let the burgers teach you...

So, I just had lunch HERE.

Pretty dope spot.

Leaving the house, Niki asked me where I was going.  "To find Jesus..." said I.  "Where do you find Him?" asked our friend Kat.  "I'm not sure" said I.

But find Him I did.

At a burger joint.

Now--let me be clear--finding Jesus for me can/might be synonymous for you with finding your muse, or finding a way to get the creative juices flowing.

For me, all that, lives in Jesus and I needed to git me some.

Hit Home Depot, looking for a pair of fall gloves.  Can't beat $2.99 for black work gloves. Great for running at night, great for driving ('cause of the grippy black rubber on the front) and totally non-fussy.

I'm a dude.  I don't like 'fussy'.

Then I needed food.

Decided to hit South St.  Had only been there once before (with Niki) and we had a great experience.  Same deal this time.  Awesome veggie burger (I'm a dude...I eat veggie burgers) great poutine (can't beat NYF) and a chocolate shake worthy of the name.

Great.

And that got me thinking about being great.

Everything about South St. is great.  Great design, great concrete floors, great flow, great food, great service, great vibe.  The moment you think, 'Gee, I need to drop this in the garbage...' you realize there's a garbage right next to you.

They thought of everything.

And that challenged me.  Got me thinking about my new Church.  Got me thinking about my work as a producer/writer and sometime director.

"What is it, that can make what I do as good as what South St. does?"

"What can I learn from their attention to detail and follow through?"

Let's answer those questions:

The make burgers.  What's more common than that?  Almost nothing.  They deliver a product that's ubiquitous.  Same deal with Church and TV and Movies.  There are all kinds of Churches in my town.  TV and movies are everywhere.  What is it I can do to stand out?

"Burgers done well..."

Is their tag.

Church done well.  Movies done well.  TV done well.

What does that mean?  What would it look like for me to 'do well' at the things I've been given to do?

They've paid great attention to their environment.  They know it's mostly dudes who eat burgers.  Their store reflects that knowledge.  Concrete floors, square lines, simple textures, almost no color, no fussiness.  

Taking that into account, who's going to 'consume' my stories?  Who's going to want to come to my Church?  Am I constructing my stories/preaching with them in mind?  Does my Church--in it's construction--reflect my anticipated audience?

They've thought through the whole 'flow' from parking lot, to front door, to ordering, to eating to disposing of things.  I gotta' do me the same.

They gave out ice cream samplers.  Not one person refused a sampler.  Everybody loves ice cream and they know it.  As a result of my sample I ordered a shake on the way out.  They got me.  How can I translate that ethic to my show biz work?  How can I translate it to my Church?

HOW CAN I HOOK MY AUDIENCE?

How can you translate this to your context?

T

ps: Oh, and by the way, if you want to be reminded what it look like to drop hot shi-- and do your thing and bring your 'A' game, and rep your block and make the rest of us feel sick, hit THIS.