IBM Convention
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CraigMitchell
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IBM Convention
Any comments / reviews of the recent IBM convention ? What were the highlights ? What was novel ? What worked ... what didn't ?
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Michael Dustman
- Posts: 52
- Joined: May 19th, 2008, 3:41 pm
Re: IBM Convention
Highlights for me were the Wednesday Gala Show with Mike Close as the MC. He did a fantastic job of acting as a Master of Ceremonies without doing a single magic trick. Aldo Colombini and John Carney were also a great see that night.
I enjoyed the Carney lecture on Wednesday. I agreed with John and could sense a small bit of frustration on his part that an hour was not nearly enough time to have someone of his caliber lecture. He was basically able to lecture on 4 effects, but his presentation on people who are uncomfortable with thumbtips was hilarious.
Probably the biggest disappointment for me was the Friday Night Gold Medal Show. Fortunately, Rich Bloch was able to keep the evening on a high note, but I got the sense that even he wasn't aware of the parameters of which he was to act as Master of Ceremonies. He even made a comment while describing how the evening was going to go that he was just having it explained to him as well. His demonstration of teaching Nick Ruggerio how to do the Passe Passe bottles had everyone in stitches. But I will be curious to read feedback later on the winners of the Stage competition.
First place went to a Chineese artist and his ensemble. The ensemble did most of the effects and of the few he did, he screwed up 2 of them. I actually heard quite a bit of negative feedback in the lobby about his act during intermission when we were submitting our ballots for the Peoples Choice Award. One person said it best when he said...I wanted to be the Chineese magician. All he had to do was stand there while everyone else did the effects. And he took first place.
When announcing there would be no Gold Medal this year, they added on that the judges were very disappointed in the level of talent that this year brought and hoped they could turn that around next year. True or not true...it brought quite a lot of boos from the audience for saying it before announcing the winners and having them standing there on the stage. Maybe I am in the minority, but I strongly question the judging of this competition.
I enjoyed the Carney lecture on Wednesday. I agreed with John and could sense a small bit of frustration on his part that an hour was not nearly enough time to have someone of his caliber lecture. He was basically able to lecture on 4 effects, but his presentation on people who are uncomfortable with thumbtips was hilarious.
Probably the biggest disappointment for me was the Friday Night Gold Medal Show. Fortunately, Rich Bloch was able to keep the evening on a high note, but I got the sense that even he wasn't aware of the parameters of which he was to act as Master of Ceremonies. He even made a comment while describing how the evening was going to go that he was just having it explained to him as well. His demonstration of teaching Nick Ruggerio how to do the Passe Passe bottles had everyone in stitches. But I will be curious to read feedback later on the winners of the Stage competition.
First place went to a Chineese artist and his ensemble. The ensemble did most of the effects and of the few he did, he screwed up 2 of them. I actually heard quite a bit of negative feedback in the lobby about his act during intermission when we were submitting our ballots for the Peoples Choice Award. One person said it best when he said...I wanted to be the Chineese magician. All he had to do was stand there while everyone else did the effects. And he took first place.
When announcing there would be no Gold Medal this year, they added on that the judges were very disappointed in the level of talent that this year brought and hoped they could turn that around next year. True or not true...it brought quite a lot of boos from the audience for saying it before announcing the winners and having them standing there on the stage. Maybe I am in the minority, but I strongly question the judging of this competition.
Re: IBM Convention
thanks for the report on the convention. if you have a minute could you tell me who were the judges this year???
thanks,
-=tabman
thanks,
-=tabman
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Guest
Re: IBM Convention
To follow up on Michael's post: I strongly disagreed with the judging. There were acts in the preliminary contest that were outstanding, that didn't even make the finals. My son, Jayson Morrison, a junior....won the people's choice.
The comment was made stating: We are sorry that the talent is not quite up to par.....
Perhaps with comments like this, less and less adult contestants will attend. THis certainly did not leave a good taste in the junior's mouths...
The judges each have their own personal agenda....obviously NOT in line with what the audience thinks. My question is this WHO IS JUDGING THE JUDGES????
Gerry Morrison
www.jaysonmorrison.com
The comment was made stating: We are sorry that the talent is not quite up to par.....
Perhaps with comments like this, less and less adult contestants will attend. THis certainly did not leave a good taste in the junior's mouths...
The judges each have their own personal agenda....obviously NOT in line with what the audience thinks. My question is this WHO IS JUDGING THE JUDGES????
Gerry Morrison
www.jaysonmorrison.com
Re: IBM Convention
That is why we TOSSED out JUDGES at WMS and it is "People's Choice."
Stay tooned.
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Guest
Re: IBM Convention
Pete, that's a great move on the part of WMS....but the juniors don't have that luxury. They are still judged by judges (unless that has changed in the last year since Jayson placed 3rd :) I will say, the Dan Sperry won at WMS which was justice after he had be robbed of wins over and over and over. WMS judges for juniors have always taken their job seriously and tried to be the most impartial. Butit's tough....most everyone knows or works with everyone...can any of us be totally objective????? PEOPLE'S CHOICE ROCKS!!! ;)
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CraigMitchell
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Re: IBM Convention
People's choice is inherently flawed.
Fill the venue up with your admirers and you've got yourself a certain winner ...
One would have thought that after all these years a judging process was in place that would ultimately have ensured as fair a result as possible, eliminating personal bias of those involved.
Needless to say judging a contest is more often than not a thankless job.
Out of interest, how many judges were there for the junior contest at the recent WMS ?
Fill the venue up with your admirers and you've got yourself a certain winner ...
One would have thought that after all these years a judging process was in place that would ultimately have ensured as fair a result as possible, eliminating personal bias of those involved.
Needless to say judging a contest is more often than not a thankless job.
Out of interest, how many judges were there for the junior contest at the recent WMS ?
Re: IBM Convention
Having been a judge a number of times, I know the difficulty in getting A FULL CREW of COMPETANT JUDGES... at FISM it is very difficult too.
At and IBM it would be difficult to "get a bunch of friends" what with 1100 in the audience.
As far as the Jr. at WMS ? I don't know, maybe Glenn Farrington can answer you. Contact him at glenn@prettyamazing.com
At and IBM it would be difficult to "get a bunch of friends" what with 1100 in the audience.
As far as the Jr. at WMS ? I don't know, maybe Glenn Farrington can answer you. Contact him at glenn@prettyamazing.com
Stay tooned.
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Guest
Re: IBM Convention
Yep...it is almost impossible to fill the audience with friends....UNLESS you are in your home town (have seen that happen).
Lets face it, being a judge is the least desirable of all jobs. If you are an excellent judge, chances are that you know your stuff and work with some of these folks. If you really know magic and don't know any of the people competing, you need to get out more and perform in the magic community. It's just tough.
I agree, not much about contest can REALLY be fair. My feeling is that contests should be done away with, and simply take the best ten tapes or recs, and have a gala show. No competing...just magicians enjoying each other's craft. :D By the way, there were three judges at WMS. At IBM, 5 for the prelims, and 3 for the finals.
Lets face it, being a judge is the least desirable of all jobs. If you are an excellent judge, chances are that you know your stuff and work with some of these folks. If you really know magic and don't know any of the people competing, you need to get out more and perform in the magic community. It's just tough.
I agree, not much about contest can REALLY be fair. My feeling is that contests should be done away with, and simply take the best ten tapes or recs, and have a gala show. No competing...just magicians enjoying each other's craft. :D By the way, there were three judges at WMS. At IBM, 5 for the prelims, and 3 for the finals.