KIDabra Spring 2012 E-Newsletter

In this issue:
Greetings and News
KIDabra Journal News: A Very Cool and Major Upgrade
August Conference News
A Word From Our Sponsors
Conference Hotel Info
Registration and Membership Details

Spring Greetings!
Much news to report and major projects happening around the KIDabra World, let's get right to the news:>)

The KIDabra Journal: A Very Cool Upgrade
The Journal goes to an On-line Digital Publication! We’ve been searching for the technology that would do everything we need, and we’ve found it!

We can now go full color with your Journal and deliver it around the world same day when the issues are ready -- and go green at the same time. The Bruce Bray issue will be the first sent this way. Because it’s a special issue, it has also been printed in the paper edition as well (now ready to mail). Thereafter, the Journal will be delivered to you via e-mail online. We plan to continue printing the annual KIDabra Yearbook in a paper edition for you to receive at the conference.

This is a wonderful solution, as we were at a crossroads and did not want to drastically raise your membership dues to cover costs. This system will allow us to catch up the issues quickly and stay on track.

As we experiment and learn everything we can do with all the new bells and whistles of this online edition, we’re excited about bringing you a multimedia experience in the future, going hog wild with color, and adding video. One of the coolest features is that in the columns and ads, URLs will be active hyperlinks, giving you easy access.

One thing we’re still working on is delivery to iPads. All of this technology is new and developing fast. The iPad delivery is still a bit pricey. However, we see that becoming a possibility toward the end of 2012 or the first of next year. (If you are a programmer and know how to handle this part of the puzzle inexpensively, please let us know.)

Watch your e mail inbox for the on- line delivery this weekend of the KIDabra Journal from a service called Yudu.

And Yet Another Major Upgrade Coming! Improved Free Member Websites
Thanks to our webmaster and guru Dennis Michael, The New and Improved Free Website Page is being readied for you and here's the great part:
You as a KIDabra Member can edit, and constantly update your web page, a major upgrade over the current site. You can create several pages for your website, and upload up-to 10 pictures. All free to current members in good standing. (There are some neat extra charge options, but only if needed and you choose to activate them, otherwise the site remains completely free.) A working template is completed and now being tested along with a number of choices for webpages to meet your needs for Daycare Shows, Birthday Party Shows, Balloons, Clowns, Library Shows, School Shows and much more. More info coming on this soon, as we announce the rollout. Stay tuned!!!!!!

2012 KIDabra Conference August 14 - 18, 2012
This years Conference dates are August 14-18 and we go back to our classic Tuesday Evening and Wednesday day start with Biz Builders and the Auction Wednesday night, finishing up with the Gala Show on Saturday night.

The Conference Schedule is posted and being continuously updated along with the kidabra.org website. Plus you'll see new video posted throughout as well. Thanks to Dennis Michael for the hard work keeping us humming along on the web. For the first time I'm able to go on and update the schedule directly, thanks to Den's genius. When you click on the schedule it takes you to a new KIDabra site, the rest of which is under construction, after visiting the schedule, just click Back to Kidabra.org to return to the primary site.

By the way in between Newsletters and Journals and along with kidabra.org, get KIDabra news on the KIDabra International Members and Friends Facebook Group Page!

Visits on the Road

The KIDabra Chapter 1, One Day Conference in February was wonderful with over 100 folks in attendance in Cherry Hill, NJ (Right outside of Philly). It was so much fun visiting with old friends, and meeting new KI members. Duane Laflin, Ken Scott, and Steve Petra lectures were all big hits! The Evening show was a delight and my thanks to Den and all of Chapter 1 for the hospitality. I even enjoyed the welcoming snow storm, and rooming with Ken Scott was a blast!

Two weekends later found me in Williamsburg, VA as a guest of Steve Kissell at his long running Circus Magic Convention. It's always fun rooming with KI member Laverne Siebert there. I loved talking to folks at the KIDabra booth and especially enjoyed chatting with my next door booth neighbor the legendary Leon "Buttons" McBride! Thanks, Steve!

