Reaching Out: Influential Individuals & Freemasonry!
Influential Podcaster (he has 2.75 million YouTube Subscribers) and Research Scientist Lex Fridman recently posted on his YouTube “Community” Page the following:
- “I’ll be traveling a bunch soon. Along the way, I’d like to meet interesting people from all walks of life, and chat over coffee. So, if you want to chat with me, anywhere in the world, please fill out this form. https://form.jotform.com/230415467865159”
The form asks for both personal information as well as information as to why you want to chat with him, what you hope to discuss, and the ideas and views you wish to explore.
As you can probably guess, we at Square & Compass completed this form. As to the “why we want to chat with him,” the “what we hope to discuss,” and the “ideas and views we wish to explore,” the answer is the same in each case: Freemasonry.
We encourage other Masonic bodies (either Lodges, organisations, or buildings) to consider reaching our to Lex Fridman through the same means.
Mr. Fridman’s invitation got us thinking, how often do Masonic bodies reach out to influential individuals…not “reach-out” in the sense of soliciting membership but rather reach-out to discuss the craft and show-off our beautiful Masonic buildings and/or the history of the Craft within our communities.
Is your city, town, or community hosting a concert, public speaker, or celebrity? If so, why not invite them for coffee and a tour of your Masonic building? Maybe the celebrity is, in fact, a Mason and would be interested in attending a meeting. If an in-person meeting is not possible, perhaps you could create a special virtual event (such as Harmony Masonic Lodge’s March 23rd, 2023 Virtual “GoToMeeting”).
Perhaps your Masonic Lodge could invite an influential individual to speak at your Masonic building (either a tiled meeting or open to the public)? Perhaps your Masonic building could invite an influential individual for coffee? The invitation could be a Lodge or building project-maybe create a campaign on social media.
Reaching out does not start and end with influential individuals (define as you like). Reaching-out to the community at large is also vitally important-and will pay dividends when it comes to the most important thing for Masonic growth-establishing relevancy!
The Windsor Masonic Temple is reaching out to the community-at-large in numerous ways, including through its “For The Next 100 Years” project and its commitment to supporting artistic and heritage endeavours.
Square & Compass Promotions (and the Windsor Masonic Temple) have reached out to various individuals and the communities at large-through social media, letters, and other campaigns. In some cases, these efforts were sucessful. In other cases, we are still trying. Either way, it is worth the effort.
Inviting Lex Fridman for coffee and a chat at the Windsor Masonic Temple is an opportunity of which we hope all Masonic organisations take advantage!
