JPF Home Page Forums Southeast US Chapter Message Boards Tampa Chapter Message Board Tampa Visit January 29th

Hi Folks,

I just got off the phone with Michael Laskow, the CEO of TAXI and he's going to come to Tampa on Jan 29th to do a joint TAXI/JPFolks event. Usually he does a 2 hour free seminar on all the hot topics in the music industry, so what I'd like to do is combine our folks with his seminar and get a really huge turn out.

He did the same thing in Miami last Friday with only a couple days notice and had 200 people show up, so with several weeks notice, I am hoping we'll really have a great turn out and give him a great impression of our first joint effort.

He is going to set up and pay for the meeting room in Tampa. It will likely be near the airport since he is flying in Thursday and can't get there before 5pm. Please plan now to attend and help me figure out what type of turn out we can expect in Tampa? When he visited Indianapolis, we had about 200 people come out here as well. This is a free event, so let me know what you think we could expect both from our current members and also the Tampa music community itself.

This also leaves me with 2 options:

I could come on Wednesday and we could do a regular JPF Roadtrip Showcase for everyone to perform and then meet again Thursday night for the seminar/discussion. Or I could just come on Thursday night if you think having 2 events will water down the Thursday gathering. It's really important to me to have a good JPF turn out because we can explode the size of the Tampa Chapter by signing up all the non members (which should be well over 150..) to the local chapter and overnight you guys could rival the size of LA and the other largest chapters in the group.

If we DO have a showcase on Wednesday night, then I would need your help in setting up an appropriate venue, PA, etc.. And of course we want to get other JPF members who aren't chapter members to come out and perform and join the chapter as well.

I have a newsletter going out over the weekend (the last of the year) and if we can make a very quick decision, I will actually put a notice about this in that issue (and the next one in January as well).

So, what do you all say?

Brian

I can make both a Wed. and a Thurs. get-together. My feeling is that we should have a separate showcase and a separate TAXI talk. But mid-week events are a problem for many of our members, which is why we have our meetings on Sunday. Two midweeks may be a problem for many members.

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Stone Marmot
www.stonemarmot.com
Stone Marmot on SongRamp

Andy,

Right.. and since I convinced Laskow that he should come to Tampa, I want to be 100% sure we have a great turn out. He and I have been trying to hook up in a city somewhere for years and years so I want to make sure we make the most of it. I also think it could really expand the Tampa Chapter membership is a positive way and put all of you guys at the forefront of the local scene overnight.

More feedback anyone?

Brian

Brian,
Ideally I also would go for the seperate events. However!
Its hard enough getting folks out for one event during the week let alone two. If we do set them up seperately we take the chance of even the members choosing only coming to one or the other. The Tampa Chapter is on break and was told we would back up Jan or Feb so in a way this is a bonus meeting.
This is what I propose.
Combine the two keeping the schedual as follows:
Meeting Time: 7pm Sharp
Brief Introduction and talk till 7:30
(This allows for stragelers as well)
1 Hour Showcase 7:30-8:30
Taxi: 8:30-10:30
Or we could bump this same schedual up 1/2 hour and either extend the showcase 1/2 hour or end the evening at 10:00.
We will get the word out and set up the back line just let us know where and when and we'll get some info in print and distribute when appropriate.
Keep Strummin' Al Alvarez

I think two events would work best, however, will go with the flow. This is a great opportunity for our chapter. We should all give our best to bring in new people and get the ball rolling as we did when we started this chapter. Thanks for putting this together Brian.
Dan

I am willing to change anything that might be in my schedule on Wednesday and/or Thursday that would allow for JPF and Taxi. If our are is to become a force in music, we all must come out and support this kind of thing. I'll be there with bells on. The sooner we know when and where, the easier it is to say yes to this kind of event. I'm putting it into my scheduler for January 29th. I'll stay tuned for updates! Looking forward to seeing everyone I already know and meeting new people, too!

Musically yours,
Donna Klein


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http://donnaklein.com

I like the idea of a combinded meeting just due to the fact that I must make my visits to Tampa/St Pete count, but we must keep in mind the problem of where will we have it? I personaly like it when our meetings are held on a weekend because Lisa doesn't work the next day and I can stay out a little later.
If the memebers want to go the route of two meetings then I will go along with the majority and do my best to make both. So whatever comes to pass so be it!
James

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James
www.JRHawkins.com

What she said...and somebody let Cris up in Gainesville know, I think she'll be down for this too.
Peace, Doc
Happy Holidays



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She walked up to me so gracefully, took my crown of thorns, Come in she said I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Hello all,
I like Al's proposed schedule. Brian's priority is correct, that every effort should be made to have the largest turnout possible on Thursday. The showcasing that night should be more limited because its such a special event (one song each?) but it can still be accomodated. Everyone could be encouraged to select that one song that you want to be heard in "the big time" the most-- I know that's not an easy task. I favor one long evening rather than two consecutive shorter ones.

