Think of your event as a garden. A strong foundation is required if you expect what you are growing to weather the storms that may come over time. In reference to your event and your brand, laying the foundation is particularly important because we live in an ever-changing society with a short attention span. If you have a strong foundation, you will be able to adapt to these changes with ease.
Our foundation here starts with first deciding what we want to accomplish with an event and using as many creative methods as possible to do this. When your foundation is strong, the creative ideas to continue building will come to you naturally as you progress into your purpose. Once you have decided what you want to accomplish, the next step is to realize what you already have available to you to get started.
What do you want to accomplish? (Choosing A Crop)
Take a moment with a pen and paper and write down exactly what you want to accomplish with your event. This need not be a grand idea, but don't think too small either. You don't have to share it with me or anyone else, this is only for your personal development of your idea. Spend time seeing things exactly as you want them to be, try to feel like what you think you will feel like when you have reached your goal.
Once you have written down this idea, think of all you will need to accomplish it. Make a list. Now go through this list and check off everything you already have. Start here.
Start Where You Are. (Tilling The Soil)
Do you know anyone who has done what you are trying to do? Try giving them a call and involving them in your current project. Do you have any people who support your creativity no matter what? Call them up and let them know what you're creating. Take the time to really get them involved and impress upon them your dedication to what you are doing and how it will benefit them. Show them how they can help you and ask plenty of questions.
No one can do it for you. You have to start where you are and be willing to do it all yourself if necessary. Be dedicated to your project and soon people will see that you are quite serious about what you are doing and support will be overflowing. Don't become too reliant on these resources though, and remember that no one else can do it for you because no one else has been blessed with this vision of what you are bringing forth.
Be Persistent. (Plant The Seed)
When asking for help, be persistent. Psychological studies say that a person has to see something such as an advertisement or commercial in anywhere from 7-15 forms before the idea really sticks. How many creative ways can you think of to get your ideas and your event in the minds of your audience members? How many of them are free and available to you at this very moment?
Create a youtube account dedicated to your event or idea. Start a blog. How about a twitter account? Craigslist is always a great place to post events. Facebook groups are a great way to connect with small audiences with like interests. Mobile calls and texts. Other websites with free classified and event posting such as backpage, eventful, reverbnation, caltweet, schmap.it, ebay classifieds and a plethora of others.
Remember that people are very busy and have issues just like you and me, and don't take it personally when they don't respond the way you want them to with your initial attempts. Not everyone responds to the same kind of message, and although it may not seem like it, we all speak a different language. Learn to speak many languages and you'll find the one (or a combination) to which your audience is most apt to give response.
Create A Story. (Water The Garden)
Transcend advertisement and just telling people about your event and create a story around what is going on. People are now interested in how things happen, which is why we're so obsessed with following our favorite celebrities on twitter and are completely overhauled with 'reality' television shows. We're inundated with minute-to-minute blog and news updates on the most mundane of happenings in our world.
The internet has broken down the barrier between stage and audience, so aim to embrace it. Everyone is a creator now, so aim to involve them. Invite people to create the 'event' along with you. By doing this you will allow the people to tell their own story through you. This is what your audience wants to do with you in the first place. They want to be a part of your story, they want you to be apart of theirs because they feel as if the two intertwine. Your audience reflects you, so create a story that you would be drawn to.
Maintain Your Vision (Give It Some Sunlight)
A strong vision will lead to building a strong foundation. The truth is, if you have been blessed with a vision to bring something into fruition, then you have also been blessed with all the tools to make it happen. The planting of the seed, watering and nurturing of your idea is up to you, and everything that is needed to make it grow resides within you. They reside within your willingness to persist and maintain your vision no matter what you see in front of you.
If you have an event and you only see 5 people in front of you, show appreciation to those 5 people and give them a show made for a packed house. Impress upon the people who believe in you that they are doing so for a good reason. You never know how far they've come or what they went through to come and see you. Remind yourself that where you are is not where you're going. This is because you have a clear vision of where you want to go. This is why you lay the foundation first by creating a strong vision. Utilize all the resources available to you, starting with what you already have. Don't be concerned with what people will think of you if you do it, worry about how you will feel if you don't. This takes a leap of faith that many are not prepared to take. Keep moving forward and you can never lose.
