Curtains Up!

Corporate event planners have been busy hiring entertainment on Gig Salad. Holiday party entertainment inquiries have been rolling in as event planners seek talent and services to make their events shine. If you haven’t booked entertainment and event-related services yet, the clock’s a-tickin’… here are some Christmas Party ideas to get the ball rolling.

The new Gig Salad was launched today! 

Here are the top reasons we redesigned, retooled and remastered: 

1. Ease of navigation: with 800+ categories, the new design makes it much easier for event planners to find and contact Gig Salad members, with the big search bar and simplified navigational approach.

2. Open spaces: the old Gig Salad’s text was getting smaller and smaller as we were forced to jam info into small spaces. The new one is open, cleaner and better. Breathe.

3. Integration capabilities with future features: The new Gig Salad allows for integration with new features and elements we’re currently working on. Stay tuned for that.

4. A bigger, better PromoKit: Gig Salad member PromoKits are no longer stuffed into a space, but take up the full width of our website. Photo galleries have been retooled, and audio/video files are more visible now. Since most of our members utilize YouTube and other services for videos, we made those more visible too, right on the front page of the PromoKit.

5. More useful “national ads”: Since we don’t allow members to purchase top placement either through a contrived ratings system or through buying top position, we have offered “also travels to” ads in those right columns for a good while now, but with the redesign they are more useful and visible.

6. Good design makes people happy. (which doesn’t explain why our blog still looks like this, but that’s coming soon too)

Peace, love and gigs!

Here’s a teaser excerpt from CBS’s The Price is Right show which aired 10/29/09. And the classical ensemble Sonication did an awesome job on the show!

Our first Price is Right sponsorship aired yesterday and featured a Mariachi Band.

Gig Salad member Rachel Philips has a cause on her heart, and it’s to bring the gift of music to orphans in Kenya. Here’s what she’s up to, and how you can help her achieve her dream:

Music Crossing Borders is a New York City based world music ensemble dedicated to the education of students of all ages. Through performance and interaction, we introduce our audience to musical genres from all across the globe. Music blurs the boundaries between race, ethnicity and culture. It unites us as a human race, based not on what we look like or where we live, but by its indescribable ability to move us beyond words. For these reasons, it is more important now than ever to bring music to the community at large!

Music Crossing Borders provides 45 minutes of high energy, interactive assemblies designed to keep students engaged and excited, while exposing them to musical genres across the globe. Clinics are available for all grade levels–kindergarten to university–as well as synagogues, churches, other religious organizations and community organizations all over the world.

Flying Kites Global: Bringing Music to Kenyan Children

Music Crossing Borders has been invited to perform for children living in an orphanage in South Kinangop, Kenya as part of Flying Kites Global. The amount of money we need to raise to bring our six-member band over for this wonderful opportunity is a large number but big plans are in the works toward raising it! Please join us on our endeavor to bring music to the children of this Kenyan orphanage by learning more here.

By giving what you can and passing on this link, you’ll be helping us tremendously in this wonderful cause! Thank you for your support!

Best,
Rachel and Charlie
Music Crossing Borders
www.MusicCrossingBorders.com (coming soon!)

Also visit the Rachel Phillips Quintet on Gig Salad

It’s hard to believe that the holidays are just around the corner, but alas Christmas is a mere ten weeks away. Ten weeks… and you haven’t even made the trip to Sam’s Club for Halloween-size Tootsie Roll bags yet! Don’t panic, there’s still plenty of time to buy your Christmas presents and plan your company party. However, now is a great time to think through the service providers you’ll need and to start booking entertainment for your holiday party. Whatever you have in mind, Gig Salad can help you find killer entertainment and party services that will leave guests with holiday cheer this season.

Let us leave you with a little song to get your party-planning juices flowing. Yeah, it’s ok to go ahead and sing it to the tune of the last verse of 12 Days of Christmas.