Thursday nights are a problem for me but could make something by 10:30 but then again I can't stay late because I have to drive to Sarasota (1 hour) and get up for work at 5:30AM.

Also trying to get everyone into a 1 night showcase with 1` song each doesn't allow for any margin of error in sound balance etc. And it doesn't give a good representation of an act.

I'm up for whatever...I look forward to seeing Brian again, and meeting Michael and hearing what he has to say...1 meeting, 2 meetings, whatever gets decided I support it.
Peace, Doc

And James, I've got a spare room if ya need it bro...
Peace, Doc

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She walked up to me so gracefully, took my crown of thorns, Come in she said I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Hi Guys,

The TAXI event will start at 7PM and go until 9-9:30. (Probably 9:30 since we'll both be there). They can't start it late because this will be advertised to a lot of non TAXI non JPF members and Michael has learned from doing many of these that starting later than 7 means many folks don't come out and leave early if they do. I believe the room will be located in a hotel near the Tampa airport most likely, though I don't think it is booked yet. Would that location cause a problem for anyone?

I've also learned from doing over 600 Roadtrip events that once you figure out how it works, you stick with your format. So if we have a JPF Roadtrip Showcase, we need to use the same format we've used the last 5 years. In the few times I have changed it up, it's been a failure or less successful than it should have been.

Roadtrip shows aren't intended to be concerts for individuals, it's a way to bring everyone in the community together in the room at one time and network and share some music, and give us a sampling for the archives (I always video) live performance photos for the site and a chance for everyone, regardless of their abilities, to get an equal slot as everyone else. We do sometimes give an extra song to Award Winners and full bands, but that depends on the time available.

Historically we average over 30 performers per show. Not sure how many we'll have in Tampa, but that alone keeps us from having more than 1 song per artist anyway.

So, if we do a show the same night as the TAXI event, it wouldn't be able to start until probably 10PM and might have to be in a different location. I think we should either schedule a regular JPF Roadtrip Showcase type event for Wednesday night OR Just have the TAXI/JPF meeting, take advantage of this unique circumstance where we can get a lot of new attention to the Local Chapter and we could possibly all go out for a late snack somewhere to continue to chat etc. like we did with some of the Tampa folks in Atlanta this summer.

The Super Bowl is on Sunday, or I would stay and do the event after the Gainesville conference. But that's one event I don't want to compete with.. it's a bad idea.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll leave it up to Al to decide which way he wants to go.

Brian

this is so cool!!! work it out al! i'm in!! (just renued my taxi membership) lol!!! barn.

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www.barkinbarney.com

The Gainesville chapter members have expressed an interest in attending the event(s). I will bring as many of them as possible!

See you all in January.


cris

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Cris Williams
(352) 373-7288
www.criswilliams.com
criswilliamsmusic@hotmail.com

I'm starting to lean toward the one combined meeting.
Brian, Would Michael Laskow be attending the showcase, if we have one? If it is decided to not showcase can you anticipate when you might return for a road trip? The answers may help some members decide on the format.
I'm sure this chapter will support anything that's decided. Hey Al, anymore thoughts on the subject.
All the best
Dan

As much as Id like to host a roadtrip type showcase the main focus I think should be on the Taxi seminar this time around. We'll get Brian back out for a showcase as soon as his schedual permits and light him up.
As soon as we get the location details Ill get together with Brian, we'll set a promotional strategy for attendance and were off to the races.
Im ready to notify and invite on behalf of Taxi,... Southeast Music Aliance, Suncoast Blues Society, Nubzilla, NSAI, to name a few and all the local webs who support indie artists...Tampa Bay Entertainment Guide, Realitysnap, Springboard, etc.
Theres a fantastic amount of very influencial organizations and sites that support Tampa Bay Indiependent Music along with Just Plain Folks. This Taxi seminar is going to be a great way to interact and plant seeds for future networking.
Al

Brian,
I've extremely excited that y'all are planning to visit us here in Tampa. I'll be sure to put this on my schedule and email everyone that I know regarding this event. It should be a lot of fun. Additionally, I am also involved with Springboard Musicians' Association, based in Dunedin Florida and we are planning a tradeshow workshop for Saturday the 31st. Maybe if you guys are still in town, you could stop by and see us. I've included a link to our webpage for your reference. www.yourspringboard.org
Thanks for bringing another great event to Tampa.

