Social Media Is All About Relationships

May 23, 2009 by  

“However, the main source of return from social media simply isn’t quantifiable. We’re talking about trying to quantify human interaction and communication.” – Technology in the Arts

A must read for anyone working with Social Media, Rethinking ROI for Social Media

Filed under: Social Media, Web 2.0
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First New York Theater Bloggers Social

April 10, 2009 by  

Ken Davenport of Davenport Theatrical is hosting the first New York theater bloggers social. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend as April is shaping up to be a busy month for me as I wrap up my final semester at NYU. I am excited this conversation is happening and look forward to future events.

FIRST THEATER BLOGGERS SOCIAL
Thursday, April 23rd.
6 PM – 8 PM
Planet Hollywood
Broadway at 45th St.

More and more people seem to want to enter the dialogue of where theater and social media can meet. In the recent issue of American Theatre magazine Diana Paulus talks directly about how American Repertory Theatre is going to work with social media. What do you think about Paulus’ comments? Does it seem like it is taking the next step from the live twitter feed that happened at Portland Center Stage?

As the new artistic director of American Repertory Theatre, I am grappling with questions that many theatrical institutions around this country are asking: Why are we losing our audiences, and why aren’t new audiences coming to the theatre? It is common to explain these trends by pointing to the changing world outside the theatre: Video games and interactive digital technology have shortened attention spans, and have therefore changed our audiences’ appetite for theatre; how can we possibly compete, given the multitude of entertainment choices available in our world? Even worse, perhaps audiences have lost interest in “culture.” The problem with these explanations is that they blame the audience. I believe the responsibility lies with the people who create theatre. Could it be that as arts producers, we are failing to provide a theatrical experience that values the audience’s engagement and empowerment? If we want to truly broaden our penetration into the culture at large, we have to concentrate our attention on the total arts experience for our audiences.

This is an idea that I have been passionate about in my own work as a director, and it will be the focus for A.R.T. as we move forward in the 21st century. Our new initiative, “Experience A.R.T.,” seeks to revolutionize the theatre experience through a sustained commitment to empowering the audience. This audience-driven vision will completely transform the way we develop, program, produce and contextualize our work. A new allocation of A.R.T. resources will give equal importance to the social aspects of theatre and the potential for a full theatre experience, including interaction and engagement before, during and after the production. A.R.T. will be the first theatre in the country that has a club venue as its second stage. Club Zero Arrow will be a unique environment that will foster the development of work that encourages a whole new relationship with the audience. Club Zero Arrow will be the venue where cell phones can be turned on. People will be told from the get-go that they are allowed to participate as they would at a rock concert or a sports event—capturing images, making videos and recordings, using Twitter, sending text messages while they are experiencing the event, and then sharing their responses with friends on networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. Club Zero Arrow will promote an open-source culture in which creative content (such as video footage, audio clips, photographs and other forms of creative commentary) can be generated and shared, making the events more accessible and widely distributed. I believe that if theatre is to remain a vital art form, it must give audiences a voice, a sense of ownership and a feeling of importance in the theatrical event.

Filed under: New York, Social Media, Theater/Theatre, Web 2.0
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Book Review: Advertising 2.0 – Social Media Marketing in a Web 2.0 World by Tracy L. Tuten

January 20, 2009 by  

Advertising 2.0: Social Media Marketing in a Web 2.0 World is a comprehensive look into the new models of advertising for business-to-business and business to consumer organizations. The book highlights specific companies and how through their use of the various modules, were able to create online relationships with current and future customers.

It is no surprise that advertising has changed drastically. Tracy L. Tuten, author and Associate Professor of Marketing at Longwood University, introduces the readers to the shifts through the emergence of social networking, virtual worlds, blogs, and online games. She clearly explains that companies must change tactics if they want to compete in 21st century advertising. She urges a thought shift away from advertising being viewed as one-way communication and towards what is called Brand Engagement.

Brand Engagement can happen on many different levels and in many different ways. Advertising 2.0 demonstrates best practices from the most popular social media websites while exploring methods that can take your company to the next level. While the book covers what might be considered obvious social media companies like MySpace and Facebook, it also has companies consider other means of building online relationships through consumer reviews and brand sponsored alternative reality games. By also considering social news communities and marketing a company can create an online word of mouth that becomes viral and grows on its own.

If you are new to social media marketing, this book will help you learn the basic vocabulary as well as introduce many different options a company can consider in determining the type of online marketing will be the most benefit.

