Kollaboration Staffers take 5 in Sunny Palms Springs

It takes a lot of hard work from a lot of hard working people to put on shows like Kollaboration and Kollaboration Acoustic each and every year. That’s why the dedicated staff of Kollaboration LA took advantage of the precious few weeks of downtime between the wrap of Kollaboration Acoustic 5 and the gearing up for Kollaboration 11 (11/5/2011 @ the Nokia Theatre) and headed east to the desert oasis of Palm Springs for a weekend of relaxation, bonding, and good food.

The retreat house itself was a site to behold, located in southern Palm Springs right off the Indian Canyon Golf Resort, and fully loaded with modern amenities such as automatic blinds, flat screen TVs in every room, and an amazing sound system wired to play music around the entire house (including the patio and pool decks).

The garage even came stocked with a pool table, a ping-pong table, a whole fleet of bicycles, and even a combination Galaga/Ms. Pac-Man arcade cabinet.

Of course, being a Palm Springs vacation home, the house also featured a private pool and hot tub for all to enjoy. It was a perfect environment for a great summer retreat.

Finally, in what has become a treasured tradition, it wouldn’t be a Kollaboration retreat if there weren’t some amazing food.

In his second year with the organization, Kollaboration staffer and professional chef, Mr. Seong Hwang, successfully transformed the Kollaboration staff from an experienced talent show production team into an efficient kitchen brigade as he directed teams of staff members in the preparation and execution of his culinary vision.

The results were nothing short of amazing with spreads featuring dishes such as fusilli pasta bolognese with garlic string beans, pulled pork sandwiches two ways (traditional and Korean influenced), stuffed turkey meatloaf, and even jalapeno cornbread.

Many staffers agreed that the food alone was worth the trip. Feel like you missed out? Never fear, the next staff retreat is just around the corner. And if this recap has gotten you interested in joining the Kollaboration staff, keep an eye on this website for information on our next staff meeting.

Special thanks to Willy Lam, Christine Kim, Roy Choi, and of course Chef Seong, for their hard work in the planning and execution of this retreat.

Read about our Kollaboration Summer 2010 Interns experience.

Davina Dan – Summer 2010 Intern

Long drives sitting through traffic, running through the streets of ktown putting up posters and handing out flyers in the hot summer sun, and excel sheets on top of excel sheets, adding links to every single one of our YouTube videos to spread the word about the upcoming show, as well as numerous questions from ticket buyers that all need answers in a timely manner; sounds miserable, right? Right. :P Well... that's what one would think, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat. I honestly had the time of my life this past summer doing what I love.

I had heard about Kollaboration years ago, but was never able to make it to a show because I was always working on the weekends. But this year I had finally freed myself from the shackles of my job and decided I wanted to do something that I loved, and Kollaboration was exactly that. I was able to meet tons of awesome people and had a great experience at all of our events. KA4 was especially memorable, it was my first Kollab show and the fact that it was a sold out show made it that much better because it seemed to emphasize that all of our hard work paid off. All the labels that we put on each of the flyers by hand, the time we spent planning and marketing, the numerous emails we had to answer, the tickets that we had to organize, everything was well worth it in the end.

My time as an intern at Kollaboration was definitely unforgettable; it was a fun learning experience. Not only did we prepare for the show, we had special meetings where we got to meet with people in the industry which was cool and interesting; and we did a little presentation marketing a certain pocket video camera with our own twist- this was probably the most school-like task we had, and not in a bad way, it was actually pretty fun preparing for it. I loved that I was able to get a lot of hands-on experience. We got to see all the steps in preparing for a show, even meeting with the people at the Ford Amphitheater. Then there was also the SMTown Live After Party and the Tully's Grand Opening, all of these events were different learning experiences and a lot of fun, but that doesn't mean it wasn't stressful, there were a few stressful times as well, but when is life ever stress-free?

Furthermore, the Kollaboration internship reinforced my belief that happiness is way more important than money, I wasn't making any money being an intern but I was really happy being involved, I was much happier being broke and doing what I love as opposed to making a decent amount of money but being absolutely miserable. Kollaboration has taught me a lot, and not just in relation to concerts and the Asian American community. I look forward to being involved in all the shows to come, (Christine, you won't be able to get rid of us! Connie and I will be your interns forever! :] ) even though I'm not in the country this year, I will without a doubt help out again once I get back!

Connie Luu – Summer 2010 Intern

Uplifting live music, breezing cool air, and working with an amazing group of staff members. That was the night of Kollaboration Acoustic 4. Looking back, it was truly an unforgettable summer.

I remember the first day of my internship; I had mixed feelings as to what I was getting myself into. I was going to school, working part time and taking on this internship. I really didn’t know what to expect and I was worried about how my summer would turn out. Little did I know, I learned a lot about myself, met some pretty amazing people and developed friendships throughout the experience. I was even fortunate enough to work on Tully’s Grand Opening (where I found my love for caramel frosting) and the SM Town After-party. I also found my partner in crime during the process of these events.

As a KA4 intern, I got to see how the planning, ticket tours and ticket sales all happened. At times, we would have outings and they were interesting and fun. We always had a good time taping, posting, and laughing despite the heat. Aside from the show, the interns were given a marketing project to work with. On the first day of the assignment, all of the interns were in this big conference room thinking of the concept for our project. Within 5 minutes, we were shooting out ideas and compiled them together. It was really a fun experience that all of us worked on together. Since the interns were split into 2 groups coming in the office to work on the acoustic show. We didn't have much of an opportunity to get to know the other "group." Working on the marketing project really helped us get to know each other better.

Kollaboration has really taught me to come out of my shell and not to worry about the unexpected. I’m grateful to be a part of the Kollab family and given an opportunity to be a part of the movement.

Kollaboration was asked by MNET to be on their show Beats Per Mnet with hosts Felicia Khong and our very own PK! It was an interesting experience because PK is the one who usually answers the questions about Kollaboration, but this time, he was the one asking the questions. It gave us a chance to reflect on how much Kollaboration has grown and what it is today. It was great to also see PK living out his dream of hosting his own show. Thank you MNET, BPM, and PK!

What’s step one for putting on one of the biggest showcases in Asian American talent in the nation? Find the talent of course, and that’s just what the hardworking staff of Kollaboration did this past Sunday at the live auditions for Kollaboration Acoustic 5 (to be held Friday June 17, 2011 @ the Ford Amphitheater – tickets on sale soon!). It was a long and busy day, made even longer by the loss of an hour thanks to daylight saving time, but the staff powered through, and thanks to veteran leadership (and a few angry stares) was able to stay on schedule and get things done.

Over forty artists came to the CGV Cinemas in K-Town to perform live in front of a panel of judges for the chance to be a part of the Kollaboration movement and share their talents to the world. Combined with the number of video submissions we received, this was officially the biggest audition for Kollaboration Acoustic to date! Unfortunately, as the new PR & Marketing manager, I conducted the post-audition interviews and I did not get to hear any of the live auditions (which was kind of a bummer). From all accounts though, the talent was impressive and the auditions were a great success. The staff is now faced with the mammoth task of deciding which artists will make the cut and be offered a spot on the lineup for Kollaboration Acoustic 5.

No matter what happens, I’d like to give a big thank you to all of the artists who came in or submitted video auditions for our show. We wish you luck on all of your future endeavors!

Stay tuned for the official lineup announcement coming soon!