Jeff O'Kelley
Springboard Musicians' Association
www.jeffokelley.com

Ok Ill try this again..
Realitysnap.com will definatly attend and better yet we will help promote the event.
I can and will inform the 1300+ folks on my elist as soon as things are set in stone.
I think the turnout should be good. however it is important to get this nailed down ASAP. 1 month is not very much time to promote.
If for some reason this does not happen this time around. start planning now for later next year and give it lots of promoting and it will be a great turnout for sure.

Ill keep an eye out here and Im sure Al will E-mail a press release once things are set.

Sorry I dont get here as much as I should but I belong to some 20 forums and they all want me activly posting. Dont have that type of time.

I generally need the info sent to me as I am very buisy promoting the Tampa music scene and Realitysnap.

Count me in. Count on my help promoting it and spreading the word.

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click here!!!

[This message has been edited by ken@realitysnap.com (edited 12-16-2003).]

Ken,
Knew we could count on your support as Realitysnap has been a great networking site for the local music scene. We'll get you the details as soon as we have them.
Keep Strummin' Al

Ok,
so maybe I'm a little dense or something, but...
reading through these posts, I get that it will be on 1/29... but I do not see a location.
I want to be there and being just after my birthday, I may even have the gas money,
Will someone please define " Somewhere near the airport"?????

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jak kelly
http://jakkelly.com
jak@jakkelly.com

Jack,
The details are being worked out.As soon as I know, Ya'll will know.
Al

Hi Folks,

I am working on getting the information on the location for the meeting from TAXI (it's not yet set, and we need your help with more info). I expect it to be near the airport (unless that would be illogical for some reason) most likely in a large hotel meeting room/hall. I really need your help in coming up with an estimate of how many people you think our local chapter itself (aside from ANYONE TAXI brings in) will bring to the meeting. This would include not only the current active chapter member who will attend, but also all the other folks that Al plans to invite. If we could get a conservative estimate, I will share that with the folks at TAXI so they can reserve the proper size room/chairs etc.

Thanks for your help with this.

Brian

[This message has been edited by Brian Austin Whitney (edited 12-18-2003).]

Brian,
I have e-mailed the Tampa Bay Chapter again asking for participation on this topic. I guess everyone is out Christmas shopping. I would expect a conservative guesstimate for attendance from the chapter would be 40 plus another 80 or so from other local organizations. The on line local music magazines are strong in Tampa Bay and I would expect they could draw real well also, say another 100. Depending on what Michael usally draws for this type of event Id say a 300 seat room that can open to 400 if need be would be appropriate. And yes somewhere near the Airport is a good location. If ya'll need me to check out a couple of near by Hotels let me know ASAP as my schedual is very tight right now. Im glad to do what I can though!
Keep Strummin' Al Alvarez
Al

While we are waiting for the final details on locations, I think we should start discussing how we can best utilize the opportunity to expand the Tampa Chapter.

If we have some of the chapter members perhaps staff a table in the room with info for folks on the chapter/organization, should we have a sign up list and just get email addresses, or something that goes farther? Also, what points would you like to get across about the local group, your goals for the long term chapter etc.. Remember, if we play the cards right, you could pick up 100 or more new members in one fell swoop.. so how can you immediately best serve these folks to keep them interested and get them involved.. this is truly a unique oppportunity for the Tampa Chapter and it might set a process/standard for the other chapters if we can do something similar with TAXI in other cities.

Brian

Brian,
In your original post you said that Michael Laskow was acquiring and paying for the room and from prior experience knows he has to kick off the event right at 7pm. My question is where do we fit in? Are we co-sponsoring the Taxi seminar, which would be a major feather in the chapter cap. Do we get the first 15 minutes to present JPF and the local chapter and introduce Michael? When we start to promote this event these details will help us in knowing what latitude we have.
Al

Hello friends...what a great opportunity this meeting...we are for the combinded doe because of work, Jerry can take one day off in advance for the meeting but not two and even more because is mid-week....we are in it for at least one...but if combinded the better...love

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And..."Don't give up, give Love"..

