Last week, during an interview, I was asked, “Do you organize balls, concerts, and so on, like the socialites you’re involved in, in the association you’re involved in?” Of course, the word “socialite” in this question is quite telling. It’s a manifestation of the “envy of the rich” we can’t seem to shake from our vocabulary. “Socialite” reinforces the idea that those whose lifestyles we’re so envious of are rich, and why do they squander their money so much? They’re involved in so many unnecessary pursuits. Like socialite, there are other words with negative connotations. For example, the words “heir” or “heiress” are used to refer to spoiled children who are essentially incompetent, only able to achieve something thanks to their fathers, and often misuse money. And no matter what I do, I can’t stop the use of the word “heir” in interviews. I was referred to as “heir” in print, on television, and even at a conference I attended last week. Using these words naturally attracts attention and boosts ratings. However, considering that I’ve been running my own ventures, independent of the family business, for five and a half years, and that my teammates and I have created significant value, calling me “heir apparent” is both misinformed and disgraceful. I shudder when I hear prejudiced and unrealistic adjectives like “heir apparent” and “socialite,” which are diametrically opposed to my own thinking.
As a reminder, I’d like to re-share with you two articles I’ve posted in the past:
http://www.serhansuzer.com/tr/turkiyede-vizyoner-girisimci-olmanin-agir-bedeli
http://www.serhansuzer.com/tr/15-yillik-is-hayatim-ve-gelecege-notlar
The best response to the question of the crown prince was given in an interview I published in the Turkish Ekonomist magazine the other day. I’d like to share it as well:
In this interview, it says I said, “I’m not the heir apparent, but the founder of my own business.” While some details were mixed up in the company section, overall, it was a successful interview. Kudos to the writer.
Returning to last week’s interview, I didn’t doubt the good intentions of the sweet-talking interviewer, so I answered his question with a smile:
“We don’t organize events like this very often. We only held the Harun Kolçak concert at the beginning of April. Everyone had a great time there, but since we’re novice organizers, some things didn’t go exactly as we’d hoped. I think we’ll get a better result next time,” I said.
The background of an adventure-filled organization
I’d like to elaborate on the development process of the event I mentioned:
In all the meetings where we discussed the details of fundraising with our association professionals, the constant talk was, “Let’s organize an event, sell tickets this way, sell them that way, and generate revenue.” I always said that events like concerts weren’t really my thing and that we should stay away from the “old-school” stuff everyone else was doing. Finally, with the reflexes of an entrepreneur, I said, “Let’s give it a try and see.” Our colleagues acted immediately and started working through various channels. One of our board members, a professional in event planning, rolled up his sleeves and contacted us a few days later to say he could arrange Yaşar as the artist and the Bostancı Show Center as the location. We approved.
Half of the amount requested by Yaşar’s manager was sent. Bostancı Show Center also received half of the requested amount. We completed the process around the end of November. In early December, for some reason, Yaşar’s manager expressed doubts about the organization’s success and told our people, “Yaşar is a bad fit for this.” Frankly, Yaşar is one of my top four male singers in his category in Türkiye. The others are Tarkan, Kenan Doğulu, and Nev. I was initially thrilled that Yaşar was performing a concert for TIDER. However, the fact that the concert was canceled three weeks before it was supposed to begin saddened me personally. Since we were an association, we asked for our money back, but they refunded it that week.
Finding artists for the concert
We thought, “Perhaps organizing a concert wasn’t our destiny.” Since we hadn’t made the official announcements, we wanted to abandon the project. We called the Bostancı Performing Arts Center to get the money back. What was that? They said, “We won’t refund it.” We tried to explain to them that we were an association and that it wasn’t right to squander the association’s money like that, but they wouldn’t listen. On the contrary, our friends encountered extremely hostile language. The board member who had originally organized this event was accused, demands were made that contradicted the contract we had signed, etc., etc.
Ultimately, just as a serious disagreement was brewing between us, the idea of postponing the concert date emerged. We chose the first Sunday in April as the date. This problem was thus resolved. However, there was a more serious problem: it wasn’t clear who would perform the concert.
Many artists’ names were mentioned, and some were contacted, but they too had similar problems. The promises weren’t kept. No one thought we were doing this for charity. Concerts were initially confirmed, then canceled, or we were approached for discounts for some reason, but the requested discounts turned out to be quite high. This allowed us to get to know the artist community.
