Sunday, January 5th, 2014
Last Thursday, I was prepared to have a string sectional rehearsal for the NTSO at my house. Despite some minor problems, including a clogged-up kitchen sink, I managed to get my living room cleared and ready.
Nobody came.
I got some practice in myself, but I was wondering why absolutely nobody else showed up. It had been announced at the last regular rehearsal, and it was in the latest official NTSO newsletter.
Thinking that I must have gotten something wrong, I dug up the latest newsletter. The problem immediately became obvious. The subject line read: “NTSO: Weekly Update. No Rehearsal until 2014.” The first line of the body copy was: “WINTER BREAK – NO Rehearsal until after the new year!”
The sectional rehearsal announcement wasn’t until the 2nd paragraph. I suspect that nobody read that far. Except me.
If the email subject line had been, “WINTER BREAK – Next String Sectional on January 2nd” I think the outcome would have been different.