Why I'm a Manilow Fan

I've been involved in the Manilow fan world in depth since 2006. My first encounter with fandom came at my first show in Las Vegas on my birthday 5 years ago. It was a positive experience. So much so, that I'm still close with that fan today (even though she's my daughter's age). Since that first encounter, I've had many other ones. Some good, some not so good, and some absolutely horrible. I've made some good friends, made some enemies, had enemies turn into friends, and choose to ignore the rest. I've been disillusioned and discouraged by fan behavior in the past and vented here on my blog numerous times.
Every now and then, after being away from the fan world, it happens. My faith in the "nice" factor is restored and I realize that not all fans are jealous, petty and vindictive. Tonight was one of those nights. Two fans (whom I've never met in person, by the way) took time out of their festivities tonight in Vegas to meet my daughter who was there for the weekend. She has heard me talk so much about the fan world, and one of these ladies actually took time out of her busy life to mail my daughter's wedding cake top to her two years ago (again, without us ever having met).

Barry has said often that his fans are unique. I've said that the friendships I've made over the last five years are priceless. But tonight, I also learned that there really is something special and unique about Manilow fans. When you meet these type of fans, it makes you proud to say that Barry actually brought us together.

Thanks Fran and Susan for welcoming Jillian into your world tonight. I hope some day to meet you in person, but for now, I treasure your friendship.

Tipping my hat to Barry (for bringing us all together),

Texas Fan

Postscript:
Sadly I never got to meet Fran in person. She passed away this past week. But although we only communicated through social media and email we shared many laughs, baseball stories, Manilow stories and I was with her during her son's college process. She was a proud mother, a loving wife and an amazing friend. I pray that God will give her family comfort during this time and that we all never miss another opportunity to tell our loved ones how much they mean to us.

How can we get Barry trending on Twitter?

@Franaway was so kind to pass this article along to me about Trending topics:

How Twitter Trending Topics Work and How to Influence Them

Take some time and read it, but here are the key points:

EVEN THOUGH THE VOLUME OF TWEETS DOESN’T MATTER WHEN TRENDING TOPICS ARE CONCERNED THE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE TWEETING ABOUT A SUBJECT DOES MATTER

Put simply it’s far better to have 100 people tweet the same hashtag consistently over a longer period of time then to have 10 people constantly tweet the same hashtag. There is a simple reason why this is true and why it happens which is because it gives a better over view of what the world is talking about, not what a few are interested in.

THIRDLY CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY!

Strong trending topics are created by lots of people talking about the same thing consistently over a long period of time, seems simple doesn’t it? Of course it does but most importantly it’s a very natural way to register what the world is really talking about.

AND LASTLY TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Major events and popular TV shows monopolizes the trending topics and for good reason, these are talking points that unite and divide people and encourage conversation, they also meet every single criteria set out above as they promote consistently large amounts of tweets from a large volume of people over a prolonged period.

Looks like we're meeting ALL the criteria. Pass the word along and get as many people joining in as you can.

See you Tuesday,

Texas Fan

What is a #Manilow Chat on Twitter?

Think of a Twitter chat as an online flash mob where a group of people convene at a certain time and engage in a form of choreographed mass communication before a group of unsuspecting bystanders. It's exciting, interesting, and captivating. At times, you don't know where to look! You can either choose to stand by and watch or, in the case of a Twitter chat, join the insanity. Chats typically last one hour.

The easiest way to join or follow a chat is to use a Twitter tool to track the tweets by the chat's designated hashtag (ex: #Manilow). The most important thing to remember to do is to use the chat's hashtag when you want to join the dance - contribute to the conversation.

To make things simple, here is what you do:

TweetChat 


Use TweetChat to stream tweets by the designated hashtag for a particular chat. For example, to join #Manilow, go to TweetChat.com, sign up with your Twitter account id, enter the name of the hashtag to follow (Manilow) and converse in real time. All of the related tweets will appear in a TweetChat Room on your screen. When you submit a post/tweet, TweetChat will automatically append the chat's hashtag so you don't have to remember to do so.

What's the number one mistake a newbie makes during a Twitter online chat? Forgetting to add the hashtag to the post. But if you use TweetChat, you won’t have to worry about it!

Thanks to Kelly Queijo of Smart College Visit and the creator of #CampusChat for this simple explanation of a Twitter Chat. She’s going to join us next Tuesday so introduce yourself and welcome her into the Manilow world!

Here are some of my tips:

• Don’t worry about keeping up with every single post. Respond to the ones that interest you.
• Don’t forget to RT (retweet) often to help with the trending and to let others in your feed see the conversation.
• If it goes too fast for you, don’t be too concerned. Just read, RT and enjoy the conversations. You don’t have to converse with everyone and you can even make your own statements related to the topic (Barry’s new CD).
• Follow the lead of the co-hosts (myself and Patti) and comment on any questions we ask or comments we make.

That about covers it. If you have questions, simply ask during the chat, and someone will answer and help you.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

Tuesday, July 19, 5PM and 9PM ET

#Manilow Twitter Chat

Our Goal: Talk about the new album and get #Manilow to trend on Twitter, thus creating a buzz about 15 Minutes.

See you there,

Texas Fan

Can we get a WOOT for Manilow!

That's right--a big fat Texas WOOT and HOOT AND HOLLER for the one and only BARRY MANILOW and his chart topping success-15 MINUTES.

Ousting David Cook from the #1 spot last week, positioning his album ahead of (wait....) Beyonce, Adele and YES, even Lady Gaga. If you ever wondered it would be possible, you don't know this guy's music. And for those of us that do...and knew all along...let's GIVE A HIGH FIVE to Barry and his fabulous lyricist Enoch Anderson for showing the world that good music NEVER goes unnoticed. Oh yah...and a BIG FAT RASBERRY to Clive Davis!

Pumped,

Texas Fan

Shameless promotion for 15 minutes

I love this guy but he's SUCH a geek (in a good way of course).

Texas Fan