Comments on: Photos From Glow, Santa Monica’s Burning Man Attempt

By: Staycation All I Ever Wanted | Los Angeles Metblogs

Staycation All I Ever Wanted | Los Angeles Metblogs — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:00:24 +0000

[...] been hanging out with friends and colleagues, hosting and going to barbeques, exercising, attending outdoor events, meeting people at sunny Venice Beach cafes, walking around Santa Monica, Venice, and the Marina, [...]

By: changa

changa — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:28:35 +0000

i think the map was inaccurate, primal source had a big sign right next to it with appropriate credit. from what i heard, that balloon thing was actually a wedding party, not part of the official glow projects…..

By: Matt Mason

Matt Mason — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:03:09 +0000

Changa, I was there before it got dark and stayed until well after it got dark and the start of the event. I saw tons of people streaming down onto the Pier, and as I wrote, this was a well-attended event. I wouldn’t be surprised that there were 200,000 people there over the course of the whole night.

Some of the photos that I took were of the exhibit called "Primal Source" according to the official Glow brochure and map. That map could have been innacurate or incomplete. As I mentioned in the post, one problem with the event was a dearth of signage indicating just what exhibit was what.

By: changa

changa — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:23:59 +0000

by the looks of the photos you were taking pictures before it got dark (when things really got going… police estimated about 200,000 attendance and had to close down the pier at one point because there were so many). did you stick around for the event to start? because i know for one thing that the piece you refer to as ‘primal source’ was not in fact ‘primal source’. this is: http://www.notcot.com/archives/2008/07/usman_haques_pr.php

By: evan

evan — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:44:55 +0000

I had dinner in the area Saturday night, and my wife and I took our kid and walked around–this was around 7:30pm, a half-hour after it was supposed to start. There weren’t any crowds besides the usual ones at that time, but unfortunately nothing was really up and running then.

By: aaronproctor

aaronproctor — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:15:38 +0000

Co-worker of mine went to this. She said it was boring.

- AP
http://www.proctorformayor.com

By: Matt Mason

Matt Mason — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:05:05 +0000

Hmm, I think that should be "makes us at Metblogs valuable."

By: Matt Mason

Matt Mason — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:02:18 +0000

Chal, I got caught in that traffic, but it was my fault for trying to head south on Lincoln instead of a more easterly street.

The lack of celebs. and corporate sponsors was different, but they could have gotten some more funding and been more successful with just a smidgeon of business sense. For instance, they had great-looking glossy brochures, but no stations to give them away, and no way to read them in the dark. I saw zero signs pointing to any aspect of the show. And the table up at Ocean Blvd. where they were selling t-shirts and other items was miniscule and pathetic.

As for lack of local media coverage, I agree. That’s what hopefully makes we at Metblogs valuable.

By: Chal Pivik

Chal Pivik — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:17:59 +0000

Hey Matt, thanks for the kind words. So they have two years to make the next one better. Given the hellacious traffic situation in that area, Glow could easily become a victim of its own success as it becomes more popular. This could be remedied by the mythic Subway to the Sea, something I don’t expect to see in my lifetime. And if the NIMBY crowd has their way with that, then I expect they could also make a future for Glow difficult too.

What seems odd to me is the scant attention paid by local media. I’m wondering if that’s due to no celebrity names being attached to it, which is one of Glow’s refreshing aspects– at this point anyway.