Coming Up For Air... Post APCA Houston

So Chris Valenti and I flew to Houston last weekend for our first college showcase.

"But Phil... It's Wednesday... What took you so long to blog about this?"

Well, my energy was shot and my nose to the grindstone for the last two days. That conference was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences I've had in a long time. Good and positive, but difficult.

We performed three times, once for our showcase in front of 200 or so people. Two other times in the "illegal showcase" after hours. Mostly for head buyers and agents there.

We spent quite a few hours in our booth doling out specially made "Romantically Dysfunctional" T-shirts, DVDs, CDs, and whatever else we could come us with.

Fun fact: Chris's best way to get people into the booth to play our dart game was to yell at a passerby "Hey, wanna play darts?" And then throw a dart at them. No worries, they're the magnetic kind. :)

So after spending hours getting to know tons of great college students and buyers we end up in the co-op session where the actual bookings take place. They go through each of the acts in alphabetical order. Your heart really starts pounding as your name comes up, let me tell you! So here comes our name, and we're just praying that someone throws a yellow interest form in the air. And...... please.. please... please...... ONE! At least we weren't shut out in the first session.

That one interest form gave us the push to get 3 more by the next session. And we've got interest from 3 other schools to talk to yet. So, it looks like the Battle will be heading back for shows in Texas and Louisiana as soon as February.

And now, it's all in the followup. So we've spent the last two days on the phone and computer establishing the relationships we'll need to get this phase of touring working.

There's nothing like being tossed into a room of 300 people that have no idea who you are, and trying to make them understand your art and like you as a person in 3 days. It's exhilarating and mentally taxing. I was a wreck by Saturday night.

But it's only the beginning, so I better get used to it. Two more conferences coming up in March! :)

Phil Johnson
www.RoadsideAttraction.com
www.DysfunctionalRomantics.com