Tag Archives: Soul Of Miami

Art Basel Is Coming

Posted on November 26, 2013 | 1 comment

Can you believe it? I am certainly not ready. Art Basel Miami Beach 2013, the biggest art week of the year, with dozens of huge art fairs, and hundreds of shows, parties, exhibitions and events, starts in just a few days! That is why I am a day late on this edition of the #SMCSFblog challenge. I have been hard at work on our Soul Of Miami Art Basel Roundup.

Of course, the ironic part is that, for the first time ever, Soul Of Miami will not be covering the official @ArtBasel. For the first time since event before the start of our site, we were not granted media credentials. We have promoted this show since their second year (our first year in Miami), but this year, they did not find Soul Of Miami to be “arty” enough.

In any case, there is way too much to do that week, anyway. Be sure to check out our massive Soul Of Miami Art Basel Guide. We do our best to include all the events, but even we miss a few. Also, start your #ArtBasel week off at the Life Is Art Award and Art Basel Welcome Party on December 2! Only $20 for tons of eventainment, food and drinks!

#SMCSFblog 25/30
070316 Miami JAM at MAM 001 REFLECTIONS

1 Comment

Posted in Writings

Tagged , , ,

Art Basel Killed January in Miami

Posted on November 8, 2013 | 2 comments

I think this will come as a surprise to many people.

As host of one of the most popular calendar / event websites in South Florida, Soul Of Miami, we have a fairly unique barometer of the activity of the local residents. We can see how active everyone is by the rise and fall of our traffic. We also can see how busy the scene is by the number of events listed each month.

When we look at our numbers to see the slowest month, many people would guess August or September because they are the height of summer and supposedly the slowest months of the “off-season” in Miami. But, the fact is that January is our slowest month, in terms of visitors. There are still approximately the same number of events in January as other months, just fewer people looking for them.

Going into January, we have Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving, followed by Art Basel, followed by Christmas, followed by New Year’s Eve. There are other big events thrown in there like Miami Book Fair. No wonder everyone is tired by January!

So, how about our busiest month? Again, a surprise. You would think it would be November/December, as everyone is coming in for Art Basel, and we have an excellent roundup of the happenings. But, it is actually October.

In this, we can see an opportunity. Everyone is looking for haunted houses. By far, our most-visited page that month, or any month, is the International Mall House of Horrors. Miami has a significant lack of haunted houses, as compared to other similarly sized cities. But, this is something the residents obviously want. There are a couple more that have popped up, but still very few.

So, there is a little Soul Of Miami resident analytics for you. Do with it what you will.
070325 WMC 2007 Sunday Miami Beach Surfcomber Hotel Radio One 002

8/30 #SMCSFblog challenge

2 Comments

Posted in Art, Writings

Tagged , , , ,

Time To Go 11/1/13

Posted on November 1, 2013 | 5 comments

Time To Go

For the past nine years, as most of you do not know, I have worked a full-time job, in addition to Soul Of Miami, Life Is Art, and PhilanthroFest. Most people I meet think I actually work full time for Soul Of Miami OR Life Is Art OR PhilanthroFest, depending on what context in which I meet them. But, the fact is, those have all been off-time gigs, while I worked mostly full-time at Henry Stone Music. Some of you have come to know this, but I know for many of you, it will be a surprise.

So this is the big announcement:

Now, as of today, November 1st, 2013, I am working for my own projects full-time.

I have stepped down from my full-time gig at Henry Stone Music to pursue my own destiny. Working for Henry Stone has been a fantastically educational experience. He has been in the music business in Miami for over 65 years. His depth and breadth of knowledge of both the business and city is amazing. I will still be working with them on an as-needed contract basis. And, Life Is Art is still the fiscal sponsor for Beacon Films production of Rock Your Baby the documentary film in development of Henry Stone’s life in the music business that changed the world. We are very excited to see that finished soon.

But, now it is time to go. Time to get going on our own projects, some of which have already been started, some of which we have yet to create. We have spent the last five years building our network and reputation. We built a very popular website, we have created over 60 events, including PhilanthroFest, we have introduced hundreds of artists to thousands of new fans, and provided them with some education to help them take advantage of their talent. We plan to continue to build on that success and really “take it to the next level.”

(You’ll notice I continue to use the word “we” instead of “I.” That is because I am nothing without my team, especially my partner Annette Peikert, and everyone who has joined with me in our common mission of making the world a better place.)

Someone said to me yesterday, “I always thought you did this full time [Life Is Art / Soul Of Miami / PhilanthroFest]. Now that you ARE actually doing it full time, I can’t imagine how great it will be!” Honestly, that is how I feel. And that is one of the primary motivators for me to take this step. I look back at all we have accomplished utilizing our spare time during the weeknights and weekends, and I can look forward to being able to accomplish so much more now that I can dedicate my full time to it.

Yes, it is a risk. Yes, I wish we were better prepared. Yes, I wish we had more regular revenue. But. At some point, you just have to go for it. We have finally gotten into the position where now is the time, this is the place.

So.

Who is ready?

Because.

It is.

Time to go.

071207 Art Basel 07 Friday Seafair Miami Beach 001 INDUSTRIOUS

5 Comments

Posted in Writings

Tagged , , , , ,