Did You Know?
On April 14, 1983 the
first cordless telephone, capable of operating up to 600 feet from its base, was
introduced by Fidelity and British Telecom.
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Submit your Concert Photos
Have a great picture from last year's Moondance Jam? Get a great action shot of your favorite performer on stage? Send them to us at photos@teaprod.com and you might see them featured as the headline image in the next newsletter. Please send appropriate photos only. You know what we mean. |
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Producing Your Event, Part 2: Getting Sponsors
As the way to seek out
sponsors has changed, so has the way one should pitch to a prospective
sponsor. For years we all have been involved in "push"
marketing and sponsorship techniques when pursuing a sponsor for an
event. This means sending out the message without an expectation of
any return dialogue. As the Internet has evolved, it has become a better,
more efficient tool for reaching out to potential sponsors who may not have
been on the events radar at one time. Marketing departments first used the
technology to "push" information over to the client in hopes that
what they were pitching would have the desired affect and another client would
be onboard.
The Internet and electronic technology has since matured. Most people and
virtually all businesses are hooked up. People of all ages are communicating
through their computer or hand-held device of choice. Because of this we
have arrived at a new stage of marketing: the "push-pull" form of
communication, advertising and presentation. No longer are Marketing
departments just sending out information in one direction. We should expect, or
at the very least, hope for some return information and with this a
dialogue and information you may find useful to enhance sponsorship
packages for your clients. This is where social networking sites and blogging
sites like Facebook and Twitter can be a great asset.
Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are all social networking sites that have
developed a strong following in the last couple of years. These sites are able
to embrace "push-pull" technology that has created new ways that you
can communicate with your sponsors. What does this mean to a Marketing
Director who is out seeking sponsorships for his or her event?
Marketing Directors now need to embrace digital marketing when going after
sponsorships. But be mindful that it is still part of an integrated marketing
scheme. Involving your sponsor in "push-pull" will give
them the idea that you are well aware of trends, that you will be able to
create a value stream for them and create consumer appeal for their product
through your event. Analysis has shown that products or services that are
aligned with an event will generally have better consumer retention for that
product or service than if the product or service is presented in more
traditional manners. Using these techniques, you can create a further reaching
community than you could have with traditional methods.
Use electronic technology to establish an ongoing dialogue with your sponsors
and their audience, recruit and interest community members,. Stay in front of
them, build presence and potential branding for your sponsors' product or
service. You will find your sponsorships will grow as you embrace all of the
possibilities that electronic technology has to offer.
Coming up in Part 3: Marketing and Maintaining Your Event
Please send us any questions you may have about producing your event and we
will include them in the next segment.
Or you can contact me directly at thibault@teaprod.com or 952.543.1384.
Jack Thibault President T.E.A. Productions | Minneapolis MN | 952.543.1384 | thibault@teaprod.com
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Featured Artist: G Love and the Special Sauce
Excerpt from the article: "Stirring Up Some Special Sauce"
By Jane Geelan-Sayres
Mar 24, 2009
For the past 15 years, G. Love and Special Sauce have been bringing their unique style of "hip-hop, blues" to audiences around the world.
"It's always about the music. It's about the art and you always want to make the thing and put 100 percent of what you have -- a million percent of what you have -- into making the best song you can about what you're living and the best way you and the songwriter know how to get across to as many people as you can without losing your identity," said Love.
The group tours hard -- putting on at least 150 shows a year and have already pumped out 10 albums including the most recent, "Superhero Brother."
"This record, I really wanted to challenge myself as a guitar player. I wanted to challenge myself," said Love.
Probably one of the band's most famous songs is "Cold Beverage," which was very popular with established fans and the world of MTV.
The band formed back in 1993 in Boston and released their first self-titled album about a year later.
