talkmagic.co.uk

Why dont we have a TalkMagic convention?

We have enough members and I'm sure we could get the dealers involved.

Thoughts anyone???

good idea where though??
i vote london!
well i would wouldnt I?

Great idea.

How about the Midlands (Birmingham?) so it doesn't favour those in the South? Having said that, I don't know the geographical distribution of members - for instance, there *may* be 40% from Scotland and the North, so it would be logical to have it towards the North of the country. I guess it'll be a matter of "You can please some of the people some of the time ....".

Im up for it, but remember, theres costs involved, unless we got a small place (like herriots in skipton) as i could get a fair discount if i talk to the right people.

Im sure dealers would be interested, but, as its been said, its got to be somewhere convenient to everyone

Well I live in East Anglia as do a few others on here so the midlands is probably the best bet. A few options would be Birmingham, Northampton, Nottingham.

Of course it would be best to go for a small venue in the first year as you can never be sure how many will attend. Oh another place thats fairly central is Milton Keynes.

Would we go for a village hall concept or a small theatre? Here in Cambridge we have the Mumford Theatre which is part of Anglia Polythechnic University. Accomodates about 140 and is close enough to the stage for everyone to feel intimate and cosy.

As regards costs this is just a suggestion but how about this. We have some serious members here, members who make regular and valuable contributions to TM. We would need a committee to get the event up and running and I suggest those committe members make a contribution to the setup costs with reimbursement occuring after the convention. Stalls I guess are generally chargeable per pitch and there are ticket sales so any TM members who make a financial contribution towards setting up can be reasonably confident of being reimbursed.

Another way would be to set up a paypal account for TMConvention or similar user name and then members of the board could make as small or as large a donation as they wanted to!!

for instance, there *may* be 40% from Scotland and the North, so it would be logical to have it towards the North of the country

If this is the case then Nottingham is a fair location. However I'm not too sure how many are from the North or South etc.

Another thought about costs. Most advertising would be free through the internet or of little cost. Leaflets can be created cheaply to be sent to dealers who want to have a stall pitch so they may send them out with any product orders. The significant cost would be venue. But then I'm not taking into account lecturers/performers/artistes. Can we negotiate lower fees due to first year start up? Actually I'll shut up, I'm thinking now about lots of costs!!!

Dealer sponsorship is another way, The 2006 TalkMagic Convention sponsored by Alakazam Magic, for example. More spondoolies than just a pitch as its free advertising for them - whoever "them" may be!!

I'm up for this and although in the South, the Midlands seems a fair place and easy to travel to.

Happy to help out with the organisation.

I think I may very well attend if such an event ever took place. I live in the Midlands anyway but would be quite happy to travel to where ever.
If someone else was on route I'd quiter happily pick them up too.

There's something in this guys..... Any mods and administrators paying attention? How can we work this.........?

Sounds like a great idea ! I would definitely be up for it.

we have enough members to do our own shows and stuff!!
so thats a reduced cost
but to work out a location i would sugest we set up a map with every ones location then we can see who is where!

also it maybe best to do a mcoti (magic convention on the internet!) sort of in a chat room or over the net with video lectures or shows?

just an idea!!!

MCOTI is a good idea but I feel thats something that should be done alongside a real convention. There's nothing better than actually being amongst the people you are learning from etc. However.... my brain just exploded as I thought how about getting some real big names in other countries to lecture live via video link??!! Same great info (they can send lecturenotes ahead of time for distribution) but MUCH cheaper fee!!!

Some good ideas coming out but remember, most of this very much depends on the facilities that the venue will have available, particulalry if you're looking at web streaming.

I agree with the shows and it shouldn't be too much cost for a dealer to sponsor a few trophies or to be the main sponsor for a fee. You could consider having some paying members of the public to the shows and have lectures for members only etc.

There are some fairly decent hotels in the Midlands that are always looking for custom at the weekends and would probably give some good rates and also use of their conference facilities.

We also don't want to be competing with any of the major magic shows either so perhaps the best thing would be to first select a date and then find a venue. Things should start to fit in after that.

where do we go from here?

There are some fairly decent hotels in the Midlands that are always looking for custom at the weekends and would probably give some good rates and also use of their conference facilities.

So very true.... Hotels and conference centres are geared towards weekday working. They welcome almost any opportunity to continue earning at weekends, thats why it is so much cheaper to have a five satr weekend than a five star weeknight!

An out of town H&C centre (lower overheads) should have web conferencing etc and the use of several rooms so Members only lectures could be held. Proper negotiation should also ensure a discount above the normal proportions if we promised to promote staying overnight at the relevant venue therfore increasing their occupancy rate!

The company I work for already has negotiated some discounted rates for some Wolverhampton hotels and I could make an enquiry to see if there's an interest in helping us. I'm in Wolverhampton for three days from Monday 16th May!