Enjoy A Short Interview with Duane Laflin about his Latest Project.
KIDabra Live! Chats With Duane Laflin

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Renewing Your KI Membership
Thank you for renewing your membership! Membership dues make the design and publication of the terrific KIDabra Journal possible. We have found that with tougher economic times folks let memberships lapse assuming that they don't make a difference. Believe me you do! You are a valued part of the KIDabra family, plus renewing helps in keeping the magazine on schedule. To renew or join now, go to kidabra.org and click on Join. Thanks so much and if you have already, double thanks!
We are often overwhelmed by the incredible group that is KIDabra International and it's accomplishments together and individually! We're so thankful that you're a part of this amazing group! Read ahead for more updates and breaking news throughout the newsletter.
Thanks,
Mark and Tami
The 21st KIDabra Conference 2012
In the Resort Town of Pigeon Forge, TN - Music Road Hotel Complex
August 14 - 18, 2012
(Optional Seminars starting the evening of August 14th)

The Year of Inspiration!


Featuring:
• Dave Andrews, England • Steve Petra, NY • Dal Sanders, TX • Jason Hudy, MI
• Terry Evanswood • Mike Bent, MA • Tom Dowling, OH • Dean Allan Carnegie, VA
• Ken Scott, GA • Dave Risley, NC • Steve Kissell, VA • Barry Mitchell, TN
• Tim Sonefelt, SC • Todd McKinney, TX • Bruce Amato, TN • Jim Kleefeld, OH
• Jim Austin, IN • Max Howard, GA • Chris Weed, AZ • Gary Shelton, NC
• The Amazing KIDabra Executive Staff, Plus more to come!

Steve Petra Let's Get Visual!
Plan now to be a part of something big, something inspirational, something magical: KIDabra Conference 2012, The 21st Gathering!
Wildly creative performer and Really Nice guy, Steve Petra is going to rock the house this August. With his first KIDabra Conference visit, be ready to be inspired! I along with everyone at the KIDabra Chapter 1 Conference this past February was blown away by Steve's thinking, which by his rapid fire of fantastic idea after idea, which are so practical!
About Steve: Steve Petra trained at the National Theatre of Puppet Arts and at Jim Henson Productions in Manhattan. Since 1990 he has been a professional puppeteer performing his own scripts, songs, and music. Before that time he worked as a professional musician. He now specializes in curriculum-based assembly programs for elementary schools.
He is so good, his ideas so fresh, and so applicable to you, I recommend beating a path, don't let anything stand in your way to experience the Visual Idea Feast offered up from Steve Petra!! Learn more about Steve at petrapuppets.com. A Don't Miss KIDabra Highlight Event!
KIDabra Live with Steve Petra

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From England The Charming and Talented Dave Andrews
Dave Andrews, The 2009 KI Peoples Choice Award Winner is coming to perform his Kindergarten show for you and chat a bit afterwards explaining the thinking behind his approach. Dave presents his Kindergarten Show before a Live Audience of Children! With his vent and magic he is a top pro and entertains his audiences through and through. If you were lucky enough to see Dave and Kimmo together on stage during the Gala show a couple of years ago bring down the house, it was stunning and hilarious! This is a Don't Miss Feature KIDabra Event!


Barry Mitchell with Special Guest Terry Evanswood - Make it Personal

Why do some choose a Corvette over a Ford? What secret do ad agencies use to motivate sales? What does this have to do with family entertainers? All those questions will be answered in Barry’s funny and always unforgettable way along with the help of his pal Terry.

Entertainers aim to create wonder, aim to amaze with magic, tickle the funny bone, and leave with a check. But there’s one personal secret Barry is ready to share that will leave your audiences wanting more and wanting to recommend you. Learn the secret only at Kidabra 2012! Watch the website and the KIDabra Group Facebook page for video promos coming from Barry and Terry! A KIDabra Highlight Event!

