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!

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!

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

The Gig Salad team rocks, there’s no question about it. I had a ton of fun coaching this season. Thanks to coaches Danny, Jason and John for being awesome, and to our fantastic parents and of course the kids who worked hard to be their best. What a fun season.

-Steve

Mark

New Membership Levels: We’re adding 2 new membership levels to Gig Salad: Free and Premium. The members who sign up for free will only get their name and city posted, and a button to contact them. Premium members will get the Agent-Friendly website features, more category selections, more space for audio/video, 2 extra Gig Soup leads to follow up with daily, as well as a featured spot on the main category pages. If you currently have purchased the agent-friendly feature, you will be automatically moved up to the premium level when it launches. If you do not, you will continue to enjoy all of the same features you currently have.

Brand Spankin’ New Control Panel: We’ve overhauled the control panel to make things much easier for you to navigate. Please contact us at help@gigsalad.com if things are confusing– we’re confident the new control panel will make things a lot easier for everyone.

Let us know what you think of everything!

Steve and Mark

Most brides and potential clients will include the question “How much?” in their initial email inquiries. They will include your name in the email greeting and may include some additional info about the time, date, and location of the gig. These are all good signs that the bride is genuinely interested in learning about your availability and talents.

However, on rare occasions, you will receive questionable inquiries. Actually, they are not inquiries at all—they are from scammers. As Steve Tetrault of GigSalad.com explains, “Their ultimate goal is to get you to receive a deposit check for an amount that is greater than what it should be, then ask you for the difference. Their check turns out to be fraudulent and they walk away with a few thousand bucks from you.”

Pretty scary stuff, but true.

Here are seven warning signs that you’ve received a fake email inquiry:

1. The email message is not addressed to anyone in particular. It will start off with “Hello”, or “Greetings”, instead of “Dear Anne”. This means that it was probably a mass mailing. Another test: Look at the “To:” field and the “Reply To:” field or the “From:” field in the header of the email. If these are all the same email addresses, the email was a mass mailing, not intended just for your eyes only.

2. The inquiry is riddled with exceptionally poor spellings, grammar, and punctuation. Yes, some brides can’t spell worth beans, but if you try to read the sentences out loud and find the urge to change the order of nouns and verbs, you don’t have an inquiry. You have s*pam.

3. The email makes requests that do not apply to the services you offer. If you are a string quartet, and the email is asking for a wedding DJ, it is too big a mistake to take seriously.

4. The email is giving you bogus information. I once received an email that said the ceremony and reception would last from 11 am until 7 pm and that my services would be needed for that length of time. Really????

5. The scammer gives you a lot of extraneous info, such as a mailing address and phone number, only to say to contact them by email. They’re trying to convince you that they’re for real. Don’t fall for it. If an address is provided, go to MapQuest.com or YahooMaps or another map site and see if the address is a fake. You can also try calling a given phone number to see if it actually works.

6. Any email messages from overseas, claiming that they are willing to pay for your travel expenses and accommodations to perform in a foreign country. Weddings are local events, and brides, event coordinators, and booking agents are most interested in booking local talent. It’s pretty unlikely that a client who is not an established fan of yours (already on your email list) will pay you thousands of dollars, put you up in a hotel, provide your meals, and take care of your expenses to travel any distance to perform.

7. Any email from a client or event planner who is itching to pay you upfront, without any previous correspondence or conversations with you. People aren’t that eager to part with their money for any musician, and they like to do a bit of shopping around, asking questions, before they commit to spending money.

If you receive one of these wedding scam emails:

1. Don’t reply. Once you reply, the scammer thinks he has you hooked, and now that he knows he has a legit email address, he may pass your address along to all his scammer friends, too.

2. Report it as s*pam. If you received the email through an online wedding or music directory, alert them. They’ll want to put a halt to it and report it to the correct authorities. Don’t blame these online directories, because they are victims as much as you are.

3. Depending upon what is contained in the body of the email, take things a step further. You can report it to the online FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (ic3.gov), SpamCop.net, your own Internet Service Provider, and a host of other online agencies that exist to eradicate s*pam.

