How To Make The Rally Even Better. Share Ideas Here.

[johnlewitt]

I love the Rally and I go every year.  Fresh off attending this year, I had some ideas to make it even better so I thought I'd start a thread here for us to add ideas on how to make it even better.   Hopefully the ideas get passed onto to Michael.   

Listening Panels.

I'd set a timer for 5 minutes for each song played.  So play the tune for a minute and then get 4 minutes of comments and then move onto the next song.  The more songs played = more commentary to learn from.  So if the panel is scheduled to run for 90 minutes, 18 songs would be played.  

And if someone has had a song played in the panel and another of theirs is selected, that second song should be skipped.  The Friday panel had two artists' tracks picked twice, and the songs were so similar that the panelist had to struggle to come up with something to say.

Suppliers

Over the years I've bought many things (mics, books, plugins, shakers, etc) from the companies who set up a booth.  I love the fact that WARM Audio was there and offering a 25% discount on all their products.  I'd love to see more manufacturers there like you had in the past.  It's a brilliant opportunity for them to show their wares to a community that actually invests in their own careers.  They just have to be given the hard sell to come!

The Opening Speaker

The guy from APM was interesting, but I'd prefer the first speaker to be more inspiring - as it's a great way to start off the Rally.  I think the Geoff Emerick interview was my favourite.  It created a great mood for everyone to then go off and take in some classes and panels.  I realize it's hard to find someone new every year and that they have to be in LA.  But maybe think outside the box a little?  Maybe find an artist who is releasing a memoir and try and convince them to make it a stop on their book tour (as they always seem to release these types of books in the Christmas season)?  Take Phil Collins for example.  He released a book in 2016,  his music was used memorably in film & TV sync (think Miami Vice), and he wrote the music for the Tarzan movie, so it does tie in with the theme of the Rally.   That's just the first example that popped into my head, and I know it's just a hypothetical, but hopefully you get the drift.

Prizes

I've always wondered why one of the prizes wasn't something like $100 dollars worth of credits for Taxi submissions.  If it was my business I'd do that, as it would get someone into the habit of submitting!

The Next Years Date

Every year I've said, why don't you announce the dates for the following year during the Happy Ending Panel?  Well Michael finally did.  November 7-10th, 2024.  And you know what?  Everyone I was sitting with added it to our calendar.  So thank you I'm already looking forward to 2024!

John

[Casey H]

The rally was awesome. Thanks again to ML and the staff!

I'm with John as far as the same song being played at multiple panels. I heard 2 songs at Michael Lloyd's feedback panel in the Theater Room and then at the Happy Ending Panel in the ballroom right after. I realize the logistics are tough as the songs come from different listings and the people running one panel may not be the same as those who ran another one earlier.

And if you didn't change a thing, it would still be great.

Casey

[cosmicdolphin]

I'd set a timer for 5 minutes for each song played.  So play the tune for a minute and then get 4 minutes of comments and then move onto the next song.  The more songs played = more commentary to learn from.  So if the panel is scheduled to run for 90 minutes, 18 songs would be played.  

I would give it a verse and a chorus which should equate to about a minute , if the intro is more than 30s it should get canned and onto the next.

[admin]

I love the Rally and I go every year. Fresh off attending this year, I had some ideas to make it even better so I thought I'd start a thread here for us to add ideas on how to make it even better. Hopefully the ideas get passed onto to Michael.

Listening Panels.

I'd set a timer for 5 minutes for each song played. So play the tune for a minute and then get 4 minutes of comments and then move onto the next song. The more songs played = more commentary to learn from. So if the panel is scheduled to run for 90 minutes, 18 songs would be played.

And if someone has had a song played in the panel and another of theirs is selected, that second song should be skipped. The Friday panel had two artists' tracks picked twice, and the songs were so similar that the panelist had to struggle to come up with something to say.

______

We try to fade songs after the first chorus, and cues after the main theme has been fully heard. Putting a timer on each of them would sometimes/often cut them too short.

