The Magic of Social Media

I am one of three Artistic Directors of a small, growing theatre company, the Independent Drama Society. (Yes, one of three Artistic Directors. It’s weird, I know. But that’s sort of how we roll.) I don’t intend this post to be a plug for my company, so I’ll just keep it short and say that we started producing plays in 2007, have done 4 shows in a legitimate theater, and registered as an organization with the government more recently than I’d like to admit. Although I’ve been with the company since the inception, I only began leading in any sort of capacity when I was suddenly thrust into the role of Marketing and Public Relations Director after the girl who had previously been doing that stuff left the group.

This is where I shamefully admit that I have no knowledge of marketing or public relations.

Okay, maybe I should be a little nicer to myself: I have no formal knowledge of marketing or public relations.

I have never taken a business course in my life. I was an English major for two years at Boston University and was too busy reading Plato and Dante and Shakespeare and writing papers about the motifs Ibsen uses in A Doll’s House. During the 5 seconds I was considering a Communications major, I sat in on a Public Relations course and wanted to kill myself. So when I suddenly found myself in this new and intimidating role, I had to scramble. It’s been a lot of learning-by-doing, and while there have been a a lot a few bumps along the way, I am starting to feel pretty good about the work I’m doing for this company.

I’ve been Marketing and Public Relations Director for about 5 months now (wow… it seems much longer), and I have to say that the biggest learning experience for me has been this blog. I guess it’s just astounding to me how easy it’s been to connect with people via the Internet. I know; the Internet’s been around how long and I’m just figuring this out? I’ve known of the Internet’s capabilities, but I I’d never really experienced them before. I’ve written two posts here and already I’ve connected with several Boston theatre companies, including Theatre on Fire, the Merrimack Repertory Theatre, and the American Repertory Theatre–all through the magic of social media. A couple of posts on Twitter and suddenly my blog had 100 hits on its first day–and I have to say, I was one of those people who vehemently resisted Twitter at first, so I was pleasantly surprised when it helped me in this way.

I recently had a conversation via email with the Bill Bradshaw, General Manager of the Publick Theatre, which is one of the theatre companies in residence at the Boston Center for the Arts. Very daringly (perhaps too daringly?), I sent the company an email about my blog and inquired into the possibility of discount or comp tickets to their current production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Bill shot me an email back pretty quickly, and I am happy to report that he seemed delighted about the idea of creating a relationship. In his email, he mentioned that the Publick has recently been trying to push information about cheaper pricing options for students. Apparently, students can get 1/2 price rush tickets at the door the night of a performance, an opportunity that I was not aware of–and I’d been looking for it. If I didn’t know about this option, imagine how the student masses who hardly go to the theatre are fairing.

The arts community is a small one that is constantly aching for support. If you love the arts, there is a very easy way to help. Quit abusing the Mafia application on Facebook and mention your favorite theatre company in your status. Log into Twitter, do a search for your favorite play, and re-tweet anything anyone is saying about it. You’ll be surprised at how quickly the word can spread.

So here I am, doing my part: show up at the Boston Center for the Arts with cash in your hand and purchase 1/2 price student rush tix for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which is playing through Saturday, October 24th. I’ll be seeing the show tonight; check back soon for a review.

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