Be Thankful. (Let It Grow)
Thank everyone for every little thing. Showing a little gratitude can go a very long way. Showing gratitude helps you to observe how much you already have and it shows people that you realize that they don't have to support you at all. Showing gratitude for being able to serve the people with your gift instills confidence in you that you actually do have support even if it isn't the exact support you want. While you seek it, say "Thank You" with the faith that it is on it's way to you now. Thank you for reading.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Decatur Ain't Atlanta
We call this blog Decatur Ain't Atlanta because, well...it isn't.
Aside from the obvious we found a profound difference between the way events are put on in the western areas of Metro Atlanta and the way we party as far as Decatur, Ga is concerned. We also wanted to take a (not-so) subliminal poke at those who, assuming it's the same everywhere, may have come to Georgia, but only visited the Capital on their stay here, and (epic)failed to educated themselves on the truest essence of "Atlanta" minutes outside the city limit.
We call it Decatur. And it Ain't Atlanta. All we ask here is that you don't be on that hollywood tip or you will get checked quick. Not violently, but on some reality check and too laid back for all that.
The Culture here is different from any city or suburb you've ever visited or lived in. Nestled in the heart of the 2nd Richest Black County in America, Decatur, Ga is home to mainstream Hip-Hop artists like Lil' Jon, B.O.B., and a plethora of independent artists.
The Liner Notes of Outkast's Aquemini features Andre 3000 (Andre Benjamin at the time) in a band uniform from the (literally) World-Famous SouthWest Dekalb Marching Panthers who have traveled the world to Nice, France and Performed at Carnegie Hall, The Rosebowl Parade, and The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The Marching Panthers also the starred in the 20th Century Fox Feature Film "Drumline", recording the music, marching, and dancing as the Atlanta A & T Band. Many graduates of The Marching Panther band have toured internationally to places like Tokyo, Japan with the "Drumline" Stage-Show "Drumline Live".
The Marching Panthers highlight just one of the many differences between Decatur and Atlanta or any other city; It wasn't lame to be a band geek. (Where dey do dat at?). They do it in Decatur, and it ain't atlanta! Don't treat it like Atlanta because we ain't tryna be all hollywood with it.
We go to see our little brother's and sister's play classical music at their band festivals, so we have built-in music appreciation courses. At our our local high-school football games, half-time really is game-time, so we know how to sit down (and get up!) and appreciate a good show.
However, We absolutely will not, under any circumstance, allow you or anyone else to force bullshit down our throats. Did iiMention this is the 2nd Richest Black County in the country? Yes, so there are about 10 home-studios on every block, and if we want to hear bullshit we can go record it ourselves, but chances if we do go into the studio, we gon make some ole funky shit.
That's enough of the history lesson on Decatur. Where did the name really come from? We say "Decatur Ain't Atlanta" to emphasize the uniqueness of every situation. You can't throw an Atlanta Party in Decatur and You can't throw a Decatur Party in Atlanta. This is because what attracts people to partying in Atlanta is different from what attracts people to partying in Decatur. Expectations are different, Vibes are different, Priorities are different because it is a different environment.
The principle we want to emphasize here is that of marketing and promotion that is best suited to your specific situation. By "staying in your lane" and such, you will see a greater return on the time, money, and creative effort you invest in putting together events in your city.
So Remember, Decatur Ain't Atlanta just like being high ain't like being drunk....
Quick Lesson:: The Difference Between Marketing and Promotion:: Marketing is who you promote to : Promoting is how you get your product to your Market. Many people confuse the two because they are so inter-connected. Your market is who your service solves a problem for. Your Promotion should speak directly to your Market in order to show them (creatively) how your service is the best solution to their problem. Decatur Ain't Atlanta will be your guide on this journey.
Aside from the obvious we found a profound difference between the way events are put on in the western areas of Metro Atlanta and the way we party as far as Decatur, Ga is concerned. We also wanted to take a (not-so) subliminal poke at those who, assuming it's the same everywhere, may have come to Georgia, but only visited the Capital on their stay here, and (epic)failed to educated themselves on the truest essence of "Atlanta" minutes outside the city limit.
We call it Decatur. And it Ain't Atlanta. All we ask here is that you don't be on that hollywood tip or you will get checked quick. Not violently, but on some reality check and too laid back for all that.
