Picture power takes Lincolnshire Freemasonry to Wembley Stadium-sized audience
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More people than Wembley Stadium’s whopping 90,000 capacity have seen an historic Facebook post featuring a picture created by Lincolnshire Freemasons – and the number just kept on rising, topping out at a little over 102,500.
Taken just outside the Grand Temple at the December Quarterly Communications meeting in Freemasons’ Hall, the picture has achieved Lincolnshire’s best-ever engagement features on social media.
Says Provincial Communications Officer Stuart Pearcey: “The numbers haven’t leapt into the millions that we’d need to claim it really had gone viral, but it nevertheless got close to six figures in half a dozen days – an unusually large audience reached very quickly – and were very proud of that!”
In the picture were the Province’s round-Britain walker Chris Jones and his tent, supported by most of the Lincolnshire brethren who’d travelled to the meeting including Provincial Grand Master Dave Wheeler, his Deputy John Crutchley, and APGM David Bird.
Chris has set himself the target of raising £100,000 to support the Freemasons’ charity the MCF with a trek of at least 7,000 miles around the entire coastline of the UK, and was the subject of a major feature in Freemasonry Today only days before the meeting.
Dave Wheeler said that having the picture taken was important to mark the milestone of Chris being there to highlight his charity endeavour.
He said: “It’s not that we’re in any way competitive in Lincolnshire, but we were pleased that the Pro Grand Master was able to highlight to the meeting that ours was the best-represented Province on the day, and that Chris was with us, seated in our Province’s now-traditional spot in the south-west corner of the Temple.
“And when was the last time you saw a tent outside the Grand Temple? The numbers achieved by this post undoubtedly make it the most-viewed one arising from the meeting,” he added. “Attending a QC meeting is a thoroughly rewarding day out, and I’d recommend anyone who’s yet to experience it to make the effort to do so.”
The Province’s Facebook guru Simon Noden, who took the picture, said: “I thought we’d created a monster by Saturday morning when the number of people we’d reached topped 50,000 less taken less than 72 hours after posting it. I had no idea we’d get anywhere close to doubling that, but that’s what happened.”
Stuart Pearcey added: “The way the picture’s composed has had a great bearing on its success. That it’s taken from an unusual angle arrests the eye, and that helped us to ensure the people in the shot were all visible to Simon, who had gone up onto the balcony to get the best vantage point. We’d arranged with our brethren to hang back in the Temple until the crowds had thinned, and then they came out for the picture. It took only a few seconds to capture the shot, but the effort has been well worth it.
“There must have been a significant number of potential new members amongst those who’ve seen the picture, and we hope it prompts them to come forward and talk to us about the benefits of membership, which they can explore at this link.”