Reading Routines Made Easy!! with Bruce Amato And Jim Kleefeld

Join two top creative performers who are experts in Summer Reading, as they go through the creative process for you on creating and developing solid tricks and routines for the library.

You'll learn:
1. To Develop powerful reading routines with marketed magic effects.
2. To create solid fun-filled routines that are themed to the yearly summer reading program themes across the country.
3. Logical ways to get the creative process going in developing, building and making props that fit your personality and style.
4. Keeping a fine balance between the message and the fun in a library program!

Summer Reading Guru Jim Kleefeld and Library Expert Bruce Amato have put together A Don't Miss KIDabra Lecture Event!

Future Competition and Family Performer of the Year Plans
We're really excited about the events for this years conference, however the Competition will not be a part of the schedule this year. KIDabra attendees met some fantastic folks out of the two years that we held the contest: Jimmy Carlo, Dave Andrews, Tommy James, Dorian LaChance and many more wonderful people. The other side of the coin was that for an educational conference like ours where we foster a caring and fun learning environment, the contest was causing the contestants to miss the conference while there competing and they were often highly stressed! It was a great exercise for us to try, but we learned in the long run, it is not the direction we wanted to continue to take.

After taking the year off last year from the competition for 20th Anniversary Events and having extensive conversations with our Competition Chair Chris Weed, I made the decision to return that time at the conference to more of the high quality teaching seminars and hands on activities we're known for, with the goal always being to be the best we can be for our young and family audiences.

Preferred Seating for KIDabra Conference 2012! Limited to the first 50 and Available Now While They Last!
Want to be right up front, in the midst of the action with your special reserved seat throughout KIDabra conference? You can be! However to be a part of this group of only 50 reserved seats, you must register now, for when they're gone, the seats are still great, but further back. Register now at kidabra.org, click on Registration or call Tami at 336-492-7870.

Remembrances: FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS:
(Our thanks to Chapter 1 member Peter Cuddihy for these remembrances, the full versions will be published in the Journal.)

In 2011, Kidabra Chapter 1 lost two wonderful members whose significance to the group cannot be measured in words.

The Reverend William Thielking
William Thielking of Millville, New Jersey, known affectionately to those of us who came to know him through Kidabra as “Bill”, passed from this life at the age of 82 on November 26, 2011, after a short bout with pneumonia. Born and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Bill was bitten by the magic bug as a young boy when he began visiting magic shops in the Atlantic City area. He started doing tricks for his aunts who encouraged his talent, prompting him to develop each trick into a full-blown routine over the course of time.
After graduating from Asbury College (now Asbury University), Bill obtained a Masters of Divinity from Temple University and was ordained a united Methodist Minister. He spent 44 years actively serving in the Methodist Ministry in the Greater New Jersey United Methodist Conference until his retirement. His ministry was very special because he often interspersed magic in his sermons.
Bill also enjoyed performing magic shows at birthday parties, scout gatherings, mother-daughter banquets and numerous other occasions under the stage name, “Professor Whiffle Dust.” A self-professed amateur, he performed over an estimated 1000 magic shows to the delight of many over the years. His take on the 20th Century Silks in which Batman and Robin catch the Joker was a staple of his act. Bill's skill in performing magic lay in his wonderful ability to tell a story that would captivate his audience. Bill is survived by his loving wife of 50 years, Mezzie, his daughters, Holly Conoway and Kimberly Viden, five grandchildren and his brother Norman.

