Ideal Meet & Greet/Photo Op
If I could sit down with celebrity VIP teams…
This is a topic I have been thinking about for the last few years. It’s part of the reason for starting this blog. I never want this page to be a negative place but, rather somewhere to share information, experiences, value etc. If I could sit down with artist’s and their management teams to give them insight into what fans feel are best VIP practices this is what I would say:
- Artists should keep their commitments. It’s one of the things that I think a pop star and his team did wrong earlier this year. If they didn’t want to do meet and greets anymore that’s fine but, finish the ones that you had committed to, implement rules to meet your needs in the interim and have your team enforce them but, respect that a good portion of your VIP attendees often are paying to travel for the experience.
- Don’t do photo assembly lines. I truly wish all artists that did meet and greets would commit to an hour or so of their time depending on the #’s and do it right, treat each person like a human being, say hello, ask their name, ask where they are from (stars may be shocked how far some will travel to see them), have a genuine interaction, then take the photo. Let’s face it these meet and greets, photo ops, fan trips cost a large sum of money, show the fans you value and respect their time and money by giving them an interaction. When an artist’s team brags that they did 300 pictures in 16 minutes that truly is disappointing vs a recent event I was at they had about 200 people and they devoted a solid hour or more, it wasn’t rushed and everyone that walked out after was so happy, felt so special and most of all valued.
- Make the interactions private. What I have been seeing quite a bit lately is a curtain box created and have thought that is such a great idea. You can step in, have your interaction and not have 200-300 people watching it. It helps with your nerves too, nobody wants to feel like they are in a fishbowl it also solves the issue of people taking photos of the entertainer/star as they approach. It will also help the genuine interaction because then they are not still speaking to the person ahead of you etc.
- Make the rules clear, stick to them and let them know what will happen if they violate the rules. If you say don’t take your cell phones out and ask for a selfie and someone does don’t post the photo, if you say don’t hug, kiss and rub all over an artist and people do don’t post the photo. I would guarantee you would only have to enforce it once and word would travel. Too many fans will just take liberties, ignore the rules just to achieve their own objective and it truly does spoil the process for others in many cases and it’s disrespectful to the artist.
- Post photos in a timely manner. The companies that have them posted same day or in 24 hours always get a WOW for service from me. VIP Nation events have been crushing it with this service the last year. All events I have gone to hosted by them they have been up during the show or the next day. It’s been nice to see many are getting them done quickly lately, people are always so excited to receive them so the faster the better.
- Give organic genuine experiences. A few tours recently I have seen many people asking for kisses, hugs etc. You are putting the stars in an awkward position because if they say no then they can be looked at like they are being a jerk but, people have to realize in most cases you are a stranger or a familiar face in the crowd to the artist. Would you want a stranger walking up and asking you to kiss them, hug them etc.? It’s such a better experience when it happens organically and it’s something the artist initiates because it’s genuine and something they truly wanted to do. On the flip side though as the artist make an effort to say hello, ask someone’s name and go from there.
- Please no gum or food in your mouth. I have a few photos with different entertainers with a wad of gum clearly seen in the pic and then recently had an experience where someone was eating a marshmallow. Again people pay a lot for these experiences, travel long distances and it’s just respectful not to have food/gum in your mouth and seen in the photos.
- Respect the time of individuals paying for the VIP experience. Don’t make them arrive 2 hours ahead to just stand in line and don’t leave them in the various elements like extreme heat & cold. Be organized. Nobody likes to stand around waiting for hours.
For random interactions with stars I always like to see who puts in the extra effort with their fans. I can say after seeing it many times that Keith Urban is one of the best at this. Keith will stop and literally do selfies with 40 people and it takes maybe 10 minutes. Now in these random cases I think it’s fine to do a quick hello, photo and move on you are not paying for it.