The Culture here is different from any city or suburb you've ever visited or lived in. Nestled in the heart of the 2nd Richest Black County in America, Decatur, Ga is home to mainstream Hip-Hop artists like Lil' Jon, B.O.B., and a plethora of independent artists.
The Liner Notes of Outkast's Aquemini features Andre 3000 (Andre Benjamin at the time) in a band uniform from the (literally) World-Famous SouthWest Dekalb Marching Panthers who have traveled the world to Nice, France and Performed at Carnegie Hall, The Rosebowl Parade, and The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The Marching Panthers also the starred in the 20th Century Fox Feature Film "Drumline", recording the music, marching, and dancing as the Atlanta A & T Band. Many graduates of The Marching Panther band have toured internationally to places like Tokyo, Japan with the "Drumline" Stage-Show "Drumline Live".
The Marching Panthers highlight just one of the many differences between Decatur and Atlanta or any other city; It wasn't lame to be a band geek. (Where dey do dat at?). They do it in Decatur, and it ain't atlanta! Don't treat it like Atlanta because we ain't tryna be all hollywood with it.
We go to see our little brother's and sister's play classical music at their band festivals, so we have built-in music appreciation courses. At our our local high-school football games, half-time really is game-time, so we know how to sit down (and get up!) and appreciate a good show.
However, We absolutely will not, under any circumstance, allow you or anyone else to force bullshit down our throats. Did iiMention this is the 2nd Richest Black County in the country? Yes, so there are about 10 home-studios on every block, and if we want to hear bullshit we can go record it ourselves, but chances if we do go into the studio, we gon make some ole funky shit.
That's enough of the history lesson on Decatur. Where did the name really come from? We say "Decatur Ain't Atlanta" to emphasize the uniqueness of every situation. You can't throw an Atlanta Party in Decatur and You can't throw a Decatur Party in Atlanta. This is because what attracts people to partying in Atlanta is different from what attracts people to partying in Decatur. Expectations are different, Vibes are different, Priorities are different because it is a different environment.
The principle we want to emphasize here is that of marketing and promotion that is best suited to your specific situation. By "staying in your lane" and such, you will see a greater return on the time, money, and creative effort you invest in putting together events in your city.
So Remember, Decatur Ain't Atlanta just like being high ain't like being drunk....
Quick Lesson:: The Difference Between Marketing and Promotion:: Marketing is who you promote to : Promoting is how you get your product to your Market. Many people confuse the two because they are so inter-connected. Your market is who your service solves a problem for. Your Promotion should speak directly to your Market in order to show them (creatively) how your service is the best solution to their problem. Decatur Ain't Atlanta will be your guide on this journey.
Finding Your Audience
What is an Audience?
For the purposes of CCCreating and CCCatering to the people we serve, notice we use the word 'audience' as opposed to 'crowd'. This is because we are seeking an attentive and interested audience as opposed to a room full of people who don't know where they are or why they've come there in the first place. (eff u Webster!)
How Do I Find My Audience?
Take a second and look into the mirror. What do you look like? How do you feel about life? How do you think? How do you live? Chances are your audience looks, feels, thinks, and lives in a very similar way to you.
Where do you go for fun? What are the odds that your audience goes there too? Try going there and talking to them about your event or service while letting them know how they can help and how it can help them. Don't get me wrong, introducing yourself as "Hi my name is this and iiHost that" while shoving a flyer in someone's hand is not a great way to break the ice and will probably gain you a fast reputation for shameless promotion.
The purpose of having an audience is to connect with people about your life, your thoughts, your feelings, your desires and everything else in between. The people whom you share these with are likely to be the first and most loyal members of your audience.
Whether it's your local coffee shop, open mic, or a social networking site, finding your audience is the first step to connecting with them. And connection is key to creating your brand.
What is my Brand?
The term branding comes from the process of burning a logo onto livestock, so that everyone knows who owns that animal. Branding in business terms has a similar definition.
You are your brand. You may have heard this or read this somewhere, and it still holds truth in Decatur. Your brand is your outfit, but it's not the clothes you wear. Your brand is your voice, but it is not the songs you sing. Your brand is what people recognize and expect from you. It is the type of service you get when you go into a restaurant, or the funky logo that your favorite independent musician rocks so well at all their shows.
