Lee in Demand: Contacting the Source

Quite a few people have been requesting some suggestions when writing to the colleges & theatres about Lee in Demand.

First, the common question...Who do I contact? 

• Colleges: Student Life Directors, Assistants, Advisors and/or Presidents (basically those in charge of making the campus fun). [Search their website for the info]
• Theatres (max capacity 1200): Booking Agents or Music Coordinators.
• Radio Stations: Program Directors

Second, What do I say?

• Lee DeWyze: Give a description of who Lee is & his music (i.e. American Idol winner, Live It Up CD, Sweet Serendipity, Pop/Rock/Folk)
• What they are looking for in booking 
• Why YOU think he would be great to have there (LEGIT reasons not b/c you love him & want to see him but why would it interest them)
• If they have special music events mention how he'd be perfect for it (i.e. Sophie 103.7 in San Diego does Sophie's Lounge where they have had Kris Allen, Backstreet Boys, Lifehouse.....)
• The booking info (agency's name, phone number, website & press release link)

It doesn't have to be a book, but it should be straight to the point. Here is a copy of one of the emails I sent to the Assistant Coordinator of Student Life at SDSU:

Here is a second example of a letter that @alliemarie_AK47 posted earlier today:

If you have questions, ask around! There are a lot of fans who have done their research or have already contacted MSP or event coordinators.

NOTE: Some people have questioned the legitimacy of Main Stage Production & the press release. Some of the Lee fans did some research back to David Cook's tour, and this same company sent out a similar press release for him around the same time in '09. 

More than likely this is a third party company and they are not the ones directly booking colleges for Lee, but working with Lee's booking agency/management. A lot of places go through agencies so they don't have to go directly to the source and do all the work.

Lee In Demand: College Tour '11

We have a CRITICAL job for you, as a Lee DeWyze fan...

to make LEE in DEMAND.

Let me explain:

1. 
   mainstageproduc LEE DEWYZE season 9 American Idol winner looking to play colleges & small theaters Feb-April

Main Stage Productions' announcement today leads us to believe that we can expect a College Tour this winter/spring from Lee DeWyze [similar to the route that David Cook took in '09 - Here is a glimpse into David's "Declaration Tour:" Feb-May was the College Tour and you can see he was BOOKED.]

Below is the official press release, that will help us play a vital roll in Lee's tour.  

[click on the photo for the original page]

Here is the deal, this is where YOU come in. It's the most vital part to Lee's tour: 

LEE in DEMAND

Rather then spamming Lee & telling him where you want him to come (b/c that's just not how it works), or contacting Main Stage Productions (they are sending out the press release to schools).....we need to go straight to the source. You can contact Main Stage Production & let them know of venues in your area where you want to see Lee, BUT make sure you request Lee at those venues, as well.

Final Chance to WIN Lee's album!

Here is your third & final chance to win Lee's new album....

On November 16th, American Idol Lee DeWyze will be releasing his first post-idol album. He has co-written all but one song (track list). He debuted his first single "Sweet Serendipity" on October 13th on On-Air with Ryan Seacrest and is currently available for purchase on iTunes & Amazon. On November 11th, Lee performed 9 of his songs at the iHeartRadio CD Release Party (HD Videos). You can currently pre-order the album from Amazon.com, iTunes, and/or Walmart.com .... or you can WIN it here.

In honor of Lee's CD release, Dweezy Signal is giving away a CD each month till the album is released [Sep, Oct, Nov]. The 3 CDs were purchased during #OperationAlbumSpike, a fan-based promotion that helped spike Lee's pre-sales up the iTunes & Amazon charts. We are hoping that through these contests we can continue to help get the word out about the release! 

To enter to win Lee's CD, tweet this:

WIN American Idol Lee DeWyze's NEW Album #LiveItUp, in stores TUESDAY (11/16), from @DweezySignal --> http://bit.ly/WinLee3


RULES

• You must have a twitter account to enter
• Only tweet the above phrase ONCE
• Multiple tweets will NOT be counted
• You MUST be following @DweezySignal to win
• Tweets must be tweeted between 8:59pm PST on Saturday, November 13 & 8:59pm PST on Monday, November 15

Contest ends at 8:59pm PST on Monday, November 15. Winner will be announced on Tuesday, November 16.

