Once again David has a lot to say, so April’s interview will be posted in two parts.

Part One:  The new business plan
Part Two:  Mascots, performers and the Raymond Entertainment Group staff

Cudo:  You mention new characters and young performers.  Do you have anything new this year you are rolling out, or is that down the road a bit.

Raymond:  No, this year Reggy is our focus and we want to make sure that people see what we do with him is different and fun.  Reggy has a little more technology as well.  He has ears that can move and confetti that shoots from his head.  He is much different looking that any character that we have ever had.  We are going to continue to develop construction technology with lights and fun things in the costume that we plan to use in other character designs, including lights and CO2 projections from the hands and heads.

In terms of a new characters, I’d like to be able to create new characters every year and train young performers.  

Cudo:  What advice would you have for younger performers who are looking to move up to that level of expectations?

Raymond: I think that first and foremost you have to make sure you are having fun.  I start every class out with that comment.  What is the most critical part of any mascot program?   People always guess it’s the costume, or the ability to perform or this or that.  

I disagree.  The most critical part of any mascot program is that the performer is having fun with it.

You have to make sure the performers are having fun. It’s not unlike an actor.  They have to recognize that most likely they are not going to make a living at this.  But it they are really motivated and really like doing it, and don’t mind sacrificing some money in the early going and still have a regular job to fall back on…that’s how the people I know who are doing it full-time all started.

Cudo:  Or in my case, sacrifice money in the later stages. 

Raymond:  [Laughs] You can do that too.  It really is just a matter or really wanting to do it and knowing that there are opportunities, but also understanding that it may not all work out for your as a full-time gig, but with some luck you can end up there.

As long as you believe you can do it and you have enough drive, even if someone won’t hire you then you can develop your own character…and there are people who can help you do that.

Cudo:   What do you see as the environment for new acts who are trying to break in?  My interpretation has been that teams are looking for new acts, but I have not seen many really taking off.

Raymond:  Here’s the deal.  You are in business for yourself; you have the site and the characters…so you understand.  Five or ten years ago you could walk into any team and get bookings.  Now you have to be a little more sophisticated.  You have to have a good business plan, you have to understand customer service, you’d better understand what the minor league marketplace needs.  You can no longer just show up to winter meetings in a costume armed with a postcard and ask X amount of dollars to perform. 

The shows have become more sophisticated, you must have a good show, good costume and good production to make a new show work.  

Another way is to do something innovative, like you are doing [editors note:  David is referencing The King of Sports act, which is performed by the interviewer Jon Cudo].  Your show is so different and unique which is what makes it so interesting and successful.  You filled a void with this "anti-mascot" character that teams didn't even know existed.

Bottom line, as a new act you’d better know the pricing structures.  You’d better understand that the different General Managers each have their own philosophies as to how they draw their fans and how they market their teams.  You gotta know the marketplace…just like any other business.

If you don’t understand it, your not good at it, or you don’t have good business skills, then you are going to be less than successful.

Cudo: Good advice.  I need to write most of this down for myself as well.   Let’s talk about your mascot classes.  Last time we talked you were teaching a mascot class.  What is the status of that project?

Raymond:  The training has really been put on the back burner, and we will eventually rename it David Raymond’s Mascot Boot Camp.  We are working on the materials now.  In the mean time I am focusing on consulting and our character branding program.

I just finished a session for Mandalay Sports in Las Vegas, which owns 5 teams.  They brought me in to work with all of their characters.  They saw the value in the consulting and asked me to put together a 2-day class for them. 

What’s happened here again is that people have realized it’s not just as easy as getting the costume made, finding a young intern, throwing them in the costume and saying “Go have fun”.  It’s become a bit more sophisticated.  The fans are now expecting a little more out of your character.  Companies like Mandalay who own several teams want to get all their characters together and make sure everyone understands the importance of the characters and how they can make money for the team.  

Mandalay also brought their marketing people to the training, which really made the training a great success for the teams and built the character branding programs for each of the 5 teams.

Raymond:   Right now we are developing the materials.  At this point we are happy to travel and teach the classes in a different environment as we work to develop the best training model that we can.

Cudo:   Finally, let’s talk about the staff you have there, and what they are all about.

Raymond:  My brother, Chris Raymond, he is developed the business plan and he does the financials for us.  He is in private banking and his knowledge of the financials is a tremendous help.   His title is the Wizard of Dollars and Non-sense.

Mark Doughty has been friend of mine for years and traveled with me when I was the Phanatic as my road manager.  He is my Lord of the Deal, calling on clients and doing all the selling.  Our creative talent is simply fantastic.  Her name is Kathy Wilson.  She has a varied experience in performance, training in drama, directing and performing, great experience in creating characters from the ground up. She is also an artist.  We have her in on every creative decision.  When a client hires us we immediately put them in touch with her.  She is so much fun to work with.  She is the heart and soul of the fun that we have.

Chris Bruce from the University of Delaware is our intern who we hope will join us full time after he graduates.  We also have a handful of interns from the YoUDee mascot program at the University of Delaware who support us with marketing help. And Reggy is our pilot program for character-branding programs.  He shows companies what you can do with a character.  We see him as a local celebrity and a touring character for a long time into the future.

Cudo:  It sounds like you are excited about the new opportunities.

Raymond:  I am so excited to be in a business like this.  Working with talented people in an industry I love.  It is so full of great opportunities.

Cudo:  Thanks David.  You are a God [David asked me to say this].

Read Part One of the David Raymond Interview

I also want to again thank David for his time.  We conducted this interview nearly a month ago and the process of transcribing and reviewing the interview has taken a lot of his time during the start of his busiest part of the year.   It was a pleasure as always.

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