This blog is now hosted at www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog - As you can expect I am ever evolving and when its time to move its time to move.
Now if you are reading this message in an RSS Reader it would mean that you are not subscribed to my feedburner feed. This means that when I change feeds you would not have a seamless transition and you will have to subscribe to - http://feeds2.feedburner.com/coreykgraham.
Subscribe to my feedburner feed! It helps me to know who is reading which is certainly a motivation to keep writing.
This move is going to be a pretty silent one, no big splash.
I am not sure if you heard as yet, just over a week ago Band Leader Brian Mc Farlane owned the front page of every newspaper in the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Oh, and it was not on a weekday. It was on Sunday! Yup! The prime time spot. No, he did not just get that placement because he is the two-time winner of the "Band of the Year" title in Trinidad Carnival. Nor did he purchase front page advertising in all the newspapers. Hmm, now there is a thought. Boi would I love to be able to have the kind of money! Can you imagine that purchasing that kind of advertising over the counter. Lol. (Corey Graham 2.0 stops and looks into his wallet imagining)
Right focus boi and write the blog post! Ok from Dreamland...
I was making the point that he was able to accomplish this feet by being REMARKABLE ...worth making a REMARK about. Seriously, the man asked the media to be ready for pick up at 5:30 am on Saturday morning! Power to them! Maybe my team and I could have gone there after covering something exciting on the Friday night. I am not sure how the logistics of getting out of bed at the time would work out. lol.
Anyways the media who did make it had no clue where they were going to end up! They only knew they were getting on a shuttle to be driven to the location for the presentation... "Up in de bush" (forested location).Yup, I am sure the media were a little surprised by that. Brian Mc Farlane launched his band in the middle of nowhere! To add to the story...Lets stop here for a minute. Notice who is the story teller here. Brian is. Not the journalist. This man was "making news" I was saying...To add to his story, 50 dancers, singers and drummers came forth from the forest to present 19 costumes to the 25 journalists on hand. Thatis howBrian Mc Farlane's Trinidad Carnival 2009 Presentation Africa : Her People, Her Glory, Her Tears.
Here are some video clips I found on youtube of the launch.
Yes Judette, Its my pleasure to pitch and give you some "free" publicity for the great work. (send my mango in fed ex! thanks alot!)
Seriously, though its a great story to tell not just on pages 1 and 2 of the daily newspapers, but its also a story worth blogging about, worth sending to friends in email and worth being the topic of a worthwhile conversation! a.k.a. Word of Mouth the best kinda of marketing there is.
So do you anything as exciting in your marketing/promotion plan?
Bring out the food and drinks to this nice cocktail party on my blog. This is the time for the Beta launch of another Corey Graham 2.0 innovation. Its an invitation only launch party. Lots of important and influencial people attending. These are my blog subscribers. Also appreciating the value of your time I am going to keep this launch within 5 mins. So let's get started.
Meet and Greet and Getting seated (1 sec) Most of you are already sitting
Opening Remarks - (2 sec)
Hi
History Behind this Moment - (2 mins)
The Caribbean Entertainment Search started out as a personal tool which I developed to make my job easier. Its really a personal tool that I created around Trinidad Carnival time (February 2008). The list of websites to check for the info I wanted was getting a little long. I am good an google search but it was a bit annoying when searching for certian thing especially names of people in the Caribbean entertainment world. It was a bit of a pain sometimes to find some info you wanted quickly. Accomodation, car rentals, music producers, artiste managers etc. were definately not always the easiest thing to find. I used the Google Custom Search to tweak my search results so that I could see all the things I really want to see, in a single search.
After a little testing, it proved to be worth its salt from there I essentially built my own personal Caribbean Entertainment Search Engine. I only shared it with a few people who might ask for my help to find Caribbean Entertainment related info.
These ranged from people in the entertainment business to persons planning trips to Carnivals and other Festivals. One person who I gave the site to contacted me about a week ago ranting and raving about how useful the search was. It was then it hit me that I should share this search engine with other people wanting to find Caribbean Entertainment Information.
After all it will be one of the things which could go a long way in creating a more tangible Caribbean Entertainment Community, by allowing people to find the relavant information more readily.
