How to Meet Your Idol

Connecting With Your Idol Through Social Media

Follow your idol on social media sites. Social media has made the world a smaller place, making people like celebrities who were previously inaccessible to us much more so. It also benefits celebrities to have followers because the more fans they have, the more endorsements they get and products they sell. It also influences their pay scale and opportunities for more work. The two primary sites for connecting with your idol are Facebook and Twitter. With Facebook, you can follow someone even if you are not “friends,” as long as the person has made his or her profile available to the public. For many high-profile public figures, Facebook verifies the person is who he or she claims to be, placing a blue badge, or check mark, next to the person's name. With Twitter, you can follow whomever you want. However, you cannot directly message someone who does not also follow you, nor will your tweets appear in the other person’s feed. Finally, while you cannot “follow” your idol on LinkedIn, you can “connect” with other LinkedIn members by sending them requests.

Post thoughtful comments. If you’re able to post comments, based upon how the person has set up his or her account, comment upon what you like about his or her work, how it inspires you, ways in which you may have used it for charitable purposes and the like. Avoid overdoing it. You should not post multiple times per day, let alone multiple times per week. That begins to look like stalking and will not get you what you want – contact with your idol. You could also find yourself blocked. If your posting(s) goes unnoticed or if it takes a long time to get a response, don’t get upset. Celebrities are inundated with requests for their time, along with messages and a steady stream of social media chatter. And never leave a snarky remark in response to feeling rejected or for any other reason. Doing so will drastically decrease your chances of meeting your idol. Additionally, keep in mind that while some celebrities work on all aspects of their social media sites themselves, others do not. Instead, they hire agencies to do this for them.

Respond to your idol's social media messages. This is another way to get on your idol’s radar. Again, you want to be thoughtful in your replies. Demonstrate that you’re not only articulate but that you also know about what you’re writing. Opinions are great, but opinions backed by facts, including references to things demonstrating to your idol you’ve been a longtime fan, are better. Also consider sharing something you’ve created that relates to what your idol is discussing. On Facebook, you simply comment on the person’s post if public comments are allowed. On Twitter, you can reply to your idol’s tweet; however, replies will not show up on his or her home timeline if your idol doesn’t follow you.

Share your idol's social media messages. One way to get your idol to notice you, and hopefully to respond, is by sharing their messages and content, particularly those they ask fans to share. For example, if your idol asks followers to repost or retweet information pertaining to his or her favorite charity, an upcoming performance or event, a personal statement contradicting tabloid rumors or a statement supporting another in the industry, do so.

Contact your idol directly through social media sites. Send your idol a message a) explaining who you are and b) either asking him or her a question or explaining why you’d like to talk or meet. Be polite and professional. Don’t start off by telling your idol how you’re his or her biggest fan ever or that you’ve listened to every album ever recorded. A lot of people have. You need to stand out, and to do that you should do the opposite of what most fans do when writing letters and messaging their idols. In other words, don’t gush, blabber, use too many exclamation points, include hearts or other emoticons, express your undying devotion and love, etc. Write to your idol politely, in a clear and concise manner and using a standard letter format. Quickly get to the point, which is to either ask a question or explain why you want to talk or meet. Next give your idol a compelling reason to want to respond. Except under certain circumstances (he’s your professor or there are serious time constraints, for example), it could be in your best interests to start a dialog before diving right in and asking to meet your idol first. You might consider creating a video or slideshow instead of a letter, as long as it is short, professional and to the point. Skip the singing and dancing. Don’t be afraid to contact your idol again in a few weeks. Remember, he or she is likely a very busy person. When doing so, begin by referring back to your previous message and include it below the second.

Using the Power of the Purse to Meet Your Idol

Go to book signings. Your idol may be a relatively unknown but up-and-coming author who’s set to sign books at Barnes & Nobles next month in your city. Here’s your change to meet her! Book signings are also a great way to meet both world figures and celebrities. Increasingly, celebrities are writing memoirs and actresses and actors are appearing at signings that coincide with the openings of the movies they starred in from that particular book series. In almost all cases, you are required to buy the book from the bookstore hosting the signing, so make sure you bring along enough money to buy one. Consider buying more than one book, so you have extra time with your idol. To find out if your idol is having a book signing for a recently published book, look for a social media announcement from your idol; go to the publisher's website and its social media sites; look on major retailers' websites like Barnes & Noble; and talk with local bookstores, particularly if you live in a major metropolitan area.