"We went from being a local Irish bar band, playing ever Monday night at the corner bar to doing this tour across the country with lines out the door. They were little clubs, but hey, they were all sold out coast to coast and all around the world," said Love.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
04.15.09
Headliners 04.16.09
The Blue Note
Columbia, MO
04.17.09
First Avenue
Minneapolis, MN
04.18.09
Barrymore Theatre
Madison, WI
05.01.09
Beale Street Music Festival
Memphis, TN
05.03.09
SunFest
West Palm Beach, FL
05.06.09
WorkPlay Theater
Birmingham, AL
Mobile, AL
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The Dead Trip Up Scalpers, Prep 150 Songs for Tour
The Dead are offering front row seats for charity auction.
March 27, 2009 09:15 AM ET
By Gary Graff, Detroit
The Dead are hoping that in addition to raising money for its Rex Foundation and other respective charities, an auction of prime seats for its upcoming tour will also put those tickets in the hands of fans, not scalpers.
"We want to keep away from all of that," percussionist Mickey Hart tells Billboard.com. "You always keep your fingers crossed that the bad guys don't get in there and turn profits for themselves." Tickets have been turning up on secondary sale sites such as Tickets Now and StubHub, but the Dead has also decided not to offer Platinum Tickets through Ticketmaster.
Guitarist Bob Weir concurred that he's long felt any type of scalping "should be illegal. Nobody benefits but a few people. The band doesn't get any of that money. The people have to pay more money for what they should rightfully be getting for way less. It's immensely frustrating."
Under the auction plan, which is being operated through Charity Folks (www.charityfolks.com), the Dead is auctioning off the first five rows center for its shows to high bidders. Memorabilia and meet-and-greet opportunities are also up for grabs. The group hopes the auctions will raise $250,000 for the Rex Foundation, an arts charity the group established in 1983, as well as for the Further Foundation, the Unbroken Chain Foundation and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
"Charities need money. They need help, especially these days," says percussionist Bill Kreutzmann. "This puts those seats into the hands of our fans, who are not only getting great seats and good music but also know the money is going to charitable organizations."
"The first gig as the Grateful Dead was a benefit," notes Weir. "It always seemed to us that you get some, you give some back. It makes good sense. It's just something we've always done, and this latest round is, I think a well-conceived, somewhat newer version of it."
The Dead -- which will also include fellow Grateful Dead founder Phil Lesh on bass, guitarist Warren Haynes and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti -- are gearing up for the tour, the group's first since 2004, which kicks off April 12 in Greensboro, N.C. The group already did a 12 days of rehearsal, during which Weir says it prepared a whopping 150 songs, with another prep run planned before the opening date.
The band is set to perform on the "Late Show with David Letterman" on April 23, and have even planned an interview appearance with the ladies of "The View."
"We're trying to bring out as many tunes as we can," Weir says. "We're doing tunes I haven't played in 35 years or so, but that said there'll be all the old favorites..."It's kind of a big task to pull the band out of mothballs. The impetus to bring the Dead back around just had to grow until it made sense to all of us. We've got a fair bit of unfinished business, and we all know that. At some point it just made sense for us to get back to it."
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Café Tacuba Announce World Tour
 April 03, 2009 10:17 AM ET
By Ayala Ben-Yehuda, L.A. | Billboard.com
Mexican rock legends Café Tacuba announced details of their 20th anniversary world tour today. The trek will take the Grammy and Latin Grammy winners to 20 cities in Central and South America, the U.S. and Europe.
Also as part of the anniversary, the band will publish two books commemorating its history as well as release a documentary filmed on tour in support of its latest album on Universal, "Sino."