Table of Contents:
1: Advertising Online: Engaging Consumers with Web 2.0
2: Socialcentricity and the Emergence of Social Media Marketing
3: Friendvertising: Advertising and Brand Building with Social Networks
4: Advertising in the Imagination: Social Virtual Networks and the “Vlobalization” of Brands
5: From Moments to Minutes: Advertising with Social Play
6: Influence the Influencers: Building Brands with Social News Media
7: Citizen Advertising: Consumer-Told Brand Folklore
8: In My Opinion: The Social Influence of Consumer Product Reviews
9: Social Fiction: Branding with Alternate Reality Games
10: Ads in Play: Immersing Brands In and Around Social Games
11: Social Media Impact: Balancing Metrics and Insight for Advertising Success

(This review was originally published on Blogcritics.)

Filed under: Books, Social Media, Web 2.0
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Live Twitter Feed from Portland Center Stage Performance

January 18, 2009 by  

Last night Portland Center Stage invited 30 of their closest Twitter friends to join them in a live twitter feed during the performance of Apollo.  This brought up the discussion of the idea of immediate feedback and audience polling by some in the #theatre twitgroup.  @SMLois liked the idea, but was not sure that most of her audience members has ever heard of Twitter.  @LondonTheatre suggested giving the tweeters a theme or direction, or even possibly involving them in performance.  Could this be a new way to get the allusive teens/20-something population back to the theater?

PCS has to be commended for trying new and different approaches in advertising and connectivity in a economy where more and more people are not spending money on non-essentials.  The tweets from Act I are nothing special and in fact a little boring.  You can try your luck with Act II or Act III. (LondonTheatre is right, their should have been a staff member as a moderator asking questions about the show to the audience members) The idea is something that should be discussed and used as a building block for future attempts in how theaters can use social media to connect to audiences and the greater communities.

Alison Hallett, from the Portland Mercury, did a liveblog during the event.  While she cuts the blog at intermission claiming, “This blog post is worthless.”, commenter @agoodhusband writes, “This will obviously take some more time to percolate through my brain, but I found the process rather useful. I’ve always been frustrated by the traditional sit in a dark room and don’t respond to what’s happening culture that is our theatre. Shakespeare’s time allowed for people to respond to the show in real time, and for actors to directly address audience. There needs to be more of that in our time. Twitter allows that to a degree. There were some useful thoughts and insights in other Tweeple’s posts. I will digest them over the next couple of days.”

Filed under: Acting, Social Media, Theater/Theatre, Web 2.0
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100 Best Blogs for Film and Theater Students by BestUniversity.com

January 14, 2009 by  

DENNIS BAKER LLC has been ranked one of the 100 Best Blogs for Film and Theater Students by BestUniversity.com.

The overall list is divided into sixteen categories, like: Screenwriting/Playwriting. Management, Indie Films, Production/Video, Animation, etc. There are only twelve blogs listed in the “Acting and Auditions” section. This means that we are actually in the Top 12 blogs for acting students!

Congrats to my fellow bloggers, there are some great sites on the list.

Filed under: Film, Theater/Theatre, Web 2.0
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Theater as Community | WNYC Leonard Lopate Show

January 9, 2009 by  

Robert Viagas, host of Playbill Radio and editor of The Playbill Broadway Yearbook, and Sandra Gibson, president and CEO of Arts Presenters, the national service organization for performing arts presenters, was interviewed today on the Leonard Lopate Show about the scheduled closings of many broadway shows this month.

What caught my ear most was Gibson’s comment on theater as community.   She uses the example of Suzie Lori Parks being a resident playwright at the Public Theater. Parks wrote her first play in five years during the first six weeks of that residency.  Gibson says this is “because she was linked in a different way to the community there”.  She wants to see a re-thinking of how to sustain artists in this capacity.  Also she is working with theaters to facilitate action that further connects the audience to the artist and show people the developmental process of the work.

I think the residency topic, and how it relates to the community, could be a interview topic by itself.  Writers seems to be the ones who a residency seems to be a natural fit, but how do residencies help connect directors, actors, and technicians to the community? What are some examples of other artist residences that have brought that artists closer to the community?

What about the idea of opening the door to the creative process?  I think this is where theaters can begin to integrate Web 2.0 technology.  By theaters using blogs, pictures and videos audience members can feel that they have a connection to individual artists and the theater as a whole.  California Shakespeare Theater seems to be doing just that.  A look at their home page has links to their facebook, myspace and twitter accounts.  Their blog has numerous contributors ranging from artists, staff and board members.  Do you follow theaters online through these various accounts?  What theaters do you know of that are using Web 2.0 to help connect the organization to the community?

