A CPA friend pointed out that moving targets are harder to shoot. A small gem of wisdom for those of us on the move and trying to get something done. No comment on the “shooters” I’m avoiding.
What I find interesting and compelling in a very kooky way, is the challenge of building a community that values the work we’re trying to do. While avoiding the shooters (could be the task of proofing a grant, writing copy for a subscriber newsletter, or filing the 6 inches of stacked rehearsal/finance/box office reports spread across my desk) I’m drawn to a variety of thinkers ranging from Seth Godin (writer/speaker) to ArtsJournal bloggers to the NY Times. While I’m drawn like a moth to the flame when they invoke new technologies, it’s really about 2 changes: the tastes, impulses and interests of Gen & Y (our next wave of attendees) and the sheer chaos in strategies/tools to keep the public informed and engaged.
Do you Twitter? Do you have Picasa or Flickr accounts? Presumably you do Facebook or Myspace and texting is something you can do without looking at your phone’s keyboard, right? Did you write a review for Yelp on your favorite theatre in Seattle (hint) …or Washington, DC, LA, Chicago or Philadelphia? What blogs do you subscribe to?
The rules of engagement have changed – again. Or maybe it’s the definition of social interaction. For those of us who remember gas costing less than a dollar (or how about under 30 cents?!), our protocols of meeting friends for dinner and a show have changed and there’s no going back. The newspaper is an irrelevant source of information; heck, I get a morning paper on the West Coast and the East and Europe have been awake and working for hours and hours. So I go online for a restaurant’s review and address, buy theatre or movie tickets, and get driving directions — all from my smartphone. Does this energize you or give you a headache? (I could probably guess your “generation” by your reaction.)
Back to the Theatre. As theatre artists we move somewhat slowly and methodically – I can’t download the script and staging into the actors’ brains. But behind the scenes in the world of marketing, press releases, websites and audience services we do move at 100 mph so that we can get audiences in the door to sit for for two hours in the dark –> and to slow down, laugh, ponder, cry and celebrate the frail and humble live performance of a story. And somehow, amidst the clatter of a wired world, we find the souls who want to stay. The ones who want to be part of the Taproot Theatre audience and family, returning to be filled like a thirsty traveller needing a cool drink on a hot journey. I like them.
My view from Seattle: theatre, life, soul and stuff. 