IJA eNewsletter – December 2024

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www.juggle.org
   IJA eNewsletter
  
 December 2024Editors: Don Lewis & Martin Frost
(ijanews@juggle.org)

Happy New Year !!

CONTENTS

  • Ring (O) Ring (O) Ring (O)!  The New Year is here!
  • New eJuggle editorial team
  • 2025 IJA Festival scholarship applications open
  • Nominations open for IJA Honorary Awards
  • Flamingo Club Award nominations open
  • Sky King Award nominations open
  • Juggling Lab phone app: Call for developers
  • Call for letters of interest for 2026 & 2027 IJA Festival Directors
  • How IJA festival cities are chosen (Part 2 of 3)
  • Evansville walking tour & pub crawl
  • YJA Badge Book
  • IJA Board meetings
  • Latest articles in eJuggle

 


 

Ring (O) Ring (O) Ring (O)!  The New Year is here!  by Benjamin Domask-Ruh

Hello IJA Community!

Benjamin Domask-Ruh

The new year has arrived and from the bottom of my IJA heart: Happy New Year!  What will 2025 hold for us jugglers?  What new tricks will be discovered?  What new depths will be reached in the manipulation world?  How can we grow and connect together?  How can the IJA continue supporting the community?  (Please send me a message if you have suggestions to these rhetorical questions!)

The planning for the IJA Annual Festival in Evansville is underway.  The IJA Regional Competitions (IRCs) are also underway (planning, budgeting, and training IRC organizers around the world).  The Youth Juggling Academy (YJA) is embarking on a new project, as well as planning to continue Club YJA and ‘Planting the Juggling Seed’ at this year’s festival.  Tricks of The Month (ToTM) are continuing coming out in full force and full of inspiration.  eJuggle (…eJuggle?) is growing in its approach to an online publication.  The budget for next year is being finalized by our amazing team of Treasurer and bookkeeper, ensuring that the IJA is being fiscally responsible for the foreseeable future.

The Board is here ready to help serve the IJA and our community by continuing following our mission: Render Assistance to Fellow Jugglers (RA2FJ).  So let’s continue keeping this in mind as we go boldly into a new year of juggles.

If you would like to connect, please do not hesitate to reach out at: ija.chair@juggle.org!  As a member, you are ALWAYS welcome to attend our board meetings by sending me an email for a Zoom link.  Or you can see what the board discussed each month by reading the minutes.

RA2FJ,

Benjamin Domask-Ruh
IJA Board Chair

 


 

New eJuggle editorial team  by Eric Shibuya, eJuggle Editor-in-Chief

Fellow Jugglers,

My name is Eric Shibuya, and I am the new Editor-in-Chief for what is currently called “eJuggle.” This is not a duty I take lightly, and the new editorial team (Morgan Anderson, Christian Kloc, and Naomi Stager) and I look forward to moving the IJA‘s online publication in new and exciting directions.

Ultimately, though, this isn’t mine, or the team’s.  It’s the IJA‘s.  It’s for our fellow jugglers.  So, what will I and the new team be working on?

First, if you’re enjoying the history articles, the podcasts, the interviews, most of that will not change.

That said, we will push for new writers and topics and revive some of what we’ve missed.  For instance, more in-depth festival recaps/reviews, prop reviews, advice from successful performers, profiles of IJA winners and other top jugglers, the science of juggling, juggling poetry and fiction, and, importantly, diversity, equity, and inclusion in this community.  We want to further our understanding of what it means to be a part of the community of jugglers.  We do recognize that life and politics are not separate from juggling, and should controversies arise, this team will work with the IJA Board, officers, and writers to address those issues.

(We plan to add a disclaimer along the lines of “Opinions here are those of the writer and do not represent the official position of the IJA, the IJA Board, or the eJuggle editorial team” either on the front page or for each article).

We also want to publish in other languages and, if we can get help from some of our friends with language capability, we can dual publish.

We will investigate the frequency of publication.  For instance, if we moved to a biweekly or monthly publication would that produce more buzz or would people notice it less?  Or do we do a hybrid of some content weekly and a big collection (that feels more like a magazine) say once a month?

What do we want from you?  We want your feedback, your thoughts on what we produce, and we especially want your writing!  Also, we would love your help with editing, especially in other languages besides English.  If you’d like to be a Contributing Editor to eJuggle, contact me and the team at ejuggle@juggle.org.

We are excited for this new step with the IJA‘s online publication, and we hope you will be also.

Eric Shibuya, Editor-in-Chief

Morgan Anderson, Christian Kloc, Naomi Stager, Associate Editors

 


 

2025 IJA Festival scholarship applications open  by Afton Benson, IJA Treasurer

The IJA J. Todd Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund is now accepting applications for 2025 IJA Festival Scholarships.  If you have wanted to attend an IJA Festival but have not had a chance and some support would help, apply!  Priority will be given to individuals who have not attended an IJA Festival before.  You can find the application here.  Please share info about this scholarship far and wide — it is open for jugglers around the world.  Applications close at 11:59pm PDT on March 15, 2025.  Scholarships will start being awarded (and recipients notified) well before the application deadline.  The last awardees will be informed by May at the latest.

