Frequently Asked Questions

• What do the "three C's" stand for in C3 Events?
• Why do shows rarely start "on time?
• Why do C3 Events shows often include several different ticket types/ticket prices?
• How does C3 Events select its artists and musicians?
• Is the business fun? Should one consider a career in the event production industry?
• Do we have a favorite artist we have worked with over the years?
• Do we have preferred talent agencies that we work with?
• Are venues in Central Oregon a challenge?
• Can I receive a refund if I don't/can't/won't use my ticket for any reason?
• How does the company make money presenting free festivals?
• Why don't you present more of the same acts the Britt Festival in Medford brings?
• Could you please explain to us your policy on "standing vs. sitting" at shows?

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1. What do the "three C's" stand for in C3 Events?
"C"ameron  "C"lark  "C"oncert Productions.  We made the change when it became more and more clear that we would be producing a full range of events, outside the realm of "just concerts."

2. Why do shows rarely start "on time?"
We are in the business of "arts-management."  Arts management is an oxymoron!  Art does not want to be managed.  Art (or very often, live artists, musicians, poets, etc) is not so much a commodity that you can tell what to do and when to do it, but rather a fluid, free-thinking, free-feeling, entity that comes and goes as it pleases.  Art, by it's very definition, is outside of the lines, and has a will and spirit of it's own.  Therefore, in our business, anything goes.  Out of respect for our attending audiences, we do the best we can to move things along.  However, illness, missed flights, ardent personalities, tardy drum sets, and late moving production managers, all contribute to a common sense of powerlessness in this arena.  That is why any prospective "door opening" time is always subject to artist final approval.  In other words, "we ain't got much say."

3. Why do C3 Events shows often include several different ticket types/ticket prices?
If you go to the "ticket information" portion of this website, you will notice that we frequently offer several tiers of ticket prices.  A few folks have routinely regarded this as "classist"-- claiming that having a reserved section is a clear way for pandering to those "who have more income," separating them from the "masses."  The truth is, concert producers have been selling tiered ticket priced shows for years, largely to make sure that the least expensive ticket, the "general admission" ticket, is as reasonably priced as possible.  What those who complain fail to realize, is that if we were to eliminate the reserved section, by in large the general admission tickets would go up by another 40-60% per ticket!  We are proud of our history of negotiating good prices for artists, raising healthy amounts of sponsorships, and passing these savings on to the Central Oregon consumer.  Our ticket prices tend to be considerably less than valley ticket prices.  In some cases you may even notice we work hard with the local college institutions to offer COCC students / faculty / staff a limited number of half price tickets.

4. How does C3 Events select its artists and musicians?
It is completely random.  There is no science to finding and selecting talent.  We literally travel around the world in search of great talent.  Sometimes, though, we "bump into it" at a neighborhood pub in Portland, or by a chance encounter at a wedding, etc... We receive thousands of "requests for play" per year from talent agencies and independent artists, all eager for us to listen and respond.  It is impossible for us to listen to all of these inquiries, let alone respond.  Just ask Loni Rose, one of our favorite performers from Seattle: she sent us a really cool press kit that sat around our office for a couple of years before an intern popped it in for a listen.  She never hounded us with repeated requests for feedback or dates.  Five years later, Loni became our most prolifically used opener and a regular at our free festivals and outdoor concerts. 

5. Is the business fun? Should one consider a career in the event production industry?
Yes.

No. (unless you're into weight gain, baggy eyes, wrecked families, insane work hours, and a total, utter sense of powerlessness)

6. Do we have a favorite artist we have worked with over the years?
Yes!  Keb Mo.  He is the real thing.  He is kind, gentle, and full of grace.  He is also massively talented.  Also, Bonnie Raitt was the real thing -- she lives just as she presents herself publicly -- and you would be surprised how often the public persona and the private persona of any artist or musician differ radically.

7. Do we have preferred talent agencies that we work with?
We go a couple different ways on this front.  We will work directly with the artists' agents or contract with a "talent purchaser."  Our three favorite talent purchasers are Donna Richards with Portland Night and Day Talent (a total star with whom Cameron has been working since 1984), Kell Houston with the Good Music Agency (with whom Cameron booked his High School prom band), and Mark Adler, who buys talent for the Seattle and Portland Zoos, and for the Aladdin Theatre.

Our favorite agencies are as follows:

William Morris Agency, Guy Richards
Monterey Peninsula Artists, Maria Matias, Paul Goldman
SRO Artists, Jeff Laramie
Skyline Music, Mark Lourie
Rosebud Agency, Chris Goldsmith

8. Are venues in Central Oregon a challenge?
We have become very philosophical about the imperfections in venue options throughout Central Oregon.  We have produced events here for many years in spite of the lack of legitimate options, turning curb side parking lots, indoor tennis courts, gymnasiums, conference rooms, and other random patches of grass into concert and event sites.  It is a common source of frustration for the event attendee, where the alternative has been having no events at all.  We are blessed now to have established our summer tradition at the Athletic Club of Bend, and additionally we have a large indoor arena at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds, a smaller, charming theatre, in the Tower Theatre, and Monqui Presents, a concert promoting company out of Portland, is presenting world-class entertainment at the beautiful Les Schwab Amphitheatre.  Central Oregon is becoming a virtual events mecca.

9. Can I receive a refund if I don't/can't/won't use my ticket for any reason?
No.

10. How does the company make money presenting free festivals?
Good question.  If you have any ideas, we would love to hear them... What we do know is that, IF, the stars, the sun, the moon, and all the other planets are aligned, and we don't get rained upon, and an unnamed high school track program doesn't crash a couple of golf carts "helping out," and we keep our overhead in check, and people purchase lots of beverages... then, and only then, by the enormous generosity of our local corporate sponsors, does everything work out in the end.

11. Why don't you present more of the same acts the Britt Festival in Medford brings?
The Britt Festival is an amazing tradition of virtuoso musicians, set in a beautiful setting, all of whom we would be proud to present year after year.  Unfortunately, the board and administration of The Britt Festival require a clause for all their musicians, that they not perform in Bend, Oregon, fearing that too many folks around the state also having access to these same musicians would cause their attendance to decline.  At last layman's count, no more than a dozen folks from Bend travel the 3 to 4 hours to Medford for any one show, and so it is a shame that they continue this practice.

12. Could you please explain to us your policy on "standing vs. sitting" at shows?
This is a controversy which has no one solution that will make everyone happy.  What to do when someone wants to stand up and dance from their chair, blocking someone's view who wishes to stay seated...  Truly, this matter is as complicated as the human condition itself.  There simply is no perfect solution.  Whose liberty is more precious -- the person who wants to stand, or the person who wants to sit and still be able to see?  As a company we have landed in many places on this issue, trying many remedies.  We have created the obligatory "dancing only" space.  We have tried a uniform policy of "stay seated" until at least 3/4 of the way through the show.  We have tried an "anything goes" policy.  We have taken surveys on the subject.  Most recently, we have turned to the artist, who generally weighs in at the last minute anyway, requiring their own standing/dancing/sitting policy.  Therefore, each event will be treated per the artists request.  Our shows now include a message, deeming the artists own standing/sitting policy, awaiting attendees on the face of their chair.  This may seem like a cop out, but we feel it affords us the greatest opportunity to "go with what the music demands" rather than what an artificial construct, doomed to fail anyway, would require.  It makes sense when you consider that Jimmy Cliff would want everyone to be up and dancing, whereas a Shawn Colvin may be more interested in an attentive crowd, focused on listening and watching.  Further more, it seems to be a decision that respects the art, inviting the musicians to respond by providing the audience with an appreciative set.