My six year-old was quite disappointed when he wasn’t selected to learn the ways of the Force at the Jedi Training Academy at Disney’s Tomorrowland. I didn’t realize until our 2nd attempt that day, that kids will start lining up a half-hour early so they can be closest to the stage when the Jedi come walking out and seek that eager young soul that is ‘strong with the Force’. I didn’t realize at the time that this Jedi adventure would be a learning experience for my son as well as a fundamental marketing lesson for me.

On his first attempt, Evan stood in the second row haphazardly waving his hand, hoping that the Jedi Master who was choosing the young Padawans would look his way and just appreciate him for the simple fact that he was there. He wasn’t chosen, left the stage area upset, and I had to pull him aside and explain to him a few of life’s little lessons while other young Padawans were learning to yield light sabers against Vader or Maul.

I pulled him over and said, “Look son, sometimes in life you do have to stand out if you want something. You can’t be in the back row if you want to get picked” A frown on his face, he continued to growl at me as if he’d been condemned to the Spice Mines of Kessel, “You’re going to have to find a way to get that Jedi up there to notice you!”

What was I saying?!! Was I telling my kid to be a pushy, win-at-all-costs young competitor – teaching him that unless he pushes all others aside, he’s not going to win the prize? I felt the pull of both trying to be a responsible parent versus that overbearing, Great-Santini like character who wants his son to win at all costs. But as much as my advice went against my natural inclination to just say, ‘well, maybe next time kid,’ I started believing  my own advice the more I thought about it.

Just a minute or so later as we watched the ‘chosen’ Padawans fighting their way to glory with their new light-sabers, my wife, who was standing nearby, started talking to a woman with a huge smile on her face. This woman was  hoping that her son would get picked and it turned out that he had. She went on to explain that they had made the long journey to Disneyland for a few years and each visit, her son had not been picked as a Padawan. So instead of wanting to go 0-4, she came up with a plan. At the hotel in Disneyland she had her boy construct a sign out of cardboard they found. What did the sign say? Simple. “Pick me!”

Her son did get picked and was now fighting Lord Vader in a pitched saber battle to save the Rebellion.

This re-affirmed the comments that I had just made to my son. I leaned over to my son again, told him that the next show was in a couple of hours, and that we should take this time to enjoy a ride and come back after. So we hit up Pirates of the Caribbean, hung out with ’Captain’ Jack Sparrow in the greatest ride ever built, danced through the dreary night of a harbor bombarded and listened to the eerie echo of the voice that repeated:

“Deead meeen teeellll noooo taaaaaleess”. What a ride!

Two hours later, we made our way back to Tomorrowland and I had my Padawan-hopeful sit up front just behind the red line that was painted on the stage floor. We were there early, waiting…watching. Soon after, Stormtroopers blazed out of some back room and the game was on. They were followed by Maul himself: evil, menacing, and yet stopping to give me a quick smile.

The Jedi’s came running out and talked a little about the Force and how ‘it is an energy field created by all living things,’ and that ‘it surrounds us and binds us together.’  The Jedi Master then defined the light saber, as not being ‘as clumsy or random as a blaster, [but] an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.’  At one point, the  Jedi Master made a joke and no one laughed.  He then repeated the joke and with a wave of his hand said, “You will all find this joke funny…”  That was enough to make me laugh. Good stuff and not so subtle reinforcement of his message–don’t we all wish it was that easy?

Anyway, the time came where he started picking kids. “You there in the red shirt.” “That young boy there with the Star Wars shirt on.” (Note for aspiring Padawan parents: it seems your odds to be picked as a Padawan increase exponentially if you have proven your worth by purchasing and wearing officially licensed merchandise.) “And you there Miss, in the pink shoes.”  He made one last sweep over to my boy’s corner where Evan was gallantly waving his hand at the most feverish pace I’d ever seen. He stood on his toes as tall as he could and with all his spirit and might, he did his absolute best to capture the attention of the sole determiner of fate. Could my son try any harder? Could he reach any higher? Could he wave his hand faster? Could he say ‘Oh, oh, oh, ew, ew, ew..pick meeee’ any better?

Blam! “You there, the eager one, in the skeleton gloves and long-sleeved blue shirt.”

He got picked. Immediately after the Jedi said, “Thank you but we have all the trainees that we need for this session. Do not be discouraged but support your fellow Padawans on their journey to become a Jedi.” He had been picked, for the love of Jar Jar’s death…he had been picked!

My boy went on to let go of his conscious self and act on instinct. He learned to ‘unlearn what he had learned.’ Okay, enough of the quotes– he did end up fighting Maul and won (perhaps Mr. Maul may have been going only 75% but who’s counting?).

In retrospect, I think we both learned a lesson that day. And that is, sometimes we do have to be out front and grabbing the attention of those whom we are trying to reach. That doesn’t mean we have to step on others, do something that brings shame or offend others, or create a Superbowl commercial-esque type of campaign every time we want to say something, but it does mean that we have to be noticed sometimes, and by the right people.

This notion is echoed by Simon Cowell on American Idol. He occasionally makes the comment that some people are forgettable during their audition despite the fact they can sing well. On the other hand, some people get their 15 minutes simply because they got noticed..and were memorable.

So, in trying to grab someone’s attention,  win a new client, get a job…etc., we should never underestimate the power of simply getting noticed.  Once we are in, well… then it is all about results.

“Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you’ve never been hurt and live like it’s heaven on Earth.”

— Mark Twain