Good to hear from you, Scott. I enjoyed your presentations of this material a few months ago. I thought you did a fine job of edging toward the more esoteric stuff while still making it sound enough like "familiar" radio as not to freak anyone out!
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you have to come up with a press release that is "sexy."
By which I don't think you mean slick and whiz-bang, but, rather, coming from a fresh "take" that will hold attention. That dynamic, btw, explains why, for better or worse, amaroli gets lots of action and attention...it's a "hook", though certainly not the hook we'd prefer (the reality is that one seldom gets the hook one prefers...even in childhood...how many of us would have chosen the nicknames we were given?). We'll have to keep refining the "hook" we present to the world.
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Originally posted by scottfitzgerald
Too yoga, and folks think asanas...too Maharishi, and they think TM...too siddhi and you bring the James Randi types down on you.
James Randi backlash wouldn't be bad, necessarily. I'd just worry that leading with The Miraculous makes it sound dubious and overblown. To wit, I've come up with a tiny little move that seems to help migraine headaches. Around here, it's just another yoga move. But when I tell even close friends - who know I'm deep into yoga and who expect me to come up with insightful stuff about body and energy - they role their eyes at me like I'm insane. Yeah, like I've REALLY come up with something nobody's thought of for migraines, etc. With that in mind, I'm not sure how AYP could be sold, mainstream, if we lead with tales of ecstatic conductivity and flowing nectar, y'know? I fear dismissive eye rolling more than the spite of the Skeptics.
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As far as approaching the NPR type stations, I don't think they would have the same impact. Not enough mass appeal.
Public radio's a real mixed bag, though, with every show an island. And there may be local or semi-local shows that might be sympathetic. I think that's what Kathy was steering us toward.
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I don't think any attention should be given to Yogani, other than the "organizer" of this system.
I agree that leading with a Fearless Leader angle may not send the truest message of what AYP is about. And Yogani has often stated that he doesn't want to be saddled with carrying the brand image long term, though he does do a great job (as we all know) answering questions and making the esoteric seem mildly attainable. But he's the only spokesman we've got (unless you want to help on that). Agreed, though, that it's truest for the practice, truest to Yogani's intentions, and most likely to attract press if we stress the practice rather than the individual who created it. We had some problems on Wikipedia last year when sight was lost on that, and the Wiki people concluded this was about self-promotion.
Back to my previous posting, best might be if other media people fall into the practice (as you have) and produce first person reports, perhaps drawing in Yogani for interviews. The only way that happens is via sheer luck. Luck can be accelerated, though, by generally spreading the word. As our grassroots expand, it'll become more and more likely that louder voices become involved. Again (sorry to repeat, but it's a hard-won truth), media attention happens when you no longer need media attention to generate interest. It's true of so many things...