The North West’s largest Booking Conference and Trade Show for Arts Presenters (Music, Theatre, Dance, Art) takes place in Vancouver every March. Pacific Contact has just announced the deadline for showcase applications, but act quickly, only the first 200 applications will be accepted.
Who Attends this conference? Arts presenters like community theatres, booking agents, arts councils and large-scale festival and educational programs use this annual event to hand-pick performers for their upcoming season. Artists looking to perform the theatre or arts festival circuit in Western Canada can come out and (hopefully) impress those decision-makers in the hopes of striking a deal or forging that contact for future gigs. There is something for everyone working in the live music & arts industry.
For Artists:
Artists can now apply for a coveted showcase slot. Showcase your talent in a controlled setting in front of a full audience of talent scouts and booking agents. Music, theatre dance and other art forms duke it out in hopes to impress their way into the schedules of these presenters. Artists have 15 minutes to wow the crowd, but that’s not the be-all and end-all of the conference.
Artists can set up a booth in the Contact Room, or tradeshow portion of the conference. Talent scouts are usually found circulating the room, networking, and looking for interesting shows to book. Walk-ins are welcome here as well, just bring business cards and your communication skills. You could make some very beneficial contacts in this setting, but you must be willing to make that initial contact. It’s very casual, and mostly everyone is there for the same reason - networking.
For Industry:
Are you an artist manager, promoter, booking agent or shameless self promoter? There are endless possibilities to grow your client list and advance your business at this conference. First-time attendees are encouraged to attend the initial meet& greet, workshops and pre-arranged meetings with funding partners, arts organizations and others like yourself.
The workshop portion covers such topics as Grant Writing, Budgeting, Working with Non-profit organizations as well as many other business-related areas. Guest speakers like
Once you’ve received this information, you are free to attend all of the showcases, business lunches, the tradeshow and the Hospitality Suite. Up in the suite, you can really mingle with industry
Showcase slots are only 15 minutes, so it’s a real ‘Hit & Run’ performance. There are plenty of ways to maximize your performance, like working in some sort of interaction with the crowd. This really helps because the people in the crowd will at least remember you. On a night with 8 or 9 acts showcasing, I find a lot of the musical acts blend together and it’s hard to remember names, etc. Make it interesting! At this conference, musicians are up against theatre groups, dancers, comedians, ventrilloquists, and more. There are only so many arts budget dollars to go around!
How to apply: All your info is online at www.bctouring.org
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