I think the stars also need to be careful the way their team is representing them. At the softball game at CMA fest one of the entertainer’s boyfriend’s came out where fans were lined up after the game and was telling a guy to hurry up and have her car pulled around because she didn’t want to stop for fans. Another country star I saw three times at CMA fest once on the pink carpet, at Fan Fair X and then out and about and he could not be bothered to take a photo or have an interaction but as soon as a TV camera was on him he changed right away. I personally will not spend my money, pay to travel, attend a concert of anyone that shows such disregard for fans. It’s all in how the situation is handled. Like I said in my CMA Fest blog from Day 3 instead of responding “NAH” to someone, say sorry not today. Treat people like human beings and they will in turn reward you by devoting their time and spending their hard earned money to support your career.
One star recently said it best you always have to treat each person special because that may be your 1 time ever to meet that person that has supported you and you don’t know what they had to do to be at that show, if they saved for 6 months, flew across the country etc. Whether it’s a 30 second selfie interaction or a paid meet and greet it’s your chance to make and leave an impression both on the fan and star’s end. I will always support the ones that care and truly get it because that adds value to the experience. I also feel we all have to treat them respectfully.
I would love to hear more thoughts on this from those that read the blog…
Until next time,
Xoxoxo
Heather
believe the final day was upon us. What a fun 6 days it had been and I am ready to sign up for next year! Walking out of the front of the hotel that morning it was like stepping into a sauna. I cannot say enough you have to hydrate and have a plan to hydrate all day in this weather. We even used the 
What a night of performances! Little Big Town is always fantastic live and always worth it to go see. Brett Eldredge was fabulous, he is so high energy and clearly loves what he does. Keith and Luke literally would have blown the roof off if the stadium had one! Keith is such a fantastic live performer, he can play the guitar better than most in the business and is as genuine, humble, kind and down to earth as you can be. Luke is also a tremendous performer, kind, engaging and has such a great sense of humor. He brought Keith back out during his set and they had a guitar playing contest. Luke played an extra-long set which I loved since last year he was cut off after only a few songs by curfew and he really made up for it.
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CMA Fest certainly felt a little overwhelming the first day. There was just so much to do, so much to see, so many concerts to choose from. We went to the Music City Center Fan Fair X when we arrived and tried to learn the ropes so to speak. I do wish that the schedule could either come out earlier or be posted in a more obvious location for newbies like myself. We joined the overflow line for Little Big Town and luckily got chatting with a guy that knew where to find the schedule. I appreciated his help because Craig Wayne Boyd from the Voice was at a booth in the hall at that hour doing a meet and greet and I was able to run over and meet him! The great thing about Fan Fair X is you have great access to big names. Keith Urban was over doing a set on one side of the building while Little Big Town, Florida Georgia Line, Wynonna Judd, etc. were at various locations doing photos or meet and greets. You had to win tickets for most of those opportunities or do what we were doing and sit on the floor in d wait. If the artists had time you got in after the ticket winners. We were lucky and were able to meet Little Big Town, they are all just so darn sweet.
One comment I would make for the artists is most fans would rather have a photo with you vs. an autograph. While we were waiting in line at Fan Fair X we were watching another duo’s meet and greet, they had said only autographs, no pictures. It was disturbing to see a special needs child go up for her autograph and her Mom was back quite a bit and tried to take a cell phone pic and the artists stepped out of the frame. I don’t want to sling mud at who the duo was but, just a note for artists a photo and kindness goes a long away to fans. Without fans support you wouldn’t be where you are today. That was the only instance of anything like that I saw the entire Fest week, the majority of artists were very kind, very accessible and open to meeting fans. I would like to give props to Cassadee Pope, she stayed at least an hour past the time and made sure everyone in the overflow line was also able to meet her.
I also learned you have to keep your eyes and ears open not only around the fest but watch social media. We were able to go and meet American Idol Mentor and Producer, Scott Borchetta from Big Label Machine Group, American Idol winner: Nick Fradiani, the Voice’s: Cassadee Pope & Rae-Lynn just by noticing it on social media. They were all the absolute sweetest people and it was such a pleasure to meet them. The staff at the event handled everything in a well organized fashion.
The highlight for me was meeting Keith Urban. He is one of the kindest musicians I have ever met, he takes time with you, asks your name, he is so sweet and funny. Let alone he is absolutely fantastic in concert and watch his site for this year’s tour because you can now buy packages that include a photo with him!