Feature Presentation (1 mins)
It took some time to package up, and it not perfect however its a useful tool. And
I am constantly refining.
I would like to thank you for attending this launch. I hope that My Caribbean Entertainment Search make life easier for you. I would like to also thank Out Of The Box Thinking for their continued support of my blog and different initiatives.
Thank you for coming see you at another of Launch Event before 2009! I just know there is going to be some other idea.
Corey Graham 2.0
http://www.coreykgraham.com/blog
http://mobile.coreykgraham.com
I thought this was an interesting twist, this is definately an
example of out of the box marketing. The video i simply hilarious. It's
was interesting way to market Centaur Promotions April Fest Party in
Trinidad. Gallery on BoomTribe.com by the BoomTribe photographer Jannika Clarke.
The thing about it though is that this video was
done AFTER the party was gone, I am not sure if the promoter was
directly affiliated with the video and if it was a part of his over all
marketing plan, but alot of the time I talk to people about marketing
they want to be perfectionist. They want the perfect flyers, perfect
this and perfect that.
I am wondering if perfection in the Caribbean Entertainment business isn't measured by having the right product ready AND at the right time?
Perfect product at a bad time means a missed opportunity right?
Anyways enjoy the videos! I love them!
Featuring Monga, Muvado and T EYE!!!!
Big up Centaur Promotions on their follow up event Final Chapter this month!
It has come to my attention that there is going to be a new option available for those of you planning to vacation in the Caribbean this summer.
A grouping of Caribbean Tourism ministers, some of the major cruise liners along tour operators in the world have come together to offer cruises this summer which will see the packaging the summer festivals of the Caribbean into a range of cruises.
Caribbean Summer Festivals of Interest
Vincy Mas - St. Vincent & the Grenadines
St. Lucia Carnival - St. Lucia
Crop Over - Barbados
ATI - Jamaica
Great Fete - Trinidad and Tobago
Antigua Carnival - Antigua
Reggae Sumfest - Jamaica
Spice Mas - Grenada
Yes, yes I couldn't believe it!
Can you imagine that?
Ok let me paint a picture for you....
After parading in the Streets of Kingstown for Vincy Mas with the music of Zoelah, Jamesey P, Skinny Fabulous and crew. You stumble to your 'hotel room' on a cruise liner and the next morning you step out into Castries with car pasing blairing the sounds of Ricky T, Kakal and Alpha. Hitting the road for J'Ouvert and Pretty Mas with the bands Just 4 Fun and Red International.
The next stop is to the Soca Bowl (Soca Monarch) on the East Coast Road in Barbados climaxing on Kadooment day with the sounds of Hypa Daug, Krosfyah and Alison Hinds. Down behind the Baje International or Power By 4 music truck.....
I think you get the picture.
Alrite, now let me make your blood boil now (esp. The Yankees DEM). This cruise will have what they call the "Premium Carnival Experience".
No, no! this is not just getting VIP tickets to the major events. I am talking about no hassles.
No calling 10 people to secure tickets for your crew for the fetes.
No saving scalpers numbers in your phone. And paying a lot more money for your tickets just cause you have a foreign accent.
No getting lost for an hour of your valueable liming/party time.
What about your costumes? Ladies do I really, really need to get into the mis match horror stories. Many of you know about jumping and not looking your best!
The Premium Carnival Experience
All passengers on the cruise will never have to touch a single event ticket!!!! Ever!
Every passenger will be banded once they get on the bus, wait let me re-phrase that! When the fully air conditioned coach arrives at the venue each passenger will be banded and will enter the fete in a special line. No lines and no designated drivers or navigators needed! Sorry!!! For you who look forward to being awarded that responsibility.
As far as Playin' Mas goes....Mas Bands, will be invited on board the cruise ship to deliver costumes and to ensure passengers are 'road worthy'.
Where did this all start?
Apparently this idea came up
during talks regarding ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 held in the Caribbean....
....It came back to the basic rule all major promoters know. Its better to build up an annual event over time than run after a one time opportunistic events. The risk is just so much larger.....
So why just stop at cricket?
It didn't turn out so good but some of the Cricket World Cup discarded partying ideas made it into the Summer Festivals and did pretty well in that forum.
