Twitter / $25 Gift Card

How much if at all do you use Twitter? Help out a promising grad student and take a very short survey. Also there is a chance to win a $25 Best Buy Gift Card.

Take the two minutes and click the link below and thanks in advance.

twitter survey

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow we will have a great guest blog from Jamie, who is following up with her first guest posting about Capital Fringe. She will be doing a recap about things that did and didn’t work for her.

And since Thursday is Thanksgiving, there will be no postings on Thursday and Friday.

As for the things I am thankful for: I am thankful to all of you who read this blog and share it with your friends and colleagues. The traffic to the blog has really picked up and the thank you notes and emails I get are really motivating.

I want to thank my Dad for creating the “top ten” logo. I want to thank Dave Inman for all the great photos he took of me and how fabulous he made me look. I want to thank Brianna for helping out with editing every now and then, and I want to thank my guest bloggers for really helping make this blog special by bringing your expertise and opinions to the blog. And I want to thank Ken Davenport for posting on his blog a challenge to 'create your own blog,' which actually gave me the push to start writing.

Last but certainly not least I want to thank Clayton Smith, my brilliant editor. Clayton edits the blog everyday without pay and really guides me when I need help with anything to do with social media and websites. He is so smart and after he finishes grad school he will make a excellent manager in some arts organization.

Thank you and have a great Thanksgiving and wonderful weekend.

Ask My Friends - Where Would You Work

Again with the Wednesday series “Ask My Friends.” My friend didn't get his post in on time so I thought I would repost our most popular, "Ask My Friends." This week we go back to my friend Clayton Smith's posting. Clayton is a young and upcoming theatre professional. He received his Journalism degree from University of Missouri, Columbia and is currently getting his Masters in Arts, Entertainment and Media Management from Columbia College Chicago. He is a very bright and really talented writer and marketer. I asked, “If you could work for any theatre in the country after graduate school, what theatre would you choose, and why?”

"Let’s face it; there is a correct answer to this question, and it is “In this economy?! I’ll take what I can get!” But hey, I’m an optimist, and I like to think that in one year, when I strap on my new Master of Arts Management degree, the theatre world will be my oyster. My cautious, just-off-a-hiring-freeze, “please God don’t let that happen to us again” oyster.

(Optimism ain’t what it used to be.)

If I could work anywhere in the world after graduation, it would be…are you ready for this?…St. Louis. Not theatre capital New York, not arts-heavy Chicago, not beautiful, brilliant, captor of my heart Vegas…St. Louis. And not only that, but I’d work for the St. Louis Rep. The REP, for God’s sake, when I could choose any theatre in the country.

Before you decide that life dreams also aren’t what they used to be, bear with me a second.

If you’re not familiar with St. Louis, you’re at least familiar with a city like it…a sizeable metro area with a lot to offer, but still struggling to find a solid identity. The city has been through a lot of changes in the last decade, and one of the most significant is the push for more arts. Independent theatres have sprung up like mushrooms, but they’re struggling. Like so many independent theatres, they produce art for art’s sake, and the would-be patrons, the ones who want to see quality shows selected for them as part of a target market, are being left behind.

On the other hand, St. Louis has the Fabulous Fox Theatre, an enormous, gorgeous Broadway touring house, the theatre that understands the commercial nature of the arts business and attracts crowds because its offerings are safe and familiar.

Then, in the middle, we have the St. Louis Repertory Theatre. Under the direction of artistic genius Steven Woolf, the Rep has managed to bridge the gap between the listless indies and the commercial monolith, offering line-ups that are just this side of mainstream, but doing so with so much talent and solid focus that even the art-wary citizens of the St. Louis area pack the house time and time again. In a city still trying to boost its artistic reputation, the St. Louis Rep is a bright red flag that screams, “Yes, by God, we are here, and we are quality!” It’s an accomplishment you gotta respect.

And that’s what’s important for me. I’m sure I could get a job at other theatres that would pay much better, and who knows, maybe I will…but nothing can replace the idea of working in a theatre that does high quality work to a public that is sometimes ungrateful or, at best, not understanding, a theatre that works diligently and tirelessly because the people there know that there is value in the work they are doing and believe that, with their help, the entire city can be so much more.

Great work with high ideals; sounds like quite the pearl to me."

Project Fringe 10 - Part 4 7.17.09

We are really making progress with Project Fringe. I have a partner in producing this show. His name is Clayton Smith. I have worked with Clayton briefly in producing a reading of one of his plays. Clayton is a bright young grad student in Chicago. He has written for this blog, and it is #2 in the top-ranked pages of the blog. Clayton will be heavily involved in the creative aspects of script formation. He will also play a key role in fundraising and marketing.

Speaking of the creative part, I am down to three ideas, though only two of them are fully formed. I want to get a director involved to help choose the piece. There is a local, young director who has assisted on a lot around town and directed a lot of readings and smaller productions. Next season will mark his directing debut of a main stage at a regional theatre in D.C. I won’t reveal his name yet, but he seems interested, and I will let you know once we move forward.

So a partner is attached, and a director and script are getting closer. Now to work on a marketing plan and budget with my partner Clayton. Stay tuned to see who will be playing the “director” in this adventure and what script will make the final cut.

THANK YOU!

Happy Memorial Day Everyone. Because of the holiday there will be no regular post but I wanted to thank two people who have improved the blog and I hope to be thinking more of you soon.

First, Dave Inman who took the new picture you see, among many others. He made me look really good and I can’t thank him enough. He doesn’t do this professionally, yet, but he might as well, he has all the right equipment and made me look better than I really did. If you need pictures, for yourself or for a fundraising calendar (wink) let me know and I can see if he is interested. A shoot with him is a blast because he is such a fun guy. Brush up on your old movies first though.

Second, is Clayton Smith who has been editing the blog for me when I write enough in advance that he has time to do so. I am the worst about writing in advance but when I do he really polishes the posts to make them clearer. He is a very smart graduate student in Chicago and will soon be looking for a place in theatre management. I hope we get to work together on something because I really trust his insight and love his creative thinking.

Thanks again for everything guys. You make me look and sound great.