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MagicCoach  - 
Helping you grow your Magic Business
from the Desk of Timothy Hyde
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Easter!!

As always at the Hyde household it's fairly hectic.

What was going to be my last cruise for the year turned into quite an adventure
Halfway through the segment, from Brisbane to Darwin, I was invited to fly to join a different
ship immediately I disembarked. A quick check of consumables, clothes, timing etc
and I said yes, on one condition. They got me back to Sydney by a certain date and time
to fulfil some corporate engagements.

After much back and forth, on very expensive ship board emails, it was locked in.
So, from Darwin in Australia's north, I flew to Singapore, had a 7 hour wait and
then flew to Doha. Yep, the Persian Gulf!  (I had to look it up too.)

Now this is a place. The duty free shop doesn't just sell watches and perfume,
there was a nice range of Mercedes Benz as well.

From Doha, onto Muscat in Oman, the most amazing harbour, where I was to board
my ship the next day.  From Muscat we sailed on an exotic cruise of the Gulf,
visiting such ports as -Abu Dhabi, Khasab, Kish Island Iran, Fujairah and Bahrain.
I've put a few photos up on my blog. A totally bizarre adventure.

http://timothyhyde.typepad.com

Well, they did get me back on time, but no direct Dubai-Sydney flight for me.
Finding the cheapest possible connections, my friendly clients sent me -
Dubai-Mumbai-Bangkok-Hong Kong-Sydney. Somewhat exhausted on my return!
Lynda was there to greet me at 7 am with a new set of clothes. Quick shower at the Airport
and we flew to Melbourne to work with an interesting new client.
Back to Sydney the next day, to work with the local branch
and finally home late that night.

Tired yes, excited yes.
As I say to people almost every week, it's why I love my work so much,
every week is different and you never know where it will take you!

And you should have seen the faces of my friends when I gave them their gifts
of  Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Well what else does one bring home from the East.

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LECTURES

I get asked from time to time if I have any lectures coming up.
Well, it's not something I pursue, I'd rather do it, than talk about it!
However I've just given a lecture on "The Art of of the MC"
at the National Speakers Association of Australia Conference and hope to either be able
to offer this as a recording / transcript or mini  ebook  in the future.

I've also been invited to both lecture and perform at the PEA annual convention
"Meeting of the Minds"  in San Jose in June. This will be my 5th visit and look forward
to seeing some of you there.

Part of this lecture will be on the current state of the Cruise Market.
Here's a few notes, questions and resources that may be of use to you.

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CRUISING NOTES

Don't think of Cruising as just one "Market."
There are many subsections and you need to position yourself differently for each.
Most Agents focus on specific niche areas.
Do you know which Cruise Lines are - Ultra Luxury, Luxury, Major, Mass Market ?

Big Ships and Small Ships - Do you want to perform to 300 or 3,000.

Time. Do you have 90 - 110 minutes of strong material?
And more importantly... 3 openers and 3 closers?

Don't do it till you're ready. You really need to have the goods
before you approach the Cruise Industry. You can't just practice up material
in your cabin for your second or third show!

Social Skills / Dress
Do you understand the different Dress Codes required on ships?
Casual, Informal, Formal. Have you got the gear?

In a world of generic Magicians and Generic Mentalists, how
will you stand out from the crowd?

The stage that moves! Do you use audience participation?
What will you do if it's too rough to get anyone up to help you onstage
but you still need to do a show?

CRUISING RESOURCES

http://www.achieving.com.au/MC100.htm    Our own resource book. A few cruising articles.

http://www.fredbecker.com/cruise_ship_entertainment.htm    Great resource page from Fred Becker.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/     General info site on the whole industry. Great articles.

http://www.oceanweather.com/data/index.html    How big are the waves!

http://www.cruiseshipentertainment.com/ I have not seen their CDRom, but plenty of info on the site

http://redbirdstudio.com/AWOL/CruiseShipAgencies.html Fairly comprehensive listing of Cruise Agents.

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The Archive collection of MagicCoach and our Masterclass series
are all available for instant download via the link below.

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MagicCoach Resources & Unique Products

Timothy Hyde Entertainment Resource Site
http://www.achieving.com.au/Illusion.htm

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