The above tips, and many more, are found in my book “The Musician’s Guide to Brides”. This book is written primarily for wedding musicians, but it’s also filled with savvy information about marketing, advertising, and promoting your business as a working musician. It’s available wherever Hal Leonard Books are sold: music and bookstores, and through online retailers including sheetmusicplus.com, amazon.com, and at my website at www.celticharpmusic.com.

How have you dealt with con artists? Please share your comments and insights below to help others avoid these pitfalls, too.

Cheers,
Anne
—
Anne Roos
Celtic Harp Music by Anne Roos
http://www.celticharpmusic.com

Gig Salad proudly supports local organizations around Wilmington, NC (home of our web development and marketing headquarters) such as The Thalian Association for the Performing Arts and Winter Park Optimist Baseball. This spring we are sponsoring a tee ball team. Our kids are outstanding players and great sportsmen, and are doing the Gig Salad name proud!

Monica’s new store, the Wedding Emporium, is located in the Carson Mall in Carson City, Nevada. I was looking forward to performing inside her new one-stop shop for tuxedos, bridal gowns, and photography. But when I arrived, Monica said, “There’s a stage set up in the middle of the shopping mall. I think it would be much better for you to perform there, where everyone will see you, instead of inside my shop.”

It wasn’t what I expected–A lone harpist on a big stage inside of a mall? That was okay for the jazz band, which was packing up when I approached the stage, but wouldn’t I get lost up there? Would anyone see or hear the harp? Would anyone be paying attention?

As it turned out, the shopping mall was fairly quiet, even with complimentary chocolate-covered strawberries handed out to patrons who roamed about on this Valentine’s Day. For a harpist, quiet is a good thing. The harp music reverberated throughout the mall, and people gathered to take seats in front of the stage as I played a mix of Celtic music and modern popular love songs.

Shoppers approached the edge of the stage and asked for requests, and I sold CDs that they wanted autographed. Even Monica could hear me performing as the harp music wafted into her store. When I finished playing, she bought CDs to sell to her own customers and took a large stack of brochures to pass on to brides-to-be.

Originally, I had an odd picture in my head of being ignored on a big stage in the middle of a mall, for I am a solo musician, not a band. Happily, I was wrong.

Tips for Retail Store Owners:

These are hard economic times, and that means you may need to be a bit creative about getting shoppers into your store. Many shop owners attract customers by discounting prices on selected items by 50% or more. Instead, what if you invested in a musician to draw a crowd?

In the above story, Monica didn’t slash prices at all, but even on a quiet shopping day, brides were parading into her store. Of course, she sent a press release to the local paper. She also handed out fliers to other colleagues in her wedding networking group, Weddings of the West. She cooperated with other stores in the mall, too, and they all got the word out.

You could host your own musical events. I have seen a Hawaiian luau band playing in Trader Joe’s grocery stores, pianists performing in music stores, string quartets in hotel lobbies, and jazz trios playing inside mall food courts. Take a cue from the folks at Disneyland—they have live music at all their eateries and even outside of shops where people are milling about. Music serves to make patrons linger, and if they linger, they are more apt to buy.

Tips for Musicians:

Don’t be afraid to take on a different gig than you’re used to playing. If you have never played in a department store, in a shopping mall, in a music store, in a bridal shop, or even inside a grocery store, maybe it’s time to give it a try.

Sure, you may need to offer a discount off of your regular performance fees to land these gigs, but if you have CDs to sell, you will make it up in sales. Plus, you just never know who may pick up your business card and give you a call later for a much more lucrative gig. At the very least, you’ll get some free promotion.

Go where you are apt to meet future clients. If you primarily play at weddings, approach bridal salons, jewelry stores, cake shops, etc., and see about performing in these retail outlets to gain exposure to brides who may want to hire you. If you primarily teach music lessons, approach full-service music stores to demonstrate how wonderful their sale instruments can sound with proper practice (you might even win yourself a spot teaching in that store, too). If you have your CDs commercially available, you can also perform in bookstores that are willing to stock your CDs. Actually, performing anywhere that people can sit down and take a listen to you can attract new fans, customers, and clients.