On the twelfth day of Christmas Gig Salad gave to me. . .
12 Elvis Tributes
11 Planners planning
10 Hypnotists mesmerizing
9 Choirs singing
8 Bartenders tending
7 Servers a serving
6 Jazz Bands
5 Face Painters
4 Party Bands
3 Classical Pianists
2 Santa’s Elves
A Santa Claus sliding down a chimney

Search Gig Salad for the perfect Christmas Entertainment and top-notch event service providers!

This tip is a simple one, and I am reminded of it every time I perform–Gratitude.

In these tough economic times, I try to turn my mind to being grateful for what I am doing instead of getting nervous about how my calendar is filling up. And when a gig doesn’t seem to go just as planned, I don’t let it get to me. Instead, I think about how wonderful it is to be providing music for someone’s special day or special event. Truly, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing.

Performing is never boring. Every wedding, every gig is different. Especially when I’m playing for a wedding, I think about the great honor it is to provide music for a very special day in someone’s life. I love being part of the celebration!

Musicians whom I interviewed for my book, “The Musician’s Guide to Brides” had this to say about playing for weddings:

“…It’s my job, and I love it and love weddings. People are usually happy and a bit excited, the locations are usually beautiful, and music makes a meaningful contribution to the atmosphere of a significant event in people’s lives.”–Gwyneth Evans, Concert and Celtic Harpist

“Making a living playing music at wedding is to move, touch, and inspire others.”–Seán Cummings, eighth generation bagpiper

“You play for people who might not have heard live music in years. And when things go right (and they usually do) the room is filled with joyful tears and heartfelt laughter. What’s not to like?”–Tim Goldsmith, Red Davidson Trio

“I found it to be a very immediate gratification for music. People come up to you right away and thank you and compliment you vs. the symphony where the people are distant and clap politely for 15 seconds and leave!”–Van Vinikow, The Supreme Being of “The String Beings” string trio/quartet

“I love music!”–Destiny, Harpist from the Hood

What about you? What are you grateful for in your gigging experience? Does a feeling of contentment get you through the rough spots when a wedding gets crazy? Do share your thoughts by adding your comments below.

The attitude of gratitude and hundreds of other tips are included in my book “The Musician’s Guide to Brides” available wherever Hal Leonard Books are sold: music and bookstores, and through online retailers including sheetmusicplus.com, amazon.com, and of course, at my website at www.celticharpmusic.com.

I’m looking forward to reading your stories, comments, and feedback.

Anne

Anne Roos
Celtic Harp Music by Anne Roos

(And contact me at anne@celticharpmusic.com for personal consultation and mentoring—Make a living while gigging)

Anne’s Gig Salad PromoKit: gigsalad.com/anne

Fraudulent contracts are not only issued by those with poor grammar. This email was forwarded to us by Pat Hurley. He writes: “Thank you for warning other speakers. These guys were good. The best I had seen. They even called me and praised the Lord on the phone. They had an Asian accent which was strange with the name Williams Smith.”

Warning: Speak Scam on the loose!

July 13th, 2009
Wanted to pass out a warning to all speakers, sales trainers and coaches. Seems as if this scam is being proposed to women only right now but who knows guys…you maybe next. Trouble with this one is it really does seem legit. The websites are pretty good and the organization and Pastor will take your calls. To be fair, I don’t really think he is a Pastor, just pretending to be one. The email, you will receive is as follows:

*****************************

Dear Colleen Francis,
My Name is Pastor William Smith from the London Youth Community Here in London UK. We want you to be our guest speaker at this Year LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE which will take place here in UK. We are writing to invite and confirm your booking to be our Speaker at these year LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE.

