Dawn deficit ‘somewhere between $350,000 and $830,000’
The Layman Online, January 13, 2000
The “Dawn … an Epiphany,” the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s youth and young adult millennium-ending celebration will fall far short of breaking even financially.
The deficit will be “somewhere between $350,000 and $830,000,” said the Rev. Donald G. Campbell director of the Congregational Ministries Division in a Presbyterian News Service report. The event’s planners say they expect the final deficit to be at the lower end of that range.
Organizers say there are enough reserves on hand from previous money-making youth conferences to cover the deficit. The Rev. Ed Craxton, the Congregational Ministries Division’s associate director, said the division has “almost $500,000” available to cover the deficit – money derived from past, financially successful Youth Triennium events.
Unused hotel rooms
Craxton said “the vast majority” of the unreconciled deficit is in cancellation fees for unused hotel rooms. Dawn organizers originally booked nearly 5,000 rooms in 19 Indianapolis hotels. Substantially fewer than 1,000 rooms, in just five or six hotels, were used.
Negotiations are still being held with other facilities and vendors, such as the Indiana State Fairgrounds, where some events were originally scheduled but none was held, and operators of shuttle buses that weren’t needed after the fairgrounds site was abandoned. They said those talks should result in additional savings.
Y2K blamed
The four-day celebration, held Dec. 28-Jan. 1 at the Indianapolis Convention Center, was planned for approximately 30,000 youth and adults. Approximately 2,000 attended.
“This, like many other millennial activities, is attributable to Y2K anxiety,” Craxton said.
“It’s unfortunate,” he said of the lower-than-expected attendance, “but it didn’t diminish the event at all. It was a tremendous time of spiritual growth for the young people who were there, with intensive Bible study every morning, and phenomenal Christian concerts every night.”
Publicity and location were part of The Dawn’s downfall
By Allen Thompson
The Presbyterian Layman Jan/Feb 2000