2011 IBM Convention In Review

The 2011 International Brotherhood of Magicians Convention in Dallas, Texas kicked off with convention chairmen David Sandy and Roger Miller announcing Dallas as the “Reinvention Convention”. What does that mean, what were they re-inventing, and did they pull it off?

The Opening Ceremonies began with something a bit unique: a drumline. The drummers came in the back and took the stage, and gave the audience a quick burst of energy. What the audience was never told was that this drumline was none other than the Dallas Mavericks Drumline, something that might have bought a bit of forgiveness for the drumline having played so long.

Taking the stage next was T Texas Terry, a truly larger than life cowboy who demonstrated some authentic cowboy roping tricks (not to be confused with the rope tricks magicians think of) and Terry led into David and Roger taking the stage and introducing the convention. After what seemed like forever, and with the wall behind them opening up into the Dealer’s Room, the chairmen declared the convention started.

Now, one of the new things that the “Reinvention Convention” had reinvented was the special interest group or SIG.  The 2011 convention had a selection of 16 SIG’s available for convention goers from Performing for Children to Cruise Ship Secrets to Newspaper Magic taught by none other than Gene Anderson himself.

The problem with sixteen special interest groups was that you could only attend four. So if you wanted to see Michael Ammar, Gene Anderson, Shawn Farquhar, Jon Armstrong, and Gay Blackstone? Sorry, out of luck. And with so many great SIG’s to attend, it felt like you were giving up 75% of your $300-$400 convention registration.

Another big change to the convention was that the big shows such as the Opening Gala and the Gold Medal Competition were held at the Majestic Theater and open to the public. The Majestic is an amazing theater complete with red velvet seats and beautiful architecture and gave the shows a professional grandeur that made the show really pop. Some of the performers even went on local television to promote the shows.

One of the shows that was open to the public was the IBM Gold Medal Contest. The preliminaries were hosted in the stage that was set up in the hotel, but the finals were held at the Majestic. The IBM Gold Cups Contest on the other had was crammed into a few rooms in the back of the hotel. Another thing setting the Medal apart from the Cups was that the Cups Contest was scheduled at the same time as the second sets of the SIG’s. Now you’ve missed 75% of the SIG’s and the Cups preliminaries.

The Medal prelims, on the other hand, had it’s own slot on the schedule. The last thing that really made the Cups feel like the bastard child of the convention was that the finals, while having it’s own schedule slot, were held in the same overcrowded rooms the prelims were held and most people couldn’t see any of the magic that the contestants were doing. Most  just had to assume that magic was happening.

The ‘Fab Four’ was another way that this convention set itself apart. When you register, your convention badge sported something new: a colored dot. That dot determined which of the ‘Fab Four’ shows you would attend each day: either Max Maven’s “Know Show”, Dana Daniels “No Show”, the Sensational Seven Close-Up show, or the YMX show. This color-coded schedule system helped to ensure that there were enough seats for everyone to see each of the four shows.

Speaking of these shows, one should stand out: the YMX show. The YMX or Young Magician’s Experience, featured young performers doing their acts on a professional stage complete with professional light and sound support and a backstage crew. Among the performers there was former youth stage winner David Anthony, the fantastic magic of Mario Seki, and the world’s youngest escape artist Calin Diamond.

So, were the changes that David and Roger instituted for the better? Did they work? Even with some huge scheduling conflicts and the feeling that a lot of your money was going to things you couldn’t go to even if you wanted to, the IBM 2011 convention was a good convention. The special interest groups were fantastic and the color-coding helped with overcrowding problem, and having a whole show dedicated to young performers (not to mention MYI specific events) was great. Hopefully future convention chairs will look to this convention and improve upon what David and Roger have started.

What did you think of the convention? Love the changes? Hate the changes? Something I missed? Leave it in the comments!