[Dixielandjazz] Attracting younger listeners (very long)

[Jim O'Briant]

Tonight I've been working on my "busy social calendar" for the first half of
2006, and that includes notes on which jazz clubs meet on which dates, and
which bands are booked for which meetings.  Somewhat to my dismay, most jazz
clubs in Northern California seem to be doing a pretty good job of keeping
that information secret.

This mailing list is constantly full of messages asking, "how can we attract
a new generation of listeners to Our Kind of Music?"  Well, I think I've
found a very good way to prevent potential younger fans from ever
discovering OKOM -- and that is to NOT have current websites for jazz clubs.

Here's an example of what I mean.  The following Jazz Clubs are listed for
Northern California and Central California in "The American Rag."  (I've
omitted some non-trad jazz organizations from the list.)

Friends of Jazz, Walnut Creek
* No website listed in "American Rag"
* No site found in Google Search

Monterey Hot Jazz Society, Monterey
* No website listed in "American Rag"
* Google says: http://www.surfnetusa.com/jamie/
	However, this site comes up only about half the 
	times I try; the other half of the times I get
	a 404 error message -- "Page Not Found."  On one
	recent visit, the site tried to plant a Trojan
	Horse virus on my computer, but was thwarted by
	Norton AntiVirus & Norton Firewall.

Napa Valley Dixieland Jazz Society
* "Rag" says: http://www.jazzdance.org/NapaJazz
	No site there -- just a 404 error message -- "Page Not Found"
* No site found in Google Search

New Orleans Jazz Club of Northern California
* "Rag" says: http://www.nojcnc.org
	This site works well, but is not updated. The calendar
	shows all the 2005 meetings, but nothing for 2006.
* Google search brings up the same site.

River City Jazz Society, Redding, CA
* "Rag" says: http://www.reddingjazz.com
	No site there -- just a "page cannot be displayed" error message 
* Google says: http://www.c-zone.net/jazzjoy/
	Decent site, but it appears not to have been updated 
	since early to mid-2004.

Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society
* No website listed in "American Rag"
* Google says: http://www.sacjazz.org/
	Site comes up, and is up to date, including meeting 
	schedule and guests booked through June, 2006.

South Bay Trad Jazz Society, Sunnyvale/Palo Alto, CA
* "Rag" says: http://www.jazzdance.org/
	This site exists, but has only three sections, for three
	different bands.  Nothing about the society.
* Google says: http://sbtjs.org/
	No site there -- just a "page cannot be displayed" error message 

T.R.A.D. J.A.S.S., Santa Rosa, CA
* No website listed in "American Rag"
* Google says: http://www.tradjass.org/
	This site works well, but is not updated. The "next 
	event" is one that has already occurred, and The 
	calendar shows all the 2005 meetings, but nothing 
	for 2006.

Basin Street Regulars, Pismo Beach, CA
* "Rag" says: http://www.PismoJazz.org
	No site there -- just a "page cannot be displayed" error message 
* Google says: http://www.pismojazz.com/  [not .org]
	This site works well, but is not updated. The calendar 
	of future meetings does go through Mid-2006.  The "upcoming
	festival" info is for this past October.

Fresno Dixieland Society
* No website listed in "American Rag"
* Google says: http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/blur/496/
	This site works well, but it appears not to have been 
	updated since late 2002.  The "upcoming events" include
	things from November, 2002 to July, 2003.

Golden Empire Hot Jazz Society, Bakersfield, CA
* No website listed in "American Rag"
* No site found in Google Search

Modesto Dixieland Jazz Society
* No website listed in "American Rag"
* No site found in Google Search

San Joaquin Dixieland Jazz Society, Stockton, CA
* No website listed in "American Rag"
* No site found in Google Search

Sierra Trad Jazz Club
* No website listed in "American Rag"
* Google says: http://www.highsierrajazzband.com/
	This site works well, but is not updated. The calendar 
	of future meetings shows August thru December, 2005.

The generation that we want to attract to OKOM is a generation for whom the
Internet is second nature.  "If it ain't on the web, it don't exist.  If
it's on the web but out of date, it ain't worth a second look."  

If we want to attract these listeners, I submit that every jazz club should
have a website.  It doesn't have to be fancy, just clean and simple.  But it
does have to be there, it has to work and it has to be up to date.  The
absence of a website, or the presence of an out of date site, both deliver
the same message:  "This isn't worth looking into."

Jim O'Briant
Tuba
Gilroy, CA