Jerry Remenicky, aka “Professor Rem”
Jerry Remenicky of Sewell, New Jersey, who will forever be known to all who knew him as “Professor Rem”, left us all to soon at the age of 71 on December 31, 2011, following complications from a massive stroke which he suffered four months earlier.
An award winning magician, Jerry was born on Houdini's birthday , March 24, 1940, in Buffalo, New York eleven minutes after his twin brother Jimmy arrived on the scene. Jerry and Jimmy both got their start in magic in the mid-50's when they visited the shop of Gene Gordon who befriended them and gave them their first exposure to the stage. As a young boy, Jerry was a member of I.B.M. Jr. Ring 12 in Buffalo. Both Jerry and his brother Jimmy chose the name “Professor Rem” as their stage names. Both would playfully argue with each other over who was the real “Professor Rem.” The brothers began performing together in the mid-'50s just after Jerry left the Maryknoll Seminary and began teaching Theology at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Jerry eventually moved his wife, Clare, and their five children to the South Jersey/Philadelphia area to teach Theology and World Religions at the prestigious Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken, New Jersey where he was revered by students, faculty and parents alike during his 21 year career there. While there, he started the Magic Club and coached the Forensics Team to several championships prior to his until his retirement in 1994 at which time he began his career as a full-time magician. In addition to being an outstanding magician, Jerry was an accomplished balloon artist. A multi-talented performer, he was a valued member of the choir at St. Pius X Parish in Cherry Hill, New Jersey for over three decades.
Jerry was awarded the prestigious Charles H. Hopkins Award by SAM Assembly 4 and was selected to be the very first Dean of Assembly 4 in 2009. His career as a professional magician placed him over the years at major corporate events, trade shows, grand-openings, community days, retirement parties, township days, holiday parties, school events and private parties. He had a remarkable wit which made him the perfect M.C. for any occasion. As such, he was the natural choice to serve as M.C. of the one and only fundraiser held by Kidabra Chapter 1 since its inception. Jerry loved Kidabra and its focus on Children's Magic. Prior to his illness, he would rarely miss a meeting. He would routinely invite individuals who expressed a sincere interest in magic to attend a local IBM, SAM or Kidabra meeting and he had the uncanny knack of making new members feel welcome in each of the various magical fraternities. Without exaggeration, he was responsible for bringing more new members into the South Jersey/Philadelphia magical fraternities over the past thirty years than any other single individual. Jerry is survived by his wife Clare Remenicky and their children, Greg Remenicky, Kate Finn, Ilona Remenicky, Ben Remenicky, and Gus Remenicky, as well as his brother James Remenicky and his sister Susan Koch. Jerry was a charter member of Kidabra Chapter 1 and beloved by its members.

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor: Doug Scheer and Diversity Circus
2010 KIDabra conference attendees will remember Doug's performance of his amazing school show Diversity Circus. Now Doug is giving KIDabra members an exclusive offer on his new Diversity Circus DVD and book.

In the February 2011 issue of Genii Magazine, Danny Orleans had this to say about Diversity Circus:
"Get the DVD of the three-camera shoot of professional magician Doug Scheer’s 40-minute show, Diversity Circus. It teaches children about the power and importance of diversity and how understanding our differences can make each of us a better person. Accompanied by his wife, Heidi as Smudgy the Clown, as well as music, sound effects, magic illusions, oversize costumes, and lots of audience laughter, you’ll get to see the work, creativity and incredible originality of two working professionals. Their show incorporates character building as a theme with each trick, teaching children to be F.A.I.R. – an acronym Doug created for Fair, Aware, Include and Respect. Does it sound boring? Believe me, it’s not. When you see the attentiveness of the young audience’s faces as they hang on every word, you’ll know why Doug Scheer is the busiest school magician in Michigan. Another surprise is the way he’s adapted Jim Steinmeyer illusions into his show, not to mention the most fabulous school show backdrop you’ve ever seen. Along with the DVD of his show, you get a full-color, 60 plus page, comic book style, high-gloss printed book which helps students recount the show. It has built in follow-up activities for them in which they learn some magic and remember the F.A.I.R. points in the performance. I’ve performed over 2500 shows for school children. I’ve met dozens of school show magicians. But I never dreamed that incorporating character-building into a show could be done so wonderfully. The fact that Doug and Heidi are willing to share this with other working professionals amazes me more than any trick I reviewed last year. If you work for children or family audiences, or just want to see how one of the leading school show pros is staying busy, through this recession, contact Doug for the DVD, the book and the audio download of Diversity Circus."

