Is tomorrow!
I've seen some folks twitter about e-mails they have received from theater companies, specifically Chicago's experimental theater power-house The Neo-Futurists. Sadly, I haven't seen a whole lot in Chicago's press. Chris Jones' blog has not mentioned anything. Time Out featured Abraham Levitan's collaboration with Dog & Pony. (Kudos to D & P who I worked with in the past.)
What's going on? I know the League hosted a meeting to organize and secured Daley's support - tomorrow is World Theatre Day in Chicago. The last I heard from them was 2 weeks ago.
My two cents: We are missing out on a major collective marketing opportunity, to reach out to people who might not know about Chicago's role in the international theater community.
A friend of mine who now lives in Madrid, commented on the emphasis on World Theatre Day in the city. She sent me one of the posters posted all over the city. When she lived in Chicago she was dragged to all sorts of obligation theater, now she is excited to be in a city celebrating it's theatrical opportunities all month long and especially tomorrow night.
So, in short, if you don't have plans for tomorrow night... Go see some theater! And if you're in Chicago, order a round in honor of being the best theater city in the country. Make sure those around you hear what you're celebrating!
March 26, 2009
March 10, 2009
Don't run after the dog...
This is my own version of a PSA: If you ever get a dog in your life, for whatever reason - companionship, children want one (Obama), accidentally, etc. please remember this.
When your dog gets loose, and it will, don't run after it. Because your dog will think you're playing a game and continue to run around. Or your dog will get scared that it's going to get in trouble and not want to get caught.
Instead very calmly crouch down and call it over with your sweetest "here puppy" voice. Alternately, if that doesn't work, run in the opposite direction calling your dog's name so you know they'll notice you're doing something. I've done both to recapture my dog at different points.
Boomer and I have captured a few runaway dogs in our days walking around Chicago. Yesterday was a puppy, who very nearly got flattened on Addison just west of Western.
When your dog gets loose, and it will, don't run after it. Because your dog will think you're playing a game and continue to run around. Or your dog will get scared that it's going to get in trouble and not want to get caught.
Instead very calmly crouch down and call it over with your sweetest "here puppy" voice. Alternately, if that doesn't work, run in the opposite direction calling your dog's name so you know they'll notice you're doing something. I've done both to recapture my dog at different points.
Boomer and I have captured a few runaway dogs in our days walking around Chicago. Yesterday was a puppy, who very nearly got flattened on Addison just west of Western.
I love stuff like this
This video was forwarded to me by my father yesterday. The e-mail seems to have originated with a friend of his from his trade group, i.e. someone my father's age.
Who isn't going to smile after watching that video? And they totally tied it in to T-Mobile, because they understood that people seeing a random dance party were going to take out their phones and take a picture. T-Modile went to a lot of trouble to make this an international campaign, hiding cameras in order to create a commercial and Youtube video.
This is similar to a local campaign that occurred in Chicago. Meijer is apparently a midwest version of Target. I'd never heard of them until I read a blog about their headless horseman campaign in Chicago.
Meijer wasn't concerned with making a commercial, so they didn't use a lot of cameras to capture reactions. They were concerned with capturing phone numbers and raising awareness. I think they succeeded in that goal.
Who isn't going to smile after watching that video? And they totally tied it in to T-Mobile, because they understood that people seeing a random dance party were going to take out their phones and take a picture. T-Modile went to a lot of trouble to make this an international campaign, hiding cameras in order to create a commercial and Youtube video.
This is similar to a local campaign that occurred in Chicago. Meijer is apparently a midwest version of Target. I'd never heard of them until I read a blog about their headless horseman campaign in Chicago.
Meijer wasn't concerned with making a commercial, so they didn't use a lot of cameras to capture reactions. They were concerned with capturing phone numbers and raising awareness. I think they succeeded in that goal.
March 2, 2009
A great post from Seth Godin
An awesome post from Seth regarding trade guilds.
I have felt similarly regarding the League of Chicago Theaters for many years. The League's most popular program for its members is discounted ad rates. Without fail these have been print ads in Chicago's dying papers. Last year, they finally got radio ad discounts beyond NPR... though I don't think that the radio industry is doing that much better. What about the many blogs that people now use for their news and events? How about Facebook? Or, the CTA (most people still notice ads on buses and trains as long as they are riding them)?
In January the League blogged about Web 2.0. Deb posed a lot of questions and eventually ended with, "Did it sell any tickets?" Can you ever attribute one single part of your marketing campaign as being the pivotal driver for a single ticket purchase? Or do theaters often measure the last impression prior to a ticket purchase, instead of the achievement of the marketing campaign as a whole?
Last week Thomas Cott alerted me to this article from Adage. The largest age group on Facebook is 35-45, even I was shocked! Not only that, the fastest growing age group is 55+. Denying the importance of Facebook and other social networking sites in any sort of community, audience-based industry is going to put you out of touch with your audience. In Kris Vire's words - You Will Die.
I have felt similarly regarding the League of Chicago Theaters for many years. The League's most popular program for its members is discounted ad rates. Without fail these have been print ads in Chicago's dying papers. Last year, they finally got radio ad discounts beyond NPR... though I don't think that the radio industry is doing that much better. What about the many blogs that people now use for their news and events? How about Facebook? Or, the CTA (most people still notice ads on buses and trains as long as they are riding them)?
In January the League blogged about Web 2.0. Deb posed a lot of questions and eventually ended with, "Did it sell any tickets?" Can you ever attribute one single part of your marketing campaign as being the pivotal driver for a single ticket purchase? Or do theaters often measure the last impression prior to a ticket purchase, instead of the achievement of the marketing campaign as a whole?
Last week Thomas Cott alerted me to this article from Adage. The largest age group on Facebook is 35-45, even I was shocked! Not only that, the fastest growing age group is 55+. Denying the importance of Facebook and other social networking sites in any sort of community, audience-based industry is going to put you out of touch with your audience. In Kris Vire's words - You Will Die.
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