Billboards, Rack Cards, and Anticipation

I’m starting to get really excited for The Texas Tenors’ return to Branson. The anticipation keeps building up, from the excited exchanges of the other fans to seeing pictures of the new billboards posted on Facebook.

Courtesy of Cheryl Stauffer

Courtesy of Cheryl Stauffer

Perhaps the most exciting part for me, however, is the thought of introducing more people to The Texas Tenors. Getting people to their shows seems to be the hard part. Once they get to it, they can’t help but enjoy the music (and the view). Fortunately, my mom and I have been doing some recruiting of our own recently.

Yesterday, my mom went to the Iowa State Fair (go to http://www.iowastatefair.org/ for more information) with a lady from our church and a friend of hers. There’s nothing like a 1,350 pound pig and any kind of food on a stick (double bacon corn dog or fried butter on a stick anyone?) you could possibly imagine to persuade people to go to Branson with you. Never mind the fact that my mom is very persuasive when it comes to The Texas Tenors. Needless to say, they are both planning on driving down to Branson with us on September 14th for the weekend. Having never even heard of The Texas Tenors before, they are so anxious to see the singers my mom can’t stop talking about. I am almost certain that after that weekend, they will want to keep going back for more concerts.

Horses at Iowa State Fair courtesy of Beth Van Elsen

Courtesy of Beth Van Elsen

“Tenor Fever” (or the sudden desire to keep going to concerts of The Texas Tenors) seems to be highly contagious. For instance, Kathy, a fan from Des Moines, had only been to a few of their concerts before seeing them in May. Then, in May, she went to two concerts in two days, and she would have gone to a third if she hadn’t had to go home. Since then, she’s gone to 3 or 4 additional concerts and has plans for quite a few more in the near future. Believe me, she’s not the only one!

For my own part, I did some heavy promoting while I was at work today. I was cleaning out one of the exam rooms when I heard a client in the waiting room talking to the receptionist about her upcoming trip to Branson on September 9. When asked how long she would be in Branson, she said 4 or 5 days. Since The Texas Tenors are back starting September 12, I became determined to try to get her to go to their show.

Once I finished cleaning the room, I brought her in. While I was taking her dog’s vital signs, I casually chatted with her about Branson. When I found out she’d never been to a show there before and still didn’t have any clue which shows she was going to, I automatically suggested The Texas Tenors. I don’t think she had ever heard of them before, but she sure has now! I decided to send her with some information about them. Go figure, this was about the only time that I didn’t have one of their rack cards in my purse. I settled for writing all of the information on a blank piece of paper and handing it to her on her way out the door with her promise to check into it.

Those of you that know me also know that I am extremely quiet and shy. I would NEVER do something that bold under normal circumstances. In fact, I’m still surprised that I actually did that! I don’t know what it is about The Texas Tenors, but they bring out a side of me that doesn’t come out any other time. Whenever I’m around them or their fans, I’m confident, outgoing, and excited. I’m not afraid to go up to complete strangers and talk to them, whereas normally I’m scared to death about even picking up the phone!

I think the reason that I’m a completely different person is because I believe in them. I’ve always loved music, but I’ve never been so taken with a group like I am now. I just wish that I could transfer that confidence to the rest of my life.

Those of you that are fans of The Texas Tenors, what kinds of things have you done to promote them to others? How have they changed your life?

Those of you that haven’t seen them before, now’s the time to plan a trip to Branson! You can call the Starlite Theatre (http://www.starlitetheatre.com/) at 417-337-9333 to purchase tickets today. Or check out the full concert schedule at www.thetexastenors.com!

By the way, the rack cards that I mentioned not having in my purse? Maybe I should borrow some from this person!