Fans Doing Some Good

Lovely designs courtesy of Rachel, Annette & Simona

In a time when many fandoms get a reputation for behaving badly (the Vancouver Canucks fans come to mind at this very moment), I wanted to take a moment and mention a new fan charity project that was announced today. It’s something I’d been hoping to launch for nearly 6 months now. Of course I’m mentioning it as I hope members of this particular fandom will participate and help raise money for charity, but I’m also hoping I’ll inspire others to find more positive ways to be a ‘fan’ of whatever it is you’re into.

I sort of fell into fandoms helping charities with the Supernatural website I co-founded. The Supernatural fandom is an ardent bunch and it was clear to my fellow co-founder and I early on that this enthusiasm should be harnessed for something better than only debating which Winchester is better looking (For the record, they are both easy on the eyes). We were right – we’ve raised over $55,00o for charity to date.

So when a band I love (Keane) held a t-shirt competition last fall and literally hundreds of fans entered, my “fandom brain” was engaged! There were many original, creative, brilliant and just plain fun designs submitted. But only one could win. So I thought that it would be a positive thing to take the non-winning designs (with the artists’ permission) and sell them on Cafe Press for one of the bands’ chosen charities. Several of us fans discussed the idea online and all were in favor of the idea.

I knew this project could not happen overnight. Naturally, not every fan would be willing to give up their design. And I also had to keep in mind that if the band were to support the idea, we could not sell a gazillion types of merchandise with the designs on them, so we would not cut into their own official merchandise sales.

So after receiving a few of the designs that were not the grand prize winners, I worked on opening the store. I immediately hit a snag though. Cafe Press emailed me to say that even though we had not used any of the band members’ likenesses on the designs, the band’s name alone violated copyright law. I refused to be deterred. After all, 100% the commissions made from the store were set up to go to Amnesty International, one of many charities Keane heartily supports. None of us involved would make a dime off it!

So I reached out to the band’s website moderators. I also did some digging and found a band contact online and reached out to her as well. And then I waited. And waited some more.

One day, back in March, I was driving and I received a phone call. I have bluetooth in my car, so I can always see who is calling me right on my dash. (Pretty convenient, right?) The call said “Unavailable,” which 99% of the time means TELEMARKETER! But I had given my phone number out to one of the band’s website moderators who asked for it, so I thought maybe there was a tiny chance that someone was calling me regarding the store. So I answered…and my gut instinct was right!

On the phone was a delightful woman with a lovely British accent named Beth telling me that not only did she receive my email correspondence, but she had been discussing the idea with the BAND…and they liked it! (GASP! YAY!) She informed me that she was working on finding a happy medium of us selling just a few designs on 3-4 types of items, and that would probably make their record label agreeable to the store. She asked me if that was reasonable. Honestly, I was more than happy to work with whatever parameters she had for me.

She informed me that a representative from Island Records would email me in the near future (I did not ask how long that meant). I said I’d look forward to working out all the details with the record company and I thanked her so much for taking the time to call me from across the pond.

Then I waited again.  For at least a month this time.

I’m a bit of an impatient person and I did not want Beth to think I dropped the ball, so I sent her a courtesy email simply saying that I had not received an email from Island Records yet. Not too much later, I finally received that email!

At this point, it was a pretty simple project. I had to submit the requested designs and show the label exactly what items of merchandise they would be sold on. Then I’d get a contract to sign. And once that contract was signed and returned back to me, I could send it along to Cafe Press! This process ended up taking probably another month and in total about 6 months from fruition to completion.

My point in sharing all these details is that if I can put a project together like this, YOU can too! There are just a couple things to keep in mind:

A) Be patient. Very patient.

B) Don’t forget to be polite – always!

C) And be open-minded to work toward a mutually-beneficial goal.

And while opening a Cafe Press store, or having a bake sale or doing whatever small, positive idea you have for charity may not get you on the news (like the idiots who rioted after the Vancouver Canucks lost), I bet you’ll feel better about your efforts.

So today our Keane Fans For Amnesty store is open and if you’re reading this because you’re a Keane fan, well…Please go shopping…AND please tell all of your friends about the store! Don’t be shy about sharing on Facebook and Twitter either. The only way this will be a success if we fans make it one!

This is a one-year project, so let’s see how much money we can make for Amnesty International!

P.S. Congratulations and thank you to Simona, Rachel and Annette for sharing their designs with us!

Celebrating 60 Episodes of “Beyond The Iron Sea”

You probably know I’m a fan of Keane, a British pop band that became well-known after their first album “Hopes And Fears” was released in 2004. I tend to talk about them. A lot. I had the pleasure of taking part in the 60th episode of a podcast series devoted to Keane called “Beyond The Iron Sea.” A bunch of fellow fans and I came up with questions for hosts Chris Flynn and Andrew Drinkwater and I phoned the podcast to pose the questions to the hosts.

