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Toni Braxton
Queen Ifrica.
Assistant to the executive director of Reggae Sumfest, Junior Taylor (right), poses with race car driver, Doug Gore (left) and Citadel's Neil Baugh at the festival's western Jamaica launch at Pier 1 recently.

Reggae Sumfest ... behind the scenes

Nagra Plunkett, Hospitality Jamaica Writer

Multi-faceted businessmen Johnny Gourzong and Robert Russell are two of the known faces behind Reggae Sumfest, which has called Jamaica's tourism Mecca Montego Bay home since 1993.

Each year, they lead a dynamic team to plan, design and execute a concert series that has earned numerous awards and accolades, as well as the enviable worldwide reputation for being the 'greatest reggae show on earth'.

But chief among the team members are those employees who man the Summerfest Productions offices - the nucleus of the festival's operations - in Montego Bay, St James.

Here, Tina Davis wears the hat of festival manager. The former banker oversees the staff, day-to-day management of the festival's account, while dealing with statutory regulations and other related issues. Her functions also extend to pre-festival duties of the procurement of sponsorship and hotel accommodations.

fourteenth year

"It is my fourteenth year with the festival. It has been exciting and at times frustrating; as no year is the same, there are always new challenges," said Davis.

"This year in particular has been difficult because we have to be dealing with reduced sponsorship and the unrest in Kingston, which caused us to do some remedial work to get us to a point to stage the show."

She has a mix of experience and youth among her staff of seven, who is all familiar with the intricacies of multitasking and long work hours.

The staff complement will grow to 12 in the week of the festival, when an additional five persons are recruited to work as artiste liaison representatives.

Davis' assistant is 24-year-old Rashaun Jennings. He gave Hospitality Jamaica an interview, in-between phone calls and responding to emails. He is in his fourth year working with Summerfest Productions.

"The experience with the Reggae Sumfest team has left me knowledgeable and has basically taught me to be adaptive and cope with stress," he said with a smile, as he paused to pick up a call.

Jennings gets into full festival mode from as early as March; by then he ensures that the sponsors' contracts are dispatched and the hotels are confirmed. He is also involved in the preparation of invoices, artistes' rehearsals, and ticket orders.

Missing was long-serving employee Norma 'Sharon' Williams, who had a full day of errands at the bank and the Inland Revenue Department.

Another experienced team member is Junior Taylor. He is assistant to Gourzong, the festival's executive director, and backstage manager at the showgrounds at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Centre.

exhaustive job description

His job description, which is carried out in consultation with Gourzong, is an exhaustive one. He has been a part of the Sumfest team since 1995. He is in dialogue all year round pertaining to the festival, but for him full-time work begins in May.

"For me, Reggae Sumfest is an expression of our culture and an enhancement of tourism for our country, in general, and Montego Bay specifically," he shared, as he typed away on a laptop.

The festival's 2010 staging kicked off with a beach party last Saturday and will continue July 22 to July 24, where international superstar Usher and teen throb Chris Brown are the confirmed headline acts.

They will share the stage with dancehall favourites Beenie Man, Bounty Killa, Shaggy, Mavado, Vybz Kartel, Spice and Elephant Man. Performing alongside them will be reggae singers including Tarrus Riley, Jah Cure, Queen Ifrica, Gramps Morgan and Gyptian.

But after the wrap-up of the festival, Davis will be devoting much time to the new shopping-cart feature that is now available on the Reggae Sumfest's website, where tickets and festival mechandise can be purchased online.