The Venue as follows:
VENUE: Holy Apostles Church Hall,
47 Cumberland Street,
Pimlico London, SW1V 4LY
Website.www.londonyc.org
Website.www.londonyouthconference(Under Construction)
Email: info@londonyc.org or w.smith@londonyc.org Expected audience: 2500 people Duration of speech per speaker: 1 Hour Name of Church/Organization: LONDON YOUTH COMMUNITY Tel Phone: + 44 7077-087-949
Topic: LOVE AND RELATIONSHIP
Date:19th of August 2009-23rd of August 2009 Website:www.londonyc.org

We came across your profile on http:canadianspeakers.org and we say it’s up to standard and we will be very glad to have such an outstanding personality in our mist for these overwhelming gathering. With your multi talented speech more lives will come close to GOD, Sorry about our late invitation it is due to the fact that our Speaker had back out because of her sudden illness.

Arrangements to welcome you here will be discussed as soon as you honor our invitation. If you have any more publicity material, please do not hesitate to contact me. A formal Letter of invitation would be sent to you as soon as you honor our invitation. We are taking care of your traveling and Hotel Accommodation expenses including your Speaker fees.

Stay Blessed
Williams Smith
w.smith@londonyc.org
LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE

**************************************

Just delete it. If you do call they will ask for your credit card number to secure a UK visa (which if you are Canadian you don’t need for this type of work) and travel arrangements. They will send you a contract if you ask for one. It is signed, but its not on any letter head. At least 10 speakers I know in Canada have all received this and we have done a bunch of research and work sussing it out…so you don’t have to. Best to trust me, delete it an move on.

Time to put my energy to good use now….(but sad I don’t get to go to the UK)

Colleen

(thanks to Pat for forwarding and Colleen for exposing these criminals)

Nick Russo

Gig Salad member Nick Russo is an accomplished guitarist, appearing in the new Sam Mendes film “Away We Go” and playing on the King George soundtrack. He has been a sideman with Jimmy McGriff, Teddy Charles, Sonny Dallas, Victor Jones, Vince Giordano & The Night Hawks, Miles Griffith, David Pleasant, and others.

His new self-produced album “Ro” is an all original eclectic mix of straight-ahead, Indian Raga and modern jazz featuring “Nick Russo + 11″ with Mark Turner, Miles Griffith, Ari Hoenig, Pandit Samir Chatterjee, Art Hirahara, Willard Dyson, David Pleasant & the rest of Nick Russo +11. The album is receiving great reviews in All About Jazz, Jazz Improv magazine, Hot House, ejazz news, Boston Gazette, Jazz Times, Vintage Guitar, Cadence, Jazz-iz and other publications, and is achieving international radio play in Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Turkey, Canada, Chicago, Japan and New York.

Nick Russo has conducted lectures on banjo at Manhattanville College, has taught jazz performance classes at Aaron Copland School, college classes on guitar at Essex College and has been a jazz clinician at Queens College for 9 years conducting jazz workshops via the Jazz Project. Professor Russo is also on staff at Queens College, Great Neck Music Conservatory and an adjunct music professor at Essex College.

Nick is also the author of 2 books: “Metallica, Legendary Licks” Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 as well as the editor of the GRP arpeggio book and exercise book (published by Cherry Lane/Hal Leonard). His Off Broadway shows include A Jew Grows in Brooklyn, Take Me Along (Irish Rep) and The Big Apple Circus.

Nick’s Gig Salad PromoKit
Nick on MySpace

The world is full of excellent people who care more about their fellow man than about their own welfare. Unfortunately wherever there is good, there is also evil standing close-by devising ways to poison the good.

Now that we’ve covered Good vs. Evil 101, let’s discuss how it relates to the entertainment industry. If you have a website, or are listed on a directory like GigSalad.com, then you have undoubtedly received leads for gigs. A certain percentage of those leads will be non-serious, inquisitive people just poking around, some will be low-budget quickie gigs, and some might be high-end, high-dollar engagements that open the doors to greater things in your career. And at the bottom of the pile, straight from the seventh level of Hades, are outright fraudulent requests from slimy individuals who try to rob you of funds, identity or both.

Many posing as “event planners” will appear to solicit your services and will send you excessive “up front” payment in the form of money orders, cashiers’ checks or bank drafts, have you send them the difference, then cancel the payment they had originally sent you.

