Magic Broadcast Radio LIVE Saturday (1-28-06)

[Spellbinder]

If you haven't visited magicbroadcast.com on a Saturday evening, you're missing out on one of the largest magic backroom discussions happening these days. Provide your own smoke and drinks if you wish, as you sit at your own computer, listen to the live broadcast and participate in the chat room talking with whoever drops by... magicians of all levels from beginner to pro, magic dealers, magic authors, magic inventors, and, of course, me!

Starting with the "Off The Shelf" book and e-book review program at 6:45 PM Pacific Time ( 9:45 Eastern Standard Time... and keep on calculating to find your time zone!) I will be in the chat room discussing magic in real time with anyone who wants to know what I know and when I knew it. I have a personal interest in this particular Saturday's review, because The Wizards' Journal will be reviewed, but afterwards there are all kinds of other shows and guests on the radio, and who knows who will turn up in the chat room.

One of my favorite things about the experience is that if you hear something being said on the radio and want to ask a question about it, you can type in your question in the chat room and it will be brought to the attention of the person on the radio, so you can almost immediately get an answer on the radio. It's almost like magic! Radio you can talk to and it talks back!

Hope to hear you (or read you) on Saturday! I'll be in the chat room until I fall asleep at the keyboard!

[mrgoat]

Why don't you podcast this?

Lots of people a) couldn't make that time b) are in a different time zone c) like listening to content when they want to - not when you want to broadcast it

Look at the success of Go Magic Go.

Is there a reason you don't offer it for download?

Best wishes

Damian

[Bob Gerdes]

I'll second that... podcast, please!

[Guest]

Hiya! I've asked about the podcast to the 'powers that be' and they say they are putting them into that format (don't know the real terms) as quick as they can. I will point out they are amazingly lazy and that is why it is taking them so long. They have done some great interviews with guys like Mike Close and Harry Anderson and others that are very interesting. I'll see if I can light a fire under 'em.
Steve V

[Spellbinder]

Yes, the podcast is a great idea, but it is listening after the fact and you can't get into a conversation or even ask a question of a tape recording. The main advantage of going to Magic Broadcast at the time of the actual live broadcast is so that you can enter the chat room and chat with Steve V and other magicians who also drop by. Each time I go there, more and more magicians are taking advantage of real time chat with one another and with the broadcasters in real time. But I agree, after it is all over, a podcast or some kind of recording would be the next best thing to those who can't make it to the live event.

I recently attended SCAM by sitting at home in New Jersey and listening to the live broadcast. I even got to ask some questions of the magicians being interviewed and it was kind of a thrill to participate in the next best thing to being there.

This is coming, folks! Ryan Pilling promises to broadcast from PCAM, adding photo links and maybe even video.

Here's an idea for you. Suppose you could attend a lecture at the next big magic convention. You would see and hear everything that the people attending the convention got to see and hear. You could ask the lecturer questions and he would answer you right back in real time. You would have to pay for the privilege; it wouldn't be free... but the people at the convention are paying, too. You would pay the same admission fee PLUS you might have to also buy the lecture notes in advance, or buy the lecturer's DVD. Would it be worth it? I know I'll never be able to attend PCAM in person, so it definitely would be worth it to me.

How about being able to see the live magic auction at the convention and be able to bid for items from your computer and pay via PayPal?

How about being able to travel from dealer to dealer, watch a magic demonstration and buy some magic via PayPal?

You could also get a prime seat in front of your computer at the big gala convention show.

Suppose you were a lecturer. You are giving a lecture to maybe 50 to 100 people who have paid to come and see your lecture at the convention. Suppose you could invite another couple of hundred to attend by computer and it only takes up one seat in the audience for a videographer who is sitting with a laptop connected to the Internet. Would it be worth it to sell that many more tickets, lecture notes and DVDs? It could be done.

Suppose you were a dealer. You get to show your wares to five or six hundred people over the course of the convention. Suppose you could demonstrate your wares and take real-time orders to a guy with a camcorder hooked up to a laptop who is representing another couple of hundred (maybe even a thousand) customers attending via the Internet? Would it be worth it? It could be done.

Suppose you were running the convention. You have room for 500 people in your big auditorium, but for the space of one more seat in the audience, you suddenly have room for another thousand or so paying customers. You could then sell video podcasts of the same show for years afterward, still making money from the same show. Would it be worth it? It could be done.

And it will be done, sooner or later. It's just a matter of who will do it first.