WMC 2004

[Guest isabela]

I just heard from a friend that there is a possibility that the Winter Music Conference might not be in Miami next year? Is there any validity to that?

[Guest pod]

Jesus H. Christ. :

I answer this one every year, at least 20 or 30 times.

WMC will not be moving. It will be in Miami. Here's the breakdown.

The Winter Music Conference itself consists of just that, a conference where dance music industry folk gather to exchange ideas and attend seminars, forums, and showcases. There are very few "official" WMC events, mostly since the clubs don't want to pay the fee to get some washed-up DJs, when they can pull in the worlds best on their own.

The events you more than likely attend at clubs like Space 34, crobar, Level, and Maze, as well as the numerous hotel parties and so forth, are not WMC sanctioned events. They are put on by the clubs, the DJs, the record labels, the promoters, the booking agents, or any combination of...the WMC "governing body" really has nothing to do with it, and it kinda ticks them off that this party kind of grew up around their conference, and they're not getting a piece of it. They've never threatened to move, since they know full well that no one would attend, since everyone would be in Miami partying their asses off. Ken Smith put it best last year when he said something to the effect of "Bill Kelly could move his conference, and it wouldn't make a difference...the clubs would still book the label parties, the DJs, and so forth, and thousands would show up...the official WMC would die..."

So in order to get people to actually attend the conference itself and pay the exorbiant entry fee, the official Winter Music Conference will be staying in Miami for the forseeable future. Even if it did move, no one would notice...the technical and industry showcases wouldn't be missed much, since there's free alternatives to those, too...the "Remix Hotel Sessions" was a prime example..you could go and learn about the latest gear and software for free from the top producers and DJs.

WMC 2004 and beyond will be in Miami Beach. Not that sinkhole in the desert called Las Vegas, not in California, and not anywhere else.

[Guest saintjohn]

so, what did last year's badge holder's get for their money?

opening party at the raleigh with david morales, tony humphries, et cetera

opening party at the beach club with kenny carpenter, et cetera

poolside performances at the radisson by iio, hex hector, rockell, kira, robbie rivera, et cetera

party at the beach club with bt, charles feelgood, misstress barbara, john acquaviva, dj rap, et cetera

idma awards show at jackie gleason with iio, ultra nate, rockell, peaches, et cetera

idma after party at jade lounge with hex hector

revolver at soho lounge with 2 many djs, miss kittin, dj hell, nag nag nag, et cetera

party at level with dj dan, doc martin, d:fuse, donald glaude, dj craze, bad company uk, dieselboy, dj rap, reid speed, rennie pilgrim, et cetera

party at the beach club with louie devito, et cetera

closing party at billboard dead with dimitri from paris, mark farina, et cetera

those were the officially-sanctioned, "free admission for wmc badge-holders" events of 2003.  yeah, the venues weren't the best.  i have no idea what full admission will be this year, but you usually get half off if you sign up before january 1st.  

obviously, there's a lot more to wmc than the official parties.  if you have an interest (professional or otherwise) in the dance music industry, if you have the time, if you have the money, then maybe wmc is right for you.

like pod said, it seems unlikely that wmc will move. i just want to know why they still call it the "winter" music conference.

[Guest endymion]

If you have any party-crashing skillz at all then the badges will get you into a lot of places other than the official parties. I used mine to get into lots of parties where I really wasn't supposed to be this year. It's worth the money, and WMC itself isn't a joke. I went to panels for three days straight and learned a lot and did a lot of good quiet-time networking.

[Guest pod]

Yeah, I guess in a way it's still useful. Like I said, a lot of the WMC seminars are being supplanted by free or extremely low-cost alternates, that are sometimes better...the remix hotel sessions for one comes to mind...

The sanctioned parties were mediocre though compared to anything else in my opinion...a few were OK, but for the most part I wasn't thrilled by it. Would the badge be worth it to me? Not at it's current price. As for using it to get into non-sanctioned events, I have a little blue card which does the same thing approximately, and I paid next to nothing for 1,000 copies of it.

[Guest isabela]

The rumor that I heard was that there is supposed to be a change on the beach with regards to a law that determines how late the clubs can stay open and or serve alcohol (I'm not sure which) ?

Taking into consideration POD's post; it wouldn't make any difference to the WMC event organizers because they don't really benefit from the parties that go on during the conference anyway. So for them to move the event because of a law change that really doesn't affect their event format; it wouldn't be logical.

[Guest lyrik]

The city pulls in way too much revenue from the WMC to try and do away with it..they already have noise ordinance in place but during the conference they become more lax becuase they know they will get their cut.

[Guest pod]

The law only regulates outdoor venues south of fifth street, most of the hotel parties take place north of fifth street, anyway...some as far north as 41st.

[bornslippy22]

The rumor that I heard was that there is supposed to be a change on the beach with regards to a law that determines how late the clubs can stay open and or serve alcohol (I'm not sure which) ?

every year the SAME rumors come up...and every year POD gets frustrated with the questions...even if they DO change the laws on the Beach and clubs have to close earlier...i am sure they will have the oppt. to get a special permit to stay a little bit longer, like they do sometimes during WMC or long weekends...

[Guest shannon_coolj.]

i heard they were going to move it out west (nevada...cali....arizona...) but that wouldn't be good. most of the people coming to the conference are from europe and miami is just as good as those places out west--and it's just an ocean away...so much cheaper than flying over the ocean and all the states...

i think miami will always be the place for wmc

[TufTribe]

If Miami isnt the place, then it will suck, hee, hee!!

[Guest pod]

And if a law is passed, the clubs will just move downtown.

[Guest sarahcj]

Yeah Las Vegas and Puerto Rico are two places that are normally mentioned as new places.

Considering the orgainsers are based in Florida I think it would be a huge nightmare for them to move everything to a new location.

[Guest coach]

Actually, the ordinance (not law) that they passed regarding the clubs south of 5th St does not have anything to do with when they can close.

Also, the only change in ordinance that I am aware of the Commission considering right now is actually to make it easier for clubs to stay open longer hours for special events (like WMC).

[Guest pod]

Exactly...so the WMC isn't moving. I'd like to find the source of the rumours and tell 'em to clam it.