If there’s one thing I can emphatically say about myself, it’s that I’m a die-hard fan girl. I love the Golden State Warriors. I love the San Francisco 49ers. And I love the K-Pop group BTS.
If you’re in the PR industry, it’s almost imperative to have a die-hard, go big or go home approach to life. That’s how you get the big interviews, the front-page stories and the home run hits for clients. It’s precisely this attitude that found me standing in line outside Central Park early evening the night before a Good Morning America Summer Concert that started at 7am the next morning.
I am ARMY – a member of the BTS fan base. And when given the opportunity to watch Jung Kook, the youngest member of the group of seven, make his solo debut in front of a live NYC audience I jumped in headfirst. Tickets to GMA’s Summer Concert series are offered on a first come, first served basis and I was lucky enough to get in…the Tuesday before the Friday show.
In PR, it’s critical to have a plan but also be flexible to accommodate last minute curve balls. After getting the fated email that we scored tickets, the next step was to immediately find a flight and book a hotel room. Quick but thorough research found me on a red eye to NYC arriving Thursday morning.
After checking into the hotel, and more research on social media to learn about other ARMYs experiences, we determined we had to get in line ASAP to ensure entrance. We didn’t fly from the SF Bay Area to NYC to miss it!
After standing in line for nearly 12 hours – I learned I could sleep standing up – we were granted entrance into Central Park at around 6am to find our spot one hour before the live performance. During this prep period, I saw how “live” broadcast shows are created.
Once all the audience members were settled, the TV crew began giving instructions. We were asked to cheer for one minute straight with the ultimate excitement and interact with the multiple cameras around the stage and flying over the crowd. We did three takes of cheering to ensure crowd content from different angles. This would later become b-roll used when the show would cut to and come back from commercial.
Signs with the words “Good” “Morning” “America” were distributed to audience members closer to the front, and on cue, were asked to raise them high and shake them – also for b-roll.
Remember that note about flexibility in the event of curve balls? Well, we received a thunderstorm warning while filming b-roll and were told that we may be asked to evacuate the park for safety reasons if lightning began to strike.
The GMA producers acted quickly to come up with a Plan B. Jung Kook was slated to rehearse his performance that included “Euphoria” and “Dynamite” – songs with BTS – and the premier of his solo debut single “Seven” prior to the live show. But with the pending thunderstorm, he was only able to rehearse Euphoria before GMA opted to pre-record his entire three-song performance in the event it was not safe for him to give a live show.
Sure enough, during Dynamite the thunder and lightning began. And, after the last note ended, all audience members were quickly ushered out of the park amid pouring rain.
What did I learn from this experience?
1. YOLO – when opportunities come for once in a lifetime experiences, TAKE THEM!
2. The Show Must Go On – the GMA producers were able to deliver an awesome broadcast show, even though it wasn’t live. Fans watching around the world were still able to experience Jung Kook’s solo debut and no thunderstorm could dampen their excitement.
3. Problem Solving is a Skill – Whether planning a broadcast program, a media tour or an executive interview, being able to think quickly and adapt to unforeseen circumstances is a critical component of any PR professional’s arsenal.
And, knowing what I know now, would I do it again?
100% YES.
