NakedCity Wichita

people will show. when they know.

Posted on 16. Dec, 2011 by Carrie in music

words > TROY R. WELLS
poster > TOMCAT

I wrote a few years back about what I felt could be done to better Wichita’s ever-growing music scene. I wasn’t trying to preach some unifying theme. I am aware of how diverse this town can be, even based on its per capita ratio. I just like the fact that people are going to shows and enjoying live music, even if I think the band you are venturing out to see is a musical abomination. But it would seem still that more could be done. One simple way to help better things is for promoters to actually promote their shows. I know I am not going to make a lot of friends with that statement, and that’s fine. If you ever see me out and want to chat about what you are doing and how hard it is to do shows as a promoter in this town, then by all means, let’s chat. But what I will say, is relying on Facebook, Twitter and electronic media only to get the word out, is not going to get the job done or people out to see touring bands.

I am so sick finding out a band was in town and I missed it because someone I don’t know booked the show and thought the 300 friends they have on Facebook should be the only ones in the know. Exclusivity helps no one, especially the bands on tour. When bands are on tour they’re hopeful that the promoter did his job and the audience did theirs by remembering to show up. Not every show has to be a sell-out, but I can certainly say, that in the past 3 months I missed four out of six shows because I was completely unaware or it was not visible enough to help remind me.

Visibility is the key. We are so inundated with messages all the time, that it is easy to miss something, but there are still simple and effective ways to get across to people. I deeply miss seeing fliers. Yep. Fliers. Pieces of brightly colored paper with everything from professionally done design to hand-written-cut-and-paste punk rock Xerox jobs. What they do, that Facebook or Twitter don’t, is be the best kind of eye-sore and they are more effective than a buzzing update on your smart phone. I love walking into my local watering hole, bookstore and pizza joint and seeing something new for me to pay attention to. There are a thousand places to get the message out with fliers in town, and most business owners welcome it. If you’re only printing a couple dozen fliers and hoping 200 kids show up, you shouldn’t be surprised when they don’t. It takes far more to spread the good word around town. Put them in all of the places you think your target listener might hang out. Don’t forget the insides of stall doors…you’ll truly have a captive audience.

Additionally, give your fellow promoters and local businesses a hand. If you see a flyer promoting an event that has expired, take it down. It takes a village folks. If we help one another out by keeping the business-owners real estate looking nice and tidy, they will be happy to allow you and others to continue to promote with them.

I think this is just one thing that can be done to keep old jerks, like myself, and others in the know. It’s not really that big of an idea, but it is something that I’d like to see more of.

Tags: facebook events, music promotion, troy wells, wichita bands, wichita live music