Briggitte...JBLOVE
JBLOVE at IUMA
JBLOVE at Mp3.com
JBLOVE at Soundclick
JBLOVE at Songramp

[This message has been edited by Briggitta (edited 01-01-2004).]

[This message has been edited by Briggitta (edited 01-01-2004).]

Have we heard any more on this? I've got students on Thursdays (into the evening some weeks) and would like to reschedule them as soon as possible so I can attend. I'd just take the time off, but I need the money.

Donna

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http://donnaklein.com

Donna,
I talked with Brian last week and he said that we're still on but still no word on the location. He was going to try to contact Michael from Taxi today for a follow up. As soon as I know ya'll will know I promise.

Al

Hi Folks,

The venue/location is set. The Airport Sheraton in Tampa. The time frame is 7pm-10pm. I spoke with Michael and they still need to sign the contract with the Sheraton, so we can't publish this in a paper, but once the contracts are signed we're good to go. I also spoke with him about Al and the Tampa Staff acting as hosts/introducing us at the start and he's fine with that. We'll need to talk about the points we want to make in the intro about the local chapter and also the process we want to use to sign the folks up at the meeting. Based on comments from Al, I promised Michael we'd produce 80-120 people from our end (40 chapter members and another 80 from the other local groups based on what Al estimated). So he is going to plan in 250 people there.. lets make sure we hold up our end of the bargain.

We also have coordinator volunteers in several other Florida cities. Perhaps we should try to get them involved as well so we can pull the entire state together. We still need coordinators in Jacksonville, Tallahassee, and several other cities in Florida.. maybe we can use this event as a launching point to really expand and create a healthy network for all our Florida members.

Brian

Great news Brian. Ill start passing this along and as soon as the venue is secure. Ill talk with the coordinators from other local organizations as well as the other Florida Coordinators. The only problem I foresee is the weather. Its getting bad here, down in the low 70s today. Bring your sunblock!
Keep Strummin' Al

North 2 South will be in the house!
Count Frank and I in....

See you there!
Cindy

I'll be there!
James

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James
www.JRHawkins.com

This works for me. Let me know how I can help...

Donna

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http://donnaklein.com

Count me in.

Richard will be there.
RLBerry

Yes Al we'll be there...just a question...I read that everything starts at 7pm does that include the JPF meeting also with the showcase that we always have or is just the Taxi meeting...how is it going to be now that all is conbined?..thanks....

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And..."Don't give up, give Love"..:)

Briggitte...JBLOVE
JBLOVE at IUMA
JBLOVE at Soundclick
JBLOVE at Songramp

See y'all there, and as soon as it's confirmed let me know and I'll pass it on to the Suncoast Blues Society folks.
Peace, Doc

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She walked up to me so gracefully, took my crown of thorns, Come in she said I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Sorry. Can't make that time frame. Thursday is bad but could have made it after 10:30. Next time.

Thanks for all the responses, we're looking forward to hear from alot more folks so please pass the word. This is going to be a Seminar all about "Taxi" paid for by "Taxi"
as a courtesy to present all the information many of us have wanted to know first hand by the president of "Taxi" Michael Laskow. In the previous posts we discussed having a combined JPF meeting/showcase and Taxi seminar but its just not time efficient. This seminar however should not be missed by any serious songwriter/musician.Please help pass the word. Do your homework. If your not familiar with the many advantages of being a "Taxi" member please visit thier site and get aquainted.You can link to "Taxi from our home page right here on this site.
We will pick up with a KILLER February Tampa Bay Chapter meeting to be announced very soon, Complete with guest speaker and full showcase.
Keep Strummin, Al

I'll be there.

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Stone Marmot
www.stonemarmot.com
Stone Marmot on Soundclick

Hi Folks,

Just to be clear, this is not simply a TAXI info seminar. In fact, though he answers questions and gives a tiny info spiel for a few minutes about TAXI, it's really about success in the music industry and honest answers to any questions you have on nearly any topic (and he'll tell you he doesn't know if he doesn't.. but between the two of us, we probably won't get stumped often). We haven't discussed how to blend both of our normal discussions into 1, but we've both been doing this a while and I think it's going to be fun. So, though he'll certainly answer questions you have about TAXI, it's NOT a TAXI advertisement at all.. it's just a really cool info filled seminar that's he's done all around the US.