Many more tips are available from my book “The Musician’s Guide to Brides”. This book is written primarily for wedding musicians, but it’s also filled with advice about marketing, advertising, and promoting your business as a working musician. It’s 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 feedback about performing in retail stores.

Cheers,
Anne

Anne Roos
Celtic Harp Music by Anne Roos

Anne’s Gig Salad PromoKit
(And contact me at anne@celticharpmusic.com for personal consultation and mentoring—Make a living while gigging)

The UPK, or Universal PromoKit, is the latest addition to Gig Salad. It gives our members the ability to instantly create up to 21 agent friendly websites that are targeted to specific booking agents. Each website will be found at a unique link, and any combination of these 21 websites can either function as a personal website, a generic agent-friendly site with no contact information, or as an agent-specific website, containing specific agents’ contact info on them. There are several designs to choose from, and we are adding more.

The members who have responded to us about it have been really excited. REALLY excited… in a way that we didn’t quite expect. It should go without saying that we’re excited too!

Please feel free to use the trial version of the Universal PromoKit, and upgrade if it makes sense for you. Either way, we would LOVE to hear your feedback, as we really do want this product to do exactly what you need it to do.

To give it a try, just login to your PromoKit and click the Universal PromoKit tab. Then come back here and tell us what you think, and if there are improvements or enhancements you’d like to see to make it work for you.

peace, love and gigs,
Steve & Mark

I visited Minden Elementary School in Minden, Nevada to give a presentation to 4th-6th grade students. But before attending, I supplied Ms. B, the teacher who invited me, with a complete lesson plan. It included what I was planning to teach: an introduction to the Celtic harp in Renaissance England and Ireland, along with a full discussion of the culture and music from that period.

I dressed in full Renaissance period costume (appropriate for a middle-class musician from that time), and I brought plenty of sheet music with me, just in case I ran out of what I planned to play.

When I arrived, three boys helped me bring my equipment into the multi-purpose room where the assembly would be held. Ms. B even assigned a young lady by the name of Kai, to make an introduction to the students before I began my presentation.

There were some 200 students gathered. After explaining about the culture and dress of the 1500s, I performed the following tunes, with plenty of explanation in between:

1. Early Music—3 French Dances
2. Written by King Henry VIII—“Pastyme With Good Company”
3. Can they name this tune?–“Greensleeves”
4. O’Carolan’s music:
“Shebeg & Shemore”
“Planxty George”
“Carolan’s Draught”
5. Renaissance Dances:
“My Lady Carey’s Dompe”
“Galliard”
“Epping Forest”–waltz
“Abbots Bromley Horn Dance” and “The Green Man”—Double jigs
“Considine’s Grove”—Hornpipe
“Princess Royal”–Hornpipe
6. Can they tell the difference between which is an air and which is a march?
“Carrickfergus” and “Brian Boru’s March”
Encore:
“The Water Kelpie”

I instructed the children to hold their questions to the end of the assembly, and there was a question/answer period the last ten or fifteen minutes before my hour was up.

Next, I was lead into the library, where I did an additional presentation for Ms. B’s and Ms. Moyer’s 6th grade classes. The students had prepared questions for me to answer as part of their “Music and Arts Lecture Series”. They wanted to know what it was like to be a working musician, and they asked questions like “Why did you want to play the harp?”, “Where are harps made?”, “Where do you perform?”, and “Do you feel unique because you play the harp?”. I finished off the round of thoughtful questions with a few more tunes.

Next, cookies, chips, and lemonade were served in the library and they had “Meet and Greet”. The kids thanked me and excused themselves to get snacks. They mixed and mingled like adults at a cocktail party! The students were all so well-behaved, and it was a joy to perform for them.

View some great photos in the photo gallery on my website.

Tips for School Teachers and Principals:

Bringing in musical talent for performances and educational presentations does not have to be a budget-breaker. By utilizing the local talent in your community, you won’t need to provide them with accommodations or food. Furthermore, musicians are usually booked up on evenings and weekends, so their schedules are more open on weekdays and may pass along a discount to you.

