Only one person (me) has dared to write a story about a Billy Joel song. Write another and it will populate in this cute little boxy widget

When is the last time you listened to Billy Joel and who or what did you think of? Tell it openly or anonymously at The Stories.

Debuting this year at SXSW Film 2011: The Rise & Rise of The New Pornographers. Keep an eye out for cameos from Jon Wurster, Ted Leo and many others. We especially like that Todd Fancey is played by Esther Crowe, who almost gets the hat just right. She definitely gets an A for Affect in this video, which debuted last week on the Daily Show.

Dean Raissen, Ariel Hyatt, Paul Resnikoff, Greg Estes, Corey Denis, Bryan Calhoun

The New Music Seminar begins tomorrow evening with a party on the heels of Grammy week in Los Angeles, and if the last one in New York City was any indication, the room will be packed.  While I’ve been involved with the seminar since it’s return two and a half years ago, nobody asked me to write this.  The Seminar reaches two distinct audiences (art and business) with engaging programming, which could make the day a bit overwhelming for a first timer. Here are five ways I believe an artist can make the most of NMS.

1. Create a schedule for yourself in advance, which means right now

• Use google calendar or your preferred service and make sure it is feeding to the calendar app you use on your smartphone before you get to the conference
• Read the schedule carefully. Know who each panelist, mentor or speaker is and think of some questions in advance that relate to the topic or their specialty; the questions may not come up, but you will walk into the event prepared just as a student prepares for class

2. Use Social Media to Connect With Other Artists & Attendees: Don’t Forget To Charge Your Phone!

• Check in using the location app of your choice (foursquare, gowalla, facebook places)
• Follow and use hashtags to participate conversations online during the seminar
• Save hash tag searches in Twitter or use twitter “favorites” to keep a log of important tweets you want to remember
• As you find out their twitter handles, follow other attendees & speakers on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or any other social media outlets associated with those people in whom you are interested

3. Industry Schmindustry, Talk to Other Creators

• Spend time connecting with other artists
• Share experiences and contact information with other artists
• Make it a goal to try and meet at least five other artists, exchanging contact information with a plan to reconnect
• If you use Twitter, make it a goal to follow at least 10 other artists on Twitter (who you meet or see on stage at NMS)

4. Do not lug around Demos, Do Lug Around Your Smartphone or Lightweight Laptop

• Leave CDs at home (seriously, leave them all at home)
• Use your smartphone or lightweight laptop to take notes (or your notebook if you prefer paper) (but leave those heavy CDs at home!!)
• You can email people you meet with the link to your music (or your bandcamp promo code)  the minute you meet them, just whip out your phone; the extra time is worth the promo and you aren’t handing out CDs. I know most artists are used to handing out CDs at conferences. Don’t beat yourself up for having done this in the past, start anew, today. Try something new and see if you get a similar or greater return on this method as you do when you give out your free CDs to industry folks at other conferences. Just test it…
• Bring business cards if you have them, hand them out every time you have the urge to hand out a CD
• Arrive at the conference equipped with a place to put everything you will collect at the conference: CDs from people who didn’t read this post, your note taking device, pamphlets, Chatchkes from sponsors, and (most importantly) all the business cards you will collect in kind.
• Bring your phone charger
• If you do not have a smartphone, collect email addresses in your notebook & reach out to everyone you meet at the conference with links to your music via email after the conference
• Remember to keep follow up emails short & concise

5. Enjoy Yourself!  Go To The Shows!

• Everyone is there for the music and the business – so don’t forget about the music!