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KeirRoyale Special user Denver, CO 550 Posts |
I am interested in talking to anyone who has been to or is interested in going to a National Assoc. Campus Activities Convention. NACA.org
Anyone who has experience dealing with them or that might possibly be interested in partnering by sharing booth space with me. Please feel free to post any thoughts you might have or PM me or contact me through my site lifeismagical.com if you are interested in partnering. Thanks, Keir
DVD author of "The Master Prediction System Done Solo"
http://www.DenverMotivationalSpeaker.com http://www.DenverKidMagic.com http://www.LifeIsMagical.com http://www.WichitaComedyMagician.com |
scottdavismagic New user Little Rock, Ar 18 Posts |
Keir,
NACA conferences appear to be where it's at when it comes to booking gigs for the college market. The key is not so much having a booth as it is being able to showcase your act in their shows. Acts that showcase at NACA leave the conference with a calendar full of bookings. However, acts that just have a booth presence and don't showcase are just spinnin' their wheels. Booth space at NACA isn't cheap either. And, if you aren't showcasing- that money would be better spent doing direct mail to the colleges in your area. Just my two cents worth, Scott |
Decomposed Eternal Order High Desert 12059 Posts |
So one needs not be a member of NACA to book college gigs? Ive been trying to get into this market for a long while.
Does anyone know a title of the correct person to contact on campus (direct mailings)? I am looking so far at the student activities directors. Thanks Candini
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afun14u Loyal user Tennessee 249 Posts |
NACA.org have fun and be ready because if they like you you'll fly...if not be ready to sit. When you do go to a convention whether it be National or Regional (SHOWCASE) or at least try to. The buyers literally think if your not good enough to showcase your not good enough for their school. Unless that is, if you are already established. Which ever "HAVE FUN" you'll Love it
Robert
Empowering Kingdom Growth through Evangelistic Entertainment!
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Michael Messing Inner circle Knoxville, TN 1817 Posts |
The NACA conventions are extremely competitive. As Robert pointed out, if you get a showcase and you do well, you will be booked solid for months and possibly more than a year. (I disagree with Robert about the buyers thinking you're good if you just get a showcase. I've seen acts that were just average and they didn't pick up much business. The very good to great acts did well. The really unique and entertaining had people lining up to book them!)
If you don't get selected for a showcase, and it is very difficult to get selected, it will be hard to get a lot of interest if you are an unknown. They'll come by your booth as it is requested that they check out all the booths but there is a lot of competition in all categories of entertainment. You'll want to set up a really professional booth. It's also quite an expensive proposition. The booths are expensive, membership is NACA is not cheap and the showcase costs are high. That said, NACA conventions are the primary way to get into the college market. I recommend that you don't try to showcase at your first convention. You'll want to see what it's like and get a feel for what you need to do in a showcase performance. If you do a showcase the first time you attend and it doesn't go well, they won't likely give you another chance in the future. It is less costly to attend a regional convention than a national but they really give you an idea of what the national is all about. Plus, you usually won't get a national showcase if you've never done a regional showcase. You need to make sure you have an act that college students will want to see. I used to be an entertainment agent and we had a solo singer that worked the college market. We attended several regional and a national NACA convention. When I was going to those conventions, magic was hard to sell. There were a handful of very well known college acts (most notably The Spencers) that got most of the bookings. Psychic entertainers and mentalists were a lot more popular. I'm not trying to dissuade you from getting into the college market and NACA. On the contrary, I just want to let you know some of the things I found when I was involved with it. If you are willing to invest pretty well upfront, take the time to understand the market and prepare your act properly, it is a very lucrative market. Good luck. Michael |
RobertBloor Inner circle The Socialist Republic of the USA. 1051 Posts |
Just my two cents here...
A) Regarding who to mail to...If you're going to do a generic mailer, "Student Activities Board" or "Student Activities Director" might work. One of the benefits of being a NACA member is getting an updated list of who's who on campuses. (WIth mailing labels already printed if you so desire) B) If you want to break the college market without fighting the political mad house that is NACA, check out APCA. (Assoc. to Promote Campus Activities) http://www.apca.com They're a smaller upstart organization, but you're guaranteed (at least in the past you were) a showcase time. That's how I'd go if I was going to the college market. Robert
"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,"
-The Declaration of Independence |
Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Ok some NACA info.
It is quite expensive. Just to join maybe not so but bookings are limited without participation even with the list. It amounts to sending things to the right people, but they are getting things from people they recognise, so where does that put you? NACA has been around for a LONG time. They have their own old boys club. Many of the showcases go to them. Fact of life no matter what anyone tells you. I am not saying it is good or bad, it just is. You can indeed BUY their mailing list. Just ask them. They don't advertise the fact but you can. If you don't go to the conventions, it is tough to get to know the colleges. But the conventions are an investment in time and money. Sepporate from the list you get when you just join. They have about 13 conventions a year. Your best to target one spacific market. Really without too much detail the best way to do NACA is as an investment. Use it to meet an agent who has these relationships already. THAT is what is most valuable about it if you ask me. What you get is also a members list from them. THAT is who you target and try to get to know. Find out who books near your territory and if they use your talent and so on. Then while your trying to get your money back by doing shows simply target market yourself to the agents. Hopefully they will get to know who you are also. Then when they are using you they pay all those nasty fees, and contact the people for you. It is WELL WORTH THE MONEY you pay them to do so. Just a goofy idea that really works. Hope this helps
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
Decomposed Eternal Order High Desert 12059 Posts |
WOW, thanks all for your help! I wouldn't try to even tap the college market if I did regular magic but mostly I perform mentalism with a touch of bizarre.
Very interesting subject here. I have to give this all some thought, a bit overwelming for someone who knew nothing about this market. Candini
ClICK HERE for HOW TO MAKE TRANSITION FROM MAGICIAN TO MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER WORLD NEW BOOK!
Click here for NEW PROMO TRAILER! 90 seconds of pure laughs without a standing ovation! Click here for Magicians Austin Mentalist Performance https://www.facebook.com/AustinMagicians https://www.speakermatch.com/profile/gianicano/ Magicians Company Entertainers in Dallas, TX https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8sHW_zVuSc https://about.me/motivationalpublicspeaker |
Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Mentalism is not the act for colleges any more. Craig Kargis, Christopher Carter, (without a doubt the best mentalist in my mind and one of a coupe I would actually pay to see) and many others have really developed a strangle hold on the market.
Craig has won capus entertainer of the year a lot. Or at least he had I see no reason why he should be any worse than he was. To jump in with little or no budget and compete with heavy weights, well is not really cheap. A great way to start is to also find an agent representing a huge name and see if you can cover the scraps at first. This may seem wrong, but they get so many requests if you have a quality act, it will result in a huge amount of work. Being a team player impresses the heck out of agents.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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