Posted September 3, 2008 - Each year at the annual meeting of the S.A.M. National Council, Assembly growth awards are presented. How does this work? There are three categories: 5-9 members, 10-14 members, and 15-19 members. We start with the number on record on June 1 and end with the number on May 31 to determine the percentage of growth. Rather than trophies, each of these three groups receives a check for $100. For this past year (2007-2008), the following earned these awards: Assembly 130 in Maine, Assembly 107 in Honolulu, and Assembly 29 in Boston. Congratulations! Let's all work to get those new members so that next year your group will receive the glory and the money and the benefit of new members.

Posted August 13, 2008 - Christopher Pratt died peacefully on August 11 at his home in England with his family at his side, He was the current Vice President of the Magic Circle and was its longest serving Secretary. Chris was a member of the Society of American Magicians since 1987. May he rest in peace.

Posted August 1, 2008 - 2009 Buffalo Convention dedicated to Norm Nielsen. The Convention, to be held July 15-18, will also feature a special trip to Niagara Falls to see the "Beyond Belief" show at the Greg Frewin Theater. Click the image to enlarge.

Posted July 26, 2008 - The very happy recipients of these honors are, for the Close Up category: Mark Oberon from Great Britain, and for the Stage category: An Ha Lim from South Korea. Each received their prizes awarded by 2000 People's Choice attendees at the convention, including contracts for themselves and other finalists at the convention.

Posted July 21, 2008 - Officers sworn in at IBM/SAM Convention in Louisville, July 2008. Click the image to enlarge.

Fifty-two happy young magicians attended the first-ever S.Y.M. "Weekend Of Wonder" July 4 and 5. The event was a highly successful magic convention for children from the ages of 7 through 17. They learned and participated in lectures and demonstrations and watched two evening magic shows performed by some of the youngsters and augmented by professional magicians from all parts of the country. The mentors traveled to Warwick, Rhode Island, and all donated their time and expertise. Five concentrated "hands-on" workshops were interspersed with an ice cream social, a break for Del's Frozen Lemonade, a hot dog supper, a salad lunch, and a pasta buffet for the attendees and their parents. Breaks for donuts and impromptu magic by the youngsters added to the fun. A special Parents Meeting was included led by "honoree" Bill Andrews. More than a dozen mentors helped director Jann Goodsell and her able staff led by Bruce Kalver, David Oliver, and Mike Miller. The children also received valuable magic gifts donated by well known magic dealers. SA.M National Council Officers were in attendance. Watch for a gallery of photos on site. Click the current image to enlarge.

Participating mentors: John Apperson, Dick Blowers, Trixie Bond, Marlene Clark, Andy Dallas, Lyn Dillies, Rachel Dunn, Vinny Grosso, Bruce Kalver, Ice McDonald, Mike Miller, David Oliver, Jimmy Ray, George Schindler, Ed Thomas, Mark Weidhass.

Posted June 10, 2008 - The Society of the American Magicians Magic Endowment Fund is pleased to announce Summer Camp 2008 scholarship awards to six deserving youngsters for full tuition camp scholarships, plus travel expenses.

We previously announced winner Megan Knowles-Bacon of London, England for a full tuition plus travel expense scholarship to Sorcerer's Safari of Toronto, Canada.

We are now announcing four more winners of full tuition and travel expense scholarships to Sorcerer.s Safari: One to Matthew Olive Ross from as far away as Cape Town South Africa, and three winners from Canada: Jennifer Antonio and her brother Zachary Antonio from Winnipeg, and Rosemary Reid from Brampton, Ontario.

We also are very proud to announce a full tuition scholarship plus travel expense to winner Ozan Baris Kendirci of Istanbul, Turkey to attend Tannen's Summer Camp located near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

We are proud of our achievement and growth and continued expansion of our scholarship program that enables deserving youngsters to attend magic camps from all over the world. It demonstrates that the S.A.M. is truly a world-wide organization. Please View the Full Magic Camp Scholarship Press Release Here!

Posted June 7, 2008 - With the Galt House and Marriott Courtyard filled, we have just received word that the Residence Inn at 333 East Market Street, approximately four blocks from the Galt House, has accommodations for the week at $129.00 per night, plus applicable taxes. In order to get this rate, you must contact Roger Fultz at roger.fultz@whitelodging.com or by calling 502-589-8998 and identify yourself with the I.B.M./S.A.M. Magician's Convention. If you haven't seen the newest info on the IBM/SAM convention, check it out here!

Austin, TX, March 11, 2008 - The Society of American Magicians Magic Center Foundation announces a Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony being held Tuesday, March 18th at 11:00am celebrating the Foundation's new office facility located at 2705 Bee Caves Road, Suite 230 in Austin. The event will be hosted by the Austin Chamber of Commerce and feature magicians Bobby Cordell, Tim Dietz, and Kent Cummins. Also, along with the ribbon, a local celebrity will be cut in half.

The vision of the Foundation is to create a world-class magic center in Austin, Texas that includes a museum of magic, a research library, and a performing arts theatre.

The magic center concept is a project of the Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.), a non-profit organization with a membership of over 7000 magicians, worldwide. The S.A.M. was founded in 1902 in New York City and is the oldest and most prestigious magic organization in the world dedicated to promoting and teaching the art of magic.

