Poi jobs

ok so here is the deal, i run a small entertainment company in columbus ohio called PoiGlo. We specialize in performing Poi at other peoples parties. I am wanting to expand the business into more states. Pleas email me at tim81093@yahoo.com for any questions. And our website is www.poishows.webs.com
Thanks
Tim

Get payed to poi!? Whoooaaa? If you are planning on expanding to denver let me know. To be honest though, I watched you videos on your site, and all I saw was some semi-clean weaves and butterflies, how long have you guys been spinning and how much do you get payed to perform at peoples parties?

They get payed, $25 per performance. If you go to Michigan you got me for sure.

And not to sound offensive, but I saw your video and all you did was a 2bt weave that wasn't even kept in split-time and a very off-plane, all-over-the-place butterfly. Nothing else, just a repeat of those 2 things. It's basically what I learned in my first week of poi, but performed in front of an audience and with glowsticks.

So I really do have to ask, how long have you been doing poi, how often do you practice, and why did you actually get into it? And why in hell would you start a business with only that much experience?

But either way, I still would like to be part of a business. But if you do pick one of us up, it seems kind of like our very-newcomers would do better than that video on your website. i myself aspire to be the next Meenik or Nevisoul, or an awesome mix of the two. I shall be Nevinik!

the business is only a year and a few months old, ive been performing for about a year, but i only practice when im not doin schoolwork,working two other jobs, so i have very lil time to practice, i just learned a reverse three beat weave. I and one other person i know spins in columbus and grove city, i tried loking for other people in ohio but no ones replied back to me. and my friend is the one that i go to whenever shes free to get help most of the rest time im learning by myslef with lil bit of videos and help.

oh and my friend alo is a spinner for the business and i got into cuz its my escape from life really lol, i started the business cuz not many people know about it and i wanted to bring it out of the raves style scenes and into more everyday style parties. The price is 25 dollars each show, and 10 dollars would be set into an account or something so we can expand our business and whatnot, i can explain it more when im like a lil bit more awake lol

Ok, sounds cool. I wanted to make sure you weren't like, "oh look at this, it looks like money. Let's pick it up right now, practice for a week and perform " And I looked you up on Google Maps, you're a 3.5 hour drive away. If you can get any jobs up my way around Southeast Michigan, you've got me in because I can't drive that far to Ohio just for $25 now and then. Also, is there some sort of age limit on that? Because I'm still not 18, you'd have to wait another year and a half to get me if there is.

how old are you wicca? 25 bucks a show? what is a "show"?

i think yer business model is a little messed up...

I am 16 years old. A show lasts the length of a song so if you choose a long song you get a long show. $25 dollars is what we charge and that covers the glowsticks or any other poi part that you use, the gas and the personal time there. $10 dollars of the 25 goes back into an account or something that will be used for gas if we need to go a longer distance or to buy new toys or upgrade business. Also there isnt a age limit. I will be changing the website to include other states so if i get a call for someone in michigan i will send it to you spinnerofdetriot if you want to join the business.

Play nice everyone!

Wicca, i would firstly like to wish you all the success in your business. Full kudos to you my man! At 16 having the balls to give being your own boss a shot. One thing stands out to me and that is your motivation. "i got into cuz its my escape from life really lol" (Wicca). I read this as your motivation for spinning poi(forgive me if i have misread or taken the quote out context) and not for getting into business and the business world can break even the strongest people

Be sure to find the balance cause your enjoyment of spinning will show through in your performance and your performance is the bread winner. The best of luck to you.

Peace Out
Trip

i started doin poi cuz it takes my mind away from everything goin on, i started spinning for people and from there i got request t odo it at some parties and they wouldnt take no for a choice when it came to payment, so i just decided to open a business of spinning, i dont do it just for money or anything its to open up everyones minds to see what other people can do and what not lol and please whoever reads this i say what not a lot when i cant think of anything else. I would say its my favorite word. I leanred that when im spinning poi i forget about everything else going on, and when i add emotion to it i learn new things like recently i was really angry while practicing and i leanred the three beat weave lol, i know its a beginners move but i dont have anyone to teach me and i have to practice outside so i have no way to watch videos and practice at the same time, and i take a long time no learn something exspecially if im doing it by myself. I acutally just learn what i can by myself, i see a move that i like and ill go outside and try it, i dont know really and srry if this is confusing anyone with how much its jumping around.