Zero in on exactly what they will be teaching and how that information or performance will fit into your present curriculum. It is common to ask for a lesson plan and references. However, if you require musicians to jump through too many hoops to be considered (submitting lengthy applications, panel interviews, extensive press kits, etc.), some musicians my simply decide against applying in the first place.

Once you have invited a musician for an assembly, prepare the students for the visit. A great idea is to have the students prepare questions to ask the musician ahead of the visit, as in the above example. And afterward, the children can write essays about what they learned from the visit. Of course, children who have behavior issues should be warned or simply weeded out of the classes who attend the assembly.

Take photos and movies of the presentation to share on school websites and with parents. Make it a big event. Show that you support the arts in your community. And keep in touch with the musicians afterward–They love to hear how their presentations were received.

Tips for Musicians:

If you are great with kids and have something to teach and share about your instrument and your music, consider offering school presentations as a wonderful way to supplement your income and do something special for your local community. In fact, there are many musicians who travel to perform for schools far and wide—performing for kids is their specialty.

The first step to performing in schools is to contact your local school districts and find out what their requirements are. Some will simply instruct you to contact individual school principals to see about their interest, needs and budget. Larger school districts may have an arts program in place. In these cases, there will be an application/interview process before you are even considered.

Hone in on what you can offer to kids. Do a Google search on “lesson plans” and use those outlines and examples to create some lessons that tie in with your musical performance. Schools will want to know what you’ll be teaching, and sample lesson plans provide the format for conveying this information to them.

Finally, include a discount for local schools. We need the arts in our communities, and children need to see people up-close-and-personal performing for them.

Many more tips are available from my book “The Musician’s Guide to Brides”. This book is written primarily for wedding musicians, but it’s also filled with advice about marketing, advertising, and promoting your business as a working musician. It’s 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 feedback about performing at school events.

Cheers,
Anne
—
Anne Roos
Celtic Harp Music by Anne Roos
www.celticharpmusic.com
GigSalad.com/anne

We’ve been busy here adding features that create value for our members. A recent addition: You can now receive your lead notifications by text message. The great news is that it costs nothing extra for you to receive these notifications (other than what your cell phone carrier charges you for incoming text messages). Just go to “settings” and input your carrier and cell phone number and we’ll take care of the rest.

Once or twice a year, I purchase a booth and exhibit at a bridal fair. I do my homework. I make sure that the bridal fair has had high attendance in past shows, I interview other exhibitors from past shows to find out if they had a good experience, and I make sure my booth will be far away from the booths of other musicians, entertainers, and DJs.

I exhibited at the 21st Annual Fantasy Wedding Faire in Reno, Nevada, produced by the American Heart Association, perhaps against my better judgment. Why? Because I broke my own cardinal rule: Never exhibit in the same room as a fashion show. I signed up for this show because several other wedding service colleagues had participated in previous years and successfully booked a number of weddings from the brides who attended.

The event was held in the Silver State Pavilion at the huge Grand Sierra Resort. Very spacious and comfortable–the room was well suited for a bridal fair. Set up was a breeze, with easy load-in, but I didn’t count on walking into DJ Bill McClain’s loading cart when I was setting up. Scraped up my foot! Ouch! Maybe it was a bad omen?

My booth was located on the opposite wall from the fashion show, as far away from the fashion show as I could possibly be. But once the doors opened and the brides entered, I discovered my booth was beneath five PA speakers in the ceiling. These speakers belched constant announcements for raffle ticket prizes, descriptions of dresses and models in the fashion show, and annoying fashion show music at an astounding volume. Anyone approaching my booth had to yell to converse with me. And of course, no one could hear my poor little harp—my amp was no match against those giant speakers. It was no way to introduce my services to brides.

I commonly book weddings at bridal fairs, because I always offer a 10% discount to brides who decide to hire me at the fair. But this show was quite the exception, when people could barely converse with me. Or perhaps, it was a sign of our economy that a larger discount needed to be offered for landing bookings at bridal fairs? I may never know.

At least I do know that many brides were interested in my services, because they waited in line to talk with me, even though they had to shout over the din. More than 100 brochures left my table that day. And I’ll be in touch with those who entered my drawing for a free wedding CD, too.