For more information Contact Dan Rodriguez, Executive Director, S.A.M. Magic Center Foundation at (702) 610-1050 or email: dan@sammagiccenter.com

Posted February 29, 2008 - The Society of American Magicians Magic Center Foundation office will be located at 2705 Bee Caves Road, Suite 230, in Austin. Texas. An official ribbon cutting ceremony is planned for the end of March . The Foundation is a non-profit organization with membership in Greenlights for Nonprofit Success and the Austin Chamber of Commerce. The board includes Austin Members, Ron Cartlidge and Kent Cummins. The Executive Director of the Foundation is Dan Rodriguez of Las Vegas, NV. For additional information, contact Ron Cartlidge, 512-444-8729, ron@sammagiccenter.com or visit www.sammagiccenter.com

Posted February 3, 2008 - S.Y.M. July 4 Convention brochure now available for download at www.magicsym.com.

Posted January 27, 2008 - For a limited time assemblies, dealers and friends of magic have the opportunity to advertise in the IBM/SAM Combined Contest of Magic being held in Louisville, KY this July 21-26.

The full color souvenir program for this unique event, which will showcase world class magicians from around the world competing for top prizes and performance contracts, will be produced by the staff of Genii magazine and will certainly become a collectors item.

To date there are over 1,700 registrants so your ad will be seen by many! Because limited ad space is available we are getting the word out now so those interested won't be shut out.

Your advertising themes may include "Good Luck to All Contestants" or to your favorite contestant, perhaps a congratulatory message to outgoing National President Maria Ibanez or incoming National President Bruce Kalver, or just a promotion for your assembly, your wares if you are a dealer, or even yourself.

Ad rates are as follows:

• Full page = $350
• Have page vertical or horizontal = $225
• Quarter Page = $140
• Calling Card = $50
• Patron = your name listed with others = $25

A rate card with further details may be downloaded by clicking here (PDF). Your space is secured when full payment is received so once you decide to advertise, mail in your payment and then work on your ad design which can be submitted later.

Posted January 26, 2008 - Most Illustrious Maria Ibanez announced that the Spring National Council Meeting will be held on Saturday morning April 26, 2008 at 9.AM in San Antonio, Texas.

All members in good standing are invited to attend. The meeting will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel at the San Antonio Airport- located at 10110 US Hwy 281 North in San Antonio, TX 78216 (Phone: 210-525-9999)

Special S.A.M. rates - King Suite or 2 double beds is $159.00 per night. Hotel registration includes a hot, cooked to order breakfast, free shuttle to and from airport, and the managers reception each afternoon with free open bar and hot and cold h'ordouvres.

That week is "Fiesta" in San Antonio and by all descriptions this is the Texas version of Mardi Gras complete with street parties, shows, bands, parades and more. The hotel is 6 miles from all the festivities so you might want to come a day or so early to enjoy them.

Posted December 4, 2007 - A round of applause for Jean Kinnicutt for seven years of great service as chair of the Gifts and Gadgetry program! From a meager 15 boxes of goodies she has added many new items and transferred 50 cartons to Joe Goode in Schenectady NY. There will be no disruption in handling orders. Click the image at the right to see more detail of the truckload! And see the entire line here!

Posted November 20, 2007 - Society of American Magicians Ambassador of Magic, Bradley Jacobs has been named the "Magician of the Year" 2008 by the Parent Assembly #1 of the Society.

Bradley Jacobs will receive his honor at the annual SALUTE TO MAGIC show March 29, 2008 at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center BMCC- 199 Chambers Street in New York City.

Brad was the 1961 President of the Parent Assembly and was National S.A.M President 1970-1971. He is both a Life Member and an Honorary Member of the Society and presently serves as the Chairman of the Society of American Magicians Magic Endowment Fund . He has been a member of the organization for 55 years and Parent Assembly member since 1953.

For 17 years Mr. Jacobs was the producer of our annual Conventions and is currently co-chair of the IBM/SAM 2008 Combined Convention to be held in Louisville, KY in July 2008.

Posted October 23, 2007 -Applications are now being accepted for the 2008 summer season for full tuition scholarships plus travel expense to attend magic camps. Scholarships are made possible by a grant from the Society of American Magicians Magic Endowment Fund, which has provided scholarships to youngsters between the ages of 10-18 for the past 19 years. More detailed information is available by clicking here. You need to apply before May 15. Click here to download the application (PDF, 125kB).

October 17, 2007 - I am very excited to tell you about two very special additional events that are being offered to those who attend the National Council Meeting this coming November 1-4th in Wakefield, Mass.

On Friday, November 2nd, those who have already arrived and wish to, will be taken on a private tour of Ray Goulet's Magic Art Museum. This is indeed a special treat and you won't want to miss visiting it if you are at all able to. They are going to arrange for refreshments so if you are planning on attending, please send me an e-mail so that I can give the Goulet's a head count. The tour will be in the day time so as to not interfere with the timing of the caucus for the National Council members.

On Sunday, November 4th, there will be an Open House held at Eddie Gardner's magic shop. They never open on Sunday but are making a special event just for the members of the National Council and those who wish to attend. Same situation applies so if you are planning on attending please let me know so I may pass those numbers to Eddie.

I am very much looking forward to both of these events. I know the Goulet museum and know of its treasures so I am excited at the prospect of visiting again; I've never been to the magic shop but I hear great things about it so that will be a neat stop that I am also excited about.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Keep a dream in the making,

Maria Ibâñez
National President
Society of American Magicians

S.Y.M. Weekend of Wonder Convention for Young Magicians

Posted August 3, 2007 - The S.Y.M. announces the first convention for Young Magicians! To be held in Providence, RI, July 4, 5 & 6, 2008, this promises to be a magical weekend sure to inspire young magicians to greatness! Click here for the detailed brochure (in PDF format) which contains all dates, times, locations, prices and registration forms.

Old news?

If you're looking for a news item that was here and now seems to be gone- you can probably find it here.