That's pretty much what I'm doing - I bought some LED at a belly dance festival, brought them home (regional NSW, AUS), found some tutes on the web and started teaching myself. With stuff like the 3 beat weave it was back and forth between the computer and outside. No matter though - I have fun and I get better, slowly.



A bit of punctuation would help but it's fine for me.

wrt your shows - presumably it wouldn't keep you fed by itself but it seems fine for your demographic and a great place to start - good luck with it.

FUSHIGI!

Ah! Not the dreaded Fushigi! Fushigi sounds like something out of Naruto

ok im confused on what Fushigi is....lol dont kill me with this lol

Fushigi Yûgi...

ok so spinner or detroit contact me by email with poi job as the subject and ill start working out everything for u to join us along with u A=Poirsquared and if anyone else wants to join from a different state just email me and well work it out

Ok, I should be getting a phone soon and I'll email you when I do so you can use that number.

25 dollars a show? Cheap price for fire spinning. I'd say try higher. But be ready to put on a good quality show first. From the sounds of things you don't know very many moves and aren't very cleaned up for a year of spinning.

i don't want to be rude but after watching your vid on your site i wouldn't pay 25 buck for that. you need to practice more and learn a variety of moves, and when making a video try to ensure there is enough light to see you, YOU are the performer, at the moment it's just a pair of lights

One thing, if I'm doing it, I'm good enough to need more than 25, especially for fire. When you're good, you can get way more than 25 bucks. There is actually a thing called "Alive" at some non-denomination church near me and I think I'll perform there later for some publicity.

25 is for the LED/glowsticks poi, i can raise it to 30 would that be alright cuz the fire eating costs 35 for an hour. so if they see that ur 35 and something else is 35 theyll go with what they can get more out of. So let me know

Well, it also depend on how much I'm doing. Like how many performances at the same party. Also because I'm gonna be learning staff. I am also determined to learn serious glowstringing before my prom so that may take up a lot of my time instead for a while.

are you kidding me? Your charging 35 for fire eating...? The hell...? Fire eating is hardly spectacular. You're making fire disappear...
And I've seen detroit's spinning. Ima say that he'd deserve more than that. He's pretty good and growing better.

Here's a question. What's your safety policy?

if u read my website ull it its 35 and hour broken up into small groups so it isnt 35 dollars for like a song length or anything its for a whole hour. So b4 u start saying stuff make sure u have everything right. And u may have seen him spin but i havent yet. Its one of the requirements to getting a job with me, i have to see some photos, a video, pics of ur self, and alot of other information. So yea think twice b4 posting and make sure u get ur facts in order and know everything. And to clear everyhting up about the video on the video page of my website was tooken when i was less then a year old at performing. The two on the first page are or my other performer TOX (the first link) and of me (second link, and still not a year old at it)
Thanks
Wicca

Um sorry your site says light shows, do you only do glow? In the UK you need to have public liability insurance to do shows with fire legally (cover up to £5 Million for council work) and that's quite expensive, please tell me you aren't doing fireshows without insurance Professional performers have all manner of health and safety aspects to adhere to which cost them a lot of money and for which they pay to earn a livlihood, average cost per hour - (UK price changed via exchange rate) $500 to cover cost of travel, insurance, fuel and living.

Please be careful, one fire started by an uninsured performer can have terrible repercussions on the professionals in the same sector. Not to mention the massive legislative costs YOU would face if anyone was hurt or property damaged.

"But Alan, won't you please think of the Children!"

"Children, Petunia? From where I stand, I see no children. Only mere memories of loved ones, squatting over Cactii in the desert of hopelessness. Only the pain and suffering of having splinters of wood forced into your eyes by a squint-eyed seal in a Nazi officer's unform. The rest is too painful for me to recall".

"Umm... ok."



There's a lot you could learn from this.

ummmmm ok u would need to explain this to me, but i hope other posters will know that this is to find people that want to perform for money in my business that lives in other states
Thanks

Have you thought what it might mean backwards?