KIDabra members get the book and DVD for $5 off with coupon code KID
$24.95, $5 off for KIDabra Members gets it to you for $19.95 plus shipping.
You can purchase from Doug at http://www.diversitycircus.com

The Music Road Hotel Complex hosts KIDabra Conference 2012
Great rooms, free parking, free wi-fi, on property water parks, pools indoor and outdoor, water slides, lazy river and more, coupled with an excellent free continental breakfast each morning make for a great whole family treat. A lot of folks say the Music Road is "like going to a retreat."
We'll be housed in both the Music Road Hotel and the Inn with the Conference Center between. The Inn is only a few steps further from the free standing Conference Center, the Hotel is best if you have special needs, also half of the rooms at the Hotel overlook the river. If the whole family is coming pick the Inn for the most water activities, although no matter which building you're in, you have full access.
The complex is located at Traffic light 1 in Pigeon Forge in a quiet cul de sac just off the main drag, turn at the Ruby Tuesday's Restaurant. Surrounding it for a mile in every direction are restaurants to please every taste and that huge Wal-Mart in Sevierville is only 4 or 5 minutes drive, not to mention every outlet store known to man. Call Music Road Toll Free at 866-615-6353 or 865-429-7700. and tell them you're with KIDabra. Every room night counts toward our reserved block and makes the conference possible. See more, just click on the Hotel/travel button at kidabra.org Take a moment and make your reservation today!
Don't forget you can read past newsletters at the website to gain the full story of KIDabra!
We can't wait to see you at KIDabra Conference!

Join KIDabra International Today
Primary Members receive a Membership Card, The KIDabra Journal, Free Member Websites, and more. Member dues are $65.00 and thereafter $57.00 on renewal.
Associate/Spouse (who assist or are married to a Primary Member) $35.00 and thereafter $25.00 on renewal.
Junior Member (10-18 years old who are the child of a Primary Member) $35.00 and thereafter $25.00 on renewal. If a youth is interested in joining and does not have a parent that is a KI member, we suggest joining at the Primary rate so they can receive the Journal and full benefits.
International Member (outside of U.S. and Canada) $95.00 and thereafter $85.00 on renewal. International Members receive a Membership Card, The KIDabra Journal, Free Member Websites, the KIDabra Discussion Forum, and more.

Register Today for KIDabra Conference 2012
Member Performer $199.95
Spouse $95.00
Child under 16 with full paying adult $75.00
New Member Performer/ includes Conference Registration and KI Membership $264.95 (US and Canada)
New Member International Performer $294.95/ includes Conference Registration and KI Membership
Optional KIDabra Biz Builders August 14h & 15th only $99.95

You can register by online, by phone or fax with Mastercard, Visa, and Discover and Paypal accepted. Phone (336) 492-7870 fax (336) 492-2199 Online at http://www.kidabra.org
(Credit Card Receipts read MSD Productions)

Check and Money Order to:
MSD Productions c/o KIDabra 2011 Conference
P.O. Box 1296
Mocksville, NC 27028

What if there was a place and a group of people that existed to meet the special needs of folks who perform for kids and families?
What if there was a place to motivate you, educate you and point you in the right direction?
What if there was a place that helped person after person build successful performance careers?
What if all of this really existed?
A place so good that your competitors won't tell you they're a member because they want to keep all the resources for themselves?
It does! It is KIDabra International!

KIDabra International
PO Box 1296
Mocksville, NC 27028
Phone 336-492-7870
Fax 336-492-2199
Email kidabraconf@aol.com

Is Doug Scheer going to be at Kidabra this year?

Doug is doing a theater show for the month for the month of Aug.