Keane is unique and very special in their interaction with their fans, in that it has continued to a level that you’d expect from a relatively unknown band, not one whose three albums and one EP have all gone to #1 on the record charts. But they are good, philanthropic people who are thankful for their fans and it shows.

Chris and Andrew have been fans of the band for many years. They started a podcast 7 years ago and just aired their 60th episode on March 1st. Keane’s amazing interaction with fans has provided Chris and Andrew many exciting adventures. And for this podcast, they let fellow fans of the band put the focus on them to talk about some highlights of their 7+ years as fans of Keane.

Chris (left) and Andrew (right)

Chris discovered Keane at a music festival in Middlesbrough and Andrew discovered them at his university radio station in England. Having worked in university radio myself, I have many very fond memories of discovering some of my favorite bands and having the opportunity to interview them through that opportunity, so I can only imagine the fantastic opportunities Andrew had at that time. I should mention that a friend I made at my university radio station is actually credited with clueing me in to Keane’s first album, “Hopes And Fears.” (I was out of grad school when it came out.)

In this podcast, they talked in sync, described their friendship as “bromance” and had many other surprises for their listeners!

Chris and Andrew had nothing but complimentary things to say about how gracious the band has been over the years. They also talked about their all-around favorite memories with the band, embarrassing moments, how many times they have seen Keane live, discussed the possibility of Tom Chaplin playing the flute on a Keane album and even told us about one thing that surprised them most about Keane.

They admitted that they were quickly learning through our questions how hard answering interview questions can be, but in the end, did manage to answer what their wildest fan dream is. Another highlight of this 60th podcast was how literal they took many of the questions, which makes for some serious comic relief!

To find out more, have a listen at Beyond The Iron Sea or subscribe on iTunes.

Congratulations on 60 podcasts, lads!  Here’s to 60 more.

Lindsay’s Top 7 Twitter Etiquette List

I started my blog here on WordPress a little over a year ago and my very first blog post was entitled “Lindsay’s Facebook Etiquette List.” Now I’ve been on Twitter for nearly 3 years, so this particular list is little overdue. Here’s a short list of my no-no’s (and a few suggestions for improvement). I was going to go with a “Top 10″ list, but I realized there are only seven that are really my BIG beefs!

1.  Mentioning needing/wanting/having a certain number of followers

I think we’ve all done this at some point. But from my experience, not only is it irrelevant, it’s really boring for your followers to read. While I do believe in needing a critical mass of followers and accounts you are following to enjoy Twitter, there is no magic number for anyone. We’re not all Ashton Kutcher with his million+ followers though. So if you are looking for more followers, start following more people yourself. And if you hit a limit where you cannot follow anymore accounts (this happened to me once), just be patient. Asking for more followers is honestly…sort of awkward. Appreciate the followers you have, interact with them in a polite way and more will come your way. I promise. Twitter is growing at lightning speed.

2.  Talking about how much you need/want a new job

Some people who appear to me to be very smart have done this, which honestly surprises me. I didn’t think I needed to remind people that no matter your privacy settings, you’re not REALLY private. One re-tweet and your news about “having a really great interview today” or “my boss continues to drive me nuts” will probably get back to him/her someday. (Hmm…Maybe that is what these people want!)

Instead of mentioning that you want a new job on Twitter, try traditional e-mail instead or reach out to folks on LinkedIn (again via private e-mails – not public status updates).

3.  Asking for a “follow back”

This has not only happened to me with my personal Twitter account (@LindsayEWarren) but with my Supernatural Twitter account (@SupportSPN) recently. In both occasions, I did not follow the account back who asked me to follow them back…and not because I’m mean. In one instance it was because the person asking was a total stranger and did not mention one thing we had in common. In the other, the person did not Tweet in English (minus the tweet to me of course). So don’t ask for a “follow back,” especially if you are tweeting on behalf of a company! Good Twitter users will follow every account that has some relevance to them.

And while I encourage you to follow as many of your followers that interest you, you are not obligated to follow every single one (even when they are bold enough to ask). When you get to a certain point, your Twitter feed can be pretty busy, depending on the number of folks you follow and/or the amount that the folks you follow tweet. There’s no need to make your feed busier than you want with accounts that are of no value/interest/relevance to you.

