Nick Retires from US Libera

[Luckdragon]

In some sad news, Nick has announced his retirement from US Libera. I, for one, very much appreciate all of his work raising the necessary funds to bring Libera back to the U.S. on a regular basis, as well as the massive collection of behind-the-scenes photos he's provided to us over the years.

I know we're all hoping that Libera can find a worthy successor in the very near future.

Godspeed, Nick, and THANK YOU!

[Surpinto]

Nick's work has been invaluable to the success of Libera of the US. While I certainly don't intend to minimize the hard work of everyone else involved (chaperones, musicians, tech crew, the Libera boys, and so on), those in the know are well aware that his role was that of a crucial cornerstone for Libera's US tours.

As with all of us, people's priorities and situations change over time, and he's certainly entitled to travel in whatever direction life leads him in at this juncture.

I'm sure I speak for all fans when I say that we wish him well and owe him a debt of gratitude for his many years of hard work.

[Citlec]

I'm sure I speak for all fans when I say that we wish him well and owe him a debt of gratitude for his many years of hard work.

Those roles, as fulfilling as they can be, take their toll. Nick should be commended for how dedicated and amazing he has been for so long.

You don't know what you have, 'til it's gone.

Such roles are a thankless task, that need people of incredible dedication and will to fulfil, and which often go mostly un-appreciated. Such people need skill, a head for figures, an ability to organise, a rapport with people, especially young people, and a genuine love of the cause.

I cannot possibly imagine where one would find a person like that.

*Stares at Surpinto*

[Surpinto]

Those roles, as fulfilling as they can be, take their toll. Nick should be commended for how dedicated and amazing he has been for so long.

You don't know what you have, 'til it's gone.

Such roles are a thankless task, that need people of incredible dedication and will to fulfil, and which often go mostly un-appreciated. Such people need skill, a head for figures, an ability to organise, a rapport with people, especially young people, and a genuine love of the cause.

Hear hear! The number of hats one has to wear when volunteering with an organization like that is crazy. Having some experience being in some mostly volunteer roles (though never anything like what Nick did), I can tell you that they can at times be more stressful than a full-time job! Though unlike a full-time job, where additional personnel could be hired to fill the void when tasks need to be done, there is usually no such option with a charitable organization. Recruiting unpaid volunteers is difficult and sometimes impossible, especially volunteers of the sort who are actually capable of doing the work properly; often complicated work of the sort Nick was doing.

Mix in the fact that you're dealing with a children's choir and things become much more difficult because of the unique travel requirements and organization necessary when dealing with activities associated with kids.

I think all of those who have worked on Libera's staff over the years, in whatever capacity, ought to be commended for their hard and often (mostly) thankless work.

And although Nick has since deleted the post, he has informed me that he wants his retirement to be known to Libera fans. In no small part so that inquiries about Libera of the US can be directed to the right people, rather than to him.

I cannot possibly imagine where one would find a person like that.

*Stares at Surpinto*

*Looks for an escape hatch*

[TullyBascombe]

I second all of the emotions above.

[Mercurial909]

I second all of the emotions above.

Me too.

I would gladly volunteer to help run Libera’s social media accounts, put in place mechanisms to ensure Libera fans can get as much access to Libera as time, circumstance and parents allow.

Certainly makes me appreciate the time and effort put in by the likes of Nick, John and Yuki over the years.

Also, I’m not sure if Libera ever brought in someone to do the job that Steven Philipp (Ben’s dad) was doing before his untimely passing. It’s clear that he helped give Libera a far greater reach. They haven’t done Songs of Praise, regular tv and radio spots, or released any DVDs for years.

It’s been over 5 years since they last visited the Philippines where they once had a huge following and I think Daniel is the only survivor left from their 2019 visit.

Add that to their struggle to sell out tickets for their summer concerts this year, and even having to drum up support while they were on their US tour last summer and I do worry if this trend is sustainable.

[TullyBascombe]

AFAIK US Libera is pretty much a one man show. I believe that Nick has been doing everything with regards to Libera's activities in the US, i.e., managing advertising, obtaining funding, organizing the tours, etc. If there hasn't been anyone else involved in these activates then it is truly going to be difficult finding a successor.
In the Philippines wasn't there some one man essentially managing all of Libera's activities in country? I wonder if he's retired also?

[Luckdragon]

AFAIK US Libera is pretty much a one man show.

Yes, and he was fairly old school in his efforts. Nowadays, as with the various crowd funding platforms, people want to see a tangible funding goal and the progress toward it. Perhaps at Libera's request, Nick never disclosed any of that. High-level donors like to try to be the one who puts them over the goal, but they were probably in the dark as much as we were. Only at the end did we learn that it costs $250,000 to bring them over.

These days, people also like to have multiple levels with meaningful perks to choose from. Nick had a lot of very creative levels, but (AFAIK) only one perk and, until recently, we never really knew how much it took to qualify. It was a great perk, but we had to be in a specific city on a specific day to get it.

As far as the rest of his volunteer duties went, he seemed to do a great job. In return, he had incredible BTS access that nobody else had. Not the British, not the Filipinos, not even the Japanese. As a result, we got a wealth of photos and videos over the years that Libera would never have produced for themselves.

Nick will be very difficult to replace. Perhaps he's even irreplaceable. But if we do find somebody (or somebodies), perhaps they'll be able to use some modern techniques that'll make the fund raising a little easier.

[Mercurial909]

In the Philippines wasn't there some one man essentially managing all of Libera's activities in country? I wonder if he's retired also?

Roberto De Ocampo?

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[TullyBascombe]

AFAIK US Libera is pretty much a one man show.

Nick will be very difficult to replace. Perhaps he's even irreplaceable. But if we do find somebody (or somebodies), perhaps they'll be able to use some modern techniques that'll make the fund raising a little easier.

Yes, he'll be very difficult to replace. I wonder how much of his own funds he kicked in for each tour? The lion's share? So his replacement would need to be a master travel agent, promotor and manager plus fairly well off?