They will also try to collect sensitive information from you by telling you they will book your hotel or flight, then use it to do terrible things with your identity.

PLEASE BE AWARE OF ALL SUSPICIOUS REQUESTS, from requests originating from ANY SITE or email address. Never give sensitive information and do not send money back for any reason.

Here’s are a few examples of outright fraudulent requests made to members in the past. We were able to intercept it an alert our members, but here’s what they said:

From bob.max101@yahoo.com
(no phone number listed)
Goodday,
My name is Bob, i am preparing for my wedding which will come up on the 15th of august 2009.. by 10;00am here in 124th Avenue Miami, Florida 33183 , As i was searching for the best comedian to make the day a memorable day for me and my wife. I saw your advert and i am really impressed about your performance. and you are going to start by 12:00pm and end 2:00pm, How much will you collect if you are to entertain my guess with the travel expenses….i am having 50 guest for the day.
Hope to read back from you.

Greetings to you,I am Mr.Robbin Mart from Louisville, KY.I will like to have your service for my son’s Philip Wedding ceremony with her wife, named as Jessy.I found you at webpage saladgig.I am making an enquiry in regards to your services on my son’s Wedding,We are having the party at his wife residence,in which i will like to get your price for 4 hours of service and we are having 120-140 guests in which the party will start at 11:00am by recption which is about 5 mins drive to the party venue and ends the party till 7:00pm and i will like the best of your performance on that date.Also let me know if there will be any little charges for your flight fee.What time will you show up for my event? What type of equipment do you use? Are you licensed, registered and insured? Do you want me to book a near by hotel we have here for you?And are you coming alone to perform at the party?Also i will like to know if you are available for the date 5th or 6th of July 2006. I await the best of your message soonest.The party venue is @ 4410 Shepherdsville Rd Louisville, KY 40218 Get back to me asap. NOTICE: Email me Reply me to robbinmart3@yahoo.com Engr.Robbin S. Mart.

Here’s a response one of our members received when he followed up with a fraudulent lead:

Thanks for the mail,am very happy that you will perform on my wedding,the date of my wedding is on (9/20/2009).,i will give you the location as soon as the location is ready,i told you in my last mail that am not in state for now. Since your fee is $250 and i will add $150 as a compensation from me making $400, i want you to reserve the date for me.I have a client that will send you a cashier check or Money Order of $2500. I believe true transaction should be based on trust that is why i said he should send you the payment,as soon as you get the money you will deduct your fees and send the balance to my Wedding Cake Baker vendor via western union money transfer. So i will like you to get back to me with your Full Name and Full Address with your Cell And Home And office phone #,.Looking forward to read from you Soon
Thanks God Bless

Here are a few telltale signs of fraud:

1. Requests that you contact client by email only;
2. Requests made that do not apply to the services you offer;
3. Messages from event planners outside North America;
4. Emails with exceptionally poor grammar;
5. Event planner who requests to pay you up front and asks for a check from you for the difference;
6. Inquiries with invalid phone numer;
7. Leads you receive through your website or ours with missing data such as EVENT LOCATION. A simple test is to call the phone number they provide. If it’s a generic answering system, a disconnected number, a wrong number, or if there’s no number at all, be very cautious.

Nigeria has been notorious for sending stuff like this out, but it really comes from everywhere.

We have security measures in place on Gig Salad to screen fraud, but since even the slimiest of folks can be clever, we cannot cannot guarantee the validity of requests made through contacting you through the website. Please use caution when responding to inquiries through this site (or other websites) that appear to be suspicious.

PLEASE CONTACT US AT 1-417-889-9909 IF YOU ARE UNSURE ABOUT THE VALIDITY OF A REQUEST that has been made to you.

We’re here to help!

-Steve & Mark

Cathy and her mother met me at a February bridal fair. Cathy decided right then and there that she wanted to have me perform for her wedding. Her mother paid my deposit, and I thought, “These folks are getting everything in line.”

