Mordecai's Journal

8 Liability Insurance.  Today, many venues require performers to carry their own liability insurance if they are to be allowed to perform.  The SAM provides performers the opportunity to purchase up to $1 million in liability insurance, allowing our members to meet the requirements of their performance venues.
For information or to apply, visit www.magicsam.com and click the “Liability Insurance” link under “Why You Should Join Us.”

9 The Society of Young Magicians.  The SAM is looking to the future of magic through our young people.  The Society of Young Magicians was established to foster interest in magic in our youth and to ensure the survival of our art in future generations.  Membership in SYM is open to children from 7 to 17 years of age, allowing them to participate in the SYM through high school.  When members turn 18, they “graduate” and become members of the SAM with the added benefit of getting their first year of SAM membership for the $20.00 cost of SYM membership.
As SAM members, we are given the opportunity to pass on our knowledge and the traditions of magic to the next generation to ensure that magic remains strong when we are gone.
In the summer of 2008, the SYM sponsored the first “WOW”, or Weekend of Wonder—the world’s first magic convention specifically for young people! The convention was a huge success and very highly reviewed by the young magicians who attended (and their families as well).
In this, and many other areas, the SAM is working to stay on the cutting edge of magic and the development of magicians.

10 Membership in the oldest and most prestigious magical organization in the world.  As a member, your name will be on the same roster that once contained names like Harry Houdini, Harry Kellar, and Howard Thurston.  You will be on the same roster as current members: Harry Anderson, Lance Burton, Mac King, and David Copperfield.  Not bad company to be in.
Membership also gives you the opportunity to give back to magic. Magic has done a great deal for all of us.  Membership in SAM gives you the opportunity to serve other magicians as a local or national officer or simply

This completes the list of benefits I assembled for my presentations last summer.  Please let me know what you think.  Did I forget to include anything?  Do any of the benefits need further explanation? Any comments or suggestions will be welcome.
** For a complete list of membership benefits that is updated as our benefits are updated, visit membershipbenefits.  

Christopher Bontjes
Society of American Magicians
Regional Vice President - Midwest