Alone here in the kitchen, I feel there's something missing

I suppose I am personally, today at least, going through one of the many anticipated festival lows.

I've been semi entrusted with marketing the festival. If I'm honest, I've never marketed anything in my life before. Marketing is such a broad term. Yes, we can do internet, print posters and the obvious stuff but neither Kate nor I have got time to REALLY get stuck in, like if we were on the dole - going to every gig and flyering the entire audience, flyering festival car parks, walking up to people in the street who look groovy like they might come - the stuff you would do if your life depended upon it (which it does.)

The band we really really want to headline I'm not sure we'll get and for the last few weeks since Claire's visit I've been semi pinning my hopes on this coming off, hence the downer. The chances I think could be quite slim, and will inevitably come down to money. Bands sell festivals of course (?) but we want a proportion of the audience to come because we've INSISTED on it because we've convinced them it will be great through the power of MARKETING. I need to make some phone calls and find a some spunky fella who can help. It might be just paranoia whilst we have no bands to create a buzz, but I suppose it's best addressed now because it is the one identified weaknesses in the otherwise top team.

We're already getting lots of requests to play at the Deer Shed, nice and thanks, but what we really need are keen and spunky marketeers. Please please get in touch.

I'm having the usual tussle with the website design. There are no shortage of sites to rip off. There is a festival site design cliche which involves sticking lots of illustrations of big tops, tents, stages etc onto a photo of the empty site in order to create some sort of best scenario snapshot. We have no pictures from last years festival and the deer shed doesn't look great at the moment as the grass is regrowing after the new site entrance going in so I can't even get any new shots. We could possibly do something at night to conjure up some atmos. The website as I stare at it now on the smug Mac looks ok, but this morning it looked like NHS direct (my favourite), far too clinical. I'm starting to think that very few festival sites look that good anyway and are thrown together as more pressing issues raise their heads.

Yesterday I was looking rather desperately at what other festival websites look like. All had loads of photos of lasts year's bands on stage and people having an ace time. One site in America had 800 bands on over 8 days, ffs. We have 12.

Finally, and well off topic but a bit more cheery, for those who are keen to know how Tuesday night football is going, last night we won 4-3 (I think) and I scored 2 of them (defo). Riding the wave of well being following this game I booked my place on the Tuesday night football European tour to Barcelona where we are going to play a local side (gulp) in May next year around the time of my 40th birthday. Can't think of a better way to spend it. Of course by then we might of sold some tickets eh?