This Was Promofest

[Mr.Taxi Trix]

Promofest was a damn good idea, with many a bump in the execution. Performers, or a lot of the good ones, are clueless on marketing themselves, and this was the clue train. For 750 bucks, you get your web on, and an idea of how to work it.
Sounds good for a start. Thursday, Rob Torres comes over, and we hike it through the snow to Martin's for a tea. Synergy is in the room, and talk of possibility and creative expression is in the air. I get sidetracked into a game of canasta with the family, old friends of mine, and Mart and Rob jam in the kitchen. Home, sleep, and off in the morning, and the car ride is a mix of excitement, curiosity, and again, jamming ideas about what works for each other in marketing.
We get to 9 mountain center without any worries, and are greeted with a kind, tasty meal with soup you want a second bowl of. (and can have.) Nine Mountain Center is a dreamy, snowy country retreat. It is a neighbor to "Earth Dance", and the name says it all on that one. Suffice it to say it was great food, a powerful home environment, chi coming out the ying yang, and most of us would have traded it all for a cable connection in a NY second.
Lee starts by leading us in the old who are you and why are you here bit, and we all learn more than we want to know about each other, and that's nice. Things get rolling when Jim speaks on "Brand" and what it means to have your act as a brand in your mindset, and think of it as a product, a thing. A scholarship new age dancer has a problem with that, and Jim and Etienne make my night with a couple of one-liners on that score. The idea of cultivating your thinking of your act as a brand is solid, though, and has an impact on my design choices.
More another day...

[Mr.Taxi Trix]

OK, day two, and Lee opens it up by leading a creative writing workshop that was designed to override the critical voice within. Good stuff, if you like that sorta thing, or if you have lots of time, but most of us are itching to get to the digits.
John was the main teacher, and he knows his stuff. His process was one to one. He went through 45 photos I brought in iphoto format, and got it down to the best three, and told me why, in two minutes 35 secs. If you could listen at that point and refrain from the "butt" mode, you learned. I listened.
After that, its design your little heart out 'till someone with a clue happens by to guide you. I was lucky. Rob had a video cover template, and I firewired it in to my g4 and started playing with photos. (It was very, very important to have your own laptop at Promofest, I think, and Rob and I were in the minority of three, the "Titanium Triplets" on that one. Some people did fine without them, though, and I'm curious to hear from others. We lost Stitch at around this time, he had expected a keyboard and a good instructor. That would rock, but would also cost around 1500, I think, and would be worth it.) In my case, Jim came by, and started with "Are you using photoshop yet?" It was the beginning of a beautiful world for me, and that time with Jim made an excellent cover possible, which wound up being the bones for page one of the website. So my "waiting time" was 100% constructive. I came to learn, and found teachers. Jim left to give a more public photoshop tutorial, but I stayed in the kitchen with Rob, as we had cornered a brilliant designer who was helping us with the bumps on our path.
With the feedback from the teaching team, I had plenty of work cut out for me. Rob and I pulled an all nighter, putting together text, photos, and basic layout for our sites. We took one 2 am break to hot tub with everyone, and rolled in the snow as well. Given that we both arrived with edited video, basic text, and an angle, Promofest did deliver on its promise to help you create a didgital presence. I've had good response from agents and festival casting to mine. http://www.taxitrix.com and Rob's rocks. http://www.funeeestuff.com
As lead teacher, John has continued to offer support, emailing offers to tweak anything on the site, all above and beyone our agreement. Friendship also happened, and we shared a Bunch of laughs. Jim: same thing, supportive, interested, and I don't think he was formally a teacher, more the poster boy for great web design. Lee I'm guessing is dancing away. His endorsement was his major contribution, in my case, though he may have had an impact on other students.
The other students were a good crew. There is a filter through which one would need to pass to arrive at promofest. Has a working act/ takes it seriously/ puts money where mouth is. This made for interesting companions. I was amazed again at how funny performers are in groups, and the synergy we have, when applied to marketing and deploying resources, really is worth creating.
I think John is done, and more interested in teaching his film school than re-creating Promofest. He was the keystone, along with Jim, of the value delivered. It would be doable again,if Jim took it up. The teachers expected the students to have more in their hands on arrival, I think, and the students expected the digital world on a platter. Somewhere in the middle is that damned old chi. I'm curious if Stitch got his refund. It rocked, for me, and couldn't have come at a better time. I'm outta here, gotta email out the link.

[Richard]

Wow, great stuff Taxi. Wish I could have said it like that. I came with nothing and left with this http://www.pritchardschool.com/flyingdebris

[ 01-29-2003: Message edited by: Richard ]</p>

[Mr.Taxi Trix]

Thanks, Richard.

Having seen your full video, and all the laughs you were getting, I have no doubts about where you are headed. We both came to the right place.

[ 01-29-2003: Message edited by: Mr.Taxi Trix ]</p>