The networking opportunities were endless. Two very generous florists donated flower displays for my booth: Hattie Reed from Art in Bloom and another floral arrangement from Floral Expressions & Events. I met Kathleen from the Harbor House at Sand Harbor Beach, Lake Tahoe, and learned about their wonderful wedding facilities. Maybe she’ll start recommending me to brides getting married there. Kristy Hawke who produces the Nevada Women’s Expo also introduced herself to me. Adjacent to my booth was Andy and Jennifer from The Pampered Chef and along with my friends Rolf and Eileen from Starling Video, helped watch my booth when I had to take a break.

So, even if a bridal fair may look like a total washout on the surface, the connections between the brides and the exhibitors can make it well worth attending!

Tips for Brides:

Bridal fairs aren’t just about checking out the bridal fashions, sampling cakes, and winning door prizes. Go there with the idea to hire your wedding vendors at the show. Here’s why: most wedding services offer budget-saving discounts if you decide to book them right then and there. Bring your checkbook or credit card, an envelope for your receipts, and your fiancé, mom, and others to help you make decisions. If they cannot attend, bring along a cell phone so that you can call them from the show and help you decide.

Don’t want to make quick decisions at the fair? Then bring something to take notes. Don’t be caught without any way to write down quotes from a potential ceremony site, florist, or musician.

Also prepare a sheet of address labels, and write your email address and phone number onto those labels before you attend the fair. At each booth, you may find a drawing for a prize like a free honeymoon, free flowers, dinner for two at a restaurant, or a substantial discount off of particular services. Instead of wasting your time filling out forms for each drawing, just affix the address stickers to each entry form you encounter and move along to the next booth.

Follow up with those you meet after the bridal fair while their wedding services are still fresh in your mind. The more generous wedding vendors may extend their bridal fair discounts a few days beyond the fair, especially if you hit it off well with them. But if you wait weeks or months, not only will you be paying full price, you may also find that they are no longer available on your wedding date.

Tips for Musicians:

Exhibiting at bridal fairs is a huge monetary and time commitment. The booth price alone is not the only monetary factor—having brochures and promotional materials pre-printed, electricity for your booth, and other booth amenities will add to that cost. And you must plan to perform in your booth. The only way brides will fall in love with the idea of hiring you for their wedding or reception is to see you in action, as if they would see you at their wedding. You may need to put in some extra rehearsal time with your ensemble before the day of the bridal show.

When choosing to buy booth space at a local bridal fair, you can ask all the right questions of the fair promoter, hear that the fair was successful previous years from other wedding vendors, and the event can still stink. All it takes is for the fair to be poorly attended (perhaps due to lack of advertising or bad weather), or even something like being placed under a string of loud speakers, as in the above example. But there are always other wedding colleagues to meet, and they could be in the position to send you a lot of work in the future—the silver lining to participating in a bridal fair.

If a wedding fair was truly a washout for you, look at it rationally and decide what you could have done differently to make it a better experience. That’s what I’m doing about my experience at this last wedding fair. Should I be involved with another bridal fair that has a fashion show in the same building? Should I offer a larger discount to brides who consider booking my services at the wedding fair, because of this down economy? Should I make a formal complaint to the fair producers about being placed under the PA speakers or should I not bother at all? These are some questions I’m pondering.

I’ve only touched on a few of the intricacies of participating in a bridal fair in this blog. I devote an entire chapter to this subject (including negotiating booth prices, setting up your booth, etc.) 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. And if you have something new to add about your bridal fair experiences, I’d love to hear them.

Sending my best,
Anne

Anne Roos
Celtic Harp Music by Anne Roos
www.celticharpmusic.com
GigSalad.com/anne

People Got A Lotta Nerve – Neko Case

Check out Neko Case’s new single “People Got a Lotta Nerve”- she’s supporting a worthwhile cause while her fans circulate it around. I’m a fan – she is brilliant – and am posting it here. Take a listen- the album comes out 3/3/09. Can’t wait!

Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2009, Best Friends Animal Society is one of America’s foremost animal rescue organizations. Best Friends advances nationwide animal welfare initiatives by working with shelter and rescue groups around the country. For more information, visit www.bestfriends.org