PSI members,

Here's exciting news about an Austin-based company that will be (a)
sponsoring nps2007 and (b) giving $10,000 to the spoken word artist that
wins their online contest.

Please spread the word to your communities -- forward the text below at
will, and please submit videos yourselves.

Looking forward to seeing you in August,

Mike Henry
Artistic Director, nps2007

*****************************

Open letter to all spoken word artists ­ please forward at will:

This August, a spoken word artist will win $10,000.

For real. No strings, no gimmick, guaranteed. I¹ll say it again:

This August, a spoken word artist will win $10,000.

Go to your computer and check out www.FameCast.com. This Austin-based
company has just finished the first season of their nation-wide online
talent competition and awarded $10K each to the top scoring artists in six
genres: Pop, Rock, Hip Hop, Country, R & B, and Comedy. Their new season
features a stage for spoken word artists with ­ I say it a third time ­ a
$10,000 prize.

If the opportunity for that prize money isn¹t enough, let me give you four
reasons why I think it is crucial that you participate:

1. Check out the stats below; FameCast is an incredible opportunity for us
to get the work of spoken word artists out there to an enormous online
community. That equals a huge doorway for us to grow the spoken word
audience, which helps every poetry venue in the country.

2. FameCast is getting behind the spoken word community and giving us our
own stage and our own prize, on the same level as pop, hip hop, or any other
genre. This is a chance for spoken word artists to step up and show the
haters and nonbelievers that our work deserves that equal treatment. How
many times have you ran across someone who rolled their eyes at you or
treated spoken word as a ³lesser² art form? Post your videos and let¹s
prove them wrong.

3. FameCast has come on board as a sponsor of the 2007 National Poetry
Slam. That¹s another example of how these folks are getting behind spoken
word; they are putting their money where their mouth is to give back to the
community.

4. If the spoken word community gets up and makes this stage rock, this
won¹t be a one-time opportunity. FameCast stages cycle in and out
throughout the year. Time to show and prove: put the great work up there
and let¹s build an audience that can¹t wait for the next spoken word
competition.

Becoming a FameCast artist is absolutely free, and very easy. Go to the
site, register as an artist, and you will be given your own Backstage
Manager. Use it to help you:

€ Upload multiple videos in the video gallery - including naming &
describing each video and uploading cover art for them
€ Create your own blog and post at will
€ Add a bio to the About Me section
€ Link to your own website
€ Upload an artist avatar image
€ Start a FameCast fan club for yourself
€ Add existing FameCast members as friends or favorites
€ Send emails to invite people to come check you out on FameCast

From there, use your skills as grassroots artists and promoters. The more
active you are, the more people you reach out to online and point to your
site, the more buzz you create and the better results you will have.

How the competition works:

Basically, think about it as a big online Poetry Slam:

€ You post a video and create a cool Backstage profile
€ FameCast users surf through the spoken word stage and vote for their
faves
€ The field gets narrowed down based on the votes:

May 30: Voting begins
June 6: Cut to 50 artists
June 20: Cut to 25 artists
July 4: Cut to 10 artists
July 18: Cut to 5 artists

The top five artists will be flown to Austin, Texas, to perform in a live
showcase as a late night event at the 2007 National Poetry Slam. The show
will be streamed live on the web and posted at famecast.com. After another
short voting period, the FameCast Fenom for spoken word will be named and
will win $10,000

The numbers:

Stats from FameCast Season One:

€ Over half a million unique visits to the site
€ Over 10 million pages viewed (meaning people are watching the videos)
€ 1,200 registered artists across 6 genres of talent
€ 55,000 registered fans

Let¹s do this, people. Post videos and spread the word. I am working
personally with FameCast behind the scenes to help make this program a
success and I give them all the props and my highest recommendation.
FORWARD THIS MESSAGE and encourage all the poets you know to get involved.

Thanks for your time,

Mike Henry
Slammaster / Austin, TX
Artistic Director, 2007 National Poetry Slam
Co-Director / Producer, Slam Planet: War of the Words

About FameCast

Born in Austin, TX, the Live Music Capital of the World, FameCast is the
first artist discovery and entertainment community providing a nationwide,
seasonal competition whereby an online audience determines tomorrow¹s big
stars. Knowing that lack of exposure is what keeps some of our best artists
in the shadows, we aim to shine the spotlight on those that have what it
takes, but have lacked the breaks. For more information visit
www.famecast.com.


Bob Nelson
Executive Director, Anthology, Inc.
PO Box 4411
Mesa, AZ 85211-4411
(480) 461-8200
bob@...


Anthology¹s mission is to promote performance poetry and associated literary
arts in the greater Phoenix community by providing opportunities for artists
to perform their work and by making spokenword arts accessible to a diverse
audience. More information on Anthology and how you can become a member can
be found at http://www.anthology.org .