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Teenagers are so last minute

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Contributed by: Ron Harnar on 6/2/2007

My sister used to be a marketing executive at a major advertising firm. She's retired now, but she still has a passion for figuring out the Next Big Thing and finding creative ways of letting people know about it.

So I asked her for some advice on how to get the word out about a rock concert at our church. Among the performers will be my sixteen year old son, Greg.

I gave my sister the info:

In concert:
Unrelentless - We Want a Forest - Rising Above.
Tuesday, June 5. 8 p.m.
Sunrise Connection Center
Woodmen Road & Rangewood Drive
4005 Lee Vance View
Colorado Springs
Admission $5. Proceeds go to the Sunrise Church Youth Ministry.
For details and directions, please go to:

www.looseplate.org/unrelentless

I told her how I had designed a postcard to use as a flyer. I had also set up a website (at the link above) and contacted several churches in the area. She liked the idea of a father showing this kind of interest in his son, and she could see that I had put a lot of thought and effort into it. So she let me down gently. But firmly.

"That's all very nice," she said. "But it won't work. First of all, there are now literally more web pages on the internet than there are men, women, and children in the world to view them. Unless you spend a ton of money and do a major campaign, your website will never be seen."

She's right. The traffic reports on my website over the last few weeks paint a sad picture of obscurity.

"Second," she said, "teenagers are so last minute. Even if they see your announcement, they're not going to dutifully write it down on their calendars, because they don't use calendars! They're not going to make advance arrangements for a ride, or remember on their own to show up. You have to contact them that day. Have a cell phone party. Invite friends of the band. Have them bring their cell phones. Each person calls twenty friends and tells them to call twenty friends."

So don't be surprised if you happen to get a call on the afternoon of June 5 about a rock concert happening that same night. On the other hand, don't be surprised if you don't. Because teenagers are so last minute.

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