Entrepreneurs Conference Deal Makers Expo

On Thursday, May 24 and Friday, May 26, 2012, Google will conduct its “Growing Your Business Online” and “Promoting Your Business Online” workshops during the Entrepreneurs Conference Deal Makers Expo. The Grow Your Business Online workshop allows business owners to learn the basics of how other people find your business online, with methods like SEO, web analytics and more. This workshop also help business owners how to run their business more efficiently with online tools, including applications for improving collaboration and communication. The Promoting Your Business Online workshop will aid business owners to attract customers down the street or across the country with online marketing tools like Google AdWords and AdWords Express and to focus their marketing efforts and budget for your target audience.

Entrepreneurs Conference Deal Makers Expo will be held in Chicago, Illinois at the Hilton Chicago Hotel. All attendees will have the opportunity access the insights of Google Inc. Global Diversity Program Business Development Manager Chris Genteel, who will be a speaker at the Expo.

Chris Genteel and Google his team works with customers and partners to grow and support the ecosystem of US underrepresented businesses using Google tools for business. The Entrepreneurs Conference Deal Makers Expo pays for itself in six ways. For starters you get a chance to gain knowledge from some successful and well-known business owner for free. These business owners include names like Daymond John (FUBU Co-founder and Shark Tank co-star) and Magnus Greaves (CASHFLOW Founder). Attendees will get the Inside Track on Raising Capital for Your Business. This means talking directly to bankers and investors to learn key insights to how to create an effective elevator pitch and solid business plan, to get them to write that check. Others benefits of attending this Expo includes; corporations read to do business, complimentary services for your business, all-inclusive pricing and networking opportunities.


References:
Photo: http://www.blackenterprise.com/events/entrepreneurs-conference/
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIBbbjKRI50

THE RIGHTS THAT COUNT

Two of the most things to a business are trademarks and copyrights. They make a business unique and makes sure it stays that way. Christine James talks about Trademark Law in her very informative podcast. The purpose of trademark law is to provide consumers with source identifiers and because source speaks to various qualities of a product or service. Trademarks can be a name, logo, slogan, patent or even a character. A good example of a character would be Disney. Disney has many characters but each one is a trademark of the company. A trademark only lasts for ten years and a company has to have sales to keep a trademark. Disney is good with this by bringing back old character for resale for a limited time. The little TM after a trademark only protects in the state it was registered in. The little circle with the R in it gives a trademark international protection.

Creighton Frommer podcast on Copyright Law provides understanding of the basics of copyright law. A copyright is only federal and lasts for the duration of the owner’s life plus years. This time span is designed to provide a revenue stream for the copyright owner and their family members after their death. Copyrights come in many categories of works. These categories include literary works, dramatic works, motion pictures, sound recordings, musical works and more. Copyrights can’t protect everything. Some things copyrights can’t protect are ideas, facts, names, typefaces, dedicated works, and an expired/forfeited copyright. Copyrights give the owner the exclusive right of reproduction, adaptation, publication, performance and display. Copyright.gov provides the forms to register for a copyright.

Gordan P. Firemark podcast “360 deals, rights of publicity, and more” features music lawyer Erin Jacobson. Erin represents music lawyer Erin Jacobson on it. Erin represents musicians, songwriters, producers, companies, and other entertainment professionals in California. Erin explains what the California Talent Agencies Act is. This act requires any person who procures employment for an artist to become a licensed talent agent or agency by the California Labor Commissioner. 

HELLO LIABILITIES

If you are an owner of a venue, you are always open for liabilities. This list of liabilities can get pretty long and can include things like safety, selling business to minors, stars coming up randomly, etc. In most cases a venue owner is well aware if there is going to be a celebrity coming, but every now and again something out of the norm happens.

Venues owners sometimes feel that if a celebrity is hosting an event at their venue, that everything is going to be okay. That was not the case when rapper Drake showed up with his entourage at an Oklahoma City nightclub during a private party. According to the nightclub owner, the police was called when marijuana smoke was smelled in the rapper’s VIP section. That caused the place to be shut down, the club owner was arrested and the owner received a ticket because a smoked joint was found on the grounds of the nightclub. All of this liability was placed on the club owner but he really did not play a role in these events.

A liability took place at one of the country’s largest venues in 2011. The day after Christmas, a riot take place over rumors that rappers Drake and Lil Wayne were going to be visiting the mall. As a venue owner, who really knows when something like this will take place? There was as many as 200 people involved in the outrage. This included people running around, thing thrown, and people fighting.

Some liabilities will walk right in a venue and cause the place to get shut, leaving the owner looking clueless. In February 2012, ex-nightclub “Karma” was the center point for an indoor shooting, leaving one person dead and 19 others injured. The event caused the club owner to lose his license and close the doors of the club for good.

A NEW PATH

The music has evolved from generation to generation, just like many businesses of today. The old generation took their time and was very set in their ways. The generation of today is equipped with this thing called technology. Because of this technology, taking your time is a time of the past. Just as quick as you can think it, the new generation can get it out to the world. The change has brought on a new way of thinking for today's music professionals.

A clear parallel can be made to the changes in the way artists are able to sustain themselves. There are more and more incredible indie labels out there to support and amplify artists in a sustainable and organic way. The people at Kickstarter have enabled filmmakers, craftsmen and many others to raise funds to continue creating, and market to an eagerly awaiting market of supporters.

