Camplified founder Aimee Berger will be speaking this week at the Northeast YMCA Camp Conference!

Session Title: Ancillary Revenue Streams for Summer Camps

Session Description: How to capitalize and/or create new streams of revenue at Camp at no additional expense.

Bio: Aimee Berger, Founder of the Camplified Rock Concert and Branded Experience tour that has rocked and rolled through summer camps across the country the past eleven years, also serves as the Executive Brand Partnerships Director at Primary Wave Music. Her resources in  the entertainment, digital media, merchandising and advertising industries have provided her with access to creating platforms that drive innovative concepts and new sources of revenue into summer camps. She began her career as an entertainment attorney and then music manager but it was her many years at summer camp that led her to merging her true passions together and re-emerging in the camping industry not as a camper but as a professional maintaining her camper spirit.

Camplified founder Aimee Berger (second from right) hangs out with
DPS co-founder Chris Balogh and Frolic! play space founder Carey Balogh.

Eleven years ago, I embarked on creating a property called “Camplified,” which focuses on bringing emerging bands and artists on the cusp of taking big strides in their career into summer camps across the nation. This captive audience of campers was just the right forum to introduce new music to a viable market of teen tastemakers. Later, it would become a unique platform for brands to utilize this vehicle, as well. This was all part of the plan, and as a company, we set out to be present at camp conferences, industry executive offices and introductions to various brand managers. What I did not envision was the relationships in camping that would take place on a personal level and become part of my everyday life. I was not aware of the amount of time that camp directors, owners and other camp-related businesses devoted outside their day-to-day roles to their own companies to support various charities that were dedicated to bringing those children financially unable to go to camp to have the opportunity to do just that – attend camp. Organizations like SCOPE NY, Midwest and this year, Southeast as well as Morry’s Camp, have put in endless hours for which this write-up could not do justice to change the lives of young children who, without these organizations, would have most definitely turned down a different path. Many of those children have now become leaders in our community and are the first to acknowledge this is because of the commitment of SCOPE and Morry’s Camp. This year will mark the first time I have been given the privilege to join the dinner committee for SCOPE (event takes place April 17th, 2012) and appointed Entertainment Chair.  What exactly does that mean? Don’t worry, you are about to be hit up for donations, gift bag items, raffle prizes, purchasing tickets to the dinner and/or sponsoring because without YOU making a difference, others less fortunate than you do not always have a chance to embark on a path to advance themselves, get educated and develop the social skills that happen at summer camp.

A few years ago, an artist performed on Camplified, and his manager, Chris Balogh (an entrepreneur in his own right and now a partner in DPS) became an instant friend of mine and as much as I began to adore him, it was his introduction to his wife Carey Balogh that confirmed by admiration for this couple. Last year, Carey along with her business partner Julia Dawson, embarked on a fascinating business in Brooklyn, creating a spacious indoor playground which targets young children and allows parents to sit back and relax with a cup of freshly roasted coffee, while keeping an eye on their child. Customized play attractions at Frolic! include a Rolling Stones-inspired tongue slide, a mini concert stage and backstage lounge for jamming and dress-up, as well as an interactive 1970 VW bus recreated by Roto, the award-winning children’s museum designers. When Carey and Julia came to me with this concept, I knew they had done more than their share of research acknowledging that a place like Frolic! did not exist and was very much needed in Williamsburg. In turn, I knew I could turn to the Ben Appelbaum foundation for support. In very little time, the foundation brought Norm Brodsky into the mix, and his mentorship, along with Carey and Julia’s business sensibility and no nonsense attitude, led to the recent opening of Frolic!. (Check out their articles in The Greenpoint Gazette and Time Out NY Kids.)

I am grateful to have a career in the music business, especially at a time that it has proven more difficult to do so. However,  I never could have imagined the new friends that resulted because of it – camp directors and owners, foundation leaders at these charitable organizations and relationships like those I have developed with the Baloghs which have proven priceless.

LIVE NATION & PRIMARY WAVE MUSIC PARTNER TO LAUNCH ROCK OUT KNOCK OUT: FROM THE STAGE TO THE CAGE!

