International Brotherhood of Magicians

International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.) is an organization for both professional and amateur close-up and stage magicians, with approximately 15,000 members worldwide. The headquarters is in St. Charles, Missouri. There are over 300 local groups, called Rings, in more than 88 countries, largely concentrated in cities of the United States and Canada. The organization publishes a monthly periodical entitled The Linking Ring, which features tricks, coverage of shows and events in the magic community, and interviews with magicians.

History
The organization was founded February 10, 1922 in Winnipeg, Manitoba by Len Vintus (stage name of Melvin Justus Given McMullen) of Transcona, Manitoba, which would later amalgamate with Winnipeg. Gene Gordon (a.k.a. Gordon Avery) of Buffalo, New York, and Don Rogers (a.k.a. Ernest Schieldge). Unlike earlier magic clubs, such as the Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.) in the United States and The Magic Circle in England, the I.B.M. was begun by magicians living outside the major cities, who were unable to attend magic club meetings, and who kept in contact by post.

Gene Gordon established the first local group, Ring 1, in Rochester, New York. The original Ring 1 eventually disbanded, and St. Louis, Missouri later assumed the vacated title of Ring 1, which it continues to hold today. Since then, a new club, Ring 4, formed in Rochester.

The I.B.M. holds an annual convention, usually in June or July. Although the S.A.M. and the Magic Circle held banquets as early as 1905, the I.B.M. was the first to hold a magic convention, in Kenton, Ohio, on June 9–10, 1926. The 66th annual convention was held in Orlando, Florida.

Organization
Each international territory has a Territorial Vice President who coordinates with the Rings in that country and other Territorial Vice Presidents.

The International Brotherhood of Magicians has a number of local clubs, located throughout the world, known as Rings. Each Ring was originally numbered in sequence, based on when it received its charter from the I.B.M. Since then, some clubs have dissolved, and newer clubs have assumed some of the vacated ring numbers.

Membership
Membership is open to amateur and professional magicians, as well as those who collect magic apparatus and effects. Active members must be at least 18 years old, and youth members must be 7–17 years of age. Active members must have had an interest in magic for at least two years, or one year for youth members.

Leadership
Since 1937, a new International President is elected to the I.B.M. each year.

Past presidents include:

• Len Vintus	1922–1926

• W.W. Durbin	1926–1937

• John H. Davidson	1937–1938

• T. J. Crawford	1938–1939

• John Snyder Jr.	1939–1941

• Robert C. Anderson	1941–1942

• Eugene Bernstein	1942–1946

• John Braun	1946–1947

• A. Renerick Clark	1947–1948

• H. Adrian Smith	1948–1949

• William R Walsh	1949–1950

• Walter Coleman	1950–1951

• James B. Lake	1951–1952

• Arthur D. Reichenback	1952–1953

• Forrest P. Hendricks	1953–1954

• C. James McLemore	1954–1955

• Charles A. RossKam	1955–1956

• Chauncey Sheridan	1956–1957

• L.A. Waterman	1957–1958

• Verne W. Uker	1958–1959

• Reeder C. Hutchinson	1959–1960

• Harris Solomon	1960–1961

• C.L. Schmitt	1961–1962

• Irving Lewis	1962–1963

• Arnold Drennen	1963–1964

• Thorton Poole	1964–1965

• Dr. Richard O. Mossey	1965–1966

• Howard Bamman	1966–1967

• Sydney S. Bergson	1967–1968

• J. Ronald Haines	1968–1969

• Royal Brin Jr.	1969–1970

• William G. Strickland	1970–1971

• Austin C. Gorham	1971–1972

• Robert B. Hurt	1972–1973

• Earle J. Christenberry Jr.	1973–1974

• Charles Lantz	1974–1975

• William Preston Slusher	1975–1976

• Walter F. Williams	1976–1977

• Jeffery Atkins	1977–1978

• Bill Pitts	1978–1979

• Ray Mangel	1979–1980

• Bruce Posgate	1980–1981

• Roger Crabtree	1981–1982

• John Makar	1982–1983

• William A. Wells	1983–1984

• Donald E. Wiberg	1984–1985

• William E. Spooner	1985–1986

• Karrell Fox	1986–1987

• June Horowitz	1987–1988

• Edward A. Morris	1988–1989

• Anthony Shelley	1989–1990

• Michael Ellis	1990–1991

• Michael J. Gorman	1991–1992

• James L. Nagel	1992–1993

• R.J. Obie O'Brien	1993–1994

• Jep Hostetler	1994–1995

• Kenneth Klosterman	1995–1996

• Bev Bergeron	1996–1997

• Abb Dickson	1997–1998

• John R. Browne	1998–1999

• Jerry Schnepp	1999–2000

• Jack Greenberg	2000–2001

• Robert A. Escher	2001–2002

• Michael Stratman	2002–2003

• David Sandy	2003–2004

• Tony Wilson	2004–2005

• Roger Miller	2005–2006

• Fred Casto	2006–2007

• Phil Willmarth	2007–2008

• Joan Caesar   2008–2009

• Jack White	2009–2010

• Rolando Santos	2010–2011

• Vanni Pulé	2011–2012

• John Pye	2012–2013

• Bill Evans	2013–2014

• Shawn Farquhar	2014–2015

• Joe M. Turner 2015–2016

• Oscar Muñoz   2016–2017

• Bob Patterson    2017–2018

• Michael Finney 2018–2019

• Alex Zander 2019–2020

• Stephen Bargatze 2020–2021

• Ken Scott 2021–2022

• Billy Hsueh 2022 - 2023

• Charles Arkin 2023-2024

Conventions
The International Brotherhood of Magicians holds annual conventions, usually in July. In 2008, 2014, and 2017, the I.B.M. and the Society of American Magicians hosted a combined convention. More than 1,900+ amateur and professional magicians from around the world attended the gatherings in Louisville, Kentucky, in July 2008, in St. Louis, Missouri, in July 2014, and again in Louisville, Kentucky, in July 2017.

Contest Awards
The International Brotherhood of Magicians held the world's first magic convention in 1926. Contests are held, and awards are given in several categories. Below is a listing of the First Place winners as noted in the I.B.M. Official publication, The Linking Ring. The Gold Cups and Gold Medal Awards are highly coveted and not awarded every year. Additional data for years not listed are available online and were published in the 2019 I.B.M. 91st Annual Convention souvenir program.

+ The 2021 I.B.M. Convention was held virtually due to Covid concerns. Contests entries were selected from pre-recorded performance submissions.