2017
bahamas
cape canavaral
carnival cruise
cruise
honeycomb
josh milan
Two words My People!!!
LOL!!!!!!!!!' I can laugh about it now.
But let me start from the top.....
Sheronia Rogers is someone I've known and respected for years. We were church buddies for many years. I know that she takes her family on cruises maybe 3 times a year. So if anybody was going to partner with me on this, it would be her.
So I asked her to do this with me, and she took the wheel and just started driving. Perfect.
I've been in the industry of music for 30 plus years. And a lot of the times, I feel like I'm just starting.
Can you imagine the butterflies I have now? This is our FIRST time hosting a cruise of this magnitude.
I already know how things can go crazy when planning events. We've done plenty events, and I've seen some crazy things happen. So with this being our first cruise, I'm a little nervous. And we're involving a travel agent that will be in control of a lot of the registering or booking of clients. I'm not totally comfortable with that. However, this is the business that we're venturing into. And I'm told, this is how it goes. So we go with it. I spoke to the travel agent and I feel somewhat relieved. She seems cool! I thanked her because this is going to be a venture and a lot of hard work. We even talked about Tequila shots when this was over. LOL.
Sheronia is as busy as all get out. "We need this. We need that. Do you have the money? Well when will you have it? How much? How soon?" She was already on this thing and we still have a year before it actually happens. LOL
As the months go by, problems started to arise.
People are angry about this and that. It appears to be a communication gap between the people and our travel agent.
Hmmmmm.
This is the fear that I talked about earlier. When my name or Honeycomb is a part of something, I like to have hands on. This way if anything goes wrong, I can take care of it myself. But when I'm not in control, I can't do anything. Sad part is, my name or Honeycomb is still the brand that people see. So whatever goes wrong, I lose either way.
But to win the game one has to be in the game.
So the months are going by and I'm getting even more complaints about not being contacted about this and that.
"Josh I haven't heard anything from your travel agent!"
I'm worried. Sheronia is doing everything she can to make this as easy as possible. Some friends that I trust are calling me saying things like "Yo. You good?" LOL.
See here's the deal. Before I became a business man or a musician, I was born a human with emotions and feelings. As a grown man, I'm not going to allow anyone to speak to me any kind of way. I'm from Brooklyn. And what that means is this, I know how to deal with a loud mouth. So when I feel a slight disrespect in ones tone of voice, I find it difficult to stay calm and respect what this person is saying.
But I managed to be professional.
Fast forward.
It's almost time for the cruise. People seem to finally be excited. I'm worn way out! I know Sheronia has to be worn out. But somehow, it's all just now about to BEGIN!!
Everybody on our team is working hard and making sacrifices. We all know how important it is to at least make a decent impression with integrity and consistency. So we don't wanna do anything wrong. Carnival gave us very little to work with. But hey, what can we do, cancel?
This entire trip is being afforded by us. There is no corporate account or sponsorship here. Next year, DEFINITELY! But right now, no.
Carnival isn't going to give us any extra privileges. We're nobody to them. So when we got the final itinerary, we were shocked, disappointed, nervous, and everything you can think of. The party times were not what we wanted and Carnival was not budging with a single thing.
Side note.
Money talks. If we chartered the voyage, we would have gotten the red carpet treatment with better options. So when we made the announcement about the party times, it was game on. FIRE from a few of our patrons started to come in.
"3 hours?!?!?!?"
"This is more like a senior citizens cruise!!!!"
"We can go see Louie and Jihad any Wednesday or Saturday!"
"This feels so bait and switch!!!!!!"
And then more disrespect started to come in. People would see Louie and Jihad in clubs and complain loud for everyone to hear. One woman saw me at a club and wanted to draw a crowd with her disrespect. Yelling, at MY EVENT, "This is a mess!! That's all this is. A mess!!!!!"
It was really hard to remain calm and accommodating. But folks are frustrated. In all fairness, we understood what the problem was. And that just had a Domino affect on anything else that happened.
At this point, I'm almost feeling regret. I hate feeling like I'm being attacked when I'm innocent. But because this is a Honeycomb event, it's my responsibility to ensure satisfaction to our patrons. I had to take responsibility for everything. I want to fight somebody.
And then there were friends that came with, "See what you shoulda did was....."
Side note. Shut up!