Previous winners: @believe1nmagic and @L_Lewis7 

Please note: This is not a pre-released CD, you will receive the CD within 1-2 weeks of the release date.

2nd Chance to WIN Lee's album!

Here is your second chance to win Lee's new album....

On November 16th, American Idol Lee DeWyze will be releasing his first post-idol album. He has co-written all but one song (track list). He debuted his first single "Sweet Serendipity" on October 13th on On-Air with Ryan Seacrest. The single will be available for purchase on iTunes & Amazon on October 26th. You can currently pre-order the album from Amazon.com, iTunes, and/or Walmart.com .... or you can WIN it here.

In honor of Lee's CD release, Dweezy Signal is giving away a CD each month till the album is released [Sep, Oct, Nov]. The 3 CDs were purchased during #OperationAlbumSpike, a fan-based promotion that helped spike Lee's pre-sales up the iTunes & Amazon charts. We are hoping that through these contests we can continue to help get the word out about the release! 

To enter to win Lee's CD, tweet this:

WIN American Idol Lee DeWyze's NEW Album #LiveItUp, in stores #November16, from @DweezySignal --> http://bit.ly/WinLee2

RULES

• You must have a twitter account to enter
• Only tweet the above phrase ONCE
• Multiple tweets will NOT be counted
• You MUST be following @DweezySignal to win
• Tweets must be tweeted between 9:01pm PST on Thursday, October 21 & 9:59pm PST on Saturday, October 23rd

Contest ends at 9:59pm PST on Saturday, October 23. Winner will be announced on Sunday, October 24th.

Previous winners: @believe1nmagic

Please note: This is not a pre-released CD, you will receive the CD within 1-2 weeks of the release date.

Radio Requesting Tips

Idol fans have a history with many radios stations...good and bad relationships. Some stations LOVE to play & support idol alums; other stations don't, for various reasons. There was a time some major stations refused to play particular idols because fans were harassing and spamming them. 

The last thing we want to do is build a bad reputation as Lee fans. Yes, we want Lee to get played EVERYWHERE and often, but there is a respectful way to go about it. Here are some tips gathered by Carrie Underwood fans (and used by Kris Allen fans), who have all had some times to get to know the radio circuits:

• Do NOT spam the stations - this is the one thing you do not want to do. Do not send out more than 5-10 e-mails a day, 10 at the most. Stations have been known to e-mail the requester to tell them to stop sending e-mails if it gets to be excessive with the e-mailing. It will not only harm the artist's chances of being played, but the station(s) will always know about certain fans that they bombard stations. We don't want that negative outlook coming from them.
• E-mailing Tips - This goes with the above tip, as opposed to one liner e-mails, try and type letters and make them sound somewhat professional. (Example: Say, "I would like to request Lee DeWyze's "Sweet Serendipity" because..." instead of "Please play Lee DeWyze's "Sweet Serendipity" Thanks.") Basically, state why you are requesting the song and why you want it heard.
• Calling In - Like the e-mails, the same applies for calling, do not call stations excessively. They will most likely begin to recognize your voice, and I'm not quite sure if any have caller ID, but if they do, they will begin to recognize the name on there and maybe ignore the call. So definitely space out the calls. Maybe a few times a week or once a day or every other day or something along those lines. [IF you do call more than once in a day, DO NOT call multiple times with the same DJ!]
• Stick with your station - as much as we'd like to e-mail other stations from other states, it's best to stick with calling in from stations in your area. Mainly because the out-of-state stations will do speculations as to why you're calling in from a different state.
• Other Requesting Tips - Another great idea is to maybe pass out flyers in your area saying to request Lee on radio. Post at different places. As for the streets and stuff and poles, maybe check with local authorities to see if its okay to do so. Some areas have different regulations than others.

