered
far more business than expected.
“I thought it would be much slower
coming back,” said Eric Matzat, president
of Palen Music, which is headquartered
in Springfield, Mo. “It certainly
takes its toll whenever you miss a week
of business. We’ve been surprised at the
resilience of the Joplin community.”
Due to main road closures by the
National Guard, customers had limited
access to the store. Palen’s staff
used the closure period to assist with
cleanup and reconstruction. The store
also partnered with Convoy of Hope,
which provides food to disaster-ravaged
areas, to help customers in need and
will be matching in-store donations
toward the relief effort.
“We felt it was in the best interest
of the company and the community to
be helping those that really needed the
help,” said Greg Rosander, manager of
Palen’s Joplin location. “Me and my
crew, we were out with chain saws
helping people remove trees and debris
Joplin, Mo., after the
May 22 tornado
DISASTER RELIEF I BY HILARY BROWN
TORNADO RAVAGES
JOPLIN, MO., MUSIC
COMMUNITY
from their properties and just helping
out wherever we could.”
Other members of the music community
were quick to assist in what
Matzat called an “ongoing effort” to
aid needy citizens. Area band directors
have helped repair and replace
damaged equipment, and local music
students participated in cleanup and
clothing drives.
“Our staff and all of our students
and teachers were saints,” Matzat said.
“It’s going to take a long time for that
community to get back to normal, but
for them as a community to still see
not only everybody rally together to
rebuild better than before, there’s a
lot of examples of music helping the
community.”
While Palen Music and nearby Ernie
Williamson Music avoided severe
damage, other dealers weren’t as lucky.
Cool Guitars and Glory Days Music,
two dealers located in Joplin’s older
downtown area, were completely destroyed
by the storm. Neither establishment
could be reached for comment.
Big Don’s Music City incurred partial
damage, including a week of power loss.
“Hundreds of people lost their lives
and jobs,” Matzat said. “That’s certainly
going to take a toll on the community.”
The “How-To” church
sound workshop in
Full Compass’ studio
FULL COMPASS I EVENT
Full Compass
Workshops
Churches
Full Compass Systems of Madison,
Wis., hosted a “How-To”
church sound workshop on April 30.
Conducted by Fits & Starts Productions,
the sold-out event brought
house of worship sound volunteers
and technicians to Full Compass’
4,200-square-foot studio for eight
hours of training. Led by professional
sound engineer Mike Sokol, attendees
received hands-on instruction
using dedicated
FC schools
house of
worship
sound
volunteers
workstations.
Attendees also
saw the latest
AV equipment in
the Full Compass
showroom.
“We were
pleased with the
quality of the
instruction that Fits & Starts provided
for the ‘How-To’ Workshop,”
dent
of sales and marketing for Full
Compass. “Our attendees learned
everything they need to handle their
church sound in a professional manner.
We’re looking forward to hosting
more workshops in the future.”
Fits & Starts Productions travels
more than 40,000 miles each
year training house of worship AV
volunteers in 36 U.S. cities.
“I was enormously pleased to be
able to work with such a stellar operation
as Full Compass,” said Hector La
Torre, managing partner at Fits & Starts
Productions. “While we usually work
with host churches, when the opportunity
to work with Full Compass’ professional
staff arose, we jumped at it.”
JULY 2011 I MUSIC INC. I 17