In today's pulse:

• 😷 Is There Anther COVID Shutdown Coming?

• 💃🏼 What Can We All Learn From Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour

•  🎉 Automate Local Event Promotion

• 🏢 13! New Event Industry Marketing Jobs

😷 Is There Anther COVID Shutdown Coming?

A new strain of Covid has been seeing an uptick in cases in recent weeks. It’s caused some easiness in the events business understandably.

While it is certain worth keeping an eye on and taking regular precautions, the uptick is lower than it was in 2021 and 2022 during the same period of the year.

The fatality rate is also much lower. You can read more about the exact numbers and details here.

💃🏼 What Can We Learn From Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour

Many live events nerds came back from Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour shows exclaiming how perfect the execution was. It was obviously an incredibly expensive show to put on, but there’s lessons all of us can learn and apply to our events.

Some key lessons shared by Claire Hoffman with Bizz Bash and a few of my own notes:

1. Great Production Is Worth It

Some of the most memorable events anyone will tell you about are ones that the production was immersive. Great production value transports audiences to another world and creates lasting memories and obsessed fans.

Don’t think this can apply to local events?

Two of the most memorable shows of my life were local acts that wow’d with their production quality.

The Real Zebos in Omaha blew me away with the level of FUN in their show, witty projections and voice overs from a Morgan Freeman impersonator.

The other was the DIY String and Shadow Puppet Theater that played in a literal barn in my hometown. The place was packed and everyone was completely drawn in by their storytelling and quirky hand-made props.

2. Help People At Your Event Connect

People come to a live event instead of experiencing entertainment at home because they want to connect with other human beings.

Taylor Swift’s tour encouraged a lot of fan participation. Ahead of time, she got fans excited by asking them to wear costumes from their favorite era of her music. Then, at the show, she encouraged a lot of singing along and audience participation.

Create opportunities for your attendees to connect and create a community of fans. In addition to booking great acts and entertainment, this sense of community will keep people coming back.

3. Surprise and Delight

As the Bizz Bash article shares, one of the special things about live events that Taylor Swift’s team does so well is the surprises that delight an audience.

Novel experiences are valuable to us, memorable, and make us want to share them with others. It makes the attendees feel special, which creates a positive experience and lasting impression.

Again, there’s lot of examples of this at a smaller stage. I was once at a local folk show where the artist, Average Joey, waited until the show was almost over to point out that there was a classic ragtime piano in the back hallway. Nobody had noticed, and he hadn’t played piano in the entire set. He brought the whole room back into that hallway with him and played some of his ragtime piano tunes. A truly intimate and memorable experience that didn’t cost anything extra.

4. Create Social Media Buzz

Nobody is going to be able to replicate Taylor Swift’s social media presence (well, almost nobody).

However, we can all learn about how valuable great production, surprising fans, and getting them interacting all drives social media buzz.

If you’re a recurring event or a venue, you can take advantage of the same kind of buzz-building that Taylor’s marketing team used. Getting attendees posting videos and images of having fun at an event and tagging or using a hashtag for your space can create buzz for future events.

Check out Claire’s full article for some more ideas!

🎉 Automate Local Event Promotion

Streamline your local event promotion by entering your details once and having it submitted across a curated list of local event calendars from your Visitor’s Bureau, Newspapers, Radio Stations, and Things To Do sites. If you have a lot of events, you can auto-import to save even more clicks.

More attendees. Less time. Click here to learn more.

Meme of the Week

🏢 Entertainment Industry Communications and Marketing Jobs

We came across these cool live entertainment industry jobs that you or someone you know might be a good fit for!

Also, if you’re hiring please let us know so we can help you spread the word. It’s free!

Marketing Manager @ The Albany Symphony in Albany, NY

Associate Director, Getty Communications @ J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles, CA

Ticketing + Marketing Manager @ The State Room Presents in Salt Lake City, UT

Tour Marketing & Press Manager @ Allied Global Marketing in New York, NY

Manager of Marketing, Communications & Visitor Services @ Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis, MO

Special Events Manager @ The Bellwether in Los Angeles, CA

Marketing Specialist @ Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston, MA

Event Coordinator @ Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau in Little Rock, AR

Press Manager @ Listen Up in East Hollywood, CA

Office & Communications Assistant @ The Richmond Symphony in Richmond, VA

Marketing Manager @ White Marsh Mall in Baltimore, MD

Graphic Designer (Entry Level) @ Charleston Gaillard Center in Charleston, SC

Marketing Intern @ Z2 Entertainment in Boulder and Fort Collins, CO

That’s It!

If you have anything interesting you’d like to share, we’d love to hear it! You can respond to this email or send a DM on LinkedIn: Craig Heron.

Thanks for reading, and see you next time!st an