The sound system(speakers and such) that the cruise ship has is nice. But my people are accustomed to some real thunder. So we have to rent sound. And that can get crazy financially.
Jason Ojeda is the guy we use when we do our annual Birthday Boat Ride in NYC.
When I arrived to his warehouse, I knew we were in way over our head. Jason has years of experience. And when I told him what we're doing, he began to explain to me what we needed. I'm thinking to myself "What did we get ourselves into?"
But after all of the calculating and listing of equipment, he gave me a deal that we could work with. It was something that only God could give us folks. We were blessed by God through Jason. He really blessed. I thought I was going to cry when he gave us the deal.
Sidebar.
Nobody looks out for nobody anymore in this industry of music. You really gotta know a person these days. I know Jason. We've done NY boat rides for years. But we've never hung out or had drinks. So for him to give me a real sweet deal was very unexpected. But "God is faithful", my mom said on her death bed.
And he really is.
We rented this big cargo van and I drove it to Cape Canaveral, Florida!!!!
Im starting to see folks I know. I'm feeling some joy enter back into my spirit.
Side note. People can take whatever joy you have about a thing IF you allow them. They will step, spit and piss on something that you worked painstakingly for and leave you bleeding your heart out. And then, they'll move on within that same hour as if nothing was said. And you will never forget what that person said/posted. It will hurt you every time you think of that person. But I have some good advice for those of you that this has happened to. You can't please everybody. Be grateful that you're doing something you wanted to do. You ventured out. You tried it. Even if you suck at it. Do what makes you happy. If someone is displeased with your efforts, so be it. So long as you're not disrespected. My people have a tendency to get animated. We have a defense mechanism that tells us to speak loudly and aggressively. We do it to waitresses all of the time. Speaking to them all nasty as though they cooked the food. But I digress.
We board. There was a safety drill and before long we were sailing. Tonight is Jihad. And I don't know what to expect.
Moises Montoya is Louie's assistant but he's there to help me set up the equipment. The club looks decent. I like.
Moises set up the sound and it sounds nice!!!! This just may work. At our Welcome Party we have food and open bar. Open Bar! I saw the drinks and I know I'll need at least 10 of those! I made contact with all of the vocalist and they seem cool. Everybody on the team is positive. And I'll be honest, I would have unraveled completely if they weren't. So I'm grateful. Gloria is looking great and in good spirits. So that's good. OK. Let's go.
First night was dope. Short 3 hours. But Jihad played as though he were in concert. Folks danced. I loved seeing the energy in me change from this dark feeling of doubt to a bright optimism. Louie came down to enjoy and observe.
The next night I asked Louie to give us a Flashback party night. We figured we can have the first night be a club night where Jihad played new and current hits.
Louie could play a classic night for those of us into that. And the last night they both can play whatever they're feeling.
The vocalists all sang their hearts out. Diviniti, Kia Stewart, Taihisha Grant, and Dawn Tallman came through and did what they do best. I was so happy.
Poet, Janeen Lyons, had surgery on her knee. She really had no business on this cruise ship. She should be home recovering. But like the rest of the team, she is dedicated to giving 100 percent of herself to make the vision happen. I felt grateful to all of them.
Side note. I appreciate my Honeycomb family. I will stand by each and every one of them. Everybody kicked in and sacrificed money and time with NO PAY to make this thing work. As the CEO of the company, my heart was really touched by their generosity.
I'll tell you all the honest to goodness truth. When it was all over and I finally got in the cargo van with the equipment loaded and ready to drive home, I remember feeling good. Why? Because we did something good! There were some, well there is one person who absolutely hated it and continues to show her disrespect, but you know, she has that right. On the last night when Sheronia shared, she said "that everything is not for everybody" and that is so true.
However, we saw a lot of happy faces and received A LOT of LOVE!
I'll admit we went into this excited and not as informed and we own it. That is the price we pay for doing what we love and will continue to do. Thank you to those who completed our survey. We were humbled and overwhelmed by the sharing of the joy of your experiences, your positivity and constructive feedback.
90% of our cruisers who completed the survey ranked the event from Very Good (40%) to Excellent (50%). We are so happy that they enjoyed themselves and gave us some great suggestions. Honeycomb is committed to quality entertainment. We will not make excuses for mistakes that we make. We are happy to take responsibility, for that is how we learn. Having said that, we look forward to hosting next years trip. Bigger and Better.