But an interesting thing can happen as the wedding day approaches: Nervousness and overwhelm can lead to disorganization.

About a month before the wedding day, I spoke with Cathy about her music selections. In that conversation, she frantically mentioned to me that her minister would be going on vacation on her wedding day and suddenly didn’t have anyone to perform the ceremony for her. (Argh! Without a celebrant, there is no wedding!). So, I recommended she speak with Reverend David Beronio, as I knew that he traveled to Genoa, Nevada to officiate ceremonies.

She booked Reverend Dave after about a week of deciding. He confirmed this fact with me by phone, telling me, “Yes, I’ll be doing Cathy’s 3:30 pm ceremony.” Uh oh. My contract said the ceremony started a half hour later at 4 pm. I phoned Cathy to find out that she had indeed changed the ceremony time to fit into her photographer’s tight schedule. Cathy forgot to tell me. (Argh! I would have shown up with no time to set up before the ceremony began!).

Finally, things seemed to be on the right track. Cathy sent me her music list in time. These were her music choices (for more information on these songs, check out my repertoire list:

Pre-Ceremony Seating Music: Celtic and Classical Selections
Mother’s Seating Music Plus Processional Music for 3 Bridesmaids and 2 Flower Girls: “Canon in D”
Bride’s Entrance: “Here Comes the Bride”
Music played softly behind Ceremony: “All the Way” (popularized by Frank Sinatra)
Recessional: “Angelical Hymn”
Post-Ceremony Music Played During Photo Session:
1. “Glory of Love”
2. “Moon River”
3. “Grow Old With Me”
4. “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”
5. “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”

I arrived at the wedding site on schedule, at the beautiful outside lawn at the Genoa Lakes Golf Club in Genoa, Nevada. I checked in with Marie, the wedding coordinator at the Golf Club, after I had set up. She was inside Antoci’s Restaurant, busy setting up for the reception and told me that no one had arrived yet.

So, I waited and waited outside. Reverend Dave arrived and reviewed his cues with me. Still no one appeared outside, and it was 3:15, my scheduled time to start playing for the seating of the guests. So, I followed Rev. Dave inside to find out when guests would be seated and whether the ceremony was on time. I discovered that the bride was still absent, so the guests were instructed to wait inside so that they would not have to wait in the hot sun.

Soon it was 3:30, then 3:45, and still no guests outside. Finally, the bride arrived at 4 pm, a full 30 minutes late, causing the following potential problems:

1. The minister had another wedding to perform elsewhere at 5 pm.
2. The photographer had another group to photograph at 5 pm.
3. I was booked to perform until 4:15, otherwise, I’d need to ask for overtime pay (I also travel with a “roadie” or an assistant, who was on the clock as well. I’d need to pay him for his overtime, too).

Reverend Dave got things underway quickly. The ceremony ended at 4:25 pm, and Marie quietly warned the bridal party that I might be owed overtime pay. I approached the bride and groom to congratulate them. Cathy apologized profusely for her tardiness and her mother asked me how much extra money she owed. I explained that she didn’t owe me anything, but if she wanted me to play during the photo session, as I was originally planning to do, she would need to pay me for overtime. Cathy and her mother decided to fore go that music due to the extra cost.

Unfortunately, the only music Cathy heard was her entrance music, the music during the ceremony, and the recessional tune.

Tips for Brides:

The number one way to insure that your wedding goes smoothly is to be on time—not just being on time for your arrival at your ceremony site, but also being on time with all your pre-wedding plans.

As you hire your wedding vendors, they will tell you when they will need specific information. Write down these due dates and tasks in a wedding calendar and refer to it on a regular basis as your wedding day approaches. Here are examples of information to include in your calendar:

1. Due dates and amounts of final payments for each of your wedding services.
2. Wedding license particulars
3. Final date to get your music list to your musicians (so they’ll have time to practice).
4. Date to have all RSVPs back from guests (so that you’ll have a final guest count)
5. Date to get your final guest count to the banquet manager (so that they will know how much food to prepare)

And there are more dates and tasks to include, depending upon what services you have hired for your wedding.

