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Sweet marketing music

Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?

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by Andrew Tellijohn
April 2007

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2-minute meeting


Heartland’s ‘Thought
Leader Gatherings’ employ
unusual ways to connect

By Beth Ewen

Original songs by Barbara McAfee brought the group of about 125 to order on a freezing Feb. 2 at the University Club in St. Paul. Her clear voice opened the Thought Leader Gathering, produced by Heartland Inc. six times a year in the Twin Cities.

Patricia and Craig Neal are co-founders of Heartland in Edina, and they also produce identical gatherings in San Francisco. They invite a “conversation starter” to speak, then ask for questions, discussion and action items during a half-day event.

This year they plan to expand in a third city, most likely Atlanta, Patricia Neal said. Their goal is to create “conversations of hope” about the pressing issues of today. “We believe we’re here today because we all have a purpose,” she said.

Attendees gathered in a large circle, and a cloth heart was passed around as each person shared one word or phrase about their feelings. “Pink sunrise,” said one. “Anxious,” said another.

David Reiling, CEO of Sunrise Community Banks in St. Paul, shared his story about how he came to develop University Bank’s social mission. “We want to have high financial return and high social impact,” Reiling said. “Those two have to be in balance with each other.”

He also shared his personal regimen, which includes designating some days as “focus days,” when he concentrates only on revenue-generating business; buffer days, when he takes care of paperwork and cleans up the messes; and free days, 24 hours of no business. 

His goal is 90 free days this year. “I tried to take 70 last year and I failed miserably,” the self-described workaholic said.

Try to make it to: Laurie Brown, founder of Restore Products, is the next “conversation starter” for Heartland Inc.’s Thought Leader Gathering April 13. Contact Patricia Neal, Heartland Inc.: 952.925.5995; patricia@heartlandcircle.com; www.heartlandcircle.com

‘Viral’ marketers must
own up to their work,
MWC speaker insists

“Today everyone wants to do something that’s contagious,” said Amanda Brinkman, director of business development for Fallon in Minneapolis.

She was talking about “viral marketing” at the February meeting of Minnesota Women in Communications. That’s an “evolution of word of mouth that takes advantage of the Internet.”  In fact, she said, the only difference between word-of-mouth marketing and viral marketing is the latter is “technology-enabled.”

It’s not like broadcast marketing, in which the message is pushed through a channel to an audience “whether or not they’re asking for it.” Rather, with viral marketing “You’re just placing a message and then consumers spread it around.”

How to do it well? You have to create a message that people want to pass around. Why send that clever message to 300 of your closest friends? “To be smart. Or funny. But above all, to be interesting,” Brinkman said.

Brinkman gave a couple examples. OKGo, a band that few had heard of, choreographed a goofy dance to their song “A Million Ways.” They videotaped it in the backyard and launched it on YouTube. “Literally a million different videos have been posted” of other people memorizing the dance and doing their own video.

“They went from a place where no one had heard of them to incredible fame,” she said.

One bad example: Sony Playstation 3’s flog, or “fake blog,” as Brinkman called it. “A marketer authors it, and pretends a kid in their basement” wrote it. “Which is the worst thing you can do,” Brinkman said. “Consumers feel patronized” when they learn the truth about authorship (and they quickly do so). “ It’s much better to own it.”

Try to make it to: Minnesota Women in Communications was launched in September 2006, after seceding from a national organization, AWC. The April 19 meeting is “Energizing your Web site: 763.208.1385; www.mnwc.org

Upsize photo shoot
gets a little wild at
Creatis headquarters

Invite 10 local business owners to a photo shoot for Upsize magazine, and things can get a little crazy.

Such was the case Feb. 7, when Twin Cities photographer Eric Moore shot the business owners who nominated Floyd Adelman, The Inner Circle, as their most trusted adviser.

Moore’s first idea was to have the business owners pose casually, but he said they quickly got too wild so he asked them to look at the camera instead.

The shoot, featured in the March issue of Upsize, was at Creatis Inc. headquarters in Minneapolis. CEO Dodd Clasen said his company has been in the space for about three years, and he owns the building and an adjacent warehouse.

Try to make it to: Creatis Inc. headquarters is at 227 Colfax Ave. N. in Minneapolis, if you want to check out a developing neighborhood; www.creatis.com; the March issue of Upsize has the photograph and story in question:  dev.divistack.com.

Minnesota Opera urges
‘Grapes of Wrath’ patrons
to fund virtual expansion

The Minnesota Opera unveiled its hugely ambitious world premier production of “The Grapes of Wrath” in February, which cost $1.8 million and packed the house on opening night at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul.

The production was visually spectacular, opening with rows of green corn stalks that devolved over time to brown and scraggly, and musically haunting, especially the arias featuring the mentally challenged Noah and Ma Joad as a young mother.

It also packed all the nearby restaurants, from A Rebours to the St. Paul Grill to Pazzaluna, as Minnesota Wild hockey fans grabbed a bite before the game as well. “It’s either hockey jerseys or tuxedos here tonight,” said the St. Paul Grill waitress in the packed bar beforehand.

The opera company used its program to promote an unusual fundraising effort; a virtual seat campaign, to try to make the Ordway larger without actually building more seats.

“Seats generate income, and with 1,750 seats the Ordway is one of the smallest opera houses in the country. The opera needs more seats to create greater revenue as it competes internationally for top talent.” The Ordway should have another 750 seats, the program said.

“To build a new, larger opera house would cost about $120 million. But the Twin Cities does not need another nine-figure capital campaign. And the Minnesota Opera does not want to abandon the Ordway.”

The opera is building a $12 million endowment, which will generate income roughly equivalent to what an extra 750 seats at the Ordway would provide in ticket sales.

Patrons can endow a virtual seat for $25,000, a pair of seats for $50,000, or an entire row.

Try to make it to: The virtual seat campaign has $1 million left to raise, to reach the $20 million goal: Patrick Dewane, Minnesota Opera: 612.342.9574; www.mnopera.org