May 16 2009

Austin Music Foundation – Connecting with Fans through Twitter

Published by mark at 9:57 am under Uncategorized

I recently joined the board of an amazing non-profit called the Austin Music Foundation. AMF “strengthens and connects the local music community with innovative programs that empower musicians and fuel Austin’s creative economy.”

Since I had some experience doing social media deals for Yahoo! Music (and Musicmatch before that), naturally the first thing I did was get AMF on Twitter, so follow them now at www.twitter.com/austinmusic

Now they want me to actually do stuff, starting with leading this session on connecting with fans on Twitter in 140 characters or less. The session is at the Hilton Garden Inn on June 1st at 7pm in downtown Austin. That’s in two weeks. Yikes.

Ok, after pondering the assignment with some trepidation I came to two important conclusions:
1) I’m completely qualified to lead this session for one reason: I play myself on Twitter, just like Ben Kweller. Class dismissed. Seriously, though, check out Ben’s twitter stream.

Twitter Updates

    follow me on Twitter


    2) I’ve got an amazing network of friends that can help me gather some stories and stats to share, like my friend Ian Roger’s recent blog post I will faithfully rip off. READ IT.

    So, if you’re an artist or manager that has a story to share about how twitter has helped you connect with fans, please leave a comment below or drop me a line at AMF at sparkycollier.otherinbox.com and help me create this pitch. Please. (Otherinbox is a cool Austin startup FYI). In the fine tradition of Fred Wilson I’m hoping to crowd source this pitch…

    If you’re planning to attend please leave me a comment as well (including your twitter name — you ARE on twitter, right??) and what you’d like to get out of the session. If we can get a critical mass of participants I can get out of the way and let y’all help each other, which is exactly what twitter is all about!

    Last, but not least, please read up on AMF and consider supporting our important mission! I’m also the chair of the sponsorship committee, so if your business would like to get involved hit me up!

    Mark
    P.S. I am no longer with Yahoo!, but that is for another blog post ;)

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    Comments

    • JpMaxMan
      When a musician is on stage he/she is broadcasting outward toward the crowd. Beyond being the guy in the front row w/ the loudest vocal chords, there is no discernible way for the musician in real-time to hear the audience individually. Twitter empowers this ability to "feedback in real time" and when the musician broadcasts some of that feedback it creates a connection w/ the crowd. Ahhh, I see JpMaxMan want to hear freebird! Well here you go, this one is for you! Even if this is just a few minutes between songs to recognize the fans twittering at you in the audience, that creates a bond. I've seen Ben Kweller do this on his twitter stream - asking for requests at his performance - and have thought how cool it would be to interact w/ the band like that. You could see a larger group put up a twitter stream on flat panels above the stage so as the band played the audience would see all the chatter.
    • joeblanda
      Hey Mark, looking forward to your Twitter class at Hilton Inn. I'm new to this, so just about anything you can say to help me along will be appreciated. Probably the hardest thing will be making time . . .
    • Thanks joe. I look forward to meeting you! Are you a musician or
      manager of an Austin band?
    • Joe Blanda
      I'm a musician . . . looking for new ways to link up with friends, fans, and other musicians and artist . . . that casts a slightly wider net than MySpace and Facebook.
    • I'll send you some data that I have. Sounds like a great talk!
    • Hi Mark -
      I've been avoiding Twitter until I saw the newsletter from AMF this week. Seems like I ought to give it a try. I just spent the last hour attempting to sign up on twitter and every time I try to log in they tell me they don't recognize me. I try to start over in signing up and my user name shows up as taken (wasn't before my first attempt). So I'll likely be showing up tonight -- still not quite a twitter-er. :) Look forward to hearing how it might help connect us to artists looking to record -- and build up publicity for our recording studio: www.hideoustudios.com

      thanks monica
    • Thanks Monica. I'll do a lot of hands on demos so I can walk everyone
      through the process from sign up to posting to finding like minded
      souls to follow. Then the real fun will begin after the class as
      everyone (I hope) will jump into the deep end. You can always follow
      up after the class too (via Twitter, naturally).

      Looking forward to meeting you and helping however I can!

      Mark
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