4.  Bad grammar / spelling

Oh this one really is my top “beef.” I say this over and over and over…And yet some folks still don’t pay attention to their grammar/spelling errors. (By the way if you find any in my blog, please don’t be shy. Tell me if I messed something up! I’ll appreciate the correction.) Bad grammar/spelling bothers me not because I’m want to be an English dictator, but instead because it shows a lack of attention to detail. And that in turn makes it hard for me to the offending party seriously. Just take a moment, slow down and read your tweet before you hit that ‘tweet’ button. A once-over will often save you from needless embarrassment. Twitter *does* have spell check that will catch many errors.

Believe me, the occasional flub up is OK. We’ve all done it. iPhones can be hard to type on! If you catch it early, delete the Tweet and fix it.

5.  Copying others’ ideas/posts without properly re-tweeting

Do I need to say anything more than this is just a lack of class? Don’t copy/paste someone’s post without putting their Twitter handle in the tweet. It is just not good decorum.

6.  Begging celebrities for their attention

While I think it’s fantastic that many “cool” personalities are on Twitter, do I think they have a responsibility to ever interact with me? Nope.

I have seen it all when it comes to this “Lindsay no-no.” I’ve seen people ask a celeb to wish them a Happy Birthday and I’ve seen people shame a celeb into talking to them because they were “So depressed that you have not replied to me.” Really people? REALLY?

A “Happy Birthday” tweet is boring to 99.9% of the people on that person’s follower list (unless it’s something cute like “Happy Birthday to my beloved cat Toonces!”) and it is not an obligation. If it was, then that it the only tweet you’d ever see from a celebrity and that would REALLY be lame. The reason why I enjoy following certain celebrities is to get a view into their lives, not the lives of the fans looking for attention. Many of the celebs I follow are really big into philanthropy like Richard Hughes, Ian Somerholder, Misha Collins and Sophia Bush. What they have to say about causes that mean something to them is FAR more interesting. If a celeb interacts with a fan, it’s a bonus, not a right.

I recommend you respond to a celebrity when he/she asks a question or says something that really speaks to you. But don’t feel bad if you don’t get a response. With thousands (or millions in some cases) of followers, that one person is not going to have time to reply to everybody. And there’s no reason to feel slighted by that.

7.  LONG “Follow Friday” lists

I’m hoping that if I beat this topic to death, people will start listening. If you’re unfamiliar with “Follow Friday,” then you must be new to Twitter, because every Friday I’m very aware of it’s presence. I think it started out as a nice way to pay homage to some of the accounts people follow, but now in many cases it’s just become spam. Now before I go any further, let me make it clear that I appreciate anyone who mentions me in their “Follow Friday” recommendations. Thank you for including me in your recommendations. It does work to grow your Twitter network…sometimes…

But here’s the deal. By virtue of you following me, you’ve essentially already endorsed me and by listing me in your “Follow Friday” list, you’ve done nothing more than mentioned what anyone can already see – your “follow list.”

I think a far more powerful way to promote accounts that you like on Twitter on “Follow Friday” would be to mention the Twitter account you particularly like AND also give me a reason to follow that account. So instead of just typing a long list of names, you could say “On #FF, I recommended @LindsayEWarren (or whoever!) because…” and fill in the blank. I’m much more likely to check out whoever you’re talking about if you put some value next to their Twitter handle.

So that just about covers my pet peeves and my possible solutions. What are yours?

♫ “The Stage and the Screams, Where It’s Just Me and Keane” ♫

Keane live at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, Toronto

I never need an excuse to blog, but I’ll tell you up front this one is simply to gush about Keane, a band I adore and got to see play live in Toronto on Friday, July 30th.

I’ve been a fan since 2004 thanks to a college radio friend who suggested I check out their debut album Hopes And Fears, (Thanks, Jackie!), but I don’t often get to see them play live. They’re a fabulous band that are huge in their home turf (the UK) and have decent success worldwide (OK, pretty great success – over 10 million albums sold!), they just don’t get to the US as much as I’d like. Before this weekend, I had seen them once in Detroit and twice in Toronto (not a lot for a band a consider one of my absolute faves). So when I heard they were touring in North America to support their new EP, Night Train, I was stoked…until I did not see a date in Detroit!  :(

What’s worse, I didn’t hear about the show in Toronto (one of my favorite places on earth) until after the tickets went on sale AND the good seats were sold out…AND my best friend who lives in Toronto told me she’d be out of town the day of the show anyway. I was truly bummed!

It doesn’t help that I’ve missed a bunch of other great shows this summer. But we won’t focus on that.

If you know me, you know I don’t give up easily. So I checked StubHub.com and front and center tickets were in fact available for the show. Now I just had to find someone to go with me!

