NKOTBHouston
A quick recap for our followers, our new followers, and any other interested parties:
I realized the Houston show was definitely going to be the last of the year and thought we should do something to thank the guys for all that they’ve been doing for us for the last two years.
Thank You signs seemed simple enough. Everyone could make one, people could be as creative or as simple as they’d like, and it would be easy to bring extras for those who don’t follow the NKOTB happenings online as closely as the rest of us. We also wanted to challenge people to bring extra books to help finish Joe’s book drive with the most books donated, so we found deals on where to get the most books for your buck! I started the Twitter account and within a few days had followers in the triple digits. Shortly thereafter, with people pitching in, we had nearly 4,000 signs printed & ready to go! People were sending messages about how they were bringing 20, 30, 40 books each! We did our best to keep this off of websites & Twitter until the show, so there would be an element of surprise. Well, surprise! Jon found out about us about a week before the show.
We knew we had to do something different and I enlisted a couple of followers to help come up with a new plan. After several different suggestions (you should have seen some of our brainstorming!) and exploring other options, we decided that candlelights would be our best bet, but we’d only have a few days to get the plan together. Knowing that Twitter was no longer ‘secure’ ;) we started an undercover Twitter account, @ThisIsTwar. It was there that we spread the candle idea to as many as possible in the days leading up to the show. All communication was via DM and hopefully kept under wraps!
Leading up to the show, it was hard to gauge how many people were going to participate. We asked people not to talk about it, so we didn’t get a huge response as to what people were going to do. The signs were planned for the end of the show, but during Joe’s ‘5 Brothers and a Million Sisters’, they were popping up all over. It seemed fitting. By the end of the song, signs were up around the entire venue.
As soon as Jordan started his speech for “I’ll Be Loving You Forever”, I saw the candles slowly popping up in the air. Looking out and seeing all of it come together, I was extremly proud that everyone had understood and took the time to make it happen. We ultimately accomplished our goal, to thank NKOTB for all that they have done for us. It was a small gesture, but one coming from so many made it huge…and I thank you.
I would once again like to thank those that helped - @hersheybear, @wizbiff, @jessicaca - for working the blogs and heading up the stealth account, @nkotbpinkangels for providing a spot to distribute the signs! To everyone who RTed and DMed and printing extra signs, picking up extra candles & donating extra books!
And to NKOTB for coming back and doing so much for your fans. I got to talk/meet with a lot of them who felt the same way I did, making this project especially rewarding.
P.S. Joe’s message said that Houston did put him over the 25,000 mark - I have no way of counting how many books you all donated, but if we increased that number by even a little, than we did what we set out to do! :)
P.S.S. - Twar is over! ;)
If anyone has any other questions, please feel to post or DM me. I’ll leave the account active…to remember the night & maybe plan a sequel? Who knows?! Hope you’ll keep following, as well. Thank you!