Buy VIP tickets. In case you’ve always wondered but never thought to ask, VIP means “very important person.” You can be one, too, for the right price. Usually, that price is high. Yet purchasing VIP tickets to concerts, plays, comedy shows, the ballet and sporting events come with a variety of perks. One of those perks is often a “meet and greet pass.” Depending upon the event, this could mean you meet your idol or that you meet someone or several people that are part of, for example, a ballet troupe or a baseball team. This could include your idol. You also often get a photograph as a part of VIP packages, and, in some cases, much more, such as invites to pre- or post-event parties. Make sure that you read the details carefully. You can get VIP tickets in a number of ways – from ticketing services like VIPNation.com, Ticketmaster.com, VIPTickets.com, Premiumseatsusa.com and from the venues and organizations themselves. Not all events will have VIP tickets, and you’ll want to buy them either through pre-sales offers or within minutes of tickets going on sale for many events.

Pay for fan clubs or upgraded fan-club levels. Often, joining an official fan club is free, and with some you can get one of the most coveted perks of belonging to a fan club – being included in a lottery or drawing to win a meet and greet pass after you buy a ticket to a show or event. Frequently, however, this opportunity is only available when you upgrade your membership, or pay for a higher level. Plenty of fan clubs, however, are not free for even basic membership. Many of these, such as certain major league sports team fan clubs, will go beyond basic meet and greets and include invitations to dinners and other events. Some of the other benefits of upgrading and paying for fan clubs include access to dress rehearsals and practices where you might get more than a handshake and a photo, online chats and conference calls and dibs on pre-sales tickets (which can help get VIP tickets).

Attend movie premieres, awards programs, film festivals and other ticketed events. While major movie awards programs like the Golden Globes and the Oscars are virtually impossible to get tickets to, even for those in the industry, others such as the BET Music Awards are possible. These, along with movie premieres and film festivals, give you an opportunity to potentially meet countless celebrities. If your idol is less well known, see if he or she has a website that lists upcoming speaking events or performances nearby or in your area. Some may even be free. Here’s a good site for finding tickets for movie premieres, film festivals and awards shows: thevipconcierge.com.

Do what your idol does. This might be leaning to the stalker side, but if you know that your idol works out a particular gym, for instance, you might consider joining the same gym. If you know that your idol always attends Lakers games and sits in a specific spot, you might try to get seats nearby. If, for example, your idol is your town’s former mayor, and she eats at the same diner every Wednesday for lunch, you might eat there as well. Strike up a conversation and offer to pay for her lunch!

Exploring Free or Cheap Ways to Meet Your Idol

Get a press pass. Optimally, you would already be a legitimate member of the media and, therefore, have an opportunity to get a press pass allowing you backstage for a variety of events. Press passes aren’t, however, given to all media outlets for all events as they’re limited in number. If you’re not a working member of the media, consider joining your student newspaper; getting an internship at a local newspaper, radio or TV station; or offering to cover the event for free for a local publication. However you go about it, the rewards could be substantial – time spent interviewing your idol, hanging around after the event and even perhaps striking up a friendship. If you’re an indie blogger or journalist, email the event organizer or press contact person several weeks before the event, explain who you are and what you do, provide links to work samples and request a press pass for the event. Call in one week if you didn't receive a reply to your email. Additionally, it might be helpful to become a member of the International Association of Freelance Journalists, which can help bloggers and freelancers get press credentials.

Attend free speeches, lectures, demonstrations and gallery openings. For many, their idols aren’t seemingly untouchable multi-millionaires that appear to exist in an alternate universe. They are emerging or just really good local artists and musicians, retired academics or NASA engineers, activists from the 1960s civil rights movement or small-city gardening experts. Going to these types of events provide excellent opportunities to meet your idol and likely walk away with more than an autograph or photo. To find out about these events, read your local newspapers and magazines; look for fliers posted at public libraries and in other public places; visit college, university and local tourist websites and the like.

Use your connections and network. You know someone who knows someone whose cousin went to school with your idol. Sometimes all it takes to hit pay dirt is to look through your all your contacts and start making calls to people you think might know someone to get you to the person with direct access to your idol. As they say, there’s only six degrees of separation between any two people. Also, social networking sites can be very useful tools in this endeavor, so don’t overlook them! If it doesn’t happen immediately, create new relationships and cultivate the old to get you closer. You never know when someone you might have scratched off your list is suddenly back in touch with a missing link.

Obtain tickets to talk shows. Celebrities and public figures frequently appear on talk shows, in large part to promote their latest ventures or agendas – new movies, TV shows, clothing lines, albums, books, causes, charities and so forth. Most daytime and evening talk shows are free, though you often have to wait a long time to get tickets, if you ever do. Nonetheless, if you do manage to get a ticket, you might just meet your idol either during the show, if you’re very lucky, or before if you play your cards right. Here’s how it works and what you need to do. Often celebrity guests will arrive about an hour before the taping through a side door. In many cases, like with major stars or public figures, some type of barrier is erected. You’ll a) need to know if and when your idol is appearing on a talk show, b) where the stage door is located prior to the day of taping and c) ensure you're there about 2 hours early. Bring whatever you want signed, something easy to write with (like a felt-tip pen), your camera fully charged and ready, a smile and good manners. Taping schedules and guest lists are on each show’s website, or you can look here, too: onlocationvacations.com/talk-show-guest-schedule.

