EAT’M 2002: OPEN WIDE

It was a while ago, but the memory is still fresh: a gaggle of HITS employees hunkered down over the craps table at Bally’s in Vegas, screaming, red-faced and bleary-eyed. It was a picture of extreme behavior and untrammeled vice we won’t ever forget.

And now it’s time to do it again. Whoo-hoo!

The occasion for the Hieronymous Bosch-like scene described above was the EAT’M (Emerging Artists & Technology in Music) Conference. This year, we’re returning to Lisa Tenner, Pulver.com and friends’ Vegas confab, which goes down May 29, 30 and 31 at the MGM Grand Hotel—but we’re gonna keep it together.

Really. We mean it this time.

There’ll be enough to do with panels on A&R, publishing, songwriting, marketing, technology and every other music-related topic under the Nevada sun (many of which feature geeks you know), not to mention bands, bands, bands. And lavish parties. And a gala lunch honoring Mick Fleetwood. And a celebrity golf tournament.

And blackjack. Dude, I think they’re bringing us free drinks! I’m totally on a roll here—I can feel it.

Bands will be able to have demos critiqued (probably by industry geeks you know) and to set up mentor sessions for career advice. Speaking of advice: Hey, Lisa, you should have these at Olympic Garden.

Out of a job? Don’t got a deal? Put a little extra aside for baccarat, my friend—EAT’M is making it easier for pink-slipped industryites and unsigned artists to attend and do the networking boogie with a special $200 registration rate. Need other registration info? You guessed it: go here.

Speaking of which, can I borrow $200? I’m tellin’ ya, this hand can’t lose!