What Can You Imagine?

I had such a good time last night! I was at the "Walk with Sally" event in Torrance with Team Choura and the headline treat of a Gavin Rossdale concert. What a great showman he is. He so rocked the house from the moment he came on stage. It was fantastic on the roof of the South Bay BMW dealership, an intimate concert for 400! We all agreed this this was one of the most fun events the Choura & Anza team have been privileged to be involved putting together.

Just before Gavin took the stage Ryan Choura raised $15,000.00 in just over six minutes for this great organization that helps young people deal with the devastation of cancer in their family. The organization's creator Nick Arquette (who lost his own mother Sally to cancer) is the mentor of a young man who lost both his mother and grandmother within the same year and is now in foster care. Nick is the only steady adult male figure in this young man's life.

Gavin & friends during set up - all of tents, wrapped tables, wrapped heaters etc. are from Anza all themed for the White Night.

On a lighter note, I have to admit I'm quite amused by the comments I've been reading about Rossdale online - youngsters dazzled by the fact that he can still rock like his early years in Bush at a grand old age of 42. Ha. Remember people this is the man that keeps Gwen Stefani smiling to go home to. That's the problem with being very young, you can imagine a lot of things but you can't imagine you'll still be the same you at 42, or 82 for that matter.

Which brings me to the point of imagining altogether. Here is what I'm starting to really own - you can't really make an impact these days unless you expand your view and step out of your comfort zone. You don't have to use marketing language or imagery or public relations statements that make you uncomfortable, you can stay true to yourself and your message, but you've got to get the best side of that self and that message, or product, or service out to the broadest audience. Printing up flyers and doing your same old thing just isn't going to cut it if you want hundreds, or thousands showing up, or buying, or clicking page views. People have too many choices these days. You've got to be creative, innovative and take a broad view. You have to realize that if you hire marketing and pr people it's their job to imagine what you might not even have been considered yet. Most of us show up only prepared to handle our own lines. Marketing and pr people show up knowing the whole play.

Reporters love to bash publicists as being annoying and pushy, and you know what? We can be. I've worked for a hardcore agency (for a very short amount of time) and yikes it felt like I was on wallstreet the pressure to place press was so great. That's not my style. I like to be more relaxed and thoughtful. I like to make sure my pitch is appropriate for the media outlet. But I do like to place press, that's one of my jobs, and none of the press I've placed for clients would have happened if I hadn't picked up the phone and reached out to the media. None of it. The media is cut down to the bone. Had the Santa Monica pr firm Blaze PR who handled this event not done such a terrific job getting the word out there wouldn't have been a gaggle of press photographers at the event waiting to see Mr. Rossdale. Torrance is a lovely city but they just don't have press photographers rambling down the street looking to snap famous and beautiful people at interesting events. The word doesn't get out unless someone actually makes it happen, and these days to succeed it needs to happen in a myriad of ways.