/cryptic

im srry i stayed up all night so my brain isnt working well could u just explain it please lol

The wise man explains with an air of mystery.
The foolish man explains in riddles.



I'm sorry you stayed up all night too.
I slept very well, though I think that that is more to do with my leaking gas fireplace than anything else.

Lol you posted earlier that its 35 dollars an hour. Still not spectacular enough to put as a higher price as fire spinning. Again, your eating fire. Poi is far more spectacular even for one song, Especially with how good some of these people are that your trying to recruit. I get that you have to see them spin. That's a duh. I'm saying 30 dollars for a good spinner is hardly worth it. I'm sure if advertized correctly and quality good enough, you could get at least 50 if not more. So far it seems like I've known everything that you've told me...

Lol okay, then change your video, cuz right now you look really really unprofessional. If your better now, put better videos on. Otherwise, I'd recommend getting somebody else on there. B/c those are really unimpressive. Relax a bit dude, if you cant take criticism and skepticism, howr you gonna perfect a business? Most people on this site are friends or very good people, you should understand the skepticism. I wouldn't want to see any of them screwed by your business if it's not professional or safe. Plus at the rates your setting, it's hardly worth it for many performers on this site. You can say perform for money, money enticing people, but more details otherwise people will take this apart.
Sry, this bothers me. It's taken, not tooken.

You still haven't answered the insurance or safety questioning. Mynci is very correct when he says that you could be in for a lawsuit with a fire accident.

Cheers
Ascilith

please note, the spinner wouldn't even get the $35, each spinner gets about 10-13 dollars, and the left over 1-4 dollars get put into a company expansion fund...

it's a great idea, but you need to beef up the plan before you are getting into the performances themselves,

i'm trying to start up a similar thing here, i've been spinning 5 years and with my dad's help [he's a financial advisor] i'm putting together a plan but it's bloody hard work!

The amount from each show that is to be set back for expansion is only 10 dollars flat. I havent got any insurance or anything yet cuz i havent added any fire poi to the business. And i can take criticism and all that its just that last night i didnt go to sleep at all and got alil bit cranky, srry if i POed anyone off or anything but yea

I lol'ed so hard.

Wasn't that movie 'Gummo' made in Ohio?

I have nothing to add in regards to the initial topic of this thread, but I must chime in about one of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen "Gummo" -

The movie "Gummo" was based on the village of Xenia Ohio, but it was actually filmed in Nashville TN. Xenia isn't as bad as the movie portrays. It's more like a small, closed minded, highly religious, low employment, low skilled, low education, speed trap for a community that you would never want to live in. (I grew up not to far from Xenia, near the much cleaner, friendlier village of Yellow Springs)

Not only do they have Gummo, but they also had one of the largest tornadoes in Ohio history (F5) rip their village apart in
1974. The village of Xenia has had some bad luck.

Not all of Ohio makes one want to commit suicide (as one feels after watching Gummo), but I can't wait to move away from this flat, highly populated state!

Ok I am starting to ramble on now... thanks for your time, back to my brightly colored time traveling space ship.

lol huzza!

Off topic eh? Sorry I thought I parked my space ship in Social Chat, not Social Discussion. Better get back to topic, lets see, where did the chat leave off? Ohh that's right, some were crushing a sixteen year old's dreams of self employment. I wish you all peace and good flow.

OhioSean....

you ain't half a funny bugger!

Sorry had to change the topic for a bit, the criticism was becoming cruel and personal.

Yellow Springs, OH is a very cute lil hippie village.

I think we should be more supportive of wicca15. He is one of us now.

Lol I was only joking sean. (hence the smiley face) I don't care about the off topic stuff. Teasing. And I suppose it was getting a little cruel, but on the other hand, he does need to get things together. I'm definately not saying that this is a bad idea, but he needs much more planning and insurance. Otherwise he will be screwed up the wazzoo with some idiot running into his poi (fire or otherwise) and somehow managing to get hurt, then, in the true idiot fashion, suing the spinner for what the idiot did. I apologize for seeming harsh, but it seemed like people were starting to rush into a bad situation. I would definately up the price though. This isn't something just anyone knows how to do. I'd say you could push 40 for the right light poi and somewhere between 60 and 70 for fire poi if you really wanted to. It'd leave more room for expansion and more people might join you. Course you'll still need some kind of insurance or a waver that shifts responsibility to the person that hired you.

forgive my harshness? Spinning for money is a good concept for sure, But I get skeptical when things don't seem right in the fort. You know what i mean?

