Festival Ticketing

I’m not asking if you have friends in high places, or if you’re already in a lofty place. I’m not wondering if you know people, or if your people know people. My question does not relate to your network as defined by business or elite social scenes. There’s a different definition of being connected that I’m looking for…

I’ll tell you about my new friends in Marion, SC. These are the folks that sign-up for a temporary job at the beginning of the day, not knowing where their work day will lead. On this particular day, it landed them the wrist-banding station at the main gate of a festival. Thousands of people cross through these gates to be given their credentials to attend. It’s a tough job – as the days are hot and humid, the characters are many, and most have been enjoying their favorite beverages since mid-morning.

After this particular long day is wrapping up, a familiar song can be heard emanating from the stage. It’s Sugarland’s cover of the Beyonce tune “Irreplaceable”. Only the music can be heard, as the stage and audience are blocked by a 30’ tall landmass with a long flight of stairs up the middle. Now, imagine the country twang version of this song playing in the background, while at the gates, we’ve got an impromptu soulful sing-a-long with eight lovely women belting “To the left, to the left… everything you own in a box to the left.” I even get caught up in the moment, and throw some back-up vocals in for good measure (which almost made the soul train come too a screeching halt). The girls are loving it, laughing and dancing, when one of the band leaders jumps up, runs to those same stairs shouting… “I’ve got to go sing with the white people”! We, of course, all scream and cheer as she makes her way off in to the distance. Right then, all of us, could have been connected.

The definition of connected could be in the generosity of the employees and partners of the festival. Whether it’s a venue staffer offering to take one of our guys the two hour drive to the nearest airport, so we can get a better jump on the day. Or, a partner at the complex who prepares bacon and egg sandwiches, all wrapped tightly in tin foil, handing them off and wishing us good luck and safe trip to our next venue.

Maybe it’s a simple and silent connection. Like the handful of commercial truck drivers who choose to flash their bright lights while I’m trying to pass, letting me know it’s OK to move back over to their lane. It’s a small gesture, but it’s still being connected.

Maybe this connection can be found in the helpful hands on a small farm road in Kentucky, where a certain late night RV driver gets stuck trying to make a bad turn in the middle of a dark night. This connection could be defined by the two girls who refuse to take money for their help, stating their reward is “God’s blessings”, and the Kentucky state trooper, the 64 year old tobacco farmer, and the tow truck driver in the middle of this same farm road surrounded by moonlit wheat fields and fireflies… There because they have a sense of being connected with a person in distress.

It could be my new 70 year old neighbor at the most recent overnight RV park who hooks me up with his 50 amp electric cord, while relaying to me the inner workings of the plumbing configuration on my unit as only a veteran RV’er can. He wants to help, to give me his knowledge, and at the same time feel connected.

What I’m trying to define could be what the festival experience is all about. The crowd singing in unison to their favorite songs, and the feeling that everyone there is relating in much the same way as you are, can feel what you feel, and gets the exact same rush. The connections people experience through music while not knowing one from another.

And then it makes me think… Why do we only really make an effort to connect with people when presented with circumstances that require interaction? What about all the discovery that can be achieved by making every interaction an opportunity? I would have never learned about my new friends and their stories on my own. I would not have gone out of my way. But with some energy and effort, I can learn more, and be connected everyday.

So… Are you connected?