Brother, Can You Spare $10,000?

[W3WN]

(Or, the reason I missed the bulk of the ARRL DX Contest weekend)

Just got back from downtown a few minutes ago. Jessie performed in another talent competition... now granted I'm prejuduced, but she smoked the other singers hands down... and then came the hard part.

The competition was sponsored by a talent agency, John Robert Powers, and because she did so well, she was invited to perform at their national show, something called iPOP, which is held in Los Angeles in July and January every year.

I've heard this one before... namely, ConventionEXPO sponsored by MTM & John Casablanca Modeling Agency, which is why we were in Dallas last June (when I should have been at Field Day)

The cost for this one... including the hotel (but not air transport or food or other essentials)... is a lot higher. $4900 for Jess, plus an additional $500 for each category she competes or is showcased in (and she'd want two, singing and acting). $1900 for one parent accompanying. $1500 for the other.

To make a long story short, to pull this one off, we'd need about $10,000.

They would take a $1000 deposit (how nice). Then regular payments for the next few months -- if we went in July. Next January, the price may go up, as much as another $2000. [At least with EXPO, once we made the downpayment, it was up to us to get the rest paid by their deadline... how we did it was up to us] Oh, did I mention that if we didn't pay in full today, but made payments, there'd be an additional fee of 21% on the balance?

I said no. Took a little convincing of the wife and Jessie, but we just plain don't have the money.

I think I dodged a bullet here.

We must not have been the only ones... there were about 3 dozen other families that were also invited, by the time we left, only about 6 were doing it; most of the rest walked out when the realization of the full costs hit them.

Now, the organizers were understanding about it. Jessie can still go in January if she wants to, since she's "qualified". We're not committed until we put down the deposit... nor is there a guaranteed spot for the same reason. But, she thinks she can raise the money this summer... we'll see.

So out of idle curiousity, has anyone heard of iPOP? I don't know if this is legit, or if it's just a scam to separate talented kids' parents from their cash...

[ab1ga]

I haven't, but I'd be certain WB2WIK would; he lives in LA, and his family seems to be plugged into the entertainment industry there. You might be able to send him an email while minimizing your QRZ cross-section.

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

$10k, to do what?
http://www.ripoffreport.com/modeling-talent-agencies/ipop-international-p/ipop-international-presenta-6cb3g.htm
I know people in the show business and everyone says the same thing, why?
If you want to to singing or acting, attend an open session and see where it takes you.
Audition, but also get good at it.
This? nifty, but you can do the exact same thing, for next to nothing.
Do some audition tapes and send them out, not as a lead singer but as a backup.
Commercial jingles, fill-in band, promotions, that type of thing.
If she is any good at all she can get some gigs.
In the political campaign singers who can follow both the song and a script are needed.
A little girl or something nice, can get the attention.
Volunteer at whatever sports team will have her, the more exposure the better, but NEVER overextend yourself or her.
If they want team colors uniform, have them provide it, at least a few days beforehand.
Explain to them that you are buying nothing!
I know 2 sisters, both got into modeling.
The older became a Dallas cheerleader, a lot of effort, a big push from her old man.
The younger one went into the industry.
The younger one is now an exec at a very large food company and heads up advertising.
The older one works for T-Mobile in Dallas, in the regional office.
One makes over $80k with full benefits.
The other? who remembers a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader?
One said, NO!, I WANT MONEY!
The other said, 'Sure pop, I will play cheerleader.'
MONEY! it is all about MONEY!

[KC9ECI]

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080804154214AAjUwPI

[W3WN]

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080804154214AAjUwPI
Oh, I'm aware of that one, and a lot of the others online... I was trying to find if anyone had any personal knowledge.

Funny thing, after I made the initial post, I left a message for the agency in TN that had expressed interest. Much to my surprise, the owner called me back a few minutes later, and we had a long chat.

As far as Jessie is concerned, she asked for a recent singing sample, and an updated resume. She'll have those this week.

As far as iPOP goes... well, she didn't say anything BAD, and she mentioned the personally was a graduate from the old JRP Model/Talent school, so she was familiar with them. Reading between the lines, I got the impression that she was underwhelmed (at best) by this event, which is why her agency doesn't attend it.

Now you wouldn't expect a professional in the business to bad-mouth an event, things can come back to haunt them. But when they don't even give it faint praise... yeah, I think we dodged a bullet on this one.

[N9FE]

I wish your young lady the best there, But damn that a big chunk o change

[WØTKX]

She's been noticed in a positive way. Use that for all it's worth even if you don't do the $pendy route. Keep talking to the people that are "inside" and championing your cause, because it sounds like anybody your daughter performs for is impressed.