I am supporting, but what I was saying was that as he is quite unskilled for this, which I guess explains the low prices, but he charges like nothing if we were to do a show under his company. My old exchange student did fire shows for 50-100 Euro each and they're not really that good. They're OK and can put on a good show, but they're not that good skill wise.

I'd do $25 per song if they do more than one song for sure though, and the price for fire eating I think is pretty damn low because fire tends to be dangerous, hence the expense.

Since you are most likely now getting a range of performers, you might want to put their videos along with their own separate prices on your site.

I also have something you might find very useful. On this site you can have them imprint labels onto glowsticks that you buy in bulk in wholesale from them. I just found them from Ascilith and bought myself 50 6" glowsticks of assorted colors for $27, about 35 with shipping. And they're stationed in IL so you'd get low shipping costs too. You can use them like awesome business cards with your site name on them. They do however, have a setup fee of $48 which means the first time you order you give $48, but everytime after that, it's just the set price of imprinted glowsticks, which depends on how much you buy because the more you buy, the cheaper they are.
http://www.glowwithus.com/promotional_glow_sticks.htm

I'd say that's something worth putting your expansion money towards

Also: I saw the video of you, if you are Tox, you should be damned amazing at glowstringing/poi. You need to get practice in with something like sock poi maybe if problem is control. But still, 4 years? I think you need to look up some tutorial videos, or other videos of spinners for some inspiration. Because I don't think anyone lacks the talent.
Such as here's some random guy's 1 year video, which is why I was surprised when I saw your video and all you could do was a sloppy 2bt and butterfly (no offense)


And for your video, it looks more like this:

Sorry if that was harsh, but I tend to be blunt so don't take that very hard. But that's why I was surprised when I saw on your site that you have been practicing for 4 years. If you guys really did hit a wall, then I'd suggest a teacher that is closer to as good as the guy in the first video. What I want to really tell you is, get out and practice different moves, learn to dance with poi, look at other people's videos to inspire you. If you're so willing to put all of that time into running a business at such a young age, which I think is really awesome and I would love to do myself but wouldn't even know where to start, than I think you could be really awesome at poi.

I hope my little motivational speech, I mean type :P, helped you in some way

Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a pessimistic bastard, and I commend and encourage you for wanting to get out there and do your own thing and that.

BUT







Is it just me who thinks this is bit of a rip-off?

Let's just say someone picks a 5 min song (about average for most genres). That's $50 for 10 minutes.

Do you really think your skills are worth $500 an hour? Or $5 a minute?

That's like the same price as going to see a gig.

I think you really need to re-evaluate your pricing, especially until you have more spinners on your roster or you have put more time into improving your skills.

Best of luck though

Hmm, I took quite a while updating mine ^^^(look up if you haven't seen my massive edit), I do have to say one thing that never struck me about the prices. T-S-A is right about that. You need to think off a different system of payment, not per song, but just to come and perform. The fact that it was per song just kinda flew over my head.

I think something like per hour, or just to come there for however long they want, or set a long routine of different performances and charge for that.

See when you posted on here, you just got a flood of ways to improve your business. And remember not to take it as an insult ,we're just giving you constructive criticism.

Since the tone of our voices doesn't really communicate over typing, the line between the two tends to blur.

Maybe if I only communicated through writing in my life. But since this is just a forum, I can just merely say what I mean if I look at it and it looks a little "not-sure-what-it-means-ish."

Whaddya mean we ain't not been talkin' right?

Oh crap! Did I just turn into FT for a moment?

(Hands Nash a Mountain Dew)

Per song? Alright I'll have to agree with the others on that. But yes, this all should be meant as helpful. The skepticisms we have would be multiplied tenfold by people that don't spin. Considering half of them are mortally terrified of fire. I'm glad that you're getting out there, but these are just things you must take into effect. I think Detroit had some good advice. Learn to dance with them. Make them almost an extension of you. People usually think im a clutz and completely uncoordinated but when you put a pair of poi in my hands, they couldn't believe their eyes.

