I felt the “News 12 bump” in February when I did my Billy Joel’s New York library program over Zoom. Unbeknownst to me, News 12 promoted it every half-hour the day before! I had no idea…until friends started excitedly texting me videos taped off their TV sets; I was shocked!
The result was that we blew out the attendance on the program; who knew that Zoom caps a meeting at 100 people? Many, many people were unable to log in—which resulted in a deluge of complaints. As a result, we had to schedule a repeat performance the following week on Leap Day, February 29; it came off without a hitch and another 70 people got to see the program.
This has never happened to me before in nearly 20 years of doing library programs, but I also realize it has nothing to do me; it’s all thanks to News 12 and Long Islanders’ undying love of Billy Joel. It also shows why virtual and in-person programs each have their pros and cons; me, I prefer in-person, because we would have seen there was a problem and found a way to accommodate everyone.
The incident underlined what The Long Island Advance reported about the program some time ago, remarking “it’s been a hit with his audiences.” Likewise, its success prompted Newsday to call me “one of the more popular speakers on the lecture circuit these days.”
More recently, The East Hampton Star asked for my analysis of Billy’s first single in 17 years—the excellent “Turn The Lights Back On”—which I happily shared.
To check out all the programs I offer, head over to the Program Summaries page; to book a program, drop me a line on the Contact page.