Folks in the Casablanca Community are gearing up for the annual 'March Get Together'. This will be the 7th annual gathering of Casablanca faithful in the Quad Cities USA. The event will be held Monday evening March 7th through Thursday evening March 10th, 2011.
You can read more and download your registration forms on the official MGT website here http://www.marchgettogether.com/2011_MGT.html
Here is the latest bulletin from Jim Meeker about the planned presentations for the MGT 2011:
We are still working on the actual time schedule to make it work out best, but here is a listing of the events that will be happening at the 2011 "March Get Together" in no particular order.
Tom Koziol of Wisconsin will show us how he earns thousands of dollars each year with a service to his customers that we should all be giving. "Film Transfers" to DVD is a huge part of his business and it is amazing how much money he brings in each year from this basic service. He has a kit that is available to show you how to set up projectors and camcorders and mirrors to obtain the best quality. He also has brand new projectors for sale that have variable speed controls and are fully under warranty.
Tom insists strongly that all professional videographers should be performing this much needed service, as it will not only pay for itself in the first one or two customers, but will return an average gross of $90 to $100 dollars per hour thereafter when performed correctly using Tom's provin techniques. Additional customer traffic and volume to an existing wedding and event business will bring awareness and bookings to a video business that could really use a boost in this economy.
Ken Smithers of Kansas City will talk about what happens when you make the move to take your business out of your house and move to a store front operation. He calls this presentation...."So I moved out of my house........Now What?"
Alan Naumann and Meloni Jeska, of Minnesota will talk about Video Biographies and Funeral Videography which are bursting on the scene with 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day who have the time, discretionary money, and most importantly – a story to tell! Alan Naumann and Melonie Jeska will explain how to reach this target group and how to make them aware of your services. In addition, discover the seven essential steps to profitably producing a Video Biography.
Alan Naumann of Memory Vision is recognized nationally as a leading authority on video production. In 2007 and 2008, Alan received the prestigious honor of being named one of EventDV magazine’s 25 most influential videographers in the nation.
After spending years in the IT/Project Management trenches, Melonie Jeska graduated with an A.A.S. degree in Digital Video & Media Production in 2007 and owns Glimpses of Life Productions, also in Minneapolis.
Roger Schutter of Michigan,.will show us all about the hottest thing going in the video world now......the DSLR. This hybrid camera/camcorder allows greater depth of field control and because of the huge image gathering chip, generally yields better quality in low light situations. Roger will be using a DSLR for his "Making a Movie" session as well. We'll be able to see how the DSLR works for this "Real Life" test in movie making.
Dale Bishop will take us to his world of "Magic" in his audience participation event called the "The Entertainment Hour" This will happen on Tuesday evening. You don't want to miss this fun time at the MGT.
The Patio Party will happen after the last program on Tuesday evening and will be held at pool side. There will be free snacks for everyone and free soft drinks, so be sure to be there to network with Video Producers from all over the USA. It's free and it's fun. You never know what's going to happen at these patio parties.
Jim Marcacci and H.B. Logsdon of central Illinois, will show us the world of Documentaries. They'll talk about the planning, the shooting and editing and making the client happy with the result. If you haven't seen an on stage performance by these two guys.....you are in for a treat.
Ron Schmidt of Minnesota, will demonstrate how to use the Grizzly Remote System for controlling up to three camcorders all at once by one operator. You can control record start and stop, zoom in and out and speed, pan and tilt all from one location. You can hide the camcorders and no one will know you are shooting the wedding or any event. All of this for a one man operation and you can monitor each camcorder's image and the output at the same time. This is the magic world of the live mix and you can do this set up from great distances as well.
Roger Schutter of Michigan for the third year will take us to Hollywood right in the Clarion Hotel. We'll be making a very short movie using the Hollywood style single camera method of shooting a master shot of each scene.....and then the medium and close ups and cut a ways..... to be cut in later at the editing stage. But this year we'll be doing it with a shallow depth of field Digital Single Lens Reflex camera. ( DSLR ) Talk about the latest up to date state of the art presentation at a video convention. This is the cutting edge and it's happening at the MGT in March. Each of the dozen or so crew positions will be filled by our attendees.
Show Your Stuff on Wednesday evening, is when everyone who elects to send his work to Jim for pre-viewing may have his work shown to the entire group on the big screen. Not only video productions will be shown, but things that the attendees have built or invented to make video work in shooting or editing better or easier for us will be shown by the guy or gal responsible for it. Here's your chance to really show your stuff to the group.
Tom Koziol of Wisconsin will show us the easiest way to make money for your video business. We all have the equipment and the know how, it's just a matter of knowing what you can do with what you already have on hand to make money. Just how hard is it to copy a tape to a DVD or stills to DVD or even easier......music from records or four tracks or cassettes to CD or DVD. It's a gold mine just sitting there in your edit bay. If an additional $60,000 a year or more isn't of interest to you.....then just skip this lecture....it's not for you.
Ken Smithers of Kansas City will show us how to use ProShow Producer Ken says, I call it, "Creating a 35 picture photo montage with music, transitions and motion in 60 seconds!" This is what I did at the Dallas Show and I had 5 people tell me this was the ONLY reason they attended the seminar, because of this title. It quick.....it's easy......and it makes money for you....WOW!
I know a TON of us do photo videos and with the Casablanca it can be a little time consuming at times. This is why I use ProShow because of the ease and speed. I may have some goodies to pass out to the attendees after the program. We're working on that now.
Bob and Doug McKenzie from the great white north will be here. They are interesting, exciting and down right crazy.....but you'll be laughing on the floor and screaming your head off when these two idiots are on stage. Don't miss this one believe me!
Chet Davis the "Casablanca Expert" will be doing at least 4 different programs showing us the newest goodies from MacroSystem and programs on how to use several of the newly released software programs for the Casablanca Generation Three machines. Maybe a little about Bogart OS 4 and Arabesk 5 (shh......they're not even out yet )
The Surprise Visitor from MacroSystem will be here Wednesday and Thursday so you don't want to miss this. You've probably never had a chance to meet this gentleman who does all the work in Boulder and is escaping to the MGT for the first time this year. He needs this pleasant vacation away from Boulder so be sure to welcome him and thank him for coming.
"The Video Yard sale and Trade Event"
This is a new feature to let everyone bring along items that they are not using any more. With the big switch to High Definition there are many pieces of equipment that a lot of us aren't using any longer and won't be needing in the future. This Sell and Swap idea will allow us to show off things we don't need......sure....but it also gives the folks who are NOT into high definition right now, a chance to pick up really good and valuable pieces of equipment that they need....and at a great price. If you are driving....bring the goodies with you and know what you want for each piece and we'll have price tags ready for you tag them with.
If you are flying into the Moline, Illinois airport (MLI) just ship them via UPS or FedEx to the Clarion Hotel in care of your name and they'll be waiting for you when you arrive. If you are in business you have probably depreciated them down to practically nothing by now already and this will be a great way to give someone else a chance to get some benefit out of your old goodies.
"There are a couple more things in the works for this year and I'll be sure to announce them when the plans are complete. Be sure to print out your registration forms back to back so there is only one sheet to mail to me.
Add your serial numbers of your Cassies in the proper line on the form so you'll be ready to take advantage of the 20% off sale on all Cassie software during the MGT. Then get the filled in forms mailed to me before January 31st or the discount goes away on February 1, 2011 (registration info & forms here)
Remember, I'm always very happy to accept the full price when procrastination is your path to stardom. "
Jim Meeker
"The Old Timer"
Founder Of The March Get Together For Casablanca Users
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