Even though he was new to the promotions game, Ivan was no fool. So he pitched his deal.

He said, “I’ll do it, but only if you let me do at least three more events the same way, my door and twenty-five percent of the bar.”

Raymond stopped and thought it over. Three events wouldn’t kill him. And just in case the first one didn’t do the trick, maybe they could use more.

“All right. I can do that,” he agreed.

That sealed the deal. However, Ivan was also skeptical of the crowd that came out to Carol’s in Old Town. An “Old School Eat and Greet Jam in Old Town at Carol’s Soul Food Restaurant” had a ring to it. Old Town was also a centrally located area. But a bar on the southeast side would be different, especially for an after-work crowd. Raymond’s Hot Spot Lounge was more like a Friday night sweatshop, not a meet-and-greet event in business attire. So Ivan had to brainstorm a minute to come up with the correct promotion for it.

After a few hours of writing ideas down and scratching them out over his coffee table, he decided to call it “Old School Jam Part II—A Throwdown at Raymond’s Hot Spot Lounge.” He used the same flyer layout as the first one, but with fiery reds and neon greens and blues to represent the sexy nightlife. Paul drew a new couple in party clothes, dancing with drinks in their hands. He and Jeff also added the tagline “Music by Red Face Lion” for the DJ.

The event was set for “9 o’clock Until You Drop” with a “$10 a Holler” cover charge on a “Friday Night.” The back of the flyer remained the same as the first one: “Who are you? What do you do? Let us know! @ IDPromotions.com.”

It was another attractive and workable flyer. Ivan thought so, and Raymond absolutely loved it. But when Thomas saw it over at the Urban League offices, he felt embarrassed to hand it out. He looked at it, flipped it over a few times, and winced.

“I don’t know about this new flyer, Ivan. It looks like you’re getting a little too, ah…hip-hoppy for the real old school.”

Ivan laughed and remembered how old Thomas was.

“Nah, man, this is a different crowd from an eat-and-greet event at Carol’s. This is a bar on the southeast end, Thomas. I gotta bring it how they’re gonna want it,” Ivan reasoned. He said, “They don’t want to sip no drinks on a Friday night wearing business clothes to a bar in the ’hood. They want to throw the drinks down, party hard, get sweaty, and take somebody home to make a baby.”