My 1st Rally w/ Questions

[EPERRY]

This year will be my very 1st time attending the Rally. I've only been a Taxi member for about a month now and got my 1st forward about a week ago on my 1st submission which was cool. I have a few questions regarding the rally:

What is the dress code? My style is usually jeans, band T-Shirts, and sneakers. If something more professional is required, please let me know so I can go buy some more appropriate attire.

How long does the rally last each day? I have some friends (non musicians) that live in LA that I planned on visiting while out there and would like to give them a heads up on whether or not I will have time to chill with them after the rally is over. If the rally is all day/night, then of course I will spend my time trying to network instead of hanging out with friends.

CDs? I've seen a few people on here saying that it would me ideal to make a bunch of CDs with business cards inside of them to hand out to people at the Rally. I'm still getting some instrumentals mixed so I don't know exactly which ones I'll be bringing with me, but I want to know is it okay if I just use the average blank CDs and just write the song titles on there and on the CD itself as well? Is it okay to just upload the songs to mini flash drives and hand those out instead? I don't have a soundcloud or any of my music online other than the taxi site of course, so I'd be down to burn some CDs.

Is the rally itself a full day of networking and chatting with individuals or will there be other entertainment as well? I'm not too interested in watching performances or anything like that, I just want to network with people that can help me get my music out there.

Hotel...There's no way I'm paying $140/night to stay at the hotel, I'll definitely be doing Airbnb instead! I want to know would it REALLY be worth it to stay the night at the hotel, or does it not really matter as long as you show up for the actual event?

Also any other tips for new members would be appreciated, thanks!

[jessecarrigan]

This year will be my very 1st time attending the Rally. I've only been a Taxi member for about a month now and got my 1st forward about a week ago on my 1st submission which was cool. I have a few questions regarding the rally:

What is the dress code? My style is usually jeans, band T-Shirts, and sneakers. If something more professional is required, please let me know so I can go buy some more appropriate attire.

Sounds perfect!

How long does the rally last each day? I have some friends (non musicians) that live in LA that I planned on visiting while out there and would like to give them a heads up on whether or not I will have time to chill with them after the rally is over. If the rally is all day/night, then of course I will spend my time trying to network instead of hanging out with friends.

It's morning to night, and there's a lot of hanging out that happens at the hotel bar, hot tub, local restaurants, etc. It's probably going to be tough.

CDs? I've seen a few people on here saying that it would me ideal to make a bunch of CDs with business cards inside of them to hand out to people at the Rally. I'm still getting some instrumentals mixed so I don't know exactly which ones I'll be bringing with me, but I want to know is it okay if I just use the average blank CDs and just write the song titles on there and on the CD itself as well? Is it okay to just upload the songs to mini flash drives and hand those out instead? I don't have a soundcloud or any of my music online other than the taxi site of course, so I'd be down to burn some CDs.

Bringing CDs is fine. Having it online somewhere is a good idea IMO but not strictly necessary.

Is the rally itself a full day of networking and chatting with individuals or will there be other entertainment as well? I'm not too interested in watching performances or anything like that, I just want to network with people that can help me get my music out there.

Lots of networking and learning opportunities. For example, I went to a class with Ronan Chris Murphy 2 years ago that was all about compression and it's totally transformed my recordings. Met a ton of great people and I'm hoping we meet up again this year.

Hotel...There's no way I'm paying $140/night to stay at the hotel, I'll definitely be doing Airbnb instead! I want to know would it REALLY be worth it to stay the night at the hotel, or does it not really matter as long as you show up for the actual event?

It would be worth it for the networking opportunities. If you can get a close Airbnb and money is really an issue, get to the RR and don't worry about the hotel. But the hotel is where a lot of people hang out, so that's where you get the best opportunities to network.

Also any other tips for new members would be appreciated, thanks!

Drink lots of water, it's dry in there. Don't worry about trying to get to every session, pick the ones you really want to go to on the schedule and give yourself some downtime. I took a nap every day because my brain was just beat after all the great stuff I was trying to pay attention to. Go to the mentor lunch, it's worth it! Don't be afraid to talk to people, everyone is really kind and I met a bunch of people in lines for things.

I'm sure there are lots of other great tips others will have. Good luck and have a great time!

[EPERRY]

Thanks a lot for the info!

