Indispensable: How to Become the Company That Your Customers Can't Live Without

Chapter 6. Create Community

Los Lobos

I was waiting at the gate for the LaGuardia to Nashville flight when I noticed a group of guys wander into the area and take seats, obviously waiting for the same flight. Something told me I knew them somehow. Bingo. Los Lobos. The East Los Angeles band best known for their hit song "La Bamba." Which is a shame. That song's not a great representation of the amazing music that this band plays. Los Lobos makes music the likes of which no other band anywhere on this planet or any other can equal in terms of pure heart, soul, and rock and roll pleasure.

I immediately called up my friend Kris Young in Minneapolis. Kris works for the event production company Martin Bastian, and she has worked with Los Lobos on a few occasions. She's a friend and fan of the band. I left her a message that I knew would bring her absolute delight, as she and I, besides being great friends, share that Los Lobos bond.

On the plane, as the band members filed past to take their seats, I just looked up at them and said, "Best band in the world." Smiles broke out among the guys along with a couple of, "Hey, thank you, man," greetings from the band. It made my day.

The next day, at a party at Ruckus Film, a film production company in Nashville, I told my friend, film director Coke Sams, about my Los Lobos encounter. "One of the best concerts I ever went to in my life was Los Lobos at 328 Performance Hall about 10 years ago. They just totally rocked the place," Coke said. We went ...