Here are Café Tacuba's tour dates:
May 21: San Salvador, El Salvador (Auditorio de la Feria)
May 23: Caracas, Venezuela (San Bil)
May 27: Bogota, Colombia (Palacio de los Deportes)
May 29: Quito, Ecuador - Ruminahui)
May 30: Lima, Peru (Gran Parque de Lima)
June 03: La Paz, Bolivia
June 05: Santiago, Chile (Teatro Caupolican)
June 06: Buenos Aires (Luna Park)
June 09: Havana
June 11: San Juan, Puerto Rico (Coliseo de Puerto Rico)
June 13: Mexico City (Foro Sol)
June 16: León, México - Domo de la Feria)
June 17: Guadalajara, Mexico - Arena VFG)
June 19: Monterrey México (Arena Monterrey)
June 21: Tijuana (Plaza Monumental)
June 24: Los Angeles (Gibson Amphitheatre)
June 26: Chicago (Congress Theatre)
June 28: New York (Hammerstein Ballroom)
July 23: London
July 25: Barcelona
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No Doubt, Dave Matthews, Flo Rida Set For 'Today' Summer Series
 April 02, 2009
By Cortney Harding | Billboard.com
No Doubt, Dave Matthews Band, Flo Rida, Black Eyed Peas and Jennifer Hudson are among the artists scheduled to appear on NBC's "Today" show as part of the morning program's 14th annual summer concert series. No Doubt, in its first live appearance after a five-year hiatus, kicks off the run May 1.
The series, which is sponsored by Toyota and is set for each Friday throughout the summer, has become known as a way for acts to reach new audiences; "Today" boasts an average viewership of 5.5 million.
"The ratings do vary week to week," says Jim Bell, the show's executive producer. "The impact each band will see depends on the concert. Regardless of the sales impact, though, the concerts provide a great boost of energy for the show and the crowd."
Sales impact
Impact on sales varies for each act. The show claimed last year that acts see a 22% average increase in sales after performances on the summer concert series. At the same time, many artists go on the show to promote forthcoming albums, while others play big hits that can be heard on every radio station, so sales data can be hard to ascribe to one performance.
But that's not to say some bands don't see real boosts; after the B-52's performed on the show in the summer of 2008, digital sales of "Love Shack" jumped from 4300 to 5300, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Digital sales of "Funplex" went from under 1,000 to 1,200; and 'Rock Lobster" went from 1,700 to 2,100. Kenny Chesney also reported a 30% increase in sales of his album "Just Who I Am: Pirates & Poets" after he performed on June 13, 2008.
Many contend that the show's impact can't be measured in sales figures alone. "We feel like the 'Today' show has become not only our TV platform, but our partner," says New Kids on the Block manager Jared Paul. "We used the show to announce the reunion, went back to stage the first performance, back again to launch the record, and we're going back again this summer to launch a tour."
Web buzz
The show has a tangible impact on online buzz. According to BuzzMetrics, a Nielsen Online data source that measures buzz in social media across more than 78 million blogs and message boards, of 103 million-plus messages posted on the Internet between Jan. 1 and May 16, 2008 (the day the New Kids' segment aired on the morning show), buzz was highest after the "Today" show performance, with more than 1.3 million messages posted.
The show isn't just for old timers firing up the amps one more time, either. Younger acts, like All American Rejects, also report positive results in the wake of performances.
"I've seen it have an impact on record sales and concert ticket sales," says Jordan Berliant, GM of the music division at the Collective, which works with the Rejects and a number of other rock acts. "I like the fact that they'll stage it non-generically. They'll put it outside Rockefeller Center sometimes, and it becomes a real event."
"It's an honor," says Flo Rida regarding his August 14 booking. "I always do something real big every time I get on TV, but since this is my first time on 'Today' I definitely have to set the mark very high."
Additional artists and special guests will be announced throughout the season.
The 2009 "Toyota Concert Series on Today" lineup is:
May 1: No Doubt
May 8: New Kids On The Block & Special Guest
May 15: Jennifer Hudson
May 22: Fall Out Boy
May 29: Taylor Swift
June 5: The Dave Matthews Band
June 12: Black Eyed Peas
June 19: Jonas Brothers
June 26: The Fray
July 3: Rob Thomas
July 10: Rascal Flatts
July 17: The All American Rejects
July 24: Katy Perry
July 31: Kings of Leon
Aug 7: Jason Mraz
Aug 14: Flo Rida
Aug 21: Natasha Bedingfield
Aug 28: TBA
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