[Casey H]

EPERRY
Hi. A lot of it will become much more apparent when you see the schedule which comes out 1-2 weeks before the rally.

Most things take place from 9am - 6pm, though last year there were a few 6-8pm classes. Evenings are generally dinner and hanging out at the bar/lobby.

See you there!
Casey

[jaywilliams]

Also any other tips for new members would be appreciated, thanks!

Wear layers (bring a hoodie) - the rooms can be hot. the rooms can also be COLD!

Bring business cards, at least a handful, maybe more.

Pace yourself.

Have fun!

Jay

[EPERRY]

EPERRY
Hi. A lot of it will become much more apparent when you see the schedule which comes out 1-2 weeks before the rally.

Most things take place from 9am - 6pm, though last year there were a few 6-8pm classes. Evenings are generally dinner and hanging out at the bar/lobby.

See you there!
Casey

Thank you

[EPERRY]

Also any other tips for new members would be appreciated, thanks!

Wear layers (bring a hoodie) - the rooms can be hot. the rooms can also be COLD!

Bring business cards, at least a handful, maybe more.

Pace yourself.

Have fun!

Jay

Thank you

[kyliecouper]

Jeans, t-shirts, sneakers is perfect, but it can get cold in some rooms so bring a jacket.

I know you said you don't have your music online, but I found Soundcloud to be a great way to share my music with all the people I met at the rally.
It was great afterwards to be able to listen to the music from everyone I met and Soundcloud made this very easy. It would have been very hard to lug home CDs from everyone.
I found that everyone seemed really enthusiastic to hear everyone else's music.

I know it's expensive, but staying in the hotel really is great. Classes and panels start at 9am, and go through til 8pm. Then there's the open mics and just the general hanging at the bar, which is probably the best part of the whole rally!
This goes on till all hours of the night/morning which is why it's good to only have to get into the lift to get to your room rather than having to find an uber!
That's also another reason to have business cards with a link to your music online. You will meet lots of amazing people in the bar and you don't want to have to stand there holding on to a whole lot of CDs! Business cards are much easier to shove in your pocket!

Another thing you might have a question about is the registration line. You have probably heard that people line up for hours. That certainly seemed strange to me, but its absolutely worth it! You will meet lots of great people before the rally has even started.

My best tip is to talk to EVERYONE!

[EPERRY]

Jeans, t-shirts, sneakers is perfect, but it can get cold in some rooms so bring a jacket.

I know you said you don't have your music online, but I found Soundcloud to be a great way to share my music with all the people I met at the rally.
It was great afterwards to be able to listen to the music from everyone I met and Soundcloud made this very easy. It would have been very hard to lug home CDs from everyone.
I found that everyone seemed really enthusiastic to hear everyone else's music.

I know it's expensive, but staying in the hotel really is great. Classes and panels start at 9am, and go through til 8pm. Then there's the open mics and just the general hanging at the bar, which is probably the best part of the whole rally!
This goes on till all hours of the night/morning which is why it's good to only have to get into the lift to get to your room rather than having to find an uber!
That's also another reason to have business cards with a link to your music online. You will meet lots of amazing people in the bar and you don't want to have to stand there holding on to a whole lot of CDs! Business cards are much easier to shove in your pocket!

Another thing you might have a question about is the registration line. You have probably heard that people line up for hours. That certainly seemed strange to me, but its absolutely worth it! You will meet lots of great people before the rally has even started.

My best tip is to talk to EVERYONE!

I didn't know that there'll be a registration line, I'll be sure to get there early then! Great idea on using Soundcloud, I was just concerned that someone may steal my music if I put it online even though all my music is copyrighted. Great tips, thanks....Also any recommendations for companys online that make business cards? I've never used business cards before.

[kyliecouper]

I didn't know that there'll be a registration line, I'll be sure to get there early then! Great idea on using Soundcloud, I was just concerned that someone may steal my music if I put it online even though all my music is copyrighted. Great tips, thanks....Also any recommendations for companys online that make business cards? I've never used business cards before.

I used moo.com for my business cards because they're a bit different. They stand out and they're fun.
But you can get business cards anywhere. Just search "business cards" on google and you will find eleventy billion different places to get them!
Go with whichever one suits your budget and printing/delivery timeframe.

As for people stealing your music from Soundcloud, well that is a tiny possibility, BUT if you don't have your music out in the world, no-one will ever hear it!