I dare you to try and control the time of panelists' responses, lol. And remember, if I don't deftly handle that, they'll get insulted and likely not come back next year, and probably stop running listings. Some battles aren't worth fighting because the outcome is more detrimental than beneficial. BTW, there is a note on the back of the name cards for every panelist. It asks them to be short and concise, but when they've got more info to impart, it's hard and possibly insulting to cut them off. And you've likely heard me say, "Ok, it's time to move on, we've got more music to play."

As to knowing what got played on a different panel (especially in a different room with different panelists) is not realistic. And for some members getting played twice: it's done with a random number generator as you've seen on the screen in the ballroom. Some members will submit the same song 2 or 3X, AND submit several songs for EACH panel. Not that cool IMHO, but it;'s sort of like buying multiple lottery tickets. With the multitude of tasks and details we have in the run up to the Rally, we don't have the time to scour each list in advance and call or email every member who tries to increase their chances by submitting multiples. The back and forth, "Why not?" conversations would suck much more time than we've got. One year, we included language in a listing for a panel that asked people to limit themselves to just one submission. They didn't follow that rule. Shocked, lol

Suppliers

Over the years I've bought many things (mics, books, plugins, shakers, etc) from the companies who set up a booth. I love the fact that WARM Audio was there and offering a 25% discount on all their products. I'd love to see more manufacturers there like you had in the past. It's a brilliant opportunity for them to show their wares to a community that actually invests in their own careers. They just have to be given the hard sell to come!

__________

John, your head would explode if you saw how much time, effort, and money goes into going after sponsors. After COVID and their decisions to NOT display at NAMM, sponsors just don't want to send 3 or 4 people (plane flights, hotels, shipping of products and displays to and fro, tons of staff over time, etc.) to live events any more. We use the #1 most successful sponsor sales person in the industry. He has VERY long-term relationships with virtually every manufacturer of gear, and even he is shocked at how they just don't want to send a team to live events any more. Thanks COVID

And the biggest issue of all is that most manufacturers have contractual agreements with their distributors and retail outlets that PREVENT them from selling direct at the Rally or any other convention. In the past, we had West LA Music representing the brands they sold in their stores, but they are no longer in business. West LA would pay TAXI for the space, then they would charge the brands for space on their tables, plus make a profit on the sales. The individual companies didn't have to send teams, and their products could be sold under existing agreements.

I've met with Guitar Center about doing this in the past, but they wanted the entire Rally to be branded as a GC event, and they wanted some control over the content of panels and classes. 50% of the classes would have been sales presentations, like they used to have at the ASCAP Expo. Those were poorly attended because people don't come to be sold.

Did you notice that I DID get some of our sponsors who didn't want to send a team to offer discounts or contests using QR codes on their banners or posters?

We just ran the numbers, and for all costs involved (travel, over time, hotel, airfare, shipping, sponsorship fee, meals, etc. it comes to nearly $13,000 per sponsor!!! You'd have to sell a lot of headphones and shakers to net a $13,000 profit.

The Opening Speaker

The guy from APM was interesting, but I'd prefer the first speaker to be more inspiring - as it's a great way to start off the Rally. I think the Geoff Emerick interview was my favourite. It created a great mood for everyone to then go off and take in some classes and panels. I realize it's hard to find someone new every year and that they have to be in LA. But maybe think outside the box a little? Maybe find an artist who is releasing a memoir and try and convince them to make it a stop on their book tour (as they always seem to release these types of books in the Christmas season)? Take Phil Collins for example. He released a book in 2016, his music was used memorably in film & TV sync (think Miami Vice), and he wrote the music for the Tarzan movie, so it does tie in with the theme of the Rally. That's just the first example that popped into my head, and I know it's just a hypothetical, but hopefully you get the drift.

