Social Media Case Study: Great Northern Concert Experience

The band 'Great Northern'

My very own social media case study!  It’s unfortunate when I start to see negative experiences as a chance to practice my social media skillz, but that’s what this turned into.

I’m a member of a Meetup.com group the LA Indie Music Meetup; I’m also a listener of the NPR All Songs Considered podcast.  Lo and behold, a band I found through the podcast (Great Northern) was coming to town for a concert on Monday, March 16 at the Silverlake Lounge.  I reached out to my Meetup group to find compatriots to go with.

Things were going along swimmingly, I had a rather large group of folks RSVP’d to attend the show and had been checking the website for the Silverlake Lounge kind of obsessively.  As the organizer, it was a bit silly of me, but I put off purchasing my own ticket.  So, with reassurances from The Fold Silverlake website (event organizers) that 50 tickets would be sold at the door at 8 p.m. the night of the show, I figured we (and I) would be okay if we arrived early to buy tickets at the door.

I got a bit worried over the weekend prior that such a large group (probably 7 non-ticket holders had RSVP’d) would have trouble getting in, so I attempted to call The Fold.  Unfortunately, the phone line listed leads to a voice recording telling callers to visit the website unless they’re a band looking to book a show.  So, I dutifully re-checked the website: 50 tickets and a door time of 8 p.m.  Good to go.

On Monday, I locate a list of venues with Twitter accounts and find (!) that The Fold Silverlake indeed has an account.  So, being a bit of a nervous Nellie, I try to contact them there and see if there’s a way to prepare for such a group as mine.  No response and a ‘private’ account.  :p  (BTW, a private account is the antithesis of Twitter!  I don’t really even know why they’re offered….)

I arrive to the door of the Lounge by about 7:15 p.m. on Monday night to find a line already forming.  Feeling glad that I arrived early enough to assure myself a ticket, I begin waiting for my group to start arriving.  In casual conversation with the people in line behind me, I learn there are only 8 tickets, because the venue oversold (they were friends with the opening band)!!  So apparently my nervous feeling wasn’t for naught.  As the line starts growing and I slowly find the 6 Meetup attendees who actually show up (a surprisingly good rate of attendance for a Meetup) and only one of them had pre-purchased a ticket.  We started getting really nervous at this point, as were most others in the line, which was probably 40 long by this time.

We wait until about 8:20 p.m. before there’s any movement at the door of the venue, so we’re already past scheduled doors open.  Then, the girl who DOES emerge doesn’t even tell anyone what’s up, but just walks the line asking for ticket holders.  Slowly, the venue starts letting people in by dribs and drabs, 2’s and 3’s.  Our group, being pretty early is line, is still forced to split up.  While the first 4 of us got in by about 9:00 p.m., the last 3 were left outside waiting and hoping.  One of our group departed and the other two ladies braved it out and finally got in.

I was very upset that anyone had been treated this way, especially since I’d tried many times and ways to contact the venue.  During the show, I started Tweeting about my experience and finally, two days later, receive a DM from the folks at The Fold.  I share basically the same story with them, and they respond with a series of platitudes and explanations.  They DID offer my group 7 tickets to our choice of upcoming shows (provided it’s not sold out, lol), but I kind of feel it was too little, too late.  With the many ways and options I’d offered them to reach us, it was a bit ridiculous that they were not monitoring their accounts and keywords to find people like myself who weren’t afraid of sharing our story.

The moral here is that you can’t set up the proper channels and then not use them on a regular basis; social media engagement demands more immediacy (and I was even rather generous giving them the weekend prior!).  By the time  you catch a problem, it may be bigger than you can successfully resolve and you’ve lost an opportunity to show your clients that you’ve got their best interests at heart.  The Fold has definitely damaged their reputation with an active group of concert-goers, my Meetup pals included, all because they didn’t listen at the first opportunity.

Aaand curtain…

This week was the Los Angeles Auto Show.  It was quite the year for it (if you weren’t aware of the auto industry situation, pick up a major newspaper from this week, you’ll soon understand).

And this was a big week for me because of the level of involvement my team and I had in our client’s plans and on-site coordination.  Each of us took responsibility for some part of the show and all pitched in to lend a hand throughout the last two weeks.  After many 12 hour days, the week is done, the messages are out and we’ve learned a few things.

My tips for you on dealing with events:

1. Breathe – For real!  The best way to NOT let a situation overwhelm you is to take a moment, breathe and then reflect on possibilities.  Was it fun finding a program vehicle with two flat tires?  Not so much.  Did it get fixed in the timeliest possible manner and with good team effort?  Indeed it did.
2. Don’t be clique-y – Events are an especially good time to build stronger relationships with your media and your clients.  Even if you don’t have a story to tell, taking the time to share a lunch or a joke is well worth the effort.  You can talk to your friends and co-workers any other day; use this to your best advantage to connect with someone you DON’T get to see regularly.
3. Your first word is your last impression – Ever tell a client something was free and then try to ask for money anyway?  Right.  Lesson learned.  Even if someone makes a generous offer, make sure you present it with an eye toward fore-thought and set aside a slush fund for surprises or small tokens of appreciation for the gift giver.
4. Appreciate your team – Ever not gotten along with someone on your team and then they come through in the clutch?  It happens to the best of us.  Events are a great chance to become closer and gain respect for people you may have had contentious relationships with in the past.

The best part of something is the end; it’s a feeling I carry from years of amateur theatre where the curtain call was the highlight of the evening.  I think tomorrow’s Friday staff meeting will be much the same with a big bow from everyone and a few lessons learned and friends made.