For Orchestra

My friend Rachel Mercer had to promote an event she’s doing. So when she recently mentioned on Twitter that her paper flyering around her city was more effective than her $3-a-day targeted demographics Facebook Ad campaign, I was surprised. She replied to me that “listing views went up digitally, but more people actually responded to flyers.”

So it got me thinking, that in a world where everyone is claiming space in social networks or musicians begin claiming that online is their home, then they’re forgetting the real magic.

Even with internet stars like Numa Numa, and Jonathan Coulton, they may have leveraged online media, but the real magic happened behind the scenes. The real magic was the kids in school who said “check this out” in the hallways, or the office workers who discussed something cool to two other people on break. The lack of thousands of followers means the ‘word of mouth’ numbers aren’t as staggering – but the return is much, much greater.

Reality gives you intimacy digital can’t give you. And with intimacy comes connections – strong ones. One’s that build trust and grow over time. That trust is what makes real life references and word of mouth so successful. I met Rachel and Tim Hwang last year at their Roflcon event while I was hanging with Sarah Austin and Hak5. Truth is, I didn’t even know what Roflcon was, I just went because I was interested to hear more about it. See? Someone like me who loves the web, and I found out about an “internet expo” through real life friends I was with that week.

It’s why bands tour. It’s why movie stars sign posters at screen filmings. And its why authors go on book tours.

Rachel’s results proved that it’s about the souvenir. The physical copy can’t be ignored. It can be thrown out, but it can’t be deleted. It’s why CD’s still sell. It’s why you have a Jamaica shirt from your trip back in 1997. It’s why flyers are still extremely effective.

The connection is why I live in New York, and go to music meetups, festivals, shows, and more. Sure, online movements can amount to millions of people into a successful campaign, but you can’t replace the in-person experience.

What will you remember more? A performance where you sat in the back row at a concert, drank beer, then went home, or a performance where you were in the front row while the lead singer’s spit poured onto you as the sweat from the other fans rubbed up against you in a crammed venue. (BTW Derek Sivers wrote a great post about this event although I can’t find it – any help?) UPDATE: here’s Derek’s post about it. Thanks Derek!

It’s fine to build a following of thousands and cater to an online audience you wouldn’t have been able to find elsewhere, but don’t forget what makes life more beautiful – the intimacy.

Because the most important part of being online is being offline.

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