Lol whaaat? Callin americans stereotypical...?

To Detroit: Lol good. I wasn't sure if my message with the sites on it sent or not. Glad you found a price that you liked. I'm curious to see the quality of these ones.

I think we ran another one off. I am wondering if he knows his thread is very much alive.

Stereotypical... No... but have you seen this movie?

hey im still hear just a lil busy, i am very aware that this thread is alive lol, im just wishing it would stay on topic, i am taking in everything that is said on here, I just found out that i am unable to hire across states due to me being 16 and would have to create a intra something and lets say mother jsut doesnt want me to do that till im 18(which totally sucks but yea) i could still continue to work in other states tho without her knowing, i have my mom creating up a waver release form for customers to sign if they want any fire shows. This will wave any future law suits away from us lol. I am learning new stuff along with it too once i get more free time i will be posting more vids on the website, i know alot of people on here are critiqueing or how ever you spell it lol, so i will be posting more later, the reason why there isnt any lighting for the glow stick poi is thats how i see it (it should be really dark so the customers cant really see you, that way the lights are more vibrant.) I am thinking about learning some dance moves to incorprate into it but lets just say im the worst dancer u will ever meet so its a slim chance of me learning something usefull lol, if anyone else wants to help me out it would be great
Thanks
wiccan

I haven't seen it yet. Any good?

oh dancing to poi doesnt mean knowing how to dance. Just let your music move you. You'll see what I mean eventually. Make sure somewhere on the waver it says something like "I have read and understand that I take full responsibility for any stupid actions taken by my guests and am liable for their actions" or something at least cursory that puts all blame on them if a party guest tries to run into your poi.

Man, that sh1t is tight.
Yo diggity!

Last time I came here a friend of mine just got triple-jacked over a steeplehammer and jessop jessop jessop jessop jessop.

I wouldn't consider poi dancing to be the typical style of dancing. Like yourself I can't dance for , I fall over my feet and look like a bear having a seizure.

However, learning stuff like turning, opening your arms out, moving your feet, changing your body position and stature all add to your "dance". When you learn a "move", like the 3 beat weave, learn it backwards too, that gives you the ability to turn with it. Extentions are simple but very effective and can be thrown in too.

The problem I see with your spinning is it's too closed off, everything is done pretty much with your hands in front of you and together (weave, butterfly), try breaking apart, moving your hands to the side, so if your doing a butterfly move 1 hand out or up, or move both hands appart in a circul opposite each other and back into a butterfly, or throw an extention in. Or you could try with the butterfly moving it around in front of you as a whole, so keep your hands together in butterfly, and move them around together in a circul in front of you, or change from same time to split time.

All of these things that can be picked up fairly quickly with a little practice, and can really add some dynamics to your spinning. Learning flowers really really REALLY helpped me, not so much learning to do a 4 petal antispin flower in its self (which is cool) but it teaches you to open up and move your body around. Have a look on youtube for wallplane flowers, I personally find them easier than wheelplane flowers and at the stage your at, I really think it would help add more to your performance.

Pendulums are great to learn and throw in, they are simple and can be used to change from same direction to opposites, stalls are good to learn too, even the most basic (stalling down, or too the side) can add that little bit more to your routine, so your not just switching between butterfly and weave, you could do something like:

3 beat weave > rev 3 beat weave (to turn) > pendulum > butterfly > split time butterfly extention > bring it back in > move the s/t butterfly around in front of you > part your arms and sepperate the buttefly > stall the hand you didn't pendulum with > weave > extention with 1 hand > weave > corkscrew.

Just adding them simple things can make it much more interesting to watch than:

butterfly > weave > butterfly > weave > corkscrew > weave > butterfly

Please don't think I am picking holes, as I said before, I commend you for your ambition and think it's great that your getting out there and doing it, and I am trying to be helpful in my own way.

Best of luck

Well, that's what happens when you take a load of Triple-Sod infront of the Boz boz.


