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This is one of my favorites right now and it may be some of the best native ad content in the game...but the story is just incredible.
How Do I Work?
I have a new keynote coming up on May 25th at the Central Michigan Public Relations Society of America that I am extremely excited to be a part of. So I was excited on Sunday when I got a text from a friend saying "I am coming May 25th" followed by "your keynote is going to be new right?" What he was actually asking was, "I'm not wasting my time, right?" Because he had watched me speak in February at the Governor's Conference on Tourism.
I have a couple of hard and fast rules when it comes to public speaking, especially if it is created by my own hand instead of hosting an event where a script is used that might answer that question.
1) No notes. If I am doing my own keynote (not a script) I am not reading notes because people have shown up to hear what I have to say, so I better know what I want to say to them.
2) Update, update, update. I am continually updating with new information as it comes in. If I know who is in the crowd I will check out their social feeds, websites, blogs, etc. so that I can create a talk that is tailored to the people that are in the audience.
3) Close to zero. There is nothing I like less than presenters who read slides to the audience. I tend to go as far to the other extreme as I can creating a deck that has next to no text on it. There are certain pieces of information that need text for context or a better understanding - but that is very different from reading to the audience.
4) Q+A. If it were up to me I would do them without a deck and just have Q+A for 90 minutes but experience tells me that this is a difficult thing to do without at least a couple of slides for context. That said, I love the improv feel of fielding questions that I might not have the answer to.
5) It is NOT about me. It is easy to think when people show up they are there to see you, but more honestly they are there to get something they can use today.
Which means if you want to do more than one keynote you have to give them something they find value in.
This becomes really difficult in the marketing space because you have to create a talk that shoots the gap between the beginner and the expert. They will both assuredly be in attendance and both are looking for something to take back with them. That has everything to do with them and not much at all to do with you.
So, will I waste your time? The slides are new, the information will be an hour or two old, and the questions will be all new - you will have to show up on May 25th to get the answer to that question.
Who is Art For?
Over the weekend Angie and I had tickets to see Hamilton in Chicago, it was every bit as amazing as I wanted it to be. In fact, the only issue I might have was the tiny fortune I had to pay in order to get in.
Likewise, earlier last week I tried to get Gorillaz tickets for their show in Chicago and it was sold out, in under 40 seconds - that isn't done by human hands, it is by automation or bots selling to other bots to increase the ticket cost and sell it back to you. So, a show that is probably worth $40 a ticket is now $173 per seat. Rinse and repeat.
My father told me a story over the weekend about his friend who wanted to go to see Hamilton and Book of Mormon when both shows come to Seattle later this year. For two tickets to each show, his total cost was a mind-boggling $5200.
Which got me thinking who is art for?
It certainly isn't directed at people below a certain income threshold, I mean even movies can be priced out of access which is why Octavia Spencer purchased an entire theater out so that low-income families could see Hidden Figures.
At Now Playing, we believe that at-risk children need art as much, if not more than, children who have instant access to it. But, the economics of art put it well off the list of anything that low-income families, broken or otherwise, can afford to attend.
Now Hamilton does do a lottery for each show and that helps - although the digital divide between the haves and the have-nots, according to the Pew Research Center, has gotten better, the gap is far from closed.
Which is why Now Playing is here.
With your help, Now Playing is able to give these kids the opportunity to see plays, performances, movies, community or sporting events that they would literally have no chance to see if it were not for you.
That is the thing about economics, it is really hard to solve for because once you have paid for the mortgage, the lights, the water, the gas, and food and you have very little left - you just aren't paying $300 a ticket to see Hamilton even if it might change your life.
I have lived a fortunate life that I am thankful for beyond belief which is just one more reason I get up every day and try to make a bigger impact for people who have not had the opportunities that I had. I do that by opening the door - even if it is just to a movie theater, to show them where dreams are realized, where daydreaming takes hold, and where storytelling happens.
We all deserve the right to tell a better story and isn't that what art is for?