You know why I love marketing? The more I learn about it, the more I find uses for the skills I gain in my life. Let me explain.
I was at the San Diego County Fair a few weekends ago and my friend Joe Cardillo (my sax player) and I were walking to get some food before performing on the Paddock Stage. We stopped and watched a bungee jumper who was stuck at the top of the platform, he had apparently got to the top and had second thoughts about jumping. He stood there for a little while shaking his head and in the meantime a small crowd started gathering. The small crowd turned into a big crowd and before long there were about a thousand people standing near this bungee jumper who was at the top of the platform contemplating his leap.
Every so often, the crowd would cheer and people would yell "jump!" but nothing seemed to work. I pictured myself up there on the platform and tried to think of a way to get this guy to jump. Then it hit me… start a countdown! I turned around, raised my hands and started yelling "10!!! 9!!! 8!!!…" and pretty soon I had the whole crowd in a 10 second countdown all chanting together. Sure enough, when we reached zero, the guy who had been waiting up there on the platform for almost 3 minutes decided to jump.
The gig went great and it was a successful day at the 2009 San Diego County Fair. Thanks to everyone who came out to watch!