Think of a casual restaurant like "Moe's". Think of their fun-looking logo, their outrageous menu titles, and their staff yelling a welcome across the restaurant to every customer who comes in. Branding doesn't stop at fancy logos and yelling "Welcome To Moe's" at every customer that comes through the door. It is reinforced by what goes on behind those images.
For instance; wouldn't it be weird if you walked into Pappadeux's and every waiter, bartender, and host suddenly stopped, turned to you, and yelled "Welcome to Pappadeaux!"? Why is that? It is because unlike Moe's brand, which is festive, casual, mexican cuisine in which you can accept a hollered greeting over the quick, humble, and shushed seating you would expect at a restaurant like Pappadeaux. This is where brand image is reinforced by the actual product. (The "Welcome To Moe's" greeting became so popular that Moe's made it their website's URL, talk about strong branding~)
To be more specific than "You are your brand.", we would say, "Your brand is an extension of yourself." (your look, your sound, your feel, your smell, your taste (nasty!)). As is your audience.
How do I Connect my Brand with my audience?
The short answer is they are already connected. Find the ways in which they are connected and highlight these as much as possible to as many of your audience and potential audience members that will listen to you. (Tip: Start with 1).
The Long Answer: Start With 1.
Who is your biggest supporter? Why do you think they support your craft so relentlessly? What do you have in common with this person that makes them relate to your music or art just as much as you do?
Answering these questions will start you on the path to making connects between your audience and your brand. When you begin to find what you have in common with your audience you are more equipped to finding out what makes them tic (not really, but my cccreative side wanted that to rhyme). What you are really on your way to is creating a better service for them, and thereby a better brand by giving them more of what they want. What they want is your perspective. And they want you to accept theirs as they see it reflected in you.
Get comfortable with this and highlight the reflection in as many creative methods as you can think of and actually produce. Soon, people will begin to make the connections on their own and what is born out of this mix of is a brand. It is what people think of when they hear your name, your tagline, see your logo, your photo, anything that has to do with you in any public sphere.
You have the ability to influence what people think of when they think of your brand. Always go to your biggest supporter (real or imagined) and continue create art, scenery, wordplay, merchandise, distribution, and events that reinforce the conection you have between yourself and your audience. Highlight the connections between yourself and your supporters, and you will have the tools necessary to not only create, but grow a strong brand that speaks to your audience directly.
For the purposes of CCCreating and CCCatering to the people we serve, notice we use the word 'audience' as opposed to 'crowd'. This is because we are seeking an attentive and interested audience as opposed to a room full of people who don't know where they are or why they've come there in the first place. (eff u Webster!)
How Do I Find My Audience?
Take a second and look into the mirror. What do you look like? How do you feel about life? How do you think? How do you live? Chances are your audience looks, feels, thinks, and lives in a very similar way to you.
Where do you go for fun? What are the odds that your audience goes there too? Try going there and talking to them about your event or service while letting them know how they can help and how it can help them. Don't get me wrong, introducing yourself as "Hi my name is this and iiHost that" while shoving a flyer in someone's hand is not a great way to break the ice and will probably gain you a fast reputation for shameless promotion.
The purpose of having an audience is to connect with people about your life, your thoughts, your feelings, your desires and everything else in between. The people whom you share these with are likely to be the first and most loyal members of your audience.
Whether it's your local coffee shop, open mic, or a social networking site, finding your audience is the first step to connecting with them. And connection is key to creating your brand.
What is my Brand?
The term branding comes from the process of burning a logo onto livestock, so that everyone knows who owns that animal. Branding in business terms has a similar definition.
You are your brand. You may have heard this or read this somewhere, and it still holds truth in Decatur. Your brand is your outfit, but it's not the clothes you wear. Your brand is your voice, but it is not the songs you sing. Your brand is what people recognize and expect from you. It is the type of service you get when you go into a restaurant, or the funky logo that your favorite independent musician rocks so well at all their shows.
Think of a casual restaurant like "Moe's". Think of their fun-looking logo, their outrageous menu titles, and their staff yelling a welcome across the restaurant to every customer who comes in. Branding doesn't stop at fancy logos and yelling "Welcome To Moe's" at every customer that comes through the door. It is reinforced by what goes on behind those images.
