MBB to Host Entertainment Business Panel Discussion

“The Keys to Success for Performing Artists & Promoters” luncheon is scheduled for Jan. 25, 2016, at Kamehameha Golf Course 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

MBB panelists Michael Elam, Teri Freitas Gorman, Wayne Wong. MBB photo.

Reservations are required and must be made online with MBB.

The event is free; the price of admission will cover the non-sponsored portion of the lunch.

Reservations made before Dec. 31 are $25; $35 after Dec. 31.

Performing artists, promoters and anyone considering a career in the entertainment business are invited to attend.

TOPICS
1. Where arts and creativity meet business and industry.
2. Realistic, sustainable performing arts careers and logistics.
3. Why it isn’t working for you…yet. The personalization and individuality of success.
4. Aligning, defining and reinforcing your band and your brand.
5. Recording, touring, publishing and producing music.
6. Engaging, posting, optimizing and marketing online.
7. Creating and breaking down your business plan or prospectus for investors, donors or labels.
8. Understanding the business of those going into business with you.  

“Performing artists work hard and have little time to re-think the business side of their passion,”said MBB organizer Grace Fung. “Reflecting on their red carpet’s dream, it was more than time to make an event like this one happen.”

Thoughtfully designed for its target audience—including the day of the week and the time of the event—this two-hour sponsored event’s team of presenters will share their experience and knowledge without throwing in “sales pitch” for their own benefit, said Fung. 

“It is all about showering the attendees with really valuable information to take home and use when time urges to,” said Fung.

From Orlando, guest speaker Loren Weisman travels to Maui especially for this event.

From Maui, guest panelists Michael Elam, Teri Freitas Gorman and Wayne Wong will team up with Weisman for a panel discussion.

Music business consultant, speaker and author Weisman assists and consults with independent artists, authors, musicians, businesses, labels and managers to achieve sustainable success in the arts. He also maintains TV productions credits for three major networks, as well as serving as a media consultant for many businesses in and out of the arts and entertainment fields.

Weisman is the author of The Artists Guide to Success in the Music Business and has been commissioned by Wiley and Sons to write Music Business for Dummies. Weisman has seen and stayed up to date with the constant changes in the music industry over the past two decades, as well as keeping up with the pulse and motion of marketing, promotion and social media in today’s world. 

Elam, a singer and keyboard player, first began piano lessons at age 8. His extensive lifetime adventures have brought him to Maui. Since moving here in 2002, he has been involved in a variety of musical projects crossing musical spectrum, including rock, jazz, folk, and R&B/soul. Currently Elam is playing with the eclectic soul/blues/pop/jazz/rock/zydeco Soul Kitchen ensemble, and performs regularly at a variety of locations on Maui.

Gorman is a seasoned communications and community engagement professional with more than two decades of executive experience in the arts. A Maui native, she served as the first director of marketing for the Maui Arts & Cultural Center during the fundraising phase, construction and first two years of operations.

Gorman was recruited in 1997 by New Zealand’s largest performing arts center, the Aotea Centre in Auckland.

In 2000, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, hired her as vice president of external affairs. During her six-year tenure there, she oversaw experiential branding, marketing, public relations, government affairs, new audience development and education.

In 2005 she received the prestigious Brazilian International Press Award for her work with South Florida’s large Brazilian community.

She returned to Maui in 2006 to serve as vice president of corporate communication for the Maui Land & Pineapple Company Inc.

In 2012 she became a guest lecturer and advisor to the graduate-level Janklow Arts Leadership program at Syracuse University in New York.

She is featured in the book, Running Theaters: Best Practices for Leaders & Managers by Duncan Webb.

She is a UCLA graduate and a former Maui commissioner to the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

The Kula resident is self-employed as a community relations advisor and serves as vice president of the Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce.

Wong is a recovering “business technologist” with over 30 years of information technology experience, including several senior management positions during the heyday of the “dot com” era.

As a music producer, Wong enabled and guided artists into commercially viable projects that provide a sustainable living.

His notable accomplishments include the co-founding and establishment of the longest-running live Hawaiian slack key guitar concert series in the state, and four Grammy Awards for “Best Hawaiian Music Album” (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010).

Wong is currently the director of the Maui Small Business Development Center, providing no-cost small business counseling, advice and information on starting, improving operations and expanding a small business.

Wong also conducts small business training events throughout the county.

He holds a master’s degree in business administration (marketing) from the University of Puget Sound.

This event is supported by Da-Lite, SCORE Maui, Maui Small Business Development Center, Hawai’i Brains and the Business Development Center of Maui Economic Opportunity.