| Subject: Promotion of shows/ feedback |
Author:
Coral McKendrick
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Date Posted: Tuesday, January 25, 12:13:25am
Well, here I am, fresh back from the Town Hall meeting, and if even half the ideas proposed come to fruition, we'll be in good shape.
I committed to lending my skills to the communications and promotions front. On that note, I think it's important to start touting upcoming programming asap.
One thing I thought might be viable would be to apply The Jenny Revue to both promoting and talking about events and issues at the Gas Station Theatre.
The Jenny Revue is a publication which was created in the early days of The Winnipeg Fringe Festival for the purpose of promoting all the artists at the Fringe during a time when the main stream media paid attention only to those productions that came from out of town. Beginning as 4 pages of text and cartoons, The Jenny evolved into an multi issue, 8-12 page half-tab with photos and ads accompanying the Buzz, Shameless Self Promotions, and letters, becoming a free forum for both Fringe participants and their audience. 2004 marked our 13th year at the Fringe, so it is a name and a format with which many local, national and international theatre, dance, and improv/comedy companies are familiar. It also has its own website.
The Jenny Revue was also used as promotional tool for Venue VIII in the early 90's. We produced a monthly paper with feature articles on upcoming productions and fund raisers at the venue, along with comments, reviews, etc., from anyone who cared to contribute. In those days, we had no advertising base and the distribution was strictly in house.
I propose that we could do something similar with the GST. I have talked to various of the Jenny staff and contributors who were enthusiastic. I'm sure they could be counted upon to generate some content in terms of interviews and features of upcoming events, along with, of course, promotional materials from the producing companies, and imput from OVCC members and event goers.
We could put a box in the GST lobby to solicit comments, reviews, suggestions, etc., from those attending events at the theatre (giving them an added reason to hang around post-show, patronizing the bar). People can also email written contributions, photos, etc., either to me or through the web site.
The Jenny Revue is entirely advertising funded. Currently we do not have a base of advertisers in the Osborne Village, and would need some sort of help in getting some momentum going there.
Distribution could be to all OV businesses who would allow for the paper to be picked up by their customers, and to the Universities, RRCC, and to lobbies of those local apartment complexes who would allow us to leave copies in the lobby for their residents.
We also have connections to a print broker who can either target market a specific area (ie/ an issue with a feature on a new play by a Maples area theatre group could be targeted to the Maples area), or blanket market the paper. This is done by combining it with other home delivered publications (ie/ Free Press, Metro, Flyer delivery).
We think the idea has merit, and is fraught with possibility. We have the experience, the expertise, and even the format and website in place. We would need some help in the ad sales and distribution areas, to get it going as a GST promotional vehicle and free forum.
It would allow us to raise the profile of the theatre and its programs, inform the public about scheduled events and allow for lots of imput from the community.
So there's the idea. Any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Coral McKendrick
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