|
|
pearljamjeff Inner circle Ann Arbor 1247 Posts |
As a mind reader, I spend so much time in other people's brains, I sometimes forget to use my own. But when I do remember, sometimes I have pretty decent ideas!
Here's the scoop. Most of my best ideas happen on the toilet, from new song lyrics to new magic ideas to random pieces of wisdom. Well, it happened again tonight. I had to make this post quick before bed and before I forgot because I think it's kind of a really good idea, if I can be so modest. What sparked this idea was reminiscing about a magic conference I went to in the past, going to lunch or dinner at a random restaurant, meeting a few awesome fellow magi... and striking up a conversation. The Café is an online version of this, and maybe that's why I love it so much so far. But somehow, posting on forums with each other isn't quite as magical as a real-time discussion. So here's my idea. Let me know if you would be interested in participating: "A Mentalism Conference Call" 1. Figure out who is interested in participating. 2. Coordinate schedules for all participants to find the most agreeable evening and time. I email the participants the date and time. You email me back with your confirmation. I email the finalized date and time that agrees with the most amount of participants. 3. The call itself. Everyone calls in at the agreed upon time. 4. Everyone comes to the call with an original effect, or an original take on an effect that brings it into a new realm. Ideally, this would be something that you are still working on, in order to allow for brainstorming and ideas from others on the call. 5. I (the workhorse) take mad notes (stenographer style) on the call, quoting and crediting as we go... and also helping to facilitate the conversation. (I am used to this role from my days in the business world.) 6. I put together a PDF (or E-Book... but I am getting sick of that word... really sick of it) to send out to everyone involved with each effect that was brought to the table along with others suggestions for improvements. ...I'm not sure if I would want to charge for the final document, but I can assure you I will put a LOT of time into making it a useful and workable document, easy to read and understand, highly proofread, and as high quality as I can make it. If I did ask for slight compensation, it would be extremely modest... I'm thinking like five bucks? ...I'm not sure about offering the final product to the entire community or just to those that participated. This would be something we could discuss. The only other thing to consider is that I don't know if I could rent a toll-free call in line for the conference, so it would probably be long distance if on a land line... but from a cell phone, we could try to schedule when most people were on their free unlimited minutes time. Maybe this isn't as good of an idea as I think it is... You tell me! Rock, Jeff
Jeff Travilla - I own an advertising agency to help finance my magic addiction.
|
John Sergott New user Middletown PA 13 Posts |
Hello Jeff,
Even thought I just signed on today, it would seem I was meant to find you posting. (Call it a ESP sense??) Over the past 2 1/2 years, I have been involved with several friends working on 2 different PODCAST shows. We have used a program called SKYPE. As far as cost there is ZERO, so conferencing would not be a problem. Recently,(as in just a month ago) our one Podcast started serving up video as well as a recorded show. I would like to TALK rather than type about all this with you and anyone else interested in your project. Mindfully, John Sergott |
pearljamjeff Inner circle Ann Arbor 1247 Posts |
I just thought a telephone conference might be easier for those of us without webcams. Albeit, I don't know anything about Skype. Maybe you can conference on there without a webcam?
Side note: My heart is racing. I was just sitting here, wondering why the Café wasn't showing up when I tried to navigate to the site. It was for about a half hour that it wouldn't work for me. As my frustration grew stronger, suddenly an old small radio in the corner of the room came on and started blasting rock music. Then it went off. It went on and off two more times. I leaned over to look. It's not plugged in... I'm about to go see if it also runs on batteries, but this has made my afternoon rather an interesting one. Rock, Jeff
Jeff Travilla - I own an advertising agency to help finance my magic addiction.
|
numberjay Regular user 122 Posts |
Skype doesn't require a webcam, that I know.
Numberjay |
numberjay Regular user 122 Posts |
By the way, if it's through Skype, count me in...
Numberjay |
pearljamjeff Inner circle Ann Arbor 1247 Posts |
I had found a different website that set-up free conference call lines, but I will now look into Skype. If this is the preferred venue for everyone, awesome! I'm nothing if not flexible! Also, for those who are interested, please PM me with the best day and time (and your time-zone please). Keep the date within the range of this coming weekend through the following week. This should give enough people time to sign up, and then me time to schedule the most agreeable time for everyone.
Question for those who know the Skype thing... I was reading about it a bit, but still am confused... Can we include people in the conference call even if they don't have Skype software? The website makes it seem like we can just dial them in on their phone. Is this accurate? ROCK! Jeff
Jeff Travilla - I own an advertising agency to help finance my magic addiction.
|
ALEXANDRE Inner circle 3024 Posts |
I think it's a good idea and one where those who don't know any magicians or mentalists near them, or have no regular personal contact with same, would deeply appreciate. With the demise of the brick and mortar magic shop, most are doomed to hang out in internet forums, typing away their sanity.
I communicate regularly through Skype with friends across the pond while enjoying a cuppa. Sometimes this goes on for hours. It's priceless really. I like the idea of setting it up and striking a conversation, no plans, no themes, no obligations. I say this because if you "have to" bring an original effect, this might keep some away for various reasons, if a theme is established for that meeting, some might not be interested in that theme and not attend, etc, so maybe keeping it open, like, hey, we're meeting up tonight, come along and see what happens. This way it's always a surprise, always fresh, no one knows what the outcome will be, no one knows what others will bring or want to discuss and it keeps the whole thing mysterious and always worth attending.
HERE'S A SECRET ...
http://www.lybrary.com/mystic-alexandre-m-354.html |
pearljamjeff Inner circle Ann Arbor 1247 Posts |
Alexandre,
I think you are right... In order to allow anyone interested to participate, let's take that requirement out of the mix for the first one. I think, down the line, if this becomes a "regular" jam session, having a theme sometimes would help guide the conversation. For the first one, let's keep it open... introductions, ideas, presentation, character... all of it! I would still be more than willing to take extensive notes on the conference jam session and distribute to the participants if everyone thinks that would be a valuable contribution. Any other thoughts? PM me your availability! Rock, Jeff
Jeff Travilla - I own an advertising agency to help finance my magic addiction.
|
John Sergott New user Middletown PA 13 Posts |
Jeff I would be pleased to help you moderate this Conference call I have done this sort of work for my fellow podcast group. While I use SKYPE almost daily, I do pay $2.95 per month for UNLIMITED outgoing calls to anywhere in the US. If anyone installs SKYPE they can call other SKYPE users. All that is required is an unique name to go by, I am TotallyMental John on SKYPE.
I think evenings or weekends might be best to do the calls on. I strongly suggest if you do not use SKYPE now or plan to in the future, consider investing in a headset for your PC....so much time is wasted helping others set up. SKYPE offers a Echo/Sound Test service that is easy to use. Hope to hear from all of you soon, Mindfully, John Sergott aka TotallyMental John |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Penny for your thoughts » » New Idea - Would Anyone Be Interested? (0 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.02 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |