As a special New Year’s treat, we sat down with Kevn Kinney and asked him a few questions about what he’s looking forward to on the upcoming Simple Man Cruise. Take a look….

Sixthman: Which artist are you most looking forward to checking out on the Simple Man Cruise?
Kevn: Blackberry Smoke!!!

Sixthman: If you had a fruity tropical drink named after you, what would it be?
Kevn: The Straight to Hell..no chaser….      {tequila, fresh lime, fresh lemon, blood orange juice and a jalapeno garnish)

Sixthman: Will you be the band on board that is remembered for all night jamming, or for heading to bed at a reasonable hour and hitting the gym in the morning? What do you WANT to be remembered for?
Kevn: I think it will be a little of each… The gym is awesome… but an opportunity to jam with some other musicians can’t be missed….And i have to catch at least one sunrise!

Sixthman: There have been eating contest on the Simple Man Cruise in the past, but we stopped because they are gross. If you had to eat a lot food in a short period of time, what would you want it to  be?
Kevn: Pie…. More pie!!!

Sixthman: Anyone in the band prone to sea sickness, if so – what is your best remedy?
Kevn: Jack and ginger with bitters and a chair near a railing.

Sixthman: What is your favorite Skynyrd tune of all time?
Kevn: Saturday Night Special

Sixthman: Which one of you does the most driving?
Kevn: I do, because I live in New York and I never drive up here….I take the L train to Brooklyn.

Sixthman: Name the one item that each band member will be sure to pack in the suitcase for Simple Man.
Kevn: Aspirin!!!

Sixthman: Sum up your expectations for the Simple Man cruise in 5 words or less.
Kevn: Whiskey, guitars, tacos!! Who knew??!!

Wow, what a whirlwind 2009 was! Good bad up down this and that. I do believe 2010 is going to be a stellar year. I can just feel it. Plus, it sounds good when you say it. Twenty. Ten. Concise. Even. Easy. It’s a marketer’s dream. “Hey, pass the 2010 would you?” “Dude, we’re going to 2010 tonight you should come!” “You like it? I got it at 2010!”

See how seamlessly it fits in? It just rolls off the tongue and somehow makes you feel good. That is a good quality in anything really. Just chant it over and over. 2010! 2010! 2010! Say it with me! And, now, you’re excited right? I think 2010 has a lot going for it and we’re not even there yet. The anticipation alone is enough to rev me up.

Let’s Go!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

–Carla

A few months back, Andy charged the company with creating some videos to bring out our Sixthman personality on screen.

Every Friday since then, we’ve added a new Sixthman TV video to the mix (18 in total), trying to show you all what life is like as a Sixthman employee.  Sure we do quite a bit of embellishing, but a majority of the movies are all grounded in a little bit of fact.  You know how every movie nowadays is “based on a true story?”  That’s kind of how we come up with our ideas.

If I HAD to pick a favorite, it would have to be the “What About Us?” video that we made while the rest of the company was on the Elvis Cruise.  First of all, there was only 5 of us left in the office, so we had to film this in between phone rings, we didn’t have to buy a SINGLE prop (for some reason, we already had silly string, sombreros, a margarita machine, and a dog), and the outtakes are the best because none of us could keep a straight face for more than 3 seconds.  My second favorite is probably Tour De Sixthman, as that first time I tried messing around with black and white, slow motion, and an epic soundtrack.  Good times!

We’ve since graduated from filming on a tiny Flip Cam to a nice new Sony HD camcorder, but my process is still the same, week after week:

• Sit down with Andy and a few other Sixthman team members
• Start throwing out ideas, keeping the good ones, making fun of the bad ones (you’d be amazed what Andy comes up with)
• Write a script and shot sequence
• Find my actors, ask for a few minutes of their time, give them minimal direction, and then let them roll with it.
• Generally try to stop myself from laughing from behind the camera (which you can clearly hear during the soft-serve scene of the Boat Dumb episode)
• Take the film, add a title, pick a soundtrack, and then edit
• Show the company, hope they laugh, and then send it out to you guys!

Here at Sixthman we never do anything by the book, which is why we want you to write the next Sixthman TV script!  You might think we’re asking this because we’ve run out of ideas.  Nope – we’ve actually planned out the next two months worth of ideas already and I can’t wait to film them.  However, with this community being so tight and connected, we wanted to see what you could come up with.  Is there a part of life in the office that hasn’t been highlighted yet?  Is there a part of our job that hasn’t been featured?  Let us know!  Here are the guidelines:

• The video should be between 1:30 and 2:30. We’ll add the outtakes at the end, but shorter is better.  2 Minutes is the best.
• Tell us who you want in the film – let us know who your actors are
• Write a simple script – it should have an intro, 4 or 5 scenes, and then an outtro
• Give it a title!

For example, this is the rough outline of the script for What About Us?

• Starts with some sad song with piano.
  
• Close ups, sweeping cameras of each of us “hi, my name is Joy Todaro, and I was left behind”  “Hi I’m April Gardner, and I was left behind.” etc.
• each one will be in front of a different backdrop, different camera style, fade in, fade out…like one of those sad public service announcement videos.
• Then the next scene is the 4 girls sitting on a couch, and Steve walking over and sitting on the arm of the couch next to you all “hi, I’m steve kamb with sixthman, and I”m here with 4 amazing individuals who were left behind while the rest of the company went out on the Elvis Cruise.  Luckily, we’re all mature individuals, and we understand that somebody needs to mind the fort, so we’re going to continue with business as usual.  Andy can trust us….and then a second or two of silence, serious faces…and then we all burst out laughing.
• Show scenes of us with our feet up on the desk.  Steve answers the phone “you want to book a cabin on the Zac Brown cruise? Sure! How much does it cost? Um…(rolls a pair of dice, 7…0 dollars. 70 bucks. Yup.”
• Cut to Joy and May, Joy is in a chair, and the chair is spinning as May is wrapping her up with toilet paper and they’re both laughing maniacally.
• Cut to Jill Mac in the kitchen firing up the margarita machine.
• May walks by “are you making margaritas?”
• Jill: yup.
• Ape: “but it’s 11:15 in the morning”
• Jill: “yup.”
• Ape: Can I get salt on mine?
• April on the phone : “yes (giggle), this is, um, Andy Levine, I’d like to order 12 dozen wings delivered to Sixthman please.  you can put it on my account.”
• Fade to black – don’t worry andy and the rest of the company, we have everything under control!

As you can see, some things change, some things stayed the same, and some things were improvised.  Your script should be no more than a page, tell us who is doing what, and if there’s any songs you want us to use.

There’s no limit on how many good scripts we can use.  If we pick yours, we’ll send you a bag of swag.  If we like your idea, we’ll probably have to change a few things to make everybody’s schedules work, but we’ll let you know if we use it.

Email your ideas and scripts to SteveK@sixthman.net.  There’s no guarantee that we’ll use your script, but if it’s good we’ll certainly work with you on it.

-Steve

photo: PedroSimoes7

With two young kids (6 & 3), I can see my wife pushing them to pick up guitar, piano, dance or singing.  Not in a “Pageant Mom” kind of way”, but in a supportive parent manner.  Anyway, as I see my wife glow when either child shows any sort of promise, I can’t help but glimpse forward to the day when they sit us down to tell us they are taking a break from college to join a band.  I hear this story all the time from parents who are so disappointed to hear that their children are making a choice like this yet they were the same parents who beamed when their child responded to piano or guitar lessons.

Here is a story about a young man who grew up in Nashville, Tn (Music City) in a family full of musicians.  His dad, his uncles, his aunts were all in bands and he managed to avoid catching the “Music Bug” until he got to college.  During his freshman year of college, he saw the Indigo Girls play a free concert and then begged a friend who played guitar to show him how to play their hit song “Closer to Fine”.  Soon after he took his stereo down to the local pawn shop and traded it for a guitar.  He practiced 12 hours a day as the college budget did not afford him much entertainment that wasn’t free.  Within a year he had been asked to play rhythm guitar in the Pike Fraternity band.  Not because he was any good, but because he booked all the gigs and handled business affairs for the band.  He would find out later that his guitar was rarely turned on.  The motivation to go to class dropped just slightly faster than his grades yet he was more passionate about music and the band than he had been about anything in his life.  The next summer, he went home to tell his parents about his new passion and how his band was actually playing a couple nights a week for fraternity parties and at bars earning him almost $1,000 a month.  The pride he had expected them to feel felt more like disappointment and he retreated back to college assuring them he would not lose focus on his grades.  He had no choice, it was too late and there was no time for college.  He dropped out in his junior year.

The band began to play gigs around the southeast, opened up for Blues Traveler and had Hootie & the Blowfish open for them.  The hair grew long and he was on a path to figuring it out on his own.  After a couple years of touring, the band realized it wasn’t destined for rock stardom (two members actually were) and decided to call it quits.  He cut his hair and interviewed for a job promoting concerts at a local Gainesville, Fl Club called Richenbachers.  He realized he was better on the phone than on guitar and a local band featuring 2 members of his college band asked him to manage them.  He agreed and they set out to make something happen.  In 1997 they had their first #1 hit Song which stayed on the charts for 9 weeks.  His experience as a musician gave him great perspective about the balance of being an artist vs. a business person and the importance of the connection between the band and their fans.  In 2001, the core fan base of the band he managed demanded a convention so he organized a cruise for 400 people.

Today his parents are very proud because he actually went back to college and finished his degree when he was 36 years old.  The band he played in was Waterdog, the members were Ryan Newell and Jett Beres, the band he managed was Sister Hazel, the cruise convention for 400 fans became The Rock Boat and now he writes a blog every Monday and gets to share his story with as many people that care to hear it.

So to all the parents out there who want their kids to be musicians just until they get to college, here is a story where music seemed to derail this young man but ended up leading him to his true calling.

Happy Holidays,

Andy

This weekend I was a disgruntled customer, and it didn’t feel so good.

A few weeks ago, just after Thanksgiving, I made reservations at my vet to have Danger, my 8-month-old Boston Terrier, boarded for one night – Saturday 12/19 – while I went out of town to celebrate Christmas with my extended family. They told me that I’d have to pick him up Sunday 12/20 between 2-4 PM.

When I got to the vet on Saturday morning, though, they said “Oh by the way, we’re not doing Sunday pick-up this week, so you’ll have to leave Danger until Monday or not at all.” Well, I had no time to make other arrangements, so I had to leave my dog for one extra day. The woman at the front desk apologized for not letting me know sooner, and promised they’d take good care of Danger. Still, I felt guilty all weekend for leaving him there.

I went to get Danger on Monday morning, and when the woman at the desk (a different one this time) said, “You’re paying for two nights, right?” I explained what had happened. Instead of apologizing, she said in a condescending tone, “We don’t do Sunday pick-ups during the holidays.” I’m a new customer – how was I supposed to know this when I’d been told explicitly to pick him up that Sunday when I made my reservation?

We’ve all been there – unhappy with unprofessional service, furious enough to consider writing a letter or even filing a complaint with the BBB. I’m not usually the type to get angry – it’s just not fun! I will definitely be writing a letter in this case, but ultimately what good does that do?

For my part, I will make sure I go out of my way to help any unhappy Sixthman customers, or bend over backwards to get journalists what they need to write about us. I hope that we at Sixthman are serving you well; we strive to improve every day and show appreciation to our guests. And for all you wonderful cruisers, if there is ever something unclear or contradictory in our emails, please do call us (877 SIXTHMAN) or chat with us online and ask someone – we are always happy to help you.

Becki

PS – thanks to our incredible work environment here at Sixthman HQ, I was able to bring Danger to work with me on Monday so he could get lots of love and attention and playtime. Thank you, everyone!

I was speaking with a manager of some successful artists last week and he was expressing his excitement about the cruise concept.  He said he has learned over the last few years that bands have to “Cater to their Core” if they want to have a long career.  Artists and Businesses have many things in common.  Both have a set of talents that enable them to deliver a product, costs to operate, opportunities to earn revenue and most importantly, both have a choice to have a relationship with their core supporters.

In 1999, I was managing Sister Hazel and we had found ourselves at the crossroads of who we wanted to be as an organization.  We had spent the first 3 years of the bands existence building relationships with our fans and the last 3 years playing what I like to call the “MTV” game, where you put 100% of energies into revamping your look, trying to make videos, writing songs for radio, over thinking every decision all in the hopes that these efforts will result in the band being catapulted into the super artist “stratosphere” with U2 and Brittney.

As I thought about the balance of energy between “building relationships with the core fans” vs. engaging in the “MTV” game, it appeared obvious what our strategy moving forward should be.

So I sat with the band and recommended that we focus 100% of our energies on doing one thing.  Take such good care of the fans we have and that their enthusiasm and passion will bring new fans to our family.  It made perfect sense to us.  Over deliver to the fans we have and they will rave about their experience in the Sister Hazel world and that enthusiasm will attract new people to us.  It was a surer thing than trying to play the “MTV” game and clearly the right thing for all of us to do.  They have one of the most passionate and appreciated fan bases out there and we have been able to grow Sixthman with the very same approach.

If you are an artist or a business, I’d like to challenge you to develop a genuine relationship with your best fans / customers.  If you don’t, someone else will.

Which business or artist core are you part of? And are you being “Catered” to?

Check out our latest video on Sixthman TV:  The Public On Sale Challenge

Sixthman TV: the Public On Sale Challenge

Happy Friday !

-Steve

That’s right, I’m talking about holiday travel.  Travel, as you may imagine, is a part of my job.  So, actually trying to plan my own travel gets put on the back burner.  It’s kind of the last thing I want to do when I get home at night.  ”Hey, you’ve been on the computer all day booking cruises, why don’t you now get on the computer and book flights and rental cars?”  No, thanks.