After little success finding a girl friend to drive four hours with me to Toronto, I tried my damnedest to convince Rich to go with me.  He likes Keane, but does not LOVE them like I do. He was not really interested. So I tried bribery. And I tried convincing him that the good deal I found on Stub Hub was simply TOO good to pass up. But nothing was working thus far. I was getting really discouraged.

Then out of the blue, four days before the concert, he told me he thought he could get out of work early enough to go. I was ecstatic! My hubby’s a keeper. I immediately purchased the tickets (which had gone down in price again) and was so stoked!

The thing we noticed immediately upon arriving at the venue was how empty it appeared. The Molson Canadian Amphitheatre is an outdoor venue like Pine Knob, only smaller. There was no one on the lawn at all!  I was shocked. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve seen Keane two other times in Toronto and both shows were very well attended. Their latest EP is selling very well and they have a very passionate fan base, so I was not concerned about the turnout. I figured that it was just Friday and more folks would show up after they got out of work. Also, since our tickets were in the general admission area, I hoped we’d be able to get right up front!

The first anecdote of the night happened as we walked up to the ticket takers. A friendly couple walked right up to us and asked if we wanted an extra set of tickets. They told us they were good seats. I didn’t want to be rude and say that we bought tickets in the section with the closest vicinity to the stage, so we politely accepted their extra tickets. Rich offered to buy them a beer, and the husband accepted. As Rich went to buy a couple of beers, I chatted with the couple.

The husband told me that he’d never seen Keane and asked me if they any good. I think I convinced him that they were when I told him we drove 4 hours to see them. When he asked where I was from and I mentioned Michigan, he got excited. He told me he’d been a Michigan State University football game last year. I was just as excited to tell him that I’m a proud alum! Small world!

He then asked, “They are the Wolverines, right?” Hehehehe, um, no. Wrong team. In fact, I told him, the University of Michigan Wolverines are our fierce rivals. Too funny. It was the thought that counted. Regardless of his MSU vs. U of M blunder, he and his wife were sweet. I hope they enjoyed the show!

Tom Chaplin of Keane

9:30pm finally rolled around and Keane hit the stage! What I enjoy most about seeing this band live is not just their incredible musical talent (not to mention Tom Chaplin’s amazing vocal range!) that translates so well from their albums to the stage but also how much they play off the audience. The smaller but very mighty crowd, was REALLY into the show. At one point, Tom Chaplin, the lead singer of Keane said, “I’d ask if you were enjoying yourself, but I don’t think I need to!”

The highlights for me included “Perfect Symmetry,” my long-time ringtone and probably my favorite Keane song; “Your Love,” with vocals by Tim Rice-Oxley; “A Bad Dream,” a sad, but gorgeous song; “Spiralling,” and “Is It Any Wonder,” two very upbeat tunes that are always AMAZING live and “Crystal Ball,” a PERFECT song to close out the show. “Clear Skies,” “Stop For A Minute” and “My Shadow” off their new EP were awesome too. Always hearing songs off their first album is a treat too. OK, I’ll stop with this list. I really loved EVERY song!!

Tim Rice-Oxley of Keane

The concert was 1 hour and 45 minutes of pure bliss! Most concerts have the power to stop time for me, but when it’s a beloved band like Keane, it’s a given. This band’s passion and enthusiasm for their music is so infectious. It was a instant Top 5 concert for me (I’ve been to hundreds) and definitely the best I’ve heard from Keane thus far!

The second anecdote of the night came after the show when Rich and I went for a post-show drink. We ended up at a cool microbrewery in downtown Toronto and not only enjoyed good beer, but a Canadian specialty, poutine (fries with gravy and cheese). No, it’s not healthy at all, but damn it’s good once in a blue moon!

Anyway, Rich had to change his shirt before we ventured out from the hotel to the bar because he spilled some of his dinner on this other shirt. In the rush to get out of the hotel and find a watering hole, I hadn’t noticed what shirt he put on. As we sat down, I giggled and said, “Your shirt matches Tom’s shirt from tonight.” (A black polo – see picture above.) He very quickly corrected me by telling me Tom’s shirt was a Fred Perry shirt and his was a Brooks Brothers shirt.

This was hilarious to me on several levels. First, “Mr. Casual Keane Fan” noticed the brand of shirt the lead singer was wearing. And second, he was familiar with this particular brand, which apparently popular in the UK. (I felt so uninformed about British fashion – LOL!)

I would be remiss to mention that Rich really did enjoy the concert.  (The power of Keane!)

For me, the night was PERFECTION.

I have not had the opportunity to meet the members of Keane. Someday, when I do, I’ll tell them that no matter the song, their music is always an instant pick-me-up and it’s impossible for me NOT to smile when listening to them.

Thank you, Keane.