This fund is named in honor of Todd Smith, one of the world’s top manufacturers of juggling equipment.  Todd was known for giving away props to aspiring jugglers and had the nickname of “the juggler’s friend”.  This scholarship fund will support new jugglers who have not had the chance to attend an IJA Festival.

Big thanks go to the fund’s donors for their generosity: Arthur Lewbel, Mike and Marilyn Sullivan, Unna Med, and a number of other jugglers.  Since 2022, the Scholarship Fund has provided support to 55 jugglers from around the world to attend the IJA‘s Annual Festival.

Interested in supporting the J. Todd Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund?  Fantastic!  You can today donate here.  Any questions can be directed to treasurer@juggle.org.

 


 

IJA Honorary Awards

Nominations open for IJA Honorary Awards

Nominations for the 2024 IJA Honorary Awards are open.  All the different awards and previous winners are displayed at www.juggle.org/history/honorary-awards.

Nominate someone or yourself today!  Nominations are due by 11:59pm PST on Feb 5, 2025.

 


 

Flamingo Club Award nominations open  by Afton Benson

The IJA Flamingo Club is accepting nominations for the 2025 Flamingo Club Award.  The Flamingo Club provides the recognition, support and encouragement of female-identifying and non-binary persons, children, and families, in order to build a more inclusive juggling community.

The award is given to highlight a female-identifying or non-binary person who has shown outstanding support, inspirational skill, or exceptional promotion of juggling.

Individuals can, and are encouraged to, nominate themselves.

Nominate someone or yourself today!  Nominations are due by 11:59pm PST on Feb 5, 2025.

The Flamingo Club is one of the IJA programs that are supported by donations from jugglers around the world.  Want to ensure the IJA has the means to support these and other programs?  Please donate here today!  Any questions can be directed to treasurer@juggle.org.

 


 

Sky King Award nominations open  by Paris

The Sky King Award committee is accepting nominations for the 2025 Sky King Award.  The award is given in recognition of outstanding dedication to furthering diversity and equity in the juggling community by a BIPOC member of that community.

Individuals can, and are encouraged to, nominate themselves.

Nominate someone or yourself today!  Nominations are due by 11:59pm PST on Feb 5, 2025.

 


 

Juggling Lab phone app: Call for developers  by Exuro Piechocki

Recently the Juggling Lab app for Android was removed from the Google Play store because it needed a code update to stay compliant.  Romain Richard and Frédéric Rayar, the original developers of the app, are pursuing other projects at this time and are seeking to hand the project off to any developers in the juggling community who are willing and able to take it on.

The app is coded using Java.  Romain has been able to bring the app back online in the Google Play store but can’t dedicate the future time to maintaining it.  He is willing to provide some minor assistance and guidance to anyone with an interest in keeping it online.  If you have experience with Java (and siteswap) and are interested in using your skills to provide a service to the juggling community, this is an excellent opportunity to do just that.  The app is not available for iOS, but maybe you could make that happen!

Please contact TheRealExuro@gmail.com if you are interested in helping with this project.

 


 

Call for letters of interest for 2026 & 2027 IJA Festival Directors
by Ross Berenson

Are you passionate about curating unforgettable experiences for the juggling community?  Do you thrive in dynamic environments where creativity and organization intersect?  Join our team as a Festival Director and play a pivotal role in shaping the 2026 or 2027 IJA Festivals.  The IJA would love to hear from those who are interested!  We’re beginning earlier than usual to give future festival directors additional time to work their magic.  The goal is to provide extra time for more opportunities, allow time for them to shadow current directors, and collaborate with former directors.

The 79th IJA Festival will be in Fort Wayne, IN, during the week of July 27–August 2, 2026.
The 80th IJA Festival will be in Cedar Rapids, IA, during the week of July 11–17, 2027.

Responsibilities:

  • Organize the week long festival.
  • Oversee all aspects of festival planning, from conceptualization to execution, ensuring seamless coordination and exceptional attendee experiences.
  • Collaborate with the board, volunteers, artists, vendors, sponsors, venues and local partners, to align on goals.
  • Develop and manage budgets, timelines, and resources.
  • Choose to lead a team of your choosing, providing guidance, support, and clear communication to ensure everyone is aligned with the festival’s vision and objectives.
  • Craft shows that highlight the vibrant spirit of our community and embody the core values of our organization.  Let’s showcase the very best of who we are and what we stand for!
  • Implement comprehensive marketing and promotional strategies to drive attendance and enhance the festival’s visibility and reputation.
  • Evaluate the success of the festival through post-event analysis and feedback collection, identifying areas for improvement and innovation.
  • Festival director will have the opportunity to travel to the festival site, a number of months prior to the event with some of their team.