Between my boyfriend and I, even the talk about how and who we are going to visit becomes exhausting.  You see there’s a mom and step dad, a brother and niece, a father and step mom, a sister and her partner, another mom and dad, and our poor dogs who are left at home. You can’t visit one without the other and you definitely can’t visit two without the third, and so on.  I’d feel guilty, even though I know our loved ones would be fine.

So, I’ve become my own travel agent. I’ve made arrangements to visit three different states in a period of four days.  I also forced some family members (my sister) to join me in some of the excursion.  With two flights, one car rental, and one hitching of a ride, we will visit and gift with  three different families.  I will be exhausted, but at least I will hopefully feel those Publix Commercial moments with, although brief, everyone.

I have a new found respect for travel agents.  And thanks to Clark Howard I’ve learned a thing or two about getting the best option for my buck.  So, here’s to next year’s holiday where everyone will have to come visit us!

Happy and safe travels,

Lisa

This past weekend I got to participate in one of my favorite holiday traditions. The tradition I am speaking of brings you together with loved ones while allowing you to stab them in the back, laughter always outweighs the tears and in the end some people leave happy while others can’t help but feeling like they got screwed. No, I’m not talking about dinner with my parents (that emotional roller coaster doesn’t start until Christmas Eve), I’m talking about White Elephant! My roller derby team got together at a sleepover on Saturday night and we all showed up with unmarked wrapped gifts. If you’ve never played White Elephant before, this is how it works: Everyone who brought a gift draws a number and then each guest unwraps a gift in order of what number they have. The part that makes it fun is that instead of opening a new gift you have the option of stealing any gift that has already been opened. Gifts are “dead” on the third steal and stay in the hands of the 3^rd thief.

As the game went on it became obvious fairly quickly which gifts were the hottest commodities. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the Shake Weight, although it did get passed around the room several times to try out, no one dared to steal that one. The gifts that were stolen the most were not ones bought in the store (or the result of someone cleaning out their medicine cabinet, I’m looking at you DC), the most popular gifts were the handmade ones. A few hand knitted scarves, a cool up-cyled necklace and a framed painting of a roller skate were the items that had a room full of  20 and 30-something year old women plotting to make sure they were the ones to take home what they wanted no matter what the cost. Well, homemade items and a set of tiny velvet horse figurines from Wal-Mart. We play roller derby, we’re a little weird.

With the popularity of websites like etsy.com and craftster.com crafts like knitting, quilting, jewelry making and everything in between have lost their stale old-fashioned stigma over the past 10 years and have actually become not only cool they’ve allowed some people to turn their hobby into a way to make a living. There’s something about buying a handmade item even if it is made by someone I’ve never met that makes it feel more special. I know I’m not alone as what else would explain the ability of these DIY businesses to flourish during the worst economy in the past 50 years. As my friends battled it out on Saturday night for items made with love rather than made in China I found myself thinking about what kinds of gifts people really want to get this Christmas.

Oh, and in case you were wondering about the tiny velvet horses? They are sitting on my kitchen table right now, watching me as I type.

See you on the flip side,

Joy

PS: I’m a an avid etsy shopper, but I still get a huge kick out of Regretsy,  proof that crafting still has its downside. I suggest you check out both sites. Depending on what the craft of the day is on Regretsy, I can’t promise that it will be work safe.

Atlanta has been foggy & rainy lately.  I usually hate this kind of weather, but it’s helping me do something I haven’t done in a long time- turn up my Smiths “Louder than Bombs” album and really get in touch with my inner goth chick.

Anyone who knows me is well aware that I am positive, almost to a fault, and will find a silver lining to pretty much any cloud. For example, I was going through a bad breakup, and I actually said out loud, “well, at least I’ll be saving money on gas because I won’t have to drive to his house any more.” Priceless. You can’t get that kind of optimism just anywhere, you know.

Even the happiest people have to find time to wallow in their own misery. We all do it differently. Some people are just mean to everyone. Some people lock themselves in a closet and cry, and then come out, hiding it from everyone. I’m not talking about being miserable, I’m talking about ENJOYING your misery. Wrapping yourself in it, realizing you’re still human and you still bleed and you still hurt sometimes. And the even better feeling of knowing that whatever you are miserable about, “this too shall pass.”

Sorry if I’m bringing anybody down with this post. If you start feeling rough, I highly recommend “Unloveable” by the Smiths. It will take you to a whole new level of misery, the kind where you are laughing at yourself for being so silly.

-Barb