Doing It By The Book

You know the saying “There is a time and place for everything”.  This is true.  There are times when you really have to follow rules, policies and procedures.  In the culinary business you have to always go by the book when it comes to food safety. There are other times when you can go outside the lines, for example when it comes to recipes.  Now that I am in the culinary biz it reminds me how you can sometimes leave the comfort of rules and procedures and do what you know best.  But you can’t do that until you really know and understand it.

When you first learn a new job, craft, or profession you have to go by the book.  The book was written for a reason.  You have to keep going by the book until you understand it backwards and forwards.  You think about them in your sleep! Once it becomes “second nature”, then you know how to go off roading.

Several years ago I was doing some consulting work for Feld Entertainment. I was hired to work on a Goosebumps Live date in Detroit.  Unlike the old days when I worked for them full time, they had everything spelled out on how to market the show.  I met with my friend Bill Lee from Olympia Entertainment.  Bill is the live entertainment marketing genius in Detroit. We looked at other cities where the show was on-sale and saw business was not good.  He and I decided that we were not going to let Detroit fall into that rut.  The tour was being promoted as a theatre show for children. We threw out the playbook and wrote our own marketing plan for the engagement.  We decided to promote the show as a family show that just happens to be playing in a theatre instead of an arena. 

When the show got to Detroit, Kenneth Feld was there for opening night.  He pulled me aside and asked why business was good in Detroit.  What were we doing that other cities were not?  I said “we didn’t go by the book”.  We went with our gut.  Bill and I knew the market.  We knew what would move tickets.

Did we take a risk not going by the book?  Yes we did.  But sometimes you have to let people do what they do best!

Ringling Bros. Promoter Reunion

I spent this past weekend in Sarasota FL at the first ever Ringling / Feld Entertainment promoter reunion.  Over 70 past and current promoters attended.  The best way to describe the experience is a kid over-stimulated on Christmas.

The weekend was one non-stop gab fest.  As David Rosenwasser said “we could have a Guinness Book of Records for the most bull-shit artists in one room”.  The group represented 50 years of promoters.  Most of them I knew and the rest I knew their name because they were of legend.

One of the biggest highlights was learning what everyone has done since leaving The Greatest Show On Earth. Being a promoter gives you so many experiences over your career that you can do almost anything. Everyone was not only eager to share what they were doing, but was also open to networking and helping each other.  The common word used throughout the conference was “family”.  Being a Ringling/Feld promoter is a very unique fraternal club.  I compare it to the Freemasons.  Everyone is a “brother/sister” who will help each other. They also have rituals and love their secrets.

The event kicked off with a dinner on Friday night with Kenneth Feld as our guest speaker.  He truly seemed to enjoy being with all of us.  He made sure he spoke with everyone in the room and was interested with our post Feld life.

Saturday night we went to Circus Sarasota.  I’m sure you are thinking why would ex circus promoters ever want to see another circus.  I thought this myself.  But I have to tell you that it was a really nice show.  I consider myself very jaded when it comes to family shows but I liked this show.  This cute non-profit circus was founded by Dolly Jacobs. My friend Bob Collins is the Chairman of the Board. 

Speaking of Bob, he is now in the tourism business.  He owns Big Top Tours. He bought himself a bus and drives tourists around Sarasota showing its wonderful circus history.

After the show we all went to Showfolks Club.  This is a bar for circus people.  In all the years I worked at Ringling I had never been but knew of it.  The walls are covered with 100 plus years of pictures of circus performers and lots of cigarette smoke.  There were ex circus performers at the club who I had not seen in many years.  Everyone remembered everyone. They are like elephants, they never forget!

The one agenda item I wish we could have added was a meeting of the minds.  The 70 plus reunion members have the collective creative power to address and solve what is ailing our industry.  I truly believe that if this group would have tackled the lack of worldwide ticket sales, they would find the answers.

Sometimes Being Creative Means Breaking The Rules

You may or may not be aware that besides being in the event & entertainment marketing business, I am also attending culinary school.  Yes, I am also following my passion for cooking and food.  For a great post on passion check out yesterday’s  LiveWorks Newsletter  from my brother Jim.

Last night during a seminar on plating, my Chef instructor said something that I thought also works well for us in the event & entertainment marketing business.  He discussed how the culinary world has rules and traditions.  We have rules and traditions in our business.  While he teaches the culinary arts in the classic French tradition, he also points out that we are in the culinary “arts”.  I take this to mean that you also have to be creative. This may mean breaking with rules and traditions.

At first you have to learn the rules and traditions so you can better understand how to break them.  As with anything, some rules can never be broken. I am personally big on traditions.  For example, I believe that you never open your presents before the holiday.  It drives my family nuts!

Breaking rules is not always a bad thing.  Some of the best accomplishments in life are because someone broke with tradition or rules.  But you have to understand why the rules and traditions were put into place. 

Several years ago I was in Detroit promoting Goosebumps Live for Feld Entertainment.  The tour was not meeting sales expectations.  The company had given all the promoters a set of rules and guidelines to market the show.  Bill Lee (Olympia Entertainment) and I saw that trends did not favor the rules and guidelines.  So, he and I got creative.  We tossed out the rule book and went with our entertainment marketing knowledge and experience.  Guess what, it worked.  We had one of the most successful dates on the tour.  Kenneth Feld was in Detroit for the show.  He asked me what we did differently.  I simply answered “we broke the rules and got creative”.