Just a thought. (Noting that I don't rely on income from contra to keep the 
beer fridge stocked)

I think it is commonly understood that contra is just about as good as it gets 
for spreading bugs; I would, therefore, hope we aren't tempted, while we sit at 
this very long red light, to have the Little 4 bbl Superspreadeer Deuce Coupe 
in gear, the handbrake on, the clutch in while we pump the GO pedal in 
anticipation.. :) 

One way to approach the uncertainty of a restart date, and recognizing that the 
dates may well be staggered between cities, states, provinces, countries is to 
adopt the suggestion of others to make tentative, "subject to" bookings. This 
may have talent scheduled but what of plane tickets, etc. with cancellation 
penalties or room bookings (etc.) also with penalties? Not to mention 
last-minute scrambling.

Another, perhaps complementary, approach would be for communities to, 
essentially, chill -- in a non-judgemental sense -- and simply wait until the 
"all clear" is given by the appropriate officials. Then, for the following few 
months, book locally-ish while the months-in-advance, trans-continental booking 
gets back up-to-speed. One could foresee, in such a case, having to press a 
second programming volunteer(s) into service so you'd have one for short-term, 
dealing primarily with known local talent, and the other looking after the 
longer term.

(Realizing that some local communities have a buffet of musicians, callers and 
sound techs to choose from -- who may be tempted to use Tonya Harding 
techniques to lessen the competition  --  while others have a more limited 
menu, but maybe good hospitals to treat mysteriously injured musicians from 
out-of-town)

For those individuals you can imagine whining, "Oh man, is it Becky | George | 
Marlin | Diane | Lisa | Will | Cis | Seth | Luke | Catherine | Woody | Bev | 
Tony | Mary | David | Sarah | Bob | [put favourite caller name here] yet 
AGAIN!!! When will it end!!!" Well, as we say in Canada... Sorry! :)

Just an idea of how to conceptualize a possible path through what will be a 
crazy time for everyone.

Ken Panton
Quebec
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