Winter Music Conference – WMC
It is also known for the Winter Music Conference and the WMC, which is a traditional official festival that has been held every year since the mid-1980s in Ft. Lauderdale, but since 1991 the official location has moved to downtown Miami and South Beach, Florida. In its beginnings this event was organized for the nightlife service industry, DJ’s, promoters, producers and entertainment media. This was and still is the most recognized networking event for industry professionals to establish relationships that extend their resources until the end of the year. What used to be more underground, dealing with a referral marketing approach to advertising, has gone mainstream since the late 1990s. This event attracts people from all major continents and provides electronic music lovers with the opportunity to see the most recognized and favorite dj’s in the world. The official dates are usually the third week of March which consists of four official days, but since the highest growth in the last ten years actually consists of a full week.
The majority type of music that can be heard is house, trance, electro and drum and bass. The conference consists of over 500 events throughout the week that take place at various nightclubs such as Space Miami, The Manson, Nikki Beach, Crowbar, and other nightclubs. Many of the venues are connected to the luxurious hotels on the South Beach strip and downtown and most of these hotels host pool parties from morning to night. This is what you call “non-stop partying” that branches out beyond nightclubs and hotels even extending outside of the traditional disco and pool party atmosphere into oddball venues like restaurants and clothing stores.
The most recognized events are the International Dance Music Awards, which are organized to recognize and honor the most talented and notarized professionals in the industry for their achievements. The Ultra Music Festival is the largest event that takes place in downtown Miami, usually in the final segment of the WMC. Over 200 professional DJs perform on over 10 different stages and draw crowds of over 200,000 people.
There has been an extreme increase in hotel rates this year due to the downturn in the economy, where many hotels have taken a huge financial hit in recent months. Hotel providers know they’ll sell out all the rooms, so what’s to stop them from raising rates to make up for money lost this year? Nothing will do because of the large number of people from various places who still want to experience some of the most talked about electronic music events in the world and don’t mind paying the price to do so.
As a travel agent and event promoter, I compared this year’s rates to last year at the hotel, which show an increase of 25 to 50 percent, which is almost abusive for the providers, but the business and the money they are your primary concern, as they should be. be. I remember last year I had some negotiated rates at the Palms for a junior suite for around $450 a night, now my negotiated rate is over $900 a night. I knew this would happen, so I positioned myself ahead of the masses of the previous month and negotiated with as many vendors as I could.
I have currently dealt with The Palms South Beach, Ganesvoort South, Trump Intl Beach Resort, Loews Miami Beach Hotel, The Whitelaw Hotel, Metropole South Beach, Mercury South Beach, The Chesterfield Hotel, Catalina Hotel, Hilton Bentley Miami Beach Hotel, Hotel Shelley, Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Trump International Beach Resort, Le Meridian Sunny Isles Beach, The National Hotel, Carlton Hotel, Four Points By Sheraton Miami Beach, Doubletree Ocean Point Resort & Spa-Miami Beach North, Newport Beachside Hotel, Courtyard By Marriott Miami Beach Front to the sea, Hilton Grand Vacations Club in South Beach, Chelsea Hotel, Marco Polo Ramada Plaza Beach Resort, Alexander All Suite Oceanfront Resort, Circa39, Days Hotel – Thunderbird Beach, Holiday Inn Miami Beach, Days Inn- Miami Beach Oceanside, Days inn South Beach and Travelodge Monaco Oceanfront Resort.