User:Njblanchard/sandbox/Show It Off Promotions

Show It Off Promotions Show It Off Promotions and Investments or S.I.O. for short, was started in 2003 by Nesby Blanchard and Damon K. Miller, both of Memphis, and operated as Xposure. The original address was 22 North 3rd Street at Court Avenue in Memphis, TN.

In 2005, Xposure partnered with Sony Urban Records and Stars & Artists Entertainment and produced the Xposure Memphis Music Showcase. The Xposure Showcase was a singing and performing talent competition designed to identify exceptional new and previously undiscovered new talent in the Memphis and Mid-South area of the United States.

The Xposure Memphis Music Showcase attracted more than 300 participants from around the United States. The talent showcase was conducted over almost 3 weeks, starting with registration and preliminaries on Thursday February 9th, 2005 and concluding with the finals on Sunday, February 27th, 2005.

The talent showcase also featured the first major Memphis freestyle rap competition, Saturday, February 6th, 2005.

The winners of the showcase were local Memphis rapper Miscellaneous (Rap & Hip Hop) and Chris Johnson winning the R&B category. Both artists were offered contracts with Stars & Artists Entertainment.

Miscellaneous was also the winner of the Freestyle rap competition.

After the Xposure Memphis Talent Showcase, Mr. Miller departed the duo to pursue his own individual projects.

Mr. Blanchard continued the Xposure brand with a new partner Larry Washington of Tupelo Mississippi.

In 2008, Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Washington produced the Delta Music Showcase in Greenville Mississippi. This talent showcase was partnered with Ankh Ra of MTV’s “Making the Band” and Miami Mike of “Palm Tree Entertainment”, Soulja Boy’s Manager.

Later in 2008, Mr. Blanchard changed the name of the company from Xposure to “Show It Off Showcase” and established the company as an Atlanta based Limited Liability Company (LLC) with new partners David Miley, Fredrick Dandridge and other equity investors.

In 2014, “Show It Off Showcase” was reestablished as S.I.O. Promotions, LLC. In 2014, S.I.O. Promotions partnered with Judy Peiser Productions and created and produced the Memphis Music & Culture Tour.

The Memphis Music & Culture Tour is an international traveling exposition of Memphis Music, Arts & Crafts and Food.

In April of 2015, the Memphis Music & Culture Tour traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam to participate in the 20th Anniversary of normalized relations celebration between the United States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.