HOLLYISCO is excited to be covering The Siemer Silicon Beach Summit—a premier event formulated to meet today’s hottest trends in entertainment technology. In this article:
- Siemer Silicon Beach Summit (Keynote by Arianna Huffington)
- The Rise of “Silicon Beach” (The Next Wave)
- The Emerging Celebrity-Tech Crossover (Celebrity Branding)
- The Boom of Digital Multi-Media Companies in L.A. (Global Interest in Hollywood)
Siemer & Associates, LLC—a global, boutique, merchant bank serving digital media, software, and technology companies will host a specialized invite-only conference at the famous ‘Shutters on the Beach Hotel’ in Santa Monica next week, aptly named Siemer Silicon Beach Summit—bringing together an elite group of leading players in digital media and emerging entertainment technology companies from around the world. Co-hosted by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP—a leading national law firm representing a sophisticated client base from Fortune 500 to a diverse range of emerging companies—the Siemer Silicon Beach Summit will draw 300+ CEOs, VC’s, and global media executives with a focused intent on increasing the recognition of Southern California as the premier epicenter for technology investing—banking on the power of Hollywood. Online media pioneer Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief of the AOL Huffington Post Media Group, who launched HuffPo right here in Los Angeles—aka “Silicon Beach”—will present the opening keynote.
The Siemer Silicon Beach Summit is seen as a way to foster relationships and connections throughout the burgeoning international tech community—especially those companies centered on entertainment technology that comprise a large part of the “entech” startup scene currently thriving in Southern California.
“The Siemer Summit presents tremendous opportunities for entrepreneurs and innovators to shape the future of digital media. Connections and networks define the new media landscape, and this Summit will build both,” said Hale Boggs, a partner at Manatt who, with firm partner Jonathan Bloch, created the Summit with Siemer & Associates.
The Siemer Summit is on the cutting edge and poised to become the premier “must-attend” conference on the West Coast—“SoCal is leading the world in digital content creation, content monetization, game development, and celebrity-focused media and commerce, fueled by the expanding focus on major film, television, and music studios who are increasingly becoming purveyors of streaming video, music, and digital content,” says Seimer & Associates, LLC.
The Siemer Summit will provide 50 industry-leading companies an opportunity to showcase their visions. A sampling of presenters in attendance include:
BuzzMedia: the web’s fastest growing entertainment publisher reaching more than 50MM monthly pop culture, music, and celebrity enthusiasts worldwide. BUZZMEDIA’S more than 40-category leading brands include Buzznet, Celebuzz, Absolute Pink, and GoFugYourself to name a few, plus the official sites for celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Whitney Port, Kimora Lee Simmons, and others.
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Welcome to the very first installment of ‘The Techie Minute’—a one minute dish on tech gossip of the week, like Talk Soup meets MTV News for the tech world. Yes, this is a raw, homemade video—we’re trying something a little fresh here at HOLLYISCO—a boutique press site covering entertainment technology from Silicon Valley, to Silicon Beach, to Silicon Hills.
HOLLYISCO – The Techie Minute (Demo)
#1. TechCrunch/AOL Brouhaha
So you’re a struggling musician, and you’re looking for a way to raise money toward recording an album or going on tour. In recent years, some of these struggling musicians, and even a few well-known acts, have turned to “crowdfunding” as a way of raising such money—yes, crowdfunding is totally punk rock. While crowdfunding is as grassroots as you can get when trying to raise money from friends, fans and contacts, it can also be troubling if the response isn’t so good.
Yet that hasn’t stopped what has become a crowded house of websites dedicated to crowdfunding from springing up online. Some of those sites have been used to raise money for music-related projects. Here are a few of them in review, beginning with what is perhaps the more popular crowdfunding site for music:
1. Kickstarter.com
Many musical acts, as well as many other creative types, have used Kickstarter to raise money. A fundraising goal is set, as well as a time limit to reach that goal. If the goal is met before the time runs out, the project is funded; if it’s not met in time, no money changes hands.
Over the past summer, female musicians like Julia Nunes, whose videos have been on YouTube since 2006, and Nataly Dawn, of the duo Pomplamoose, have each used Kickstarter to raise more than 5x their intended goals to fund the recording of their albums. Even the husband/wife team of author Neil Gaiman and musician Amanda Palmer—the latter very well-known both as a solo musician and as one-half of the cabaret-punk duo Dresden Dolls—used Kickstarter to raise over $100,000—also 5x their goal—for a West Coast mini-tour set to begin on Halloween 2011 in Los Angeles.
Kickstarter is free to participate, but says that it charges fees for certain services.
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Guest post by Celebrity Vocal Coach Dot Todman (C.O.R.E. Vocal Power)
Amy Winehouse as a Singer—Powerful, or Empowered?
Powerful vs. Empowered Singing
Part of why I take an emphasis on empowerment as a vocal coach is because of the short-lived careers of many artists who fall so quickly after they rise, or never even make it to the top, because they suffer the consequences of making choices that permanently damage their mind, soul, and body. And sadly, many are deceived to feel it’s part of “living the rock star lifestyle.” Unlike a guitar or a piano, which I can replace if damaged, I only have one mind, one soul, and one voice. Why not enjoy my gift of expression with clarity, good health, abundance, and longevity?
Question: Do I just want to be a powerful singer, or an empowered singer?
Was Amy Winehouse a powerful singer? Yes. Was she an empowered singer? No. While Amy Winehouse was the perfect example of being a very powerful singer, perhaps it is clear now, that just singing powerfully does not guarantee a life full of joy and success.
Life can be tough, and it’s easy to fall into traps and develop bad habits. We’re only human. Practicing empowering principles and developing positive habits help us to become powerful masters of creativity and our unique gifts. What does it take to create the confidence, ease, and grace of a truly empowered singer?
Amy Winehouse was just another example of how an incredible voice and all the talent in the world alone does not guarantee personal fulfillment and self empowerment. It’s a shame…and a powerful reminder of how important your Mind, Soul, and VOICE are! It’s a tough world out there. We all need to look after ourselves from the CORE.
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Guest post by Madalyn Sklar (music biz coach. blogger. social media maven. fearless GoGirls leader.)
I was recently contacted by Tracy Petrucci of ListenLocalSD.com, a blog for the San Diego music community. She asked me to write about a simple yet commonly asked question, “How do I get real fans to come to local shows and not just my friends?”
Here is what I came up with…
How do I get real fans to come to local shows and not just my friends?
I get asked this question all the time. The answer is simply get out and hustle. Just because you’re playing a show, it doesn’t mean the venue will pack itself. There are many things you can do both online and offline to attract fans.
Here are 10 tips that will help:
1. Update your website calendar. There is nothing worse than a bunch of outdated gigs listed on your site. It’s a turn off and will give the impression that you are not out playing shows. As soon as you book a show, go update your website.
2. Shoot an email blast to your mailing list. You have a mailing list, right? Use it! This is your most valuable tool in your arsenal, yet I find so many bands are under-utilizing it. You can easily manage your list and send out messages through ReverbNation or Fanbridge. Be sure to collect email addresses at your shows and from all your websites.
3. Set up a Facebook Event. Invite your local fans and friends. Don’t waste your time inviting people from all over the world. They aren’t coming! Make a friends list – log into Facebook >> Account >> Edit Friends >> Create a List. Go through your friends and add the local peeps to a list and call it Local Fans. Every time you make a new friend/fan in your local area, add them to this list and watch it grow! You’ll set this up once, add people to it as you become friends, then every time you create a FB Event you’ll invite people from this list.
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