For instance; wouldn't it be weird if you walked into Pappadeux's and every waiter, bartender, and host suddenly stopped, turned to you, and yelled "Welcome to Pappadeaux!"? Why is that? It is because unlike Moe's brand, which is festive, casual, mexican cuisine in which you can accept a hollered greeting over the quick, humble, and shushed seating you would expect at a restaurant like Pappadeaux. This is where brand image is reinforced by the actual product. (The "Welcome To Moe's" greeting became so popular that Moe's made it their website's URL, talk about strong branding~)
To be more specific than "You are your brand.", we would say, "Your brand is an extension of yourself." (your look, your sound, your feel, your smell, your taste (nasty!)). As is your audience.
How do I Connect my Brand with my audience?
The short answer is they are already connected. Find the ways in which they are connected and highlight these as much as possible to as many of your audience and potential audience members that will listen to you. (Tip: Start with 1).
The Long Answer: Start With 1.
Who is your biggest supporter? Why do you think they support your craft so relentlessly? What do you have in common with this person that makes them relate to your music or art just as much as you do?
Answering these questions will start you on the path to making connects between your audience and your brand. When you begin to find what you have in common with your audience you are more equipped to finding out what makes them tic (not really, but my cccreative side wanted that to rhyme). What you are really on your way to is creating a better service for them, and thereby a better brand by giving them more of what they want. What they want is your perspective. And they want you to accept theirs as they see it reflected in you.
Get comfortable with this and highlight the reflection in as many creative methods as you can think of and actually produce. Soon, people will begin to make the connections on their own and what is born out of this mix of is a brand. It is what people think of when they hear your name, your tagline, see your logo, your photo, anything that has to do with you in any public sphere.
You have the ability to influence what people think of when they think of your brand. Always go to your biggest supporter (real or imagined) and continue create art, scenery, wordplay, merchandise, distribution, and events that reinforce the conection you have between yourself and your audience. Highlight the connections between yourself and your supporters, and you will have the tools necessary to not only create, but grow a strong brand that speaks to your audience directly.
Do You! :: An Introduction
"The best advice iiCould give you is to just do you." - E. Christopher 'Cocktails' Cornell (E Period LLC Productions, Host of S.M.A.R.T. Thursdays)
This is the advice iiGot after hosting my first "official" Creative Culture Collective at Jamaica Flava. I showed up to host my second show only to be informed that there was another event scheduled to take place there on that night. Though disappointed, iiWas prepared, and iiAsked if iiCould film some footage of myself playing music on the stage to post on the youtube page iiHad created for The CCCollective. I had planned to intercut the footage with applause reels to give the affect of actually having a live audience there. I asked my nephew to come along and film my performing a couple of songs, welcoming and thanking my imaginary audience for coming out to the show.
After we finished the mock show, a few of my supporters had shown up who weren't able to make it to the first show and some who were. We all sat down and ordered food, ate and talked about the show...
My first show was ramshackle at best...I felt very independent in spirit and didn't want to rely on anyone else to pay me, so iiDecided iiWould sell tickets to my show rather than take a percentage of bar earnings as the owner had suggested.
I had no startup money and iiWas charged to hand make all promotional material including tickets to the show, which iiWas planing to charge $1 for. The first thing iiDid was call up a few artists friends who iiKnew had some experience with these matters as well as some who didn't and told them all about the idea and the role iiWanted them to play. Most were interested, some were indifferent, and some had an unsure response.
My idea at the time was that there was something iiCouldn't do....iiCouldn't get people to come out to an open mic on a friday night, so iiMade the time of the show from 6-9pm to give people 'time' to go out to the club or other activities after the show. What iiDidn't realize that iiWasn't giving people 'time' to get off work & change clothes to get ready for the show!
iiQuickly learned that 6 o'clock was the tail end of rush hour traffic. iiEven got caught in it on the way to my own show. There was no reason for me to expect anyone else to be on time. Even with the odd timing, we were still able to pull together about 7 artists and 13 audience members. We had a show.
As iiWas 'charging' for tickets, iifelt no need to promote the bar or kitchen, which, in the beginning, put a strain on my relationship with the staff. iiWasn't trying to keep them from making money or working. iiJust did not understand, at that time, that my job there was to promote Jamaica Flava and all that it has to offer, including my show, the food & drinks, and as iiwould come to learn later, other events that 'Flava hosts.