Compensation: $7,000 USD.

Past festival directors and the board are here to cheer you on and help guide you whenever you need it!  While some parts of the festival, like the competitions and shows, are tried and true favorites, there’s also plenty of room for you to toss in your own ideas and make this experience unique!  So, let’s team up and have a blast creating something unforgettable, together!

If you’re excited about the opportunity but not completely sure if this position is right for you, reach out by January 31, 2025, to the IJA Chair at ija.chair@juggle.org.

If you are ready to apply, send an email of interest stating:

  • Why you’d like to be the Festival Director
  • Any experience you have organizing events and volunteers
  • The year(s) you’re interested in
  • New (or old) ideas you would like to bring to the festival and the IJA community

 


 

How IJA festival cities are chosen (Part 2 of 3)
by Mike Sullivan, Senior Future Festival Site Coordinator

PART 2 – How do we find potential festival destinations?

In Part 1 of this series last month, we looked at where IJA‘s festival fits into the immense industry of meetings and conventions.

In case you missed it: our event, as big and important as it is to all of us, is tiny.

The IJA festival is just barely big enough to let us continue to choose destinations that have nice things like commercial airports, small convention centers, elegant performance theaters, and downtowns that are safe, walkable, and filled with places we can eat and drink.

Indeed, if our event ever got just a little bit smaller — for example, if we couldn’t fill up our contracted hotel space — our whole festival week would be in jeopardy.  We might not be able to make deals with nice cities like Green Bay, Fort Wayne, and Cedar Rapids.

If that happened, it becomes very difficult and expensive for most of our members to get to the festival, since with no airport close by, the logistics get complicated for everyone.  Then there’s a good chance that sends us into a “death spiral” of much smaller festival attendance, much lower income to the IJA, and insufficient funds to keep the Association viable.

Where do we start?
IJA tries to book our festival destinations at least 3-5 years in advance.  That’s great for us as it gives us certainty about our near-term plans at very favorable prices.  We get the venues we need at today’s prices, and we can get great deals by committing years in advance.

It’s great for the destinations as well, as they have confirmed business on the books and have plenty of time to fill in additional business for their venues with other groups and events.

In the meetings industry, organizations like IJA that want to find destinations for their events (called “Planners,” in industry-speak) create and publish a document called a “Request for Proposals,” or RFP.  Our RFP details our basic needs for meeting space, lodging pattern and pricing requirements, theater specs, desired dates, our history of hotel room sales attainment and much more.

For the past 17 years, IJA has updated and published our RFP to several large online networks of destinations and venues (called “Suppliers,” in industry-speak) used in the industry.  Suppliers use these online directories to search for planners like us.  When they find us and read our RFP, they get in touch if they think we’d be a good fit for their destination.

We always answer the phone and respond to email from anyone, anywhere who might be interested in bringing our festival to their city.  Sometimes the discussions end quickly after we explore their destination and they hear more about our needs.

Maybe they don’t have a commercial airport (Tuscaloosa, Alabama), or enough downtown hotel capacity to house our group (La Crosse, Wisconsin), or a live performance theater that’s right for us (Little Rock, Arkansas), or air conditioning in the juggling space (Kalamazoo, Michigan).

Quite often, and especially with larger cities, they tell us there’s no way they can meet our needs for low hotel rates in the middle of what is the peak summer tourist season for many destinations.  They’d be happy to have us come to town for a week and buy 1,200 hotel room/nights at $300+ per night, but very few of our members would be able to afford those rates.

Or, they would gladly host us in mid-January at $150/night, when there’s little demand for their product — but most of our members would not be able to attend, and who really wants to walk around downtown Albany in the dark in January looking for a place to eat dinner?

Other cities are just too big and have too much other tourism and convention business to want to cater to all our crazy requirements.  I’ve often said that unless our event grows at least 20 times its historical size, we will never be able to hold a festival in any destination that has a skyscraper, a theme park, a mountain or a beach.

Speed dating
Another way we prospect for potential destinations is by attending industry conferences where Planners gather with Suppliers and hold a series of “speed dates” with each other.  Think of these conferences as “meetings for people who hold meetings.”

We attend these conferences about once a year.  Our airfare, lodging, conference registration and most meals are paid for by the suppliers who are vying to book our business, so there’s virtually no cost to us.

During the course of 2-3 days, we will meet with as many as 70 potential suppliers in meetings as short as 7 minutes each.  We exchange initial information and literature, and if there might be a potential fit, we plan to follow-up after the conference.  Most of the festival destinations we have selected in the past 15 years have come from initial contacts we made at these conferences.