Filed under: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Theater/Theatre, Web 2.0
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Twitter Tools

December 29, 2008 by  

It seems I am not the only one that to spent the holidays exploring Twitter.  The website has gotten so popular that many affiliate websites have popped up that is meant to help enhance your twitter experience.  To continue the Lindsay Price’s comment regarding if Twitter will last, what about all these other twitter tools. It seems like it will be safe to assume that some will not make it through 2009. Do we really need these separate sites? You make the call, check out the below tools to see what sparks your twit taste and pick which one you thing will last. Or is there one that we did not mention. Let us know about it.

Tweetree – @saadkamal points out the biggest compliant about Twitter is that the conversations are hard to follow.  As you can see by my Tweetree image below, all the conversations are line up so you can keep an easy track of who is responding to who.  It will also upload pictures and video so you don’t have to click the link.

TwellowHood – @problogger mentions a site to find your local twitter peeps. Do you want to gossip about your senator, or want to let everyone in on the best coffee shop in town? One can also update their profile. My twitter profile was already listed and I was able to update my new twellow profile with all my networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg & Stumpleupon. You can also look up people by specific interests. This might be a good way to boost up your follows. If you are active on Twitter, and follow a lot of people within your area of specialty, they will usually follow you back.

TwitArt & MyTweetSpace – Another way to let people know what you are about it a personalized background. This also helps you stand out when people I looking through the list of emails and deciding who they want to follow. If you have any web design experience you can create a simple HTML file, preview it in a browser, save it as a JPG and upload it to your Settings. If you want a customized background and willing to pay for it, TwitArt is for you. If money is tight MyTweetSpace offers free background templates. They are pretty simple three step process: 1. Select your background, 2. Fill in your information and network links to create your badge, 3. Upload the file.

Others Twitter Tools to Explore

Tweetburner – twurl statistics

Brabblr – With Brabblr, you can post to all your micro blogging services including Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, Tumblr, Jabber, Frazr, and more.

Autopostr – This service lets your friends in Twitter know when you post a new picture on Flickr.

EmailTwitter – With this service, you can send tweets to Twitter from your cellphone without incurring SMS charges.

GroupTweet – Allows you to post private message to a group of Twitter friends.

Hashtags – You can add tags to your Twitter posts with this service.

HelloTxt – This service enables you to update Twitter, a host of other micro blogging sites, and social networking sites with one click.

LinkBunch – Need to share more than one link in a tweet? LinkBunch puts together all the links and provides you one link that you can share on Twitter. As you might have understood, this can be used not just with Twitter, but also with emails, IMs, SMS, etc.

LiveTwitting – Helps you cover a conference live on Twitter. Similar to liveblogging, only cooler.

MicroRevie – Post reviews on twitter accs and this service will turn them into microformats.

Mobypicture – A service to post to your blog and micro-blogging sites like Twitter through your mobile phone.

OutTwit – A tool for Outlook that will send the latest tweets from your friends as incoming email messages.

SecretTweet – Post to Twitter anonymously. If you really need to.

SnapTweet – Allows you to post your Flickr pictures to Twitter.

Snitter – an Adobe AIR based desktop client for Twitter compatible with Mac and Windows. The Linux version is in testing.

More tools @ Twitter Toolbox

Filed under: Social Media, Web 2.0
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Why I Use Twitter

December 26, 2008 by  

With some time off from school I have been updating my Web 2.0 life. One thing I have been playing with is twitter. I initially did not get the website enough credit. It has been great to connect to the broader theater world. Through the help of Simon Ogden, @thenextstagemag, he set up a Twitter Group for theater people to share their websites and profiles.

This also correlated with me catching up on this season of Heroes. David Lawrence XVII, who guest stars, is a professional contact as we were in the same networking group at the Actors’ Network a few years back (it was right before I moved to New York, so it was a brief encounter) and we also worked with the same, now defunct, theater company. Once I found David on twitter, @dhlawrencexvii, that led me to see that two actors from Heroes are regular twitters, @greggrunberg & @breagrant. Grant is a tech savy, web 2.0 guest star who is also guest starring and blogs, while Grunberg is a familiar regular.

Laura Fitton sees Twitter as a village, which sounds very appealing. She says in the post, “It takes a village – a critical mass of interesting people – to read and write to. When my brain started to connect with the brains (and hearts) of others, it got really, REALLY cool for me. You may be looking for like minds, or you may want to be totally shaken up by new ideas. Both work. One day I suddenly realized this was, for me, tribe-finding. For arguably the first time in my life I didn’t feel as weird and different.” As a freelancer one who has his hands in many different areas of work, twitter allows me to bring all those people into one place. I can get information about what is going on in the theater world, while reading about the latest twittip from Darren Rowse, @problogger, and keep a beat on the people I met from Cal Shakes in Berkley, @calshakes. Why do you use Twitter?

Filed under: Social Media, Web 2.0
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