June 27, 2008
Re-Cap of Raising the Bar: No Holds Barred the Sequel
By Jim Asker
Country Editor
All Access
Nashville, TN

Overall I have heard positive comments about the panel- the room was packed and most people stayed until the very end. This being the second time we have done the bar panel, it was much easier to secure panelists. Both Annie and Renee were a big help, especially at being able to attain panelists- once again they were: Joe Galante, Scott Borchetta, Charlie Cook, Jewel, John Rich, Jeff Garrison. The negatives I heard from people was that they were hoping for more sparks.
Garrison did a great job filling in for Marc Chase, who cancelled at the last minute due to a family obligation.

The moderator, USA Today's Brian Mansfield did a capable job- his strong points were that he knew the material really well, he was well prepared, he knew the panelists and he came off very knowledgeable on most areas of the industry. Some of the areas that he fell short (in my opinion)- he was too polite- he didn't ruffle anyone['s feathers-and he didn't challenge the panelists as I hoped that he would. He also was a bit nervous in the beginning.

I think that next time around we will either 'plant' questions from the audience or not do them at all-the times that we stopped for questions, the momentum was stopped completely-I wished that I had the ability to talk into Brian by ear-piece-

Jewel came off the big winner of the day- she came off brilliantly in my opinion and was really effective in her comments- hopefully the fact that Jewel did so well would help sway label-heads who are always too fearful to put artists on these types of panels. John Rich was good but honestly I was hoping for the sparks that never came from him- he was 'too nice.'

The rest of the panelists were solid- the conversation was good- we simply need a moderator who isn't afraid to do a bit of shoving. I am not hoping for a Jerry Springer brawl- but people complain about the state of the industry all year long- this should be the venue where we air some of this out.

I have expressed interest in doing this panel ONE MORE TIME!!  I think that it's certainly worth doing again- we're able to put people in the seats and the staging was really great this year- thanks Sheree!!

Bob Reeves has expressed interest in putting this together with me next year so with the right panelists and the right moderator, I say get ready for Raising the Bar 3D!!

Thanks all-
Jim Asker