THE IDEA
The Tidewater area of Virginia is rich in local musical talent. There are many places and venues for
local musicians to perform, especially outdoor during the summer months. I have always enjoyed the
outdoor music presented at the various weekly after work parties and regional festivals and fairs in the area.
Since I attended these events, a number of the same people attended these same events. Conversations
with these people indicated that they wondered who would be performing at the
event the next week. I started carrying a list of the schedules, and in 1996 I started handing out
handwritten lists to people I knew. I later started passing out typed list with the aid of my
Commodore 64 computer. Someone suggested that I should get a web site, since many
were free. In October 1997, the web site was started using a TV web browser.

THE NAME
After handing out the hand written lists at a weekly outdoor event in Hampton Virginia, a representative of
one of the sponsors of the event, a weekly free publication was interested in using the data from the list in their
publication. I was requested to send them the list and a brief write-up. In doing so I thought
this list should have a name that was easy to remember. I came up with MEONA,
Music Events Outdoor of Notable Achievement. MEONA LIVE has been used in recent years to denote that
only events performed live by musicians and artists are supported.
Therefore usually Karaoke, DJ's, poker nights, and dog shows are not supported.

THE WEB SITE
The MEONA web site has grown from it small beginnings using the TV web browser to many pages
of information concerning the listings of music events in the southeastern Virginia area.Information for
the site is provided from many sources such as email, schedules provided by bands, clubs,
agents, and supporting publications. Some information is passed word-of-mouth. The site is
usually updated daily if time permits.

THE MEONA ASSOCIATES
We are a very informal group of people who like all kinds of music and tend to go to a lot of concerts both
indoor and outdoor. To be a MEONA person is simple. You must enjoy the performance of live music and
be able to provide information to the webmaster for consideration for inclusion in the forecast
listings. If you have an email address you can receive weekly forecasts usually on Tuesdays.

The webmaster can be contacted at meona@verizon.net

THE NOTABLE ACHIEVERS
Periodically through the season and at the season end, musical performers and / or a particular performance
are given special recognition for an outstanding performance or group of performances witnessed
by MEONA associates. This is could be presented in a news page of this web site or
by e mail notification. The outdoor season generally extends from February 1^st until December 15^th each year.
Nominations and voting then follow with awards and recognitions announced in March

Steven Sloop
February 18, 2005