Many have asked me how Lenz’s event, Beatles Vs. Stones, came off.
As a marketing, advertising, pr and media firm, we believe communication is everything to a company (and a marriage!). And we believe that events are just another form of marketing communications. (Even weddings!)
I tell our clients (and commiserate with the staff!) that events are perhaps the most difficult, demanding, and nerve-wracking marketing that Lenz performs. Is the idea enticing enough? Is the public going to show up? Will all the logistics fall perfectly into place? What about the parking? as Brenda Horne has taught me. And, what if it rains?
Over our 21-year history, Lenz has learned a lot helping clients throw a wide variety of “marketing” events, from relatively small but important groundbreakings (I have three gold shovels in my office) to helping launch a major aquarium in Chattanooga, Tennessee and hosting a cancer survivors’ event that needed so much space we took over Turner Field. Many know our work with the Decatur Book Festival, a hard test every year.
So, I’m happy and also relieved to report that Beatles vs. Stones, a battle-of-the-bands fundraiser thrown by Lenz for Poverty is Real, was one of our most successful efforts yet.
— 13 bands and 60 musicians performed.
— 800 people attended (in a 650-seat venue).
— We netted $6,800 for Poverty is Real.
— John McMillan (author of Beatles vs. Stones) sold out of books.
— And, with my Johnny Clash band mates George Bradford, Shawn Vinson, Ryan Klee, Mike Killeen, and Scott Miller, I played guitar and sang a Rolling Stones song onstage, which was a lot of fun.
Now, are there some things we would do differently if we could go back? For sure. We feel that way after every event we produce. And maybe that’s why we have plans to do it again–so stay tuned! (My apologies to the woman who called and wanted her money back because people in the audience were “drinking beer”.)
I want to thank the bands for their donation of time and talent. Friday night in December is paid gig night, and many of these acts were extremely generous in performing at a fundraiser. Bringing their “A” game to the evening, were Bobby Bare, Jr., Please PleaseRock Me, Eliot Bronson, The Shadowboxers, The District Attorneys, The Jagged Stones, Seven Handle Circus, An English Place, Back on the Freakout, The Dammages, Faded Bill, Gurufish, Johnny Clash, and DJ Jamad.
And I want to give a major thank you to 97.1 The River. The event wouldn’t have been what it was without their support. Also, many thanks to our other generous sponsors: Paste magazine, Red Eye Gravy Records, Verb, the AJC Decatur Book Festival, Decatur CD, ML Healthcare, and Carmichael, Brasher, Tuvell & Company.
A shout out to Will Johnston, a raconteur of the first order, who did a great job of emceeing the evening and moving the bands on and off the stage.
Thank you to Ben Smith of the Saporta Report, who wrote a great story.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Lives!
Written By Richard Lenz.
Richard Lenz is the Founder and President of Lenz.