Trying to follow 'Cocktails'' example, iiArranged the seats in a semi-awkward way, but one that fit the setting of the show iiWas putting on at the time...And we had a show...Artists performed, people clapped, and after being reminded by the waitress, iiMade an awkward reference to eating and drinking at the bar. After the show was over, we all sat at the bar and ate our wings and talked...
iiDidn't sell any tickets, iiDidn't make any money at the bar, but the show went on no matter what...
In those initial conversations with my experienced friends, iiSpoke with a social media consultant. Knowing that the demographic most likely to support my artistic expression was also very heavy on social media use, iiTalked with her about the best platforms and strategies to use to go about hosting an event like this, one that would seek to be more than an open mic, but a portal through which art is illuminated.
Esoteric, iKnow, but implementing this idea sparked not only changes in my financial and mental arena, but my spiritual connection as well. My greatest tools throughout this endeavor have been prayers, praise, & meditation.
The Social Media consultant told me to immediately start a facebook group with some kind of recognizable logo and invite the creative community to join. she also recommended a twitter page for micro-blogging updates on the show. Having already used youtube and blogspot to get the message out about my own music, iiCreated accounts for The CCCollective as well. From here iiWas able to communicate with people instantly about news and updates on CCC. Having a blog also opened up many ways for us to use our CCCreativity with music, videos, images, and the power of the internet to spread our message across many different platforms.
By the time we were ready to begin promotion for our next show, iiWas bored with the idea of the traditional flyer. With very little money to invest in graphic design and printing, iiThought of a way to get the word out creatively that would also push forward the idea of a CCCreative portal. I asked the artists who had participated in our first show (and a few who hadn't) if we could use a 1 minute to 1 minute 30 second clip of their music/poetry to put on a CD that we were going to give out as a flyer for the show.
Most artists agreed, and since we had music now, it made sense for us to have a bandcamp page from which peeople could easily download it. The format was a radioshow (WCCC Radio) presenting all these artists to The CCCollective audience. The 'radioflyer' was interlaced with audio iiRecorded with our mock audience advertising "Creative Culture Collective Friday nights at Jamaica Flava 2440 Wesley Chapel Rd."
I was able to burn 100 Cds at home and hand some out to friends who would be participating in the show, and those who had music on the CD, to hand out to friends and supporters as invitations. I also made a video of myself driving to Jamaica Flava from a nearby road to help people recognize nearby landmarks. This video was mixed with the video of our 'mock show' to create a short film "How iiGot to The Creative Culture Collective". It was our first youtube video and the first post on our blog. iiAlso used the music from the promotional CD as a soundtrack to the movie.
Through all of these and many other methods, iiWas able to reach one main objective, which was to make as many impressions as possible on the smallest group of people possible. This group of people iiSaw as my audience, and after a while iiBecame only concerned with them. Any person who was not in my 'audience' was not worth the time it took to convince them to join it when there were plenty of people who would already be interested.
The next show was a massive success compared to the first, and through our creative promotions, we were on our way to creating the portal of CCCreativity that has come to be known by many names, The CCCollective, The CCC, Creative Culture Collective, or simply CCC Fridays. iiLearned so much from putting together these first shows, but mostly iiLearned that iiHad to start where iiWas, maintain my vision, and be persistent.
This is the advice iiGot after hosting my first "official" Creative Culture Collective at Jamaica Flava. I showed up to host my second show only to be informed that there was another event scheduled to take place there on that night. Though disappointed, iiWas prepared, and iiAsked if iiCould film some footage of myself playing music on the stage to post on the youtube page iiHad created for The CCCollective. I had planned to intercut the footage with applause reels to give the affect of actually having a live audience there. I asked my nephew to come along and film my performing a couple of songs, welcoming and thanking my imaginary audience for coming out to the show.
After we finished the mock show, a few of my supporters had shown up who weren't able to make it to the first show and some who were. We all sat down and ordered food, ate and talked about the show...
My first show was ramshackle at best...I felt very independent in spirit and didn't want to rely on anyone else to pay me, so iiDecided iiWould sell tickets to my show rather than take a percentage of bar earnings as the owner had suggested.
I had no startup money and iiWas charged to hand make all promotional material including tickets to the show, which iiWas planing to charge $1 for. The first thing iiDid was call up a few artists friends who iiKnew had some experience with these matters as well as some who didn't and told them all about the idea and the role iiWanted them to play. Most were interested, some were indifferent, and some had an unsure response.