Honeycomb Music presents THE BAHAMAS!!!!!!!!
The BahamasTwo words My People!!!
LOL!!!!!!!!!' I can laugh about it now.
But let me start from the top.....
Sheronia Rogers is someone I've known and respected for years. We were church buddies for many years. I know that she takes her family on cruises maybe 3 times a year. So if anybody was going to partner with me on this, it would be her.
So I asked her to do this with me, and she took the wheel and just started driving. Perfect.
I've been in the industry of music for 30 plus years. And a lot of the times, I feel like I'm just starting.
Can you imagine the butterflies I have now? This is our FIRST time hosting a cruise of this magnitude.
I already know how things can go crazy when planning events. We've done plenty events, and I've seen some crazy things happen. So with this being our first cruise, I'm a little nervous. And we're involving a travel agent that will be in control of a lot of the registering or booking of clients. I'm not totally comfortable with that. However, this is the business that we're venturing into. And I'm told, this is how it goes. So we go with it. I spoke to the travel agent and I feel somewhat relieved. She seems cool! I thanked her because this is going to be a venture and a lot of hard work. We even talked about Tequila shots when this was over. LOL.
Sheronia is as busy as all get out. "We need this. We need that. Do you have the money? Well when will you have it? How much? How soon?" She was already on this thing and we still have a year before it actually happens. LOL
As the months go by, problems started to arise.
People are angry about this and that. It appears to be a communication gap between the people and our travel agent.
Hmmmmm.
This is the fear that I talked about earlier. When my name or Honeycomb is a part of something, I like to have hands on. This way if anything goes wrong, I can take care of it myself. But when I'm not in control, I can't do anything. Sad part is, my name or Honeycomb is still the brand that people see. So whatever goes wrong, I lose either way.
But to win the game one has to be in the game.
So the months are going by and I'm getting even more complaints about not being contacted about this and that.
"Josh I haven't heard anything from your travel agent!"
I'm worried. Sheronia is doing everything she can to make this as easy as possible. Some friends that I trust are calling me saying things like "Yo. You good?" LOL.
See here's the deal. Before I became a business man or a musician, I was born a human with emotions and feelings. As a grown man, I'm not going to allow anyone to speak to me any kind of way. I'm from Brooklyn. And what that means is this, I know how to deal with a loud mouth. So when I feel a slight disrespect in ones tone of voice, I find it difficult to stay calm and respect what this person is saying.
But I managed to be professional.
Fast forward.
It's almost time for the cruise. People seem to finally be excited. I'm worn way out! I know Sheronia has to be worn out. But somehow, it's all just now about to BEGIN!!
Everybody on our team is working hard and making sacrifices. We all know how important it is to at least make a decent impression with integrity and consistency. So we don't wanna do anything wrong. Carnival gave us very little to work with. But hey, what can we do, cancel?
This entire trip is being afforded by us. There is no corporate account or sponsorship here. Next year, DEFINITELY! But right now, no.
Carnival isn't going to give us any extra privileges. We're nobody to them. So when we got the final itinerary, we were shocked, disappointed, nervous, and everything you can think of. The party times were not what we wanted and Carnival was not budging with a single thing.
Side note.
Money talks. If we chartered the voyage, we would have gotten the red carpet treatment with better options. So when we made the announcement about the party times, it was game on. FIRE from a few of our patrons started to come in.
"3 hours?!?!?!?"
"This is more like a senior citizens cruise!!!!"
"We can go see Louie and Jihad any Wednesday or Saturday!"
"This feels so bait and switch!!!!!!"
And then more disrespect started to come in. People would see Louie and Jihad in clubs and complain loud for everyone to hear. One woman saw me at a club and wanted to draw a crowd with her disrespect. Yelling, at MY EVENT, "This is a mess!! That's all this is. A mess!!!!!"
It was really hard to remain calm and accommodating. But folks are frustrated. In all fairness, we understood what the problem was. And that just had a Domino affect on anything else that happened.
At this point, I'm almost feeling regret. I hate feeling like I'm being attacked when I'm innocent. But because this is a Honeycomb event, it's my responsibility to ensure satisfaction to our patrons. I had to take responsibility for everything. I want to fight somebody.
And then there were friends that came with, "See what you shoulda did was....."
Side note. Shut up!