A New Event Combining Live Music & Mixed Martial Arts on One Ticket, Under One Roof
Asbury Park Convention Hall – Saturday, February 18^th
Tickets On Sale December 22^nd at 10am

New York, NY (December 21, 2011) – There will be a whole lot of testosterone in the air as Primary Wave Music teams up with Live Nation to co-produce a new event and concept, called “Rock Out Knock Out (ROKO): From the Stage to the Cage!”. “Rock Out Knock Out” combines live music with mixed martial arts (MMA) on one ticket featuring four bands and five professional MMA fights all in one night.

“Rock Out Knock Out” is heading to the historic Asbury Park Convention Hall in New Jersey on Saturday, February 18^th, 2012 for the first official ROKO event featuring the band Steel Panther as the headlining music act. Tickets go on-sale Thursday December 22^nd through www.livenation.com, charge by phone and the Stone Pony and Convention Hall Box Offices. The night will consist of four bands and five professional mixed martial arts fights in one venue with a stage on one side of the room and a cage on the other, alternating between live music acts and professional MMA fights. The night will conclude with the “Main Fight Event” followed by the headlining band Steel Panther.

“As a passionate fan of both music and MMA, I’ve always felt that there was a marriage between the two lifestyles”, says Devin Lasker, creator of Rock Out Knock Out. “I set out to create a unique experience, where fans could enjoy the best of both worlds, with incredible bands and professional fights all under one roof. It couldn’t be better timing and I’m excited to partner with Live Nation to expand ROKO worldwide.”

“Being a concert promoter, I’ve always tried to find ways to bring live music to people in new and unique settings”, says Sean Striegel of Live Nation. “With MMA fighting gaining mainstream attention, it seemed natural to create an experience bringing these two exciting events together. I am very excited to be partnering with Devin and his team at Primary Wave to create a truly memorable event.”

The announcement and launch of “Rock Out Knock Out” is particularly timely since the UFC signed the deal with FOX to go “mainstream” last month (November 2011), appearing on network television (FOX) for the first time ever. Before going mainstream, MMA fighting was already the fourth largest sport in the US after the “big three” – Football, Basketball and Baseball – so now with this nationwide FOX platform, the audience is guaranteed to grow and ROKO will be a new and different outlet for consumers to get their live MMA fix, brands to tap into this billion dollar plus business and artists/fighters to continue to expand their fan-base.

Tickets for “Rock Out Knock Out” at Convention Hall in Asbury Park on February 18^th go on sale to the public on December 22^nd at 10am through www.livenation.com, charge by phone 800-745-3000 and The Stone Pony and Convention Hall box offices.

Popstar! Online recently hung out with Camplified 2011 pop group Savvy! The revealed some of their signature dance moves and took Popstar! behind the scenes at their rehearsal in the above exclusive Michael Jackson tribute video.

It must be Christmas come early! Camplified 2008 and 2010 pop/rock duo Michael and Marisa are giving away their energetic new song, “That’s How We Do It,” for FREE download exclusively on PopstarOnline.com! Click HERE to take a listen and download it for yourself. And just in case you haven’t seen the music video to go along with it… check it out:

If you’re looking for a last-minute Christmas gift, our Camplified 2011 sponsor DEOS has a ton of great gift ideas — from crystallized iPhone covers to jeweled earbuds. AND if you use the discount code BILLBOARD (via Billboard.com) you can take 20% off your order at DEOSlive.com! We even saw a ton of them in the window of Henri Bendel (photo above).

Check out these awesome green screen photos from our stop at YMCA Camp Gorham last summer in Eagle Bay, New York! Gosh, hard to believe it’s already been five months since camp ended… is it next summer yet??

Check out this clip of Camplified 2011 artists Sam&Nate performing at Disney’s Celebration City! Also be sure to vote for the guys to appear on the AMTC Music Showcase, Shine. Sam&Nate will also be releasing new songs in the coming months, so be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter to stay in the loop!

R&B artist Eric Benet (managed by Primary Wave/Violator Talent Management, a division of Primary Wave Music that co-owns Camplified) recently held an intimate concert in NYC’s Greenwich Village for industry executives and celebrities alike. Camplified founder Aimee Berger (top left) was in attendance and mingled with founding partner Greg Hamerschlag as well as Primary Wave Music client Phil Collen (top right) of Def Leppard. Check out the full story in the current issue of Billboard!

Check out the hot new video from Camplified 2011 act and talented singer/songwriter Jessarae! “Stuck On You” is the lead single from Jessarae’s debut album, Pilot, available on iTunes Dec. 6. Pilot will released as a physical CD in February 2012.