For example, we started talking to Cedar Rapids in 2010 as they began reconstruction after the historic flood that inundated their downtown in 2008 with 50 feet of water.  By 2012, they had started work on their new convention center, began restoration and upgrades to the historic Paramount Theater and remodeled and upgraded the Doubletree Hotel.  Finally in late 2014, when all the new and restored buildings were ready, we signed contracts to bring our 70th annual celebration to the city in July, 2017 — seven years after we first spoke.

Between these two sources of potential host cities — the industry search engines and the “meetings for people who hold meetings” — we’ve probably met with, spoken to or corresponded with every city that has a commercial airport in the lower 48 and beyond, most of Canada and some of the Caribbean, and several more that don’t.

Then the work begins…
Once we’ve made contact with a potential destination, and we’ve gotten past initial screens on both sides, the slow, tedious work begins to qualify the destination and get a deal we all like.

We’ll hold a series of conference calls with our team and reps from the CVB (Convention and Visitors Bureau), the hotel(s), the convention center, and the theater to discuss the specifics of what we need and what they have.  If it sounds like a possible fit, we ask for a preliminary proposal, which is usually coordinated and assembled by the CVB.

Once we have that, the bargaining starts in earnest.  We work to get the lowest rates for the hotel rooms, and the most concessions from all the venues, ranging from A/V services to free parking to free hotel rooms.  In many cases, we’re able to negotiate the hotel room rates down from the initial offer by as much as 25% — saving our members around $20,000 in total for the week.

We also find ways to save the IJA money on fees at the theater, extra amenities at the hotel and convention center, and perks like airport welcome signs, light pole banners in downtown, and even cash grants for bringing our event to their city.

Nearing the finish line
Quite often, after months of discussions and negotiations, things come to an end without a deal.  Sometimes the hotel can’t get close to the rates we need, or the convention center is too big or too expensive, or the theater can’t book us four years out due to their contracts with national touring show promoters.

We’ve found that about three-quarters of all the contacts that pass our initial screens wind up washing out for one reason or another.  We bid farewell on cordial terms, and they promise to keep in touch in hopes of a better outcome sometime soon.

If everything goes really well, after many months of discussions, negotiations, draft contracts, and questions, we have arrived at the stage where we ask to come and see everything they have been telling us: a site visit.  The prospective destination invites us to come to town for 2-3 days at their expense to try to seal the deal.

Then we’ll travel to meet our new friends in person and see first-hand what might become the festival home for a week for our members in a few years.

NEXT MONTH: Site visits and contract signing

 


 

Evansville walking tour & pub crawl  by Mike Sullivan

Get to know your IJA hometown for festival week with a fun, casual walking tour of all our festival venues and downtown Evansville on Monday afternoon, July 14, 2025.

We’ll step off about 2pm from the lobby of the Doubletree Hotel and cruise through our juggling spaces in the Old National Events Center before popping in to have a look at the gorgeous Victory Theater.  Then we’ll have a leisurely stroll through downtown, pointing out and stopping into several great (but sometimes hidden!) restaurants and bars.

There’s no shortage of fun, casual and delicious places to eat in downtown, but not all of them are easy to find!  Your guide for the afternoon knows every nook and cranny and has scoped out the best of the best, so come along for a tour of where you can wet your whistle and satisfy your appetite all week.

Our tour is just $25 per person, and includes three local draft beer pints at stops along the way and check-ins in over a dozen other spots close to our IJA venues.  We’ll wind up at a local dinner favorite for an OPTIONAL group dinner with your old and new IJA friends.

So make plans to be in Evansville on the 14th in time to join us.  Tickets will be on sale when festival registration opens early next year.

See you then!

 


 

YJA Badge BookThe Juggler's Badge Book

Did you know that the IJA‘s Youth Juggling Academy has a book?  It does!

The Juggler's Badge Book

The Juggler’s Badge Book is the ultimate companion for aspiring jugglers of any age!  Track your progress, unlock achievements, and earn badges as you learn the art of juggling.  With its engaging format and rewarding sticker system, The Juggler’s Badge Book makes learning to juggle an exciting and fulfilling adventure.  Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned juggler, let The Juggler’s Badge Book be your guide to skillful juggling and a collection of well-earned accomplishments.  Start achieving your juggling journey today!

The Juggler’s Badge Book is $25 and makes a great gift!  Purchase yours today!  Proceeds go to supporting further YJA initiatives and advancing the IJA‘s mission to render assistance to fellow jugglers.

Published by the International Jugglers’ Association in collaboration with Modern Vaudeville Press.

 


 

IJA Board meetingsIJA Board meetings

IJA Board meetings are open to all IJA members and are hosted on Zoom.  To find out the times of this month’s vision and business meetings, or to attend, please email ija.chair@juggle.org and say which meeting you’re interested in.

 


 

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Latest articles in eJuggle

 


 

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