It’s time for more advice from Rikki Adams, a man who works with celebrities at conventions fulltime. I’ll just leave it all in his words.
Advice for speakers-
- Don’t be afraid to go off script and engage the audience.
- A lot of moderators have no clue who you are and will ask questions based on internet searches.
- Many times the fans will have better questions, and they love to be able to ask you questions in front of an audience.
- If you need some tips, catch Michael Rooker’s panel. He normally just picks up the Mic and walks through the crowed answering their questions. It’s pretty entertaining.
For anyone who’s not familiar with Michael Rooker, he’s a well-established actor who played in Guardians of the Galaxy, The Walking Dead, and other roles. For a link to a popular Michael Rooker panel to see him in action, click HERE.
Advice for promoters-
- Go to a successful show and watch them.
- Ask the volunteers questions. Take their books and schedules. Learn what they did right and tweak it for your own show.
- The biggest issue I see with new shows is the floor layout. Traffic is not taken into consideration.
- You cannot get an a list actor and stick them behind a column, and you don’t want them near vendors. The line for the actor will block the vendors traffic or vice versa.
- Train your volunteers. I’ve had some assigned to me that could not count, and they would turn into total fanboys anytime an actor walked by. They need to be just as focused no matter who is around.
- Be honest about your market and venue.
- If you live in a small town, only advertise in that town. You cannot expect 60,000 people to walk through the door.
- If you can only afford a $3000 celebrity, then book a $3000 celebrity. I have seen too many promoters book clients that are out of their range.
- If it’s a building year, then it’s ok. But just realize that the fans will not be paying the client fees, you will.
I hope you’re enjoying the interview with Rikki so far. I have one more installment, and it’s all about what he’d do if he were starting a convention from scratch. It’s good advice if you’re just starting out, or if you’re hoping to revitalize one that’s stalled out for growth.
Dr. Redbeard, a guy who’s met Michael Rooker and been extremely impressed with how down-to-earth he is for a big celeb
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This message was written by a team of geeks, nerds, gamers, and Dr. David Powers. You can always find us at www.callsignredbeard.com. Thanks for reading!
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