We found this article via the lovely and charming Drew Shannon. It say everything we've been thinking. Hmmmm, maybe we should get into publicity.

Read this, Jason. <3

Article Here

I’ve wanted to write this letter for a long time, some of this stuff for months, but I’ve always held back. I figure now is as good a time as any. You told me that you’ve read this blog in the past and I really hope you get a chance to read this one.

I guess I’ll start with Twitter and what some of your fans have termed “cluttergate.” I knew it was a bad idea, you following fans, and I posted it at JGG the day you did. I saw right away that it was going to be a mess. The followed vs. the unfollowed. Now, I really believe you did it for the right reason but you didn’t think it through. Hey, we’re all human.

But, yep, you were right, it totally screwed up your timeline. The problem is, you should have seen that right away but instead you kept adding more people. The longer it went on, the harder it was on your fans to end up being unfollowed. Your wording… not so good. No one wants to feel like what they say is clutter. It makes them feel unimportant. And your timing was also bad. Right now, not a whole lot is going on, at least not what we can see. So it seems to me a poor time to unfollow fans.

Next, the Street Team. I resigned from your street team. There were a lot of reasons that led me to that decision but none of them had anything to do with me no longer wanting to support your career. I was the Southern California leader and I had more team members than anyone outside of Texas. But there were/are problems. I couldn’t get any responses to emails I sent out. I did get a few at the beginning but by the time I left I was getting nothing. I was a one-woman team. I realized that the hours I had spent emailing, compiling mailing lists, responding to directives, were really doing nothing to help you. I figured I could do as much on my own--- and I feel I have. I also left because I was incredibly disappointed in the leadership of your street team. By the time I resigned, many of the members of headquarters were simply disinterested in you. Yes, they did what was asked of them but they did it without the passion I felt. It seemed to become a job to them, not a labor of love. In truth, they seemed more interested in making rules and behavior guidelines for the state leaders to follow than they were in you. In fact, almost all of the regional and HQ leaders have gone on to be more interested in other artists or are simply absent. If you don’t believe me, check their tweets.

And I have to add that another reason for my leaving was YOUR lack of interest in the street team, your lack of interest in promoting yourself. In my opinion, you should have been announcing where your tour was going at least a couple of days ahead. Over and over I read people saying that they were sorry they had missed your show because they didn’t know about it ahead of time or didn’t have enough notice. Many fans are casual and they simply don’t go to your website. Also, you should have been thanking the cities and the people who came to your show--- every time. People like to be thanked. It’s just human nature. And… you should have been publicly thanking your street team. They don’t do it for the thanks. At least, I know I never did but it’s just the right thing to do when people are working their asses off for you, continually and for free.


Finally, this is the hard part. While you are still gaining followers on twitter and people are still talking about you on Facebook, (mostly from the Philippines) I guess you can see that many of your most ardent supporters seemed to have moved on. They either don’t tweet at all or they are tweeting someone new. Maybe that doesn’t mean anything. You need new fans. Every artist does. But losing fans that have hung with you for over two years can’t be good. I suppose part of that is that you aren’t currently on tour and I know that’s a complicated issue. I realize that this is not your doing and it would be a shame if people held you responsible for that. But… there are things you could be doing. Tweeting is one. Fans who have come to know you really enjoy reading your tweets. It makes them feel connected and that translates into album sales and concert tickets. It also keeps their attention on you. When other artists tweet and you don’t it’s just natural for people to go elsewhere and sadly I have seen a lot of that lately. You see, when there isn’t much happening, that is the time when you need to tweet more, not less. Random stuff is fine. Little updates on your music are always appreciated but one caveat. If you don’t want people to comment on your personal life, don’t tweet about it. You know?

Now, even though this letter is to you, I’m no fool. It’s a blog. I know other people are going to be reading it and I’ll probably catch shit for this. I might even get “fired” from my “job” as a moderator on your web site. I have learned that being a fan is a little like being back in junior high. If people don’t like what you have to say, they either talk behind your back or tell you personally what you shouldn’t have said what you did. They aren’t going to like this because I'm saying what I think right to you. I am treating you like a man, like a (gasp) real person. I happen to believe that you are both and you’d rather hear the truth than have your ass kissed. (Lord knows you get plenty of that.) You know me well enough by now to know that it’s not my style. I’m bossy, smart and I pay attention. You can listen to what I’ve said or ignore it. It’s up to you but you can believe it’s all true. I have no hidden agendas and I’m still crazy about you.

Love,

Colleen

P.S. No one lets anyone know when you've written a blog and that you are posting fan club videos. Repeated questions and emails concerning fan club pre-sale tickets and meet and greets have been ignored.