Remember don't go overboard with the requesting. 

We know we want Lee to be heard but lets go about it in a mature and respectful manner.

Carriefans.com originally wrote for Carrie's single "Temporary Home."

It was changed to fit for Kris' single by @KAaddicts

And now have been edited for Lee!

Single: Sweet Serendipity

Due to the last minute change in singles, we will be trending #SweetSerendipity instead.

 
Get ready Lee DeWyze fans...
October 12th at 7pm PT 
we WILL be trending #SweetSerendipity on twitter!

"Sweet Serendipity" to premier on Oct 13

Since #SweetSerendipity will be debuting on Ryan Seacrest's radio show on the 13th, we thought it would be a great idea to get it trending the night before & work to keep it going for at least 24 hours.

As we have all experienced, it can be very difficult to get something trending. BUT it is not impossible when you have the right strategy & enough people! That is why we have come together with some of the Lee groups on twitter to spread the word.

But we need YOU to make it happen!

 ___________________________

DETAILS....

• SPIKE --> Starting at 7pm PT [October 12th] start adding #SweetSerendipity to your tweets
• PUSH --> Keep it up for the next 24 hours. International Leeps we will be depending on you to keep it up while the US sleeps!
• SPIKE --> Though we don't know what time the single will play, we'll plan on spiking #SweetSerendipity again at 8am PT [October 13th] 
• We also need your help in SPREADING THE WORD to your followers, so they can spread the word to their followers and so on.....

Note: While you are adding it to your regular tweets, also throw in promotion for Lee's single & album!

 ___________________________

In order for this work, we have done some research & come up these few guidelines for trending topics on twitter:

1. Only use #SweetSerendipity ONCE per tweet, otherwise, it can be considered spam.
2. Twitter rules state, you can be suspended by:
• Repeatedly tweeting the same topic/hashtag without adding value to the conversation in an attempt to get the topic trending/trending higher.  
• In other words, DON'T spam it, we WANT people to know what it is about!   
3. Trending is not about how frequent the #hashtag is tweeted [though it does help] BUT the number of people tweeting it at that moment!   
4. Don't spam your followers...noboby likes a spammer.We want people to like Lee, not be annoyed by his fans.

Remember the idea is that people take notice & know what #SweetSerendipity is about....there is no point for it to trend if nobody knows why!

 ___________________________

Any questions, please let us know! We need all the support we can get! and if you are not sure what time to trend in your time zone, ask!

This promotion is supported by: 

@dweezysignal @leedewyzequotes @leedewyzearmy @wyzeguysandgals 

@leedewyzecrew @letsdothis4lee @teamleedewyze @leedewyzeintl

Until November 16th....

Congratulations to @believe1nmagic for being our first winner of Lee DeWyze's upcoming CD, to be released on November 16th. We still have 2 more chances for YOU to win, too!

Stay tuned with @dweezysignal for another contest coming up mid October.

Until then....

• Stay connected with @dweezysignal for Lee DeWyze news, updates, photos, videos & more! 
• Make sure you are following Lee on all the social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, Myspace & his Official Site

• Keep promoting Lee DeWyze to all your friends, family & strangers on the street/web.
• Pre-order the Album thru iTunes and/or Amazon.com
• Participate in #OperationSinglePush & keep tabs on @Letsdothis4Lee for more promotional ideas
• Participate in #OperationGiftLee when his single is released (via @wyzeguysandgals)
• Participate in 2 CD Gift projects:  
• Xmas Charity Project for Children's Hospital --> http://tl.gd/66qgq5  (via @SimpLEE4Kid)
• Donation Drive for Troops Overseas --> http://tl.gd/61u65r (via @wyzeguysandgals) 
• Follow @LeeDeWyzeQuotes for great video project to help promote & encourage Lee through all of this! 
• Participate in Bracelets for Beanies (via @leedewyzearmy) 
• Help out with Radio Play for Lee (via @radioplay4lee)