Maybe HD YouTube videos? Go Viral? :mrgreen:

May she get interesting roles, or at least an excellent gig with the Conan O'Brien band. :mrgreen:

[W4RLR]

If she's as good as you say, her talent will take her places your money will not. Sounds a lot like the beauty pageant racket.

[KC2UGV]

Well, some cursory research shows that it appears legit.

I can understand not having the money for it ($10K is quite a sum). Maybe look into some sponsors? Local business might be apropos to look for sponsorships.

[W3WN]

Well, some cursory research shows that it appears legit.

I can understand not having the money for it ($10K is quite a sum). Maybe look into some sponsors? Local business might be apropos to look for sponsorships.
Thanks Corey. I would call the research inconclusive... some call the agency & the iPOP event legit, some call them scams, some are OK with one but not the other. JRP is also a franchise operation these days (as happened with John Casablanca), so some of the franchisees are more about the kids, and others, well, are the ones that are getting exposes written about them.

And I am going to contact 'WIK and a few other west coast hams that I know, to see what they know being closer to the scene.

There ARE a lot of scams out there that want to separate parents from their money, all dangling fame & fortune for their kids in front of them. One would have to be a fool to NOT have their eyes open. I'd like to think that occasionally at least, I'm not a fool. (Let's not discuss the first wife, though :evil:). My wife, and I love her dearly, has her focus on the glitter & glamour... and isn't seeing the man behind the curtain. So I have to be cautious.

The outfit in TN asked us to send them an updated singing sample. We're going to record something this week. I will post it on YouTube and let you guys know. There will likely be more than one... they asked that she sing her best songs, but NOT submit a "pop" song that is too familiar. So we may do a few "show" tunes from some of the plays she's been in lately, and then add something more mainstream. We'll see.

[KC2UGV]

Well, the only reason I would think it's legit is that agencies like Wilemina do go to it. However, there are less expensive ways to get into agencies like that's file (Whether or not they are as effective or more so, or whatever is debatable).

[W3WN]

Well, the only reason I would think it's legit is that agencies like Wilemina do go to it. However, there are less expensive ways to get into agencies like that's file (Whether or not they are as effective or more so, or whatever is debatable).You see the finer points of my concern, then.

It's easy for an agency to send someone to one of these events... especially when it's in a city where they have an office. From that standpoint, it may be legit. It's the costs that they charge these families to put on these events... trust me, they're not losing any money on it.

For example, ConventionEXPO (where we went last June) in Dallas cost us a grand total around $4200. That's everything... registration fee, round trip airfare, hotel, pictures and other sundry items. Of that, the plane tickets were about $1000 (for three round trips) and the hotel about $700 for 5 days.

The iPOP package includes the hotel fee, so it's hard to break out & do an apple-to-apples comparison. But they told us that if we opted to make our how arrangements (like stay at a different hotel, which they don't recommend, obviously), that would be a "savings" from their fees of $700 per person. Factor in that if one parent goes with their child, the rooms would be "quad occupancy" -- four people to a room. At $700 each. For five nights. That's $2800 "hotel fee" for the 5 days of the event. But... if two parents go, then they family gets the whole room to themselves... so that's $2100. See where the math doesn't add up? (It's also possible that the hotel fee is ONLY part of the performer's cost, NOT part of the parent's cost, but we didn't get that detailed into it)

In any event... I've dropped a note to the only two hams that I know of in that area, WB2WIK/6 (a fellow NJ native) and WA6ITF. I'm hoping that either or even both of them will be kind enough to tell me something, even if it's that they know nothing. What's the worst that can happen? (he asks rhetorically)

[KC2UGV]

Well, you cleared the first hurdle: Convincing the wife and daughter not too expect being able to go :lol:

[W3WN]

Well, you cleared the first hurdle: Convincing the wife and daughter not too expect being able to go :lol:
... in July. They still want to go to the next one in January.

Funny thing... the guy making the sales pitch was asked by someone else about going in January. He said something on the lines of that most of those who put off going never go. Now, if that's true (and not part of the hard-sell arm twisting), could it be because once they did some investigating, they didn't like what they found out?

[W3WN]

Got an email back from Steve WB2WIK already. Short story is, he's never heard of iPOP. But it sounds to him like one of many other similar events that goes on in LA all of the time. He also asked a few questions, and mentioned somethings about his two daughters (suffice to say that they're both in the industry, which I didn't know), and I've written him back, so we'll see what happens...