And a parade of stars with Harun Kolçak…
Finally, another board member of ours reached out to Harun Kolçak through Hande Tibuk’s contact at Kral TV. Since Harun Kolçak is an artist I’ve loved since childhood and whose songs I enjoy listening to, my family asked me, “How about Harun Kolçak?” Without a second thought, I replied, “That would be great.” They contacted their manager. Despite having released Türkiye’s best-selling album last year, he requested the most modest price we’d ever discussed. Furthermore, he said, “Some of the other artists who performed duets on the album will also be appearing with me at this concert.” Their manager, unlike the colleagues we’d previously met, communicated with us in an extremely respectful manner. They kept their promises.
Meanwhile, my close friend Uygar Özesmi, a veteran of the civil society sector, has been supporting TIDER part-time for the past few months. Uygar’s close knowledge of Harun Kolçak has also been a significant contributor to this process. On this occasion, I’d like to wish Uygar a happy birthday today (as I write this). Many happy returns…
Incidentally, Harun Kolçak came to visit us at the Destek Market before the concert. I was unfortunately unable to attend because I was attending an important funding meeting on the European side. Thanks to Uygar, he and his team were there to greet him. This is the wonderful image we created:
I’d also like to thank Selen, Duygu, and Selin (second, third, and fourth from the right, respectively, in the picture above) for their great efforts in organizing the concert. They did a great job!
When all the right things aligned, everything started going smoothly for the concert. We all breathed a sigh of relief. With Harun Kolçak and the star artists he brought with him, we were going to create an event worthy of our association. I’d also like to share the concert poster with you.
The hall filled with a final assault
The only problem was selling tickets. Despite our friends advertising on all channels, we couldn’t meet the demand we wanted. Experienced people in this business said, “Don’t worry, our people will make their decision in the last week; you’ll sell much more.” We did everything we could to strengthen this possibility. For example, our interview appeared on Kral TV. The Harun Kolçak concert announcement appeared on many magazine pages in the print media. Finally, we reached an agreement with Grupanya. Despite entering the week of the concert with only 300 tickets sold, we managed to gather 950 people with a major push and, together with our other supporters, fill the hall, which has a capacity of 1,000, excluding the closed-off additional sections. Here are some media reports about us:
Thankfully, Kral TV also gave our concert extensive coverage. Here are some TV photos:
We encountered some typical setbacks early on. For example, when the performers performing sound tests were late, the audience, who were supposed to be admitted at 6:00 PM, was admitted at 6:15 PM. People started applauding and protesting when they were 15 minutes late. Some even blamed the association. I spoke to some of them individually. After everyone settled in (which took half an hour), they started applauding again between 6:45 and 7:05 PM. But when the music finally started at 7:00 PM, everyone stopped protesting and started singing along. We’re truly an impatient and interesting people. What can we do? We’re beautiful like that. 🙂
Before the concert, we also dealt with other problems unique to Türkiye. For example, municipal officials visited us to extort money (we reminded them that we were an association and that this was a charity concert), and the hall was very hot for the first 45 minutes because the air conditioning was turned on late (probably the venue’s manager was trying to save money). We received complaints about this as well, and we did everything we could to resolve the issue.
A musical feast full of emotion
The concert was also a delight. Çelik, Işın Karaca, Gökhan Türkmen, Tan Taşçı, Umut Kuzey, and Gülçin Ergül accompanied Harun Kolçak with a series of beautiful songs. Deniz Arcak and Ümit Sayın, who weren’t expected to be, even made a surprise appearance, adding even more energy to the concert. It was a true musical feast. I don’t know if you’ve heard Harun Kolçak’s latest album, but this wonderful compilation of his old songs, featuring duets with renowned artists on many tracks, achieved the highest sales figures in our country last year.
If you’d like to see what’s on the album, I’d like to share the relevant link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkU42GTM1S0
I recommend you to buy this album which was released under the name Quarter Century: http://www.dr.com.tr/Muzik/Ceyrek-Asir/Yerli-Albumler/Turkce-Pop/urunno=0000000711776?gclid=CMWK-770utMCFYVAGwod-mcCbw
The album’s performance was reflected in the concert. The end of the concert was a major turning point. Everyone was on their feet dancing. Here are some of the performances from the concert:
During the concert, I was particularly impressed by Harun Kolçak’s invitation to us, offering me the microphone to give me information about TIDER, and by Gökhan Türkmen’s mention of TIDER.
So, fueled by that excitement, I listed some of the things that came to mind. Here are those moments:
Harun Kolçak, a truly special artist, was telling us that, in his own words, remaining a musician was a great honor. The fact that he didn’t disappoint us, gave us this concert after a serious illness and treatment, and brought so many other artists with him shows that he was not only a great musician but also a very good person. In these times when humanity is going through a serious test, we need people with big hearts like Harun Kolçak even more.Take care.