The perspective for these indie artists is different from those artists still caught up in the MTV era. The latter wants nothing more badly than to be on The Voice as a special guest, or in US Weekly with their famous boyfriend, or be grabbed up by the hand of a major label that makes everything easy for them and gives them a bag of money. Some of those artists will succeed for a certain period and for that more power to them. But most artists that pursue this will fall between the cracks.

It’s a lot harder to build your own floor, and it takes a lot longer than just hiring a big company to make it for you. The hard work is a lot less sexy than the sunglasses and the fancy parties you thought you might attend. But if you build your own floor, with the help of a dedicated small team/label that’s on the same page as you are, you can make sure the boards close tightly and you’ll never fall lower than the last level you built.

FEEL RICH

Producer and digital mogul Quincy Jones III has found a way to combine healthy living and an urban aesthetic with his new project, Feel Rich. The creative health initiative aims to utilize the power of hip-hop to make health and wellness “cool.” Utilizing social media platforms such as YouTube and Twitter, and teaming up with some of the biggest names in hip-hop, Feel Rich is making strides to encourage healthy eating habits in urban communities.

Shawn Ullman, Co-Founder and CEO of Feel Rich, mentioned it was difficult to combat the mixed messages children encounter every day from fast food and snack companies. Instead of going to traditional media streams, Feel Rich leveraged the power of social media, utilizing YouTube and Twitter to engage their audience. The result? The company has over 3 million views on YouTube, proving to naysayers that there is a demand for this type of programming in the hip-hop community.

One of the best examples of healthy living in hip-hop is Texas rapper Paul Wall. He stunned fans last year with his dramatic weight loss, dropping over 150 pounds. Wall stressed that he wanted to start a trend in the hip-hop community. “You don’t hear rappers talking about organic milk,” he said. ”I didn’t have role models in my life who were losing weight. I had role models who have died because they were overweight.” Paul’s wife, Crystal Wall, who contributes weekly recipes to the site, stressed that her husband’s healthy eating habits have permeated through her entire family.

As for the future of Feel Rich, Ullman sees the initiative working with health care providers and schools. The brand is also building a mobile app, which will include a calorie tracker and a GPS feature that will show healthy options within a 2-mile radius of your location. The company also is working with brands such as Nike+ with brand integration strategies.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PROMOTER

Concert promoters have an array of responsibilities when it comes to putting together an event. If these responsibilities are not preformed completely, there is a long list of legal issues just waiting around the corner. In 2003 there was a deadly fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island. The fire was caused by pyrotechnics set off by the tour manager, which ignited flammable sound insulation foam in the walls and ceilings surrounding the stage. The fire killed 100 people. In the video below you can see the fire take place. Many affiliated parties were sued because of all the lives lost. Most of the defending parties chose an alternative dispute resolution of offer and settlement, but the two club owners and the tour manager was charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter. When putting together any event, there are going to be things you can and cannot control. In this case, the club promoters, club owners, and the tour manager should have done a better job covering all safety measures for this event.

Another case of negligence took place when the stage collapsed at the state fair in Indiana. Country music duo Sugarland was set to perform on an outdoor when gusty winds caused the stage to collapse, killing seven people. The 48 victims in this case sued several people including the concert promoter (Live Nation) and the stagehands’ union. The band and the other defendants owed a duty to concertgoers to provide a safe environment, and to use reasonable care in setting up and supervising the show.

There are cases when a promoter does everything right and an artist doesn’t show up. Paid 4 Entertainment, concert promoters in the Virgin Islands, sued rapper Young Jeezy for breach of contract. The rapper told the promoter he might not be able to make it on the date scheduled, so both parties agreed to renegotiate the contract for the rapper to preform the next day. The promoters even agreed to send a jet to pick Young Jeezy up and deliver him to the Islands, and the rapper never showed up for his flight. Since the U.S. Virgin Islands follow the same common law principles as the U.S., the rapper had a legal obligation to show up and perform after the original contract was modified.

I JUST WANNA BE FAMOUS!

Over the last three decades, the way the world looks at music has changed tremendously. This includes both the artist and the business of music.

There are two kinds of artists. There are artist, people who started long before thinking anyone might pay for what they love to do. Obsessively in the bedroom night after night, skipping school, honing their own version of music. They need it.

Then you have industry artists. They think of music as a series of career moves. They are in it for the fame, the travel, the money, the glory, the fans, and the adulation. They started by looking at stars on TV and in magazines and saying “I want some of that”.

It’s those industry artists that major labels are there for. Majors are not art institutions. It’s all about the bottom line. It doesn’t matter if they love what you do or hate what you do. If you sell, you’re in, if you don’t sell, you’re out. If you sign to a major and expect to be cherished, protected, nurtured and developed, you’re lost or you have very bad people around you advising you. If you go to the right indie guy, you will be loved and cherished and you will be promoted.

I have come to realize two things:

1. Most artists do not want to do it themselves, maybe they just aren’t wired that way, may they’re lazy, maybe they think they need big money to make it really happen or maybe they’re just getting bad advice.

2. They don’t care about making a bad deal. They just want to be famous. They want fame so badly they will sign anything, and I do mean anything. They don’t believe guys like you and me when we tell them it’s stupid. They want to be famous!