_____________

You didn't find Michael Lloyd's story about a member getting a major label deal at the Rally inspiring? You didn't find my speech about 212 degrees inspiring? You didn't find 40% of the people in the ballroom standing up because they got deals and placements inspiring? I spend at least 30 hours on JUST getting a keynote, each and every year. Research done, lists compiled, individualized pitches to each, back and forth re: schedules, etc., etc. I picked Adam Taylor because AI is the big topic of the year for most of our members. The music library industry has much broader appeal than somebody who published a book 7 years ago, got a record deal 44 years ago which has no relevance to our members TODAY, and had his songs in some movies (WAY different than our members getting a film placement - he's Phil Collins!). I'm a Phil Collins fan, but his career doesn't really relate to the majority of our members.

I've spent a few thousand hours in the studio with Neil Young and loved every minute of working with him. He lives close to the TAXI office. But, I've never invited him to be our keynote because there's very little (or nothing) he could say that would move our members one inch closer to getting a deal. Geoff Emerick was a one-off because he was SO singular. I made an exception for him because of that. In the end, the Rally isn't People Magazine so much as it's aimed to be educational and informative. I try to keep a balance, but it's hard to please everybody, all the time.

Prizes

I've always wondered why one of the prizes wasn't something like $100 dollars worth of credits for Taxi submissions. If it was my business I'd do that, as it would get someone into the habit of submitting!

--------

Our experience over more than 30 years is, people who get free submission credits don't value them as much as those who pay for them. They don't use them!! Always a mystery to me, but it's reality.

The Next Years Date

Every year I've said, why don't you announce the dates for the following year during the Happy Ending Panel? Well Michael finally did. November 7-10th, 2024. And you know what? Everyone I was sitting with added it to our calendar. So thank you I'm already looking forward to 2024!

Cool!

Best,
ML

John

[johnlewitt]

Hi Michael,

I didn’t mean to touch a nerve. If I didn’t enjoy the event I wouldn’t keep coming back every year!

Re: the suppliers. I use to own a manufacturing company and I have done around 150 trade shows in my life, ranging from table top to 1,500 square feet booths. If it there was something worth doing, I’d be there, either on my own or with my local distributor This is not on you, I’m just stunned they wouldn’t want to be part of the event, given the type attendees you bring in! I also ran an event for 7 years, where I solicited suppliers to put their products in front of a group of 700 people, so I know the ups and downs you must go thru!

Re: the opening speaker. I have been going every year since 2013. I guess what I liked about Geoff was that he represented the creative side of things. Just like the Ken Calliat panel was very unique too, though that was a Saturday evening. In order to get a sync you’ve go to create something first, so we can all be inspired in different ways, so perhaps that’s just me. Ok the Phil Collins referenced was dated, but it was just an example of something outside of the box. I always figure if you don’t ask, you never know.

Re: the listening panels. I go to them to garner tidbits of gold from the panelists. So imo the more songs they talk about the more I can learn. So an NBA shot clock from the start of playback to the last comment is what I was thinking! I know several of the panelists quite well and I think they’d be game for that and not insulted in anyway.

Hopefully you read my subject line. I said how to make the Rally EVEN BETTER and that’s from someone who had an awesome time this year!

All the best,

John

[johnlewitt]

BTW, feel free to give me a call to discuss this Micheal - I was trying be as faraway from critical as possible!

[Paulie]

And if someone has had a song played in the panel and another of theirs is selected, that second song should be skipped.  The Friday panel had two artists' tracks picked twice, and the songs were so similar that the panelist had to struggle to come up with something to say.

I thought this exact same thing. Give more people the opportunity to be heard... thought it was weird that they allowed repeats. I swear in the past they would skip over those. Everyone in the room recognized that the persons name was already called, just say "That's a repeat, next track."

[Paulie]

Kudos to the team for printing badges with info on BOTH sides. I go to tons of events every year, curses to those that only print on one side... no matter what happens, they always flip over.

Suggestion: Make the attendee's first name ALL CAPS and larger print to help everyone out. LIke, IMPACT BOLD...