Wait by theater stage doors. Waiting outside theater stage doors is a bit different from talk shows in that theatre productions have both matinee and evening shows, sometimes require actors spending a long time in make-up and often travel from one city to another. It’s often best to avoid the matinee shows as actors may not leave before the evening performance. Friday and Saturday nights aren’t the best times either because you’ll be one amongst so many fighting for your idol’s attention. Finally, don’t go to the last night of the show because the crew will often be packing up to leave. Here are some more tips. Try to stand near the theater wall just to the left or to the right of the stage door to, essentially, block your idol’s way before he or she can get too far. If there's a large crowd, stand back, directly opposite from the door and wait until the crowd breaks before approaching. You may even have more time with your idol this way. Always be polite, congratulate your idol on a great performance, have your paper or playbill, pen and camera ready and say thank you.

Go to filmings. Television shows and movies film in cities around the world, though many are filmed in Los Angeles and New York City. If you happen to live where a show or movie is being filmed, you might randomly stumble upon a filming. But if you’re focusing on meeting your idol, you need to know where to look. Research what your idol is next starring in and then find out where the show or movie will be shot. Here’s a site to help determine this: onlocationvacations.com. Once there, find your idol’s trailer and navigate around security so you can wait outside of it. It’s certainly not subtle, but if you are polite and don’t behave in a way to frighten your idol, you might get a quick chat and a photo.

Be a seat filler at awards shows. Because producers don’t want viewers to see empty seats when the cameras are directed at the audience, they hire people to wait in the proverbial wings to slide into these seats when people go to the stage or take inevitable bathroom breaks. Being a seat filler won’t be glamorous, and you likely won’t be paid. You may not fill your idol’s seat, but you might. Or, perhaps, your idol could be sitting nearby and whomever left the seat never returns! You may even get lucky while you’re standing in the periphery before, during or after the show.

Enter and hopefully win a contest. Oftentimes radio stations put on contests for tickets, backstage passes and meet and greets for upcoming concerts. It often goes like this, “Be the 6th lucky caller, and you’ll win two VIP tickets and backstage passes to see AC/DC Friday night at Alltel Arena!” Other times the DJs will ask the caller to answer an odd quiz and, increasingly, you simply fill out a form on the station’s website to enter a drawing. A variety of other companies and organizations participate in contests for free tickets and sometimes amazing winnings, not only to concerts but also to sporting, cultural and theatrical events.

Get a job where your idol goes. This might take some semi-stalking, but if you can find out where your idol regularly eats or shops, try to get a job there. This might provide more interaction with your idol than most of the other means discussed. After all, if you’re helping your idol find the perfect book for his mother’s birthday, you’ll likely end up talking a good bit. Or, if you’re doing a good job as a waitress or waiter, you won’t only list the specials, take his or her order and deliver your idol’s drink and food.

Find a way backstage. Unless you have a press pass, are a crew member, special to a member of the band or other group performing, affiliated with the band or group or bought a special VIP package, it’ll be tough getting a backstage pass. With that said, it can be done in one of three primary ways. The first relates to bands and involves joining or creating a "street team," or a group of people who promote a band, both on the streets and now online. The second is by getting a job working at the venue where the event will be held. And the third requires a lot of schmoozing. Here’s how it works. First, if you didn’t get a job working at the venue, go to the venue and start chatting up the venue workers prior to the event. Be very friendly and offer to help. If this doesn’t work, try to make friends with the opening acts when they arrive and see if you can get a pass that way. Express a sincere interest in their music and in your desire to meet more people involved in the tour. If this fails, move on to the concert crew (they’ll typically be the ones dressed in black). Offer to help move things and set up equipment, talk about the tour, throw out hints and see if anyone bites. And if all of this fails, and you’re still dying to meet your idol, the tour bus will be in the parking lot near the back entrance or by the loading dock. But be warned, roadies may be around with hopes of their own.

Determine where your idol is staying. And for the final, and perhaps most creepy, means of meeting your idol, find out the hotel in which he or she is staying and then wait outside. The best way to do this is to check out paparazzi photos online to determine his or her location. Or, spend a couple of evenings in the hotel bar in hopes of meeting your idol. Another option is nefarious, and not particularly wise, but possibly successful. Follow the band (or other group of which your idol belongs) and its entourage to the hotel, walk in with them as if obviously a guest, grab a drink and mingle ... but not with the band or security, at least not at first.