You can't say the warnings wernt there

Ok, im wondering if anyone else has any tips for me, cuz as i posted earilier im unable to expand the business to other states im srry for misleading people that did want to join. But i will be more than happy to get some tips or anything that you guys want to give me.
Thanks
Wicca

I dont every really put my say in anything poi related cuz its become to much of opionated perspective on everything about it but starting a biz is much easier in a larger city period and you have to be GREAT i think to really charge people for an art that is worth way more than 25 bucks a show but it has to be perfomed well and demonstrated with technical skill and beautiful motion "footwork" so just think before you get in over your head just my honest opinon on this thread here is my video just so u dont think im talking out of my ass well "spin whith passion and let it be your outlet(:" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yoh6P-PGZrQ

i can do about 20 to 30 different tricks along with a lot of variations and live about 2 hours from columbus should email me gecko7897@yahoo.com

hit me up at gecko7897@yahoo.com i spin poi am decent and live in ohio bout 2 hours from columbus thanks

What I was told is the people who perform on cruise ships make ridiculous money. Like $2000 per session big. And it so happens my mom has a connection to a cruise line from an old friend so I'll definitely look into that.

Since you felt it necessary to grave dig I feel it necessary to start spouting my existential bull about poi spinning. You are limiting yourself horribly by thinking of poi as "learning tricks". Everything is simply different motions in relation to each other creating different patterns, you can literally do the exact same "trick" dozens of different ways and it comes out looking entirely different, labeling is simply a poi spinners claim to fame and a way for one spinner to communicate with another easily without having to demonstrate.

I don't want to ever hear of you saying tricks when referring to poi ever again, you can come out of the corner when you've learned your lesson.

To elaborate on "you can literally do the exact same "trick" dozens of different ways" think of the arm motion for a split time butterfly, now a pac-man, now a split time butterfly extension, now an in-spin, it is all the exact same pattern is it not?

good call soopa

Yeah, I was wondering about that as well. 20-30 moves is not a lot if you count varaitions, and no self-respecting spinner classifies their level of talent by how many 'tricks' they can do. It's about how fluently and artisticly you can put them together.

The best routines I have seen mostly consisted of pretty basic moves, but done cleanly, with creative variations, and most importantly, fantastic flow from start to finish.

Yeah I agree that how many moves you do has absolutely nothing to do with how "good" you are. And how "good" someone is at spinning is depending upon the watcher. It is like music, what is amazing to one person could be something to make ears bleed to someone else.

My best example of simple spinning would be this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZjzex3UZfE
Also that is by far the best spinning music I've heard in my life! Does anyone know music similar to that?

Also that is by far the closest I've recently come upon that is like me when I practice o0 Although when the fire comes I forget a ton of what I know

Things not to do with fire........

Seriously though I think everyone should pursue their dreams but realistically and responsibly. Wicca, 2 of the video links on your page do not work and route to not so trustworthy 3rd party websites, that right there just looks shady (might wanna take those links down). From the only video I saw I don't think you're going to make much sales if that's all you have to advertise and certainly don't think you should play with fire unless you really know your safety from head to toe.

It's not about moves or guts and those things are not what makes a good show, but more so your stage presence, flair, and professionalism. Those are the 3 things that will take you far if you want to do this thing.

Also please don't charge people for light shows and expect to have any takers because I have seen very inebriated people with nice lights put on better shows who beg people to just sit there. Not being mean, just trying to keep it real.

I'm told I stand out from the crowd for my transitions, I literally don't know many *ahem* "tricks" but I variate and change constantly, I have been experimenting with plain bending (badly) simply as an extension of my beliefs that poi spinning is not so much being flashing and doing...tricks...as much as a total freedom of motion and ability to manipulate something in an artistic and unique way, creating beautiful visuals for your audience while expressing your individuality as a person/spinner

I'm an elitist though, if you can't love it like I do please gtfo

hey I'm also from columbus, I just wanted to say if you can't find any spinners in columbus you aren't looking hard enough. I've been spinning for 3 or so months and no offense but i have wayyyyy more down than you do in that video, and I'm a noob compared to a lot of the people I hang out with. I'm not trying to hate or anything but I mean there are tons of spinners out there, have you ever gone to comfest?