Keep a record of the email addresses and phone numbers for all your wedding vendors. This way, if you need to change your wedding date or time, or if your ceremony location has suddenly changed due to unexpected weather, you won’t leave anyone out. (I once performed at a wedding where the bride decided to have the ceremony time start a full hour earlier. She informed everyone of this fact except the minister! Needless to say, the ceremony did not start earlier, as she had planned).

On your wedding day, avoid being “fashionably late” to your ceremony. I am speaking about not planning to be on time. I’m not talking about true emergencies that are certainly unplanned, such as a flat tire on the way to the ceremony—These excuses are usually forgiven by guests and vendors.

A ceremony that begins late or runs much longer than you anticipated can have great repercussions for the rest of your wedding:

1. Your fiancé can have second thoughts about tying the knot and it’s not the best way to start your relationship with his family.
2. Guests may be unhappy that they were made to sit in the hot sun or freezing temperatures before the ceremony began.
3. Your wedding vendors may have other commitments after their contracted time to perform their services for you. Your celebrant, your musicians, your photographer, and your videographer may need to leave for another wedding and cannot work overtime for you.
4. If your wedding vendors can stay and do not have other commitments to be elsewhere, you will likely owe them overtime pay (and this can be quite expensive, when you multiply this by all the vendors involved).
5. If your ceremony ends late, this can also adversely affect your reception–Your food may be cold or overcooked, and you may owe your reception vendors overtime pay as well.

Being organized and on time with your wedding details, and being on time to your wedding, will keep your budget intact.

If you prefer to hand these details over to someone else, look into hiring your own wedding coordinator. In the long run, they can save you time and money, allowing you to relax on and before your big day. (Check out the Association of Bridal Consultants for more information).

Tips for Musicians:

Brides have a lot on their minds. Understandably, balancing their own dreams for their wedding day with the wishes of the their family members and future in-laws make some brides feel nervous and overwhelmed. And sometimes, the demands of a job or schoolwork make it difficult to keep up with wedding agendas.

There is one sure-fire way to make sure you have all the information you need prior to the wedding: Phone the bride one week before her wedding day and review all your contracted details with her, including the date, time, location, song selections, details about set-up, parking permits, loading zones, and more. The most important bit of info to review is when final payment is due, if you are still owed a balance. And if you are contracted to perform for another wedding after the bride’s wedding, inform her that her wedding cannot run late because you cannot offer overtime.

I would estimate that for me, about 20% of the time, the bride neglects to tell me some important bit of information until this conversation. That important bit has included anything from a time or location change to having 130 guests arriving instead of 30 (suddenly necessitating amplification from me).

Yes, some plans change on the day of the wedding. If the wedding is outdoors and the weather is inclement, you’ll want to be in touch with someone in the wedding party to determine if the location has moved. Of course, checking in with the celebrant, the wedding coordinator, and the banquet manager upon arrival will keep you informed of any changes that might have been decided during the wedding rehearsal.

And if the bride arrives late, you may go into overtime (or sometimes, it’s the celebrant or a close family member who is late). If you are due overtime pay according to your contract, then ask for it. Asking for overtime pay is a bummer, because you are putting a damper on the couple’s happy day, but you have every right to ask for it. Your hired roadies and other ensemble members will be expecting the extra pay for the extra time, too. If you don’t mention your overtime rate in your performance contract, then it’s time to add it.

Many more tips are available from my book “The Musician’s Guide to Brides” available wherever Hal Leonard Books are sold: music and bookstores, and through online retailers including sheetmusicplus.com, amazon.com, and of course, at my website at www.celticharpmusic.com.

I’m looking forward to reading your stories, comments, and feedback.

Anne

Anne Roos
Celtic Harp Music by Anne Roos

(And contact me at anne@celticharpmusic.com for personal consultation and mentoring—Make a living while gigging)

Visit Anne’s Gig Salad PromoKit