I’m a fan. Gosh, that sounds so shallow and really rather embarrassing. I am so used to defining myself as something important, a teacher, a technology advocate, a devoted friend. And now, I’m actually calling myself a fan. So trivial, actually…

The first stage in my “fandom” was just a passing interest, a passing interest in a beautiful man who seemed to have a unique talent. And then I met all these other regular people, many of which were new at this fan stuff, themselves. Maybe this wasn’t as odd as I thought. Haha.

But then the plot thickened. Let’s just say this whole thing snowballed on me. It turned into the creation a fan website and a lot ( I mean, A LOT) more. It was fun. It was exciting and joyful. I was doing it for ME.

And then…. All activity of my artist stopped. His tour was over and people started to return to their regular lives. I (and now I say we. We, as in my website partners and many other devoted fans) started seeing fans lose interest. By that time, we had begun to feel committed to this artist. We wanted so desperately for him to succeed and for him to continue to have an audience that we worked our asses off to keep the few fans he had left, engaged. We posted at our own site like fools and at other sites, as well. And still we watched the casual fans go on to newer and more visible artists. Some of us hung on. Sometimes it was for him, sometimes for each other but hang on we did.

And then came the street team. Most everyone I had come to know through this bizarre new world, jumped right in, rolled up their sleeves and joined the team. There were more people interested in helping than there were positions to be filled. Lucky him. It seemed like we were finally doing something real to support our artist. The street team was a good fit for some of us. Others of us learned we worked best independent of that structured environment.

This is what I have learned:

Out of 47,000 plus “fans,” there are about fifty that are more than casual fans. And so what? Some may say these fifty are the nuts. But, these remaining fifty or so are the ones who constantly tell anyone who will listen just how great their artist is. They buy multiple copies of his CD so they can give them as gift to friends and even strangers to get the word out about this guy. They drive their Facebook friends crazy posting his videos and tour dates, and make store managers roll their eyes when they continue to request copies of a CD by an artist most managers have never even heard of. They travel for miles to see his concerts. They buy tickets for friends to go with them to the concerts, promising them that he is wonderful. And. They promote him. THEY are the ones who go out in freezing weather and ask store and restaurant managers to allow them to hang poster or pass flyers. THEY are the ones who document every aspect of said postering because it is a requirement for the privilege of doing so,. They write blogs. They write reviews. They use Twitter to not only communicate news but also to find new and creative ways to reach beyond their small circle and out to the world, in general, to get this new artist the attention they feel he deserves. The hours they have spent are countless. And all out of love.

Fifty or so people out of 47,000 may not seem like they’re very important, but. they. are. You are.

You have helped start a launch without any expectation of reward or compensation. You should be proud of yourselves and the artist should be forever grateful.

And that is the true VALUE of being a fan.

So often I see celebrities at charity functions. And being an intelligent person, I realize that at least some of it is for publicity. It looks good to have an artist show their altruism. And I know that some celebrities just get their pictures taken, take a couple of calls, answer a few questions. You know, basically whisk in and whisk out. I've wondered just what impact they make.

And now I know.

The following is an excerpt from a blog written by family members of a boy being treated at Boston's Childrens' Hospital. It brought me to the tears I am now shedding. Tears of empathy for Cody and his family. Tears of embarrassment for feeling so jaded. Sometimes these "photo ops" touch hearts. They make a difference even if it's just for a moment.

It was just so beautiful and really spoke to me. This has been a difficult time and we often aren’t completely in touch with our emotions about it. I find myself being strong at the hospital and then crying at commercials. This time, I was crying right there in the hospital for the reasons that I was actually hurting. Just so real.

Read the rest of the blog here:

Maybe you can help Cody in your way ....like Jason Castro did.





Photo courtesy of Life Magazine

More photos here

Prior to going to the show in Tucson on Saturday, Feb 20th, I had decided I was only going to film Jason's performance of If I Were You. Mostly because I just wanted to enjoy the show. And that song, because I love it so much. Boy was I glad I decided to record it.

This is classic stuff!!

Amidst the controversy and confusion of canceled tour stops and scheduled tv appearances, Jason, the MAN, does not fail to impress us. This is not a man who tolerates criticism he does not feel he deserves. He is no shrinking violet. And while all his fans rush in to defend him against all the fans who have seemingly turned on him (out of disappointment, no doubt), Jason, the man, takes care of business. He sets the record straight with sincerity, humor and.... pardon my French, balls.

This is the Jason Castro that Jason's Goth Girls love, support and are hopelessly head-over-heels for. This is our man. *sigh*