The sound system(speakers and such) that the cruise ship has is nice. But my people are accustomed to some real thunder. So we have to rent sound. And that can get crazy financially.
Jason Ojeda is the guy we use when we do our annual Birthday Boat Ride in NYC.
When I arrived to his warehouse, I knew we were in way over our head. Jason has years of experience. And when I told him what we're doing, he began to explain to me what we needed. I'm thinking to myself "What did we get ourselves into?"
But after all of the calculating and listing of equipment, he gave me a deal that we could work with. It was something that only God could give us folks. We were blessed by God through Jason. He really blessed. I thought I was going to cry when he gave us the deal.
Sidebar.
Nobody looks out for nobody anymore in this industry of music. You really gotta know a person these days. I know Jason. We've done NY boat rides for years. But we've never hung out or had drinks. So for him to give me a real sweet deal was very unexpected. But "God is faithful", my mom said on her death bed.
And he really is.
We rented this big cargo van and I drove it to Cape Canaveral, Florida!!!!
Im starting to see folks I know. I'm feeling some joy enter back into my spirit.
Side note. People can take whatever joy you have about a thing IF you allow them. They will step, spit and piss on something that you worked painstakingly for and leave you bleeding your heart out. And then, they'll move on within that same hour as if nothing was said. And you will never forget what that person said/posted. It will hurt you every time you think of that person. But I have some good advice for those of you that this has happened to. You can't please everybody. Be grateful that you're doing something you wanted to do. You ventured out. You tried it. Even if you suck at it. Do what makes you happy. If someone is displeased with your efforts, so be it. So long as you're not disrespected. My people have a tendency to get animated. We have a defense mechanism that tells us to speak loudly and aggressively. We do it to waitresses all of the time. Speaking to them all nasty as though they cooked the food. But I digress.
We board. There was a safety drill and before long we were sailing. Tonight is Jihad. And I don't know what to expect.
Moises Montoya is Louie's assistant but he's there to help me set up the equipment. The club looks decent. I like.
Moises set up the sound and it sounds nice!!!! This just may work. At our Welcome Party we have food and open bar. Open Bar! I saw the drinks and I know I'll need at least 10 of those! I made contact with all of the vocalist and they seem cool. Everybody on the team is positive. And I'll be honest, I would have unraveled completely if they weren't. So I'm grateful. Gloria is looking great and in good spirits. So that's good. OK. Let's go.
First night was dope. Short 3 hours. But Jihad played as though he were in concert. Folks danced. I loved seeing the energy in me change from this dark feeling of doubt to a bright optimism. Louie came down to enjoy and observe.
The next night I asked Louie to give us a Flashback party night. We figured we can have the first night be a club night where Jihad played new and current hits.
Louie could play a classic night for those of us into that. And the last night they both can play whatever they're feeling.
The vocalists all sang their hearts out. Diviniti, Kia Stewart, Taihisha Grant, and Dawn Tallman came through and did what they do best. I was so happy.
Poet, Janeen Lyons, had surgery on her knee. She really had no business on this cruise ship. She should be home recovering. But like the rest of the team, she is dedicated to giving 100 percent of herself to make the vision happen. I felt grateful to all of them.
Side note. I appreciate my Honeycomb family. I will stand by each and every one of them. Everybody kicked in and sacrificed money and time with NO PAY to make this thing work. As the CEO of the company, my heart was really touched by their generosity.
I'll tell you all the honest to goodness truth. When it was all over and I finally got in the cargo van with the equipment loaded and ready to drive home, I remember feeling good. Why? Because we did something good! There were some, well there is one person who absolutely hated it and continues to show her disrespect, but you know, she has that right. On the last night when Sheronia shared, she said "that everything is not for everybody" and that is so true.
However, we saw a lot of happy faces and received A LOT of LOVE!
I'll admit we went into this excited and not as informed and we own it. That is the price we pay for doing what we love and will continue to do. Thank you to those who completed our survey. We were humbled and overwhelmed by the sharing of the joy of your experiences, your positivity and constructive feedback.
90% of our cruisers who completed the survey ranked the event from Very Good (40%) to Excellent (50%). We are so happy that they enjoyed themselves and gave us some great suggestions. Honeycomb is committed to quality entertainment. We will not make excuses for mistakes that we make. We are happy to take responsibility, for that is how we learn. Having said that, we look forward to hosting next years trip. Bigger and Better.