This was the first indication that this idea has something to it.
Ok look lets at it
tourism ministries and tour operators will now have a product with tremendous credibility and appeal to many more persons. No Hassles, less unknowns, no local connections needed.
festivals will grow, with some cruise ships with a capacity of approx 3000 people, that is 3000 more people to experience the festival...
Ok let me put to you like this way. If you put together the largest mas bands in Crop Over and St. Lucia mas you cannot fill 1 cruise ship!
Cruise ships companies can now add another package to their current offering.
Mas Bands and Promoters would have confirmed sales from much earlier and so they can invest more into producing a quality show and costumes.
lots of other small businesses will benefit from the increased visitors on the island.
I understand that the details of the package still need to be worked out. However, the initial market research indicates that these cruise packages are expected to attract alot students, graduates and young professionals who have very few responsibilities.(e.g. children, Mortages etc).
Marketing Campaigns will be directed to the universities in the caribbean (UWI, SGU, etc). Also those in the diaspora McGill, York, Toronto, CUNY, Miami International, Howard and a few more.
Its also expected to have a good response from the groups of Stella's out there looking to get their groove back on! Lol. And of course a good wine or wuk-up!
My take on it is that it will be a tremendous benefit to the economies of the Caribbean esp. the 'Carnival Nations'.
Now for those news reporters reading this, let me save you a call or email by giving you a quote now.
'Its a paradigm shift in tourism in the caribbean. Its a very innovative and very creative product which is well positioned to grow rapidly in the coming years. It embraces the new trend of cruising and carnivals worldwide, while leveraging the close proximity of isles of the Caribbean and the similarities of the cultures along with the great diversities in the cultures. You couldn't want it Better than that!' Said Corey Graham 2.0
'Also of course it is April Fools day and I just got you!'Laughed Corey Graham 2.0
Or did I really get you?
Is this not an inevitable step?
Maybe its just a conversation we have not got into as yet as a Caribbean Community.
I have started it here on my Blog. Now my question to you is .....
Will you join me in this conversation?
I made a step to go into entertainment full time last year after I returned home from my pilgrimage to Trinidad Carnival 2007. Trinidad was where it all started for me in entertainment along with exploring my creative side much more deeply.
My launch into entertainment as a career, or should I say a "source of income" became official on Sunday Feb 2nd 2003 via a fete called Bikini Wrap, poolside the Ambassador Hotel in Maraval. This event was the very first event by my new company Drenalin Productions. It was to launch Drenalin Productions and generate some cash. It didnt quite work out the way i hoped financially, but it certainly announced Drenalin Productions. The biggest memory from that event was Rupee performing for my patrons and bigging me right thought is performance. Now that definately created alot of word of mouth for Drenalin Productions.
Faster than I could realise I was into lots and lots of things, from Dance Theatre Committee to Nite Club Committees - Club Coconuts Committee, Base Committee. The next year I had Fire Brigade - A Drenalin Productions & UWI Dance Theatre - Campus Carnival Band 2004 (UWI St. Augustine) ..... dare i say the first private entity to have a Campus Carnival Band. This was a follow up to a very successful Tropical Storm Fete.
I had some good hits but I also had alot of misses too. Most of all there was tremendous amount of learning to be had.
I moved back to Barbados, my homeland, where I was faced with a bit of blatant irony. After being able to carve out a little space in the entertainment scene in Trinidad, I was back in my homeland as an unknown on the entertainment scene... and with a few major personal challenges to overcome. I moved from having a constant ringing phone to having no calls coming in at all.
I was slightly amused by all this, but somehow I felt positive about it. I think I was a bit glad to be out of the hot seat. I was glad for the time to think clearly. It was a period in my life I called "research and study". And Very appropraitely so. The next 2 years I took the time to seek to understand all the reasons for the misses I had so far. I took some time to interview some of the successful persons in the Entertainment business that I knew for Drenalin Productions website. Those interviews offered tremendous insight to me and lead me to find answers to many of my questions. Some of the people I interviewed were Rupee, Signal 2 Noise, Blood, Mikey of Krosfyah, Richard Haynes of Baje International and DJ Malcolm X. Also with an equal quest to learn more, was a very good friend Richard Weekes who conducted most of these interviews with me.
