An update from Bob Plott

I started Mountain Memories Productions (MMP) in 2015 with two simple objectives: One, I wanted to dispel the negative stereotypes often connected with southern Appalachian culture and history, while also celebrating the Plott hound—the official state dog of North Carolina—as well as the countless colorful characters that have roamed these storied hills for centuries.

Secondly, I wanted to replicate the wonderful childhood environment that I grew up in where folks gathered at various community events ranging from parties to hunting camps and funerals, bonding together through stories, music and fellowship—all the while celebrating and focusing on the common unifying bonds we all shared, as opposed to subjects that may divide us, such as politics and other similar topics.

We planned to do this by hosting and promoting concerts, festivals and programs all over western North Carolina under the MMP banner while partnering with other like-minded artists and venues who shared our vision. Our thinking was—and is—that we could bring revenue to these artists and venues while entertaining, and just as importantly, educating our audiences.

We got off to a great start and were very well received by the public. However, I did not realize the tremendous amount of funding and manpower needed to properly operate a business like this, nor could I have anticipated the terrible COVID pandemic that basically shut us down for nearly three years, between 2020 and 2022.

Worse yet, in late 2022, just when I thought we had emerged from the pandemic and were operational again, I nearly died myself TWICE from COVID and pneumonia. I spent two weeks in an ICU unit and a month in the hospital fighting for my life, losing 71 pounds in three weeks, and literally having to learn how to walk again.

This loss of income, along with losing my side job—I was fired for being sick—not only forced us to move from our beloved mountain home, but nearly shut down MMP or any semblance of it forever.

As 2022 ended, I knew that I needed additional funding and manpower for MMP to survive. To remedy this, I took on a full-time business partner in 2023, and added some PR and marketing help as well, while planning a list of stellar events across WNC.

Despite our best efforts and the quality of these new events, it soon became clear that the partnership simply was not going to work for a variety of reasons –most of them financial.

In early 2024, my business partner and I parted amicably, as I again, became sole owner and CEO of MMP. I was assisted by my dear friend, social media expert, Maggie Rainwater, who agreed to stay on for promotional and admin support.

However, as 2023 drew to an end I was forced to do some soul searching in determining the long-term future of MMP. We first took a hard look at what did and did not work.

It didn't take long to see that our most successful events were festivals like PlottFest and the various programs I did personally across the southeast, along with a few instructional camps and concerts with a handful of other artist friends.

It also became clear that instead of trying to service multiple partner venues and 60 artists, it would make more sense to focus on two or three major venues and artists, while devoting the rest of our time to smaller personal programs.

These decisions were eventually implemented and dramatically reduced our costs and allowed us to focus on what I do best, my programs, PlottFest, various instructional camps, wood carving and a few other select hand-picked projects that I love to do. These things became our primary focus, allowing us to survive in a similar, yet altogether different manner than MMP.

Moreover, I realized that at this stage of my life it was better for me to do a few things really well, as opposed to trying to kill myself doing 50 things as best I could. In other words, it was time to stop being a jack of all trades and a master of NONE. The answer then became clear to me.

We needed to end MMP altogether. It was a great concept but could not be done properly without a LOT more funding and manpower, which I simply could not afford. It also was becoming apparent that many folks in our audience found the MMP connection confusing, and did not understand how it related to PlottFest and my other programs—all valid points that needed to be addressed.

We loved the objectives of MMP and decided to continue them differently in a new format and a new website: bobplott.net. More importantly, we adjusted and modified our new business plan accordingly without creating another new confusing name.

This decision resulted in terminating Mountain Memories Productions as both a business and a website. We also retained our invaluable business associate—Maggie Rainwater—to continue doing our promotion work while also creating our new website bobplott.net. The website, our programs, our books, our festivals –most notably PlottFest – along with our dogs and woodwork, were all under this same name bobplott.net. Simple, right?

After discussing this new idea with Maggie and my family, we all agreed that this new concept retained the important aspects of MMP while making us more accessible to both our existing core audience, as well as potential new fans.

And since it was Bob Plott conducting or coordinating all the business it made sense and simplified things to list it all under my name, and made it much easier for our customers to locate.

Not only is our new website bobplott.net more accessible and easier to find and navigate, it becomes a one stop shop for anyone that is interested to learn about our programs, PlottFest, our books, our dogs, upcoming events and our wood carvings, as well as buying any of these things or event tickets –it's all there on one website for your review.

So, please make our new website www.bobplott.net a regular stop in your daily internet journey while also checking out –and LIKING-- our three Facebook and Instagram pages. Updates are provided regularly. And remember that the MMP business and website no longer exist.

Our goal is to keep you informed on all upcoming events and everything we are working on, in hopes that you will come out and join us at an event or drop us line with questions or ideas.

We want these platforms to represent YOU and what you would like to see, hear, or learn more about pertaining to southern mountain culture, history and the Plott hound. You can offer feedback on our social media platforms, or by emailing us at beardogs1750@yahoo.com as well as bob@bobplott.net. We look forward to getting your feedback and meeting you at future events.

Thanks for listening and for your continued support,

Bob Plott