Brian

Well, there you go. Thanks Brian.
Al

Hi Folks,

It's locked in. 4400 W. Cyprus, Tampa Florida, the Sheraton Suites, Tampa Airport. It will start at 7pm. Though it can go for several hours, please don't publish the 10PM stop time. We could finish earlier or later and we don't want to make anyone think it's going to last too long or too short or have them think they can show up 2/3rds of the way into it. So just post/publish that it starts at 7PM.

I spoke with Michael about timing. He is going to give us and folks in the Tampa community the first hour and then he's going to do his spiel starting around 8pm (give or take depending on what we plan to do).

What I would like to do is to get all the folks from ALL the other organizations in town involved. Lets find out who they are, what they do, and depending on the final number, lets get them involved, introduce them etc.. this is a perfect chance for us to truly pull the entire TAMPA scene together under one roof. The fact that it's not a showcase is actually a benefit in my opinion because everyone can focus on 2 things: Networking and Education. We'll provide the networking (along with the folks that TAXI brings in) and Laskow during his segment can focus on the educational stuff.

So, in the next few days, I'd like to get a list of the organizations/groups/entities/sites involved in the Tampa (and surrounding areas) music scenes. We could even include media folks that support music, educators in the area, venues that support live artists etc.. Lets get everyone there in the room together. If we can work through logistics, we might even be able to do something as cool as sign up and take a photo of every attendee with their name and contact so we could post it on the site (though that's a lot of work.. it would be amazing to pull off).

If we had those sticker/name tags and some sharpies available, everyone could have names on. It would have to be 100% voluntary of course (some people simply hate that stuff).

We should start getting an idea of which chapter members will be there and which might want to have a role in making all this work. So hopefully Al is getting some RSVP's from the locals. (Only a couple have posted here).

I will send out a notice in the newsletter about the meeting as well and ask folks to contact Al directly as well. If we do this all right, we might overflow the room, so having all the Chapter members on an RSVP ahead of time might assure them of a seat.

I'd also like to get more suggestions from all of you? Because we might have a large number of folks there and not all day for the meeting, anything we do (as far as sign ups) will be tight time wise and we don't want to disrupt the meeting. It might even be an idea to put the tables for sign ups out in the hall so folks could sign up (and if we attempt the picture thing, get their picture taken out in the hall) all during the meeting and not disrupt anyone. I have a good digital cam, but if we are taking tons of peoples pics, we might need several teams to do it accurately (i.e. get the correct name and contact info etc..). Having each person with name tags would help verify the right name is with the right face. Again, this might be too much to do, but imagine if we pulled it off and the next week we had everyone's faces and names on the site as a collective group for the Tampa area. It would be an awesome networking coup!

So, let's hear from you all!

Brian

Pretty quiet around here.. hopefully it's just the quiet before the big fun.

Brian

Yep Brian, I think that's what it is. Al and I have been in touch with the Suncoast Blues Society and the Southeast Music Alliance, as well as hitting the local promotional sites with the press release. I believe we're gonna have a very nice turnout.
Peace, Doc

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She walked up to me so gracefully, took my crown of thorns, Come in she said I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Friends of Florida Folk is another organization. They have a website http://foff.org. My husband and I sponser the FolkMe list which has a lot of FOFF member participation. I'll post the info there. Can't say what their level of interest is going to be, though.

Donna

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http://donnaklein.com

Thanks Donna,
And everyone who spreads the word. Doc is being instumental in helping in an administrative capacity to spread the word of this event.
You host the most interactive and impressive shows Ive seen in a long time. I look forward to seeing more JPF members at this next one. We have sent out a copy of the Press Release to many organizations.
In my personal opinion there should be no question about the level of interest as this is a free seminar and it is "Billing" two industry leaders who work wholeheartedly for the Indie Artist.
We have sent a Press Release to Friends of Florida Folk as well as NSAI, Southeast Music Alliance,Suncoast Blues Society, Every News Publication, TV Station, Radio Station and everyone in between. What blows me away is that out of the 80 plus JPF members I have sent the info to only about 10 have responded thus far. I guess this is where we see whos on the roster for 2004. We're moving forward, who's with us?
Knock...Knock...That's Opportunity! Al

Come on in...

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She walked up to me so gracefully, took my crown of thorns, Come in she said I'll give ya shelter from the storm

Al, I think I responded and offered to man the JPF table. I will have at least two new people coming to the TAXI event.
Come on everyone.
Dan