Got what it takes to lead a workshop or seminar for DIY musicians? Let us know!
We’re getting really excited to start announcing some of the presenters at this year’s DIY Musician Conference, taking place at Chicago’s historic Congress Plaza Hotel from September 30th through October 2nd.
But before we put the finishing touches on the event schedule, there’s still a few spots left to fill, and we wanted to open it up to your suggestions.
Can you speak authoritatively on a topic that would interest (and educate!) independent musicians? Can you present that material in a dynamic, entertaining way? Can you pinpoint exactly what attendees will learn, and how? If so, we’d love to hear your proposal!
Please complete this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-4V11aR8lM5K927knSHhbMQoXro-54e2lutifBQyEik/viewform
A few things to consider for your proposal
1. Your audience consists of independent musicians who are hungry for practical, actionable advice that will help them move their careers forward, not pie-in-the-sky promises, industry navel-gazing, or cliquish networking.
2. Sessions generally last one hour, including 15 minutes for Q&A. If your session is more interactive, however, you might not need the Q&A portion and can use the whole hour to present your workshop. (We also encourage all presenters to stick around for the duration of the conference, so you’ll have the opportunity to keep the conversation going throughout the weekend).
3. As you pitch your seminar proposal, assume you’ll be speaking to a large audience (which might be anywhere from 50-1000 people, depending on the room). In other words, it’s not a small classroom situation. That being said, if it would be instructive for all attendees to watch you work one-on-one with an artist, feel free to call up volunteers.
4. You, the audience, and the awesome advice you have to share with them, need to carry the hour. No boring panels please.
5. By all means, you can tell attendees about your company or the services you provide — but your seminar should stand alone as its own curriculum. It should NOT be a live commercial or 60-minute ramp-up to a sales pitch.
6. Last year’s topics were diverse: digital recording techniques, band photography tips, fan engagement, tapping into more music revenue streams, YouTube monetization, foundations of music publishing, album release strategies, band booking best-practices, and much more. For 2016, the field is wide open. If you’re an expert on a topic and can help artists walk away with a real plan they can execute back home, we want to hear from you!
Sound exciting? If we’re interested in your proposal, one of our conference planners will contact you to discuss further details.
Again, if you’re interested in presenting at 2016’s DIY Musician Conference, please fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-4V11aR8lM5K927knSHhbMQoXro-54e2lutifBQyEik/viewform
Thanks, and we hope to see you in Chicago.
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Chris Robley is an acclaimed singer-songwriter and award-winning poet from Maine.
His Beatlesque indie-pop and milltown Americana songs have been praised by The Associated Press, No Depression, KCRW, The LA Times, Boston Globe, NPR, American Songwriter, and others.
His poems have appeared in Poetry Magazine, Prairie Schooner, The Poetry Review, and more.
Robley has received a Maine Literary Award in Poetry, Boulevard’s Emerging Writers Prize for Poetry, and in 2016 was selected by former US-poet laureate Robert Pinsky as a finalist for the Dorset Prize.