My idea at the time was that there was something iiCouldn't do....iiCouldn't get people to come out to an open mic on a friday night, so iiMade the time of the show from 6-9pm to give people 'time' to go out to the club or other activities after the show. What iiDidn't realize that iiWasn't giving people 'time' to get off work & change clothes to get ready for the show!
iiQuickly learned that 6 o'clock was the tail end of rush hour traffic. iiEven got caught in it on the way to my own show. There was no reason for me to expect anyone else to be on time. Even with the odd timing, we were still able to pull together about 7 artists and 13 audience members. We had a show.
As iiWas 'charging' for tickets, iifelt no need to promote the bar or kitchen, which, in the beginning, put a strain on my relationship with the staff. iiWasn't trying to keep them from making money or working. iiJust did not understand, at that time, that my job there was to promote Jamaica Flava and all that it has to offer, including my show, the food & drinks, and as iiwould come to learn later, other events that 'Flava hosts.
Trying to follow 'Cocktails'' example, iiArranged the seats in a semi-awkward way, but one that fit the setting of the show iiWas putting on at the time...And we had a show...Artists performed, people clapped, and after being reminded by the waitress, iiMade an awkward reference to eating and drinking at the bar. After the show was over, we all sat at the bar and ate our wings and talked...
iiDidn't sell any tickets, iiDidn't make any money at the bar, but the show went on no matter what...
In those initial conversations with my experienced friends, iiSpoke with a social media consultant. Knowing that the demographic most likely to support my artistic expression was also very heavy on social media use, iiTalked with her about the best platforms and strategies to use to go about hosting an event like this, one that would seek to be more than an open mic, but a portal through which art is illuminated.
Esoteric, iKnow, but implementing this idea sparked not only changes in my financial and mental arena, but my spiritual connection as well. My greatest tools throughout this endeavor have been prayers, praise, & meditation.
The Social Media consultant told me to immediately start a facebook group with some kind of recognizable logo and invite the creative community to join. she also recommended a twitter page for micro-blogging updates on the show. Having already used youtube and blogspot to get the message out about my own music, iiCreated accounts for The CCCollective as well. From here iiWas able to communicate with people instantly about news and updates on CCC. Having a blog also opened up many ways for us to use our CCCreativity with music, videos, images, and the power of the internet to spread our message across many different platforms.
By the time we were ready to begin promotion for our next show, iiWas bored with the idea of the traditional flyer. With very little money to invest in graphic design and printing, iiThought of a way to get the word out creatively that would also push forward the idea of a CCCreative portal. I asked the artists who had participated in our first show (and a few who hadn't) if we could use a 1 minute to 1 minute 30 second clip of their music/poetry to put on a CD that we were going to give out as a flyer for the show.
Most artists agreed, and since we had music now, it made sense for us to have a bandcamp page from which peeople could easily download it. The format was a radioshow (WCCC Radio) presenting all these artists to The CCCollective audience. The 'radioflyer' was interlaced with audio iiRecorded with our mock audience advertising "Creative Culture Collective Friday nights at Jamaica Flava 2440 Wesley Chapel Rd."
I was able to burn 100 Cds at home and hand some out to friends who would be participating in the show, and those who had music on the CD, to hand out to friends and supporters as invitations. I also made a video of myself driving to Jamaica Flava from a nearby road to help people recognize nearby landmarks. This video was mixed with the video of our 'mock show' to create a short film "How iiGot to The Creative Culture Collective". It was our first youtube video and the first post on our blog. iiAlso used the music from the promotional CD as a soundtrack to the movie.
Through all of these and many other methods, iiWas able to reach one main objective, which was to make as many impressions as possible on the smallest group of people possible. This group of people iiSaw as my audience, and after a while iiBecame only concerned with them. Any person who was not in my 'audience' was not worth the time it took to convince them to join it when there were plenty of people who would already be interested.
The next show was a massive success compared to the first, and through our creative promotions, we were on our way to creating the portal of CCCreativity that has come to be known by many names, The CCCollective, The CCC, Creative Culture Collective, or simply CCC Fridays. iiLearned so much from putting together these first shows, but mostly iiLearned that iiHad to start where iiWas, maintain my vision, and be persistent.
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