Events in Grand Ballroom vs. Classes

[MarkDoyle]

Is it better to stay in the Grand Ballroom than the individual classes? Last year I mostly went to the classes, which were great, and didn't go into the Grand Ballroom except for the beginning and end of the Rally. Was I missing out on avoiding the Ballroom?

[Russell Landwehr]

You've really got to determine what you want to get from the Rally Experience. There's good stuff in both the Main Ballroom and the Drivers Ed classes. Go through the lists and prioritize.

The nice thing about the Drivers Ed presentations is that you have a better shot at getting specific questions answered... Although, occasionally Michael will entertain questions from the audience during some of the Ballroom Panels.

Russell

[MarkDoyle]

Thanks Russell. I'll keep it in mind. The great thing about the Rally is there's so much great stuff going on you can't go wrong no matter what you do. It's a shame it wasn't a whole week!

[admin]

I DO sometimes take questions in the ballroom, but also try REALLY hard to ask the questions I know the audience members want answered. During every panel, I am constantly reminding myself, "Don't forget what the audience wants to know."

Maybe the main reason I don't often take audience questions is that people do stuff like this:

"Hi, my name is Tom Smith, and I'm from St. Louis. I grew up in Alaska, but then moved to Milwaukee because my girlfriend is from there and she wanted to live close to her family. I play guitar and keyboards, but I'm probably better at guitar... at least I think so, but my band mates don't agree. When I record, I play both because I do pop, rock, edm, jazz and some urban stuff. Mostly hip hop, but I also do straight up soul sometimes. I'm also a huge Barry White fan, but my girlfriend doesn't like him, so I keep that on the DL when she's around. I think my jazz influence comes from living in St. Louis. So... my question is, which genre should I concentrate on?"

I'm not kidding! Many of the questions are so long and and so personal, that they eat up too much time and the answers don't benefit everybody else in the audience. That's ALWAYS my goal when I moderate: Give as much value to as many people in the audience as I possibly can.

My advice: mix it up, do some of both, but have a plan! And don't go to classes or panels just because a bunch of people you're hanging with are going. Their needs are probably different from yours. For instance, don't go to a class on audio mastering if your music doesn't get forwarded much.

BTW, the ballroom thing I'm doing with Chuck Schlacter will likely be the most poorly attended panel in Rally history, and it's probably the single most important one we've ever done:

Building Your Retirement Fund With Film and TV Music - Grand Ballroom – Successful TAXI member Chuck Schlachter is also a Certified Financial Planner. Michael Laskow and Chuck will run the numbers and show you how earning licensing income can significantly contribute to your retirement fund over time. Start out slowly and build as you go. Finally, a retirement plan you can control by the quality, quantity, and type of music you make!

What percentage of the musicians you know have enough money saved to live as they do now from 65 until they pass away? This panel was inspired by one of our very first TAXI members. He actually might have been THE first person to join! His family didn't live lavishly, they lived in St. Louis, and his wife was VP of a bank branch office.

They retired to Honduras (if memory serves correctly) because they couldn't afford to retire in America! I think the people in the audience are going to be shocked by how much retirement $$$ they'll have because of compounding their catalog, and compounding interest. I think we're going to kill the myth of the starving artist in this panel, but I'm betting the room will have very few people in it.

Honduras is warm all year long, lol.

Michael

[MarkDoyle]

Thanks ,Michael . Great advice!

[mojobone]

For instance, don't go to a class on audio mastering if your music doesn't get forwarded much.



Michael

Exactly; if your music doesn't get forwarded much, attend a class on targeting your pitches.

Also, not for nuthin', but I will be attending Chuck's class.