The Magic Network A place where Magicians and Mentalists meet. Created by Vincent Marra of Vancouver, Canada.
I got a chance to check out this site and interview Vincent.
MMS: I like the site Vincent, how did you get involved in Magic?
Vincent: Ever since I was a child I have been interested in magic. I used to love playing with my kid's magic sets, putting on my own little magic shows for my family, and watching the yearly David Copperfield specials on T.V. I continued to study magic through my teenage years and early twenties, and mainly performed for family and friends whenever I had the opportunity. In my late twenties, I lived in Vienna, Austria, for about five years while I did an MBA, got married, and had my first child. During this time I continued to perform for friends and college mates, and also began performing for people on the streets or in the Underground. It was also during this time that I began to take on a deeper interest in mentalism, and began to study the art.
I recently moved with my family to Vancouver, Canada, where we had our second child, and have started exploring the magic and mentalism scene here and performing mentalism in my spare time. I live near some great tourist areas in Vancouver, so it gives me many great opportunities to go out and perform in the summer. I do it for fun, for the challenge, to build my people skills, to meet and network with others, and to entertain.
MMS: Why did you decide to make The Magic Network?
Vincent: I am very much involved in the social media and social networking scene. I noticed a trend recently whereby a lot of artists and companies have started using social networking sites to promote themselves and interact with their fans or with others having similar interests. One problem I have found, however, with existing "big" social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, is that it can be a challenge to meet or target people in your area of interest, because it really takes time to find the people with the interests you are looking for. This is mainly what inspired me to create The Magic Network - a social network just for Magicians and Mentalists. I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be great if something like this existed for Magicians and Mentalists?" I did some research and found that there were no other sites out there that did all that I envisioned. There are other magic forums out there, and many of them are really great, but they don't create a sense of community through interactive profiles and member friendships, and they don't allow users to showcase themselves on their profiles the way I think a lot of magicians and mentalists would like to. So I started building The Magic Network as a niche social network for magicians and mentalists, to allow them to have a place where they could create a home and stage for themselves (i.e. their profile page) within a larger community of other like-minded folks. I added an integrated forum, to enable community discussions, along with the ability to create private discussion groups. The private discussion groups were a key feature that I felt were a must have for the network. This is because I believe a lot of magicians and mentalists would love to have the ability to discuss a product or effect in a private forum, without worrying that someone who doesn't own that product or effect will see their posts.
MMS: What are your plans for the future of The Magic Network?
Vincent: I envision The Magic Network to grow to be the portal into all things magic and mentalism, where all magicians and mentalists have a profile. I'd like it to be the first place that magicians and mentalists go to:
-find and meet others with similar interests or that live in their area
-explore what upcoming events and performances are happening in their area
-see what products are coming out or have come out recently
-read what other magicians and mentalists are saying about various topics and engage in those discussions
-showcase their own magic, whether products, performances, a blog, a website, photos, or videos
I would also love to have The Magic Network serve as a giant, global directory of Magicians and Mentalists, for anyone looking on the web to find and hire magicians or mentalists for their private or corporate events. It definitely has this potential, given the member search functionality, which allows others to search for members based on their location, performance style and preferred performance venues.
MMS: Since the site is still new, how has it progressed?
Vincent: The community that has been building up at The Magic Network so far has been great, and the feedback they have been giving has also been outstanding. Everyone is saying that they love the site and see lots of potential in it. They are also saying that they are glad that I created it and have been hoping for such a site to be created, which makes me really proud. The members so far have been doing a great job of getting involved in the community, helping each other out in the forums, streaming their videos, writing blog posts, posting photos, and more. There is already lots to see and do at The Magic Network!
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Thank you so much Vincent for the interview and information about your new The Magic Network web site.
I encourage Magicians and Magic dealers to check this out, sign up and chat about magic.