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Diaspora welcomes live stream of Shaggy and Friends concert

Published:Sunday | January 12, 2014 | 12:00 AM
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Minister of Tourism and Entertainment Dr Wykeham McNeill and his wife, Sheila, at Shaggy and Friends on the lawns of Jamaica House last Saturday night.
A man needs a strong woman to push him forward. This seems like the message here as CEO and managing director of LIME, Garry Sinclair, and his wife, Tracy cosy up at the Shaggy and Friends show on the lawns of Jamaica House last Saturday night.
MegaMart's Gassan Azan shares lens time with Montego Bay businesswoman Jackie Bird (left) and American Friends of Jamaica's Caron Chung.
Little Daniella Williams (centre) selects a Cubbies pack of wipes from the Cubbies mascot. Her mom Kim Williams assists.
Sean and Stacy Allen at the Shaggy and Friends show on the lawns of Jamaica House.
Flow's Denise Williams (right) and her sister, Dr Maureen Bell, both rocking bandage dresses when our lens snapped them inside the Platinum section at the benefit concert.
Twins in action, Kenisha Linton (left) and fashion designer Keneea Linton-George.
The Gleaner's business development manager, Nordia Craig, takes wine connoisseur Chris Reckord off guard while presenting him with a Gleaner gift package at the Shaggy and Friends show on the lawns of Jamaica House last Saturday night.
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Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

One of the greatest things Shaggy and his friends may have done this year was to stream the bi-annual concert on the lawns of Jamaica House, live and direct!  Jamaicans living overseas were the ones who benefited significantly from this innovative and pioneering experience.

The UK, US, Canada, several Caribbean territories, Europe, the Middle East and even as far as South Africa logged on to view the benefit concert that featured the full line-up of exciting acts from the main stage as well as interviews with artistes, sponsors and other guests.

From as far away as Ghana, where Elaine J. Lowe lives, to as close as Florida where Jacinth Allen Donaldson and her husband danced and shouted in their living room until the break of dawn, Jamaicans tuned in, tweeted and chatted on Facebook while the show was broadcast from the lawns of Jamaica House in Kingston.

The Gleaner team, which has become a staple on the social-media websites, spoke with a number of them, and this is what they had to say.

Jacqui Williams Nickle, Pembroke Pines, Florida:

"The live streaming was almost as good as the real thing. The vibe was electric. It created a longing for home. Saw many of my friends on Facebook writing, "mi wah go home".

She, however, feels there should have been a nominal charge for the live stream. "People paid up to $20,000 to attend, so even 10 or 20 bucks would be reasonable for us to pay."

Common cause

Marlon Hill, attorney-at-law, Florida, said this has shown a new, innovative way to bring Jamaicans worldwide together for a common cause. "It's a new dawn."

Admitting that there is nothing that can replace a live experience, he said the access provided an extraordinary opportunity for Jamaicans and families worldwide to learn more about the needs of the Bustamante Hospital for Children, engage with other caring Jamaicans worldwide and most importantly leverage all donation options.

Simone Zimmerman, who lives in Cruz Bay in the US Virgin Islands, said she thoroughly enjoyed the live streaming. "It was an excellent way to be involved. I was messaging back and forth with others who were watching the amazing performances live," she said.

Trac Sam, of New York, described it
as awesome, "felt like I was actually there in person. Together, we are
really a resilient people. I reconnected with the good that we can all
do for a great cause".

Cordell Cori Harding, Atlanta,
Georgia, is now planning to be at the event, if there is one next year.
"It gave me the feeling of nostalgia, it felt like we were
included."

Paul Tomlinson, of Montego Bay, recommends a
virtual board, "whereby we see the funds moving upwards, it gives
people a visual impetus to give more".

The only
negative, he said, was the show was too long!

After
the show, the post mortem showed that there were 31.48 million
impressions for the hashtag #teamshaggy4kids.

  • Re-live
    great moments

Viewers who were unable to watch the
live stream those who want to relive the great moments or donate to the
Shaggy Foundation, can visit
jamaica-gleaner.com/teamshaggy4kids.

The
deadline for viewing the archived video of Shaggy and Friends is
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 and persons are still able to pledge using
one of the following methods:

1. CALL or TEXT: J$50
per text (Digicel only). Simply text PLEDGE to 876-444-2498 from any
mobile device - Jamaica only, ends January 15, 2014

2.
ONLINE: via Food For The Poor at
foodforthepoor.org/teamshaggy4kidscontributions are tax-deductible under
Internal Revenue Code Section 501 © (3)

3. JAMAICA
BANK INFORMATION: Any Scotiabank. J$ Account: 801492 and USD$ Account:
927180. Account branch is at Scotiacentre (#50765).

4.
US BANK INFORMATION: Any CapitalOne Bank. Routing #021407912. Account
#7017148030.

5. JN MONEY TRANSFER (JNMT): For the
periodJanuary 2-15, 2014, JNBS will donate US$1 per remittance for each
JN Money Transfer remittance. For any donation of J$2,000-J$5,000 to the
Shaggy Foundation through any JN Money Shop in Jamaica or US$20 to
U$100 at any JN Money Transfer branch in NY, Connecticut and Florida,
JNMT will waive the remittance fee on the
donation.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com

Photos by Janet Silvera