During this time I met Ryan Davis of Alt Ententertainment Inc., the parent company of BoomTribe at a networking club that Richard and I had formed. We would meet up pretty often and talk and exchange ideas on various topics, alot of them either falling under Business and or Entertainment. Ryan found out about my love for photography and offered me to be a photographer for the BoomTribe section on Kadooment Day. Yip, just like that I was the Official Photographer for the BoomTribe section "African" of Baje International presentation Crop Over 2005 Band. View the Gallery here.
I definately was not complaining about that!! Actually that day I grew to appreciate Mas alot more.
A few months later I accepted the offer to be part time with BoomTribe Mobile and TxT Pay as the Marketing manager. This was in the world of mobile technology, ringtones, wallpapers, games and more. A few months into it we realised we needed to put that on hold for a bit. It was during this that I took some initiative just to every fete i could with my camera snapping up a storm. I like photography, meeting people and entertainment that was the perfect Threesome for me. In a few months things started to happen for the website, we took a trip down to Grenada for a Christmas Eve fete. That Ole Year's night 2006 covered 3 parties Desire, Selacious and Vahalla. I had a blast the next big assignment brings us right back to where i started this blog at TT Carnival 2007!!! When I returned to Barbados I was .... "Ready to Flyyyy" inspired by Machel Montano's tune "Higher Than High".
I took the step to a higher level when I made the decison to work full time in entertainment under Alt Entertainment Inc. as the Web Content Marketing Manager for BoomTribe.com.
From the first day I was way more energised to do more and learn more about myself and entertainment. My creativity was going wild. Ideas were my Red Bulls.
For example, I taught myself some of video editing so that I could do some editing to the video I had taken of Trinidad Carnival. One of the first clips I made was of Machel Montano HD performing at UWI Splash at in Trinidad Carnival 2007. Taking that fete to a Higher Level.
During the year I also got introduced to the idea of new media marketing or social network marketing. I got a chance to experience St. Lucia Carnival 2007, (let me point out that I called Ricky T's "Pressure Boom" as a mega hit. If you don't believe me talk to DJ Hoodini.) I also got into some project management and scheduling. Also planning and leadership, trend spotting and business development. I started the transition to using GTD, reading rss appreciating blogging and it place in the world. Learnt alot more about the behind the scenes of the industry.
I must say its been a very very interesting and eye opening first year in Caribbean Entertainment and also learning more about the Internet, technology and of course, Blackberry. ahahahaha. Anyone that knows me knows I love my blackberry. lol. Seriously though with the internet and technology Alt Entertainment and myself have switched to a situation where I can work from anywhere in the world on any computer with a good internet connection.
Hence, Corey Graham 2.0 More Connected - More Integrated.
As I look forward to a new year in entertainment, our Soca Nurse captured it when she wrote on my facebook wall ..
"Happy Anniversary Corey. You've accomplished so much in your one year.
Looking forward to seeing what new levels you'll reach as you continue
to carve out at a career for yourself in the entertainment world.
Congrats!!!"
Thanks Karen. I am glad to have met good people like you! .... I know you didn't pay but here is your plug. Sorry was looking for a photo to go with it
So I have gone into realm of 2.0 and into year number 2 in entertainment. I want to focus this year on having a plan and planning better, the dollars and sense of it all. and to invest more time in Self Expression. I realised this important, losing my camera over the last year, I realised that it is that form of self expression I missed most.
This blog is definately the solution for that. I am planning to grow as it grows!
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the Ambassador Hotel in Maraval. This event was the very first event by my new company Drenalin Productions. It was to launch Drenalin Productions and generate some cash. It didnt quite work out the way i hoped financially, but it certainly announced Drenalin Productions. The biggest memory from that event was 
Committee to Nite Club Committees - Club Coconuts Committee, Base Committee. The next year I had 
reasons for the misses I had so far. I took some time to interview some of the successful persons in the Entertainment business that I knew for Drenalin Productions website. Those interviews offered tremendous insight to me and lead me to find answers to many of my questions. Some of the people I interviewed were 
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