(Disclaimer: This article is written from my experience during the week. Even having gone to 4-5 parties every night, I could not be everywhere to see everything. We are very blessed to have two other writers covering events as well. If I missed your event, party, or performance - I sincerely apologize, I will do my best to make it next year. It's all in love).
Looking back at Winter Music Conference 2010, so many things come to mind. Yes, it's all about the music - but with the conference panels, DJ sets, club nights, lounges, sponsorships, parties, interviews, etc, there is so much more that happens. This year I tried to take the approach wherein our three writers (Dewight Barkley, Mike Stier, and I) would do different things as much as possible.
Right Place at the Right Time
So much of Winter Music Conference is about being at the right place at the right time. Even with all the preparation in the world, magic can happen without even realizing it. I could have never planned to interview Taio Cruz, Randy Jackson, Mya, or Mary J Blige - but I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. One moment from this year's event stands out more than any other... Singer/songwriter Plumb is one of my favorite artists and when I heard that she was going to be down at WMC, I told her label that she had to get interviewed by Sirius XM since they had been so supportive of her music. I knew that she was going to be in town on Friday, so I made it a point to stop by the Belvedere Music Lounge where Sirius XM was broadcasting.
When I arrived around noon, I saw Plumb being interviewed so I was excited to get to see her. She mentioned that she was looking to work with some European producers on her next project. After her interview, we chatted for a few minutes and then it started to rain. No one carries umbrellas in Miami, so a lot of us that were outside huddle under these umbrella tents that were set up. I looked up and realize that in front of me was Paul van Dyk (with gorgeous assistant Alexa), BT, and Christopher Lawrence. We couldn't have arranged better meetings if we tried to. Since we were all stuck there for a few minutes, I made a few introductions, CDs and business cards were exchanged, and who knows what might happen...
This all seems to fit with my mantra that you can't let negatives like weather or being denied entry into an event hold you down. You just smile and move on to the next thing. Another great example of this happened at the Promo Only IDMA afterparty. With incredible sets by Richard Vission, Dave Aude, and Bimbo Jones, the night was massive. I was bopping along to Bimbo Jones spinning when the sound went dead. Either power shut off or a cable was pulled, who knows. In that split second, Blake Lewis jumped up on stage and started beatboxing. He kept the beat going, people kept dancing and in a few moments, the music was flowing again. Bimbo Jones and Blake Lewis make a great team - probably the reason why Blake Lewis scored his first number one single with "Heartbreak on Vinyl" on the Billboard Club Chart, due in no small to the excellent remix by the Bimbo Jones team.