Austin Improv

I have some free time tomorrow evening if people want to meet to tentatively discuss advertising goals and objectives. Say 7:15 to 8:15 at the Hideout?

It would be a less formal advertising meeting to discuss what job positions we want to form and what projects we want to take on. We can also begin making our quarterly goals document. We'll take stock of where we stand, what resources and manpower we have and then how we want to redeploy them.

I know this is late notice and I may be able to meet again on Monday at the same time if that works better for people.

Monday would work better for me. I'm attending the 6 degrees rehearsal.

I don't think I'm officially on your committee... but I'd attend this or some future meeting if this didn't conflict with Shana's longform class that I'm taking.

-Mike

It is all open and anyone can participate on the level they want to. So, in a way, we're all on the committee. Though, I do want people to step-up and take on more specific "official" commitments.

Would Mondays work better? That is the proposed alternative time.

Howsabout Monday at 6:00 or 6:15? I teach a class at 7:00, but would like to attend.

Ok, so it seems like tonight's attendance would be small, so let's aim for Monday. 6:30 to 7:30. Hideout.

Bump

Tonight: 6:30 - 7:30/8:00

Advertising Meeting: 2/12/07
Hideout Theater
Attendees: Andy Crouch, Wesley Bain

Results:

Andy and I basically talked about the concpet of putting butts in the seats and things that we knew worked as starting places (such as word of mouth, e-mailings, and articles/listings in the papers). This dominated the cnversation.

1) Create official positions within the advertising committee
STATUS: Ongoing

One of my chief desires is to create several positions that would allow people more creative control of their area and give a focused leader to each area so that people aren't pulled in so many directions.
Positions might include:
First Thursday Coordinator, Flyering Coordinator, Special Events Liason, Online Coordinator, Media Relations, and Commmunity Outreach/Relations. Details are still being worked out. If you have a desire to lead any area, listed here or one of your own, PLEASE contact me.


2) Create Specific Goals for the Advertising Committee
STATUS: Ongoing

Another objective is to create specific goals for the committee that the entire community could see and help with/hold us accountable to. It would add transparancy to the committee's objectives.
We want goals of this nature to be quarterly. So, we'll have a short list to get us through March and then publish a list for April-June.
Sample goal ideas include:
Putting "x" number of videos on YoutTube (start with 1 a month), flyering every 1st Thursday, flyering 3 special events (1 a month), gathering resource information for the New troupe Resource page, Creating an AIC centralized media location online for pictures (including a media-specific location for high-res images for papers and reviews), hold at least one roundtable a month, etc.
We'll work on getting a finalized list out soon (through March), but not a lot can be done if we don't get manpower.


3) Roundtable discussions
STATUS: Ongoing

The idea is to hold at least one, open, roundtable discussion per month on topics such as flyer design best practices, media relations, building your troupe website, applying to festivals and travel, etc.
Asaf is interested in holding the first one on flyer design very soon, so keep an eye out for details.


4) Getting Butts in Seats
STATUS: Always Ongoing

Andy and I spoke about what postitively was proven to work as far as getting butts in seats. We came up with:
Articles/reviews/listings in papers
Word of Mouth
E-mail lists
Personal Connections with potential customers
Personal Connections with other artistic communities
Personal Connections with media

As for papers, we just need to work our connections more and make sure people are informed of what we are doing. We are also gathering information on community calendars so that people can go update their own show statuses.
For word of mouth, Andy is going to write up a hosting guidelines/best practices document that focuses some on asking customers to remember the shows, talk about the shows, and come back. Also, we will begin encouraging people to connect more with audience members who are leaving (particularly those that seemed to have a great time).
E-mail is still a sticky-wicket and we are working on ways to capture e-mail, phone numbers, and physical mail addresses.
Personal connections just need to happen. We need to be more aggressive in making friends with our customers. To this end, we also want to move to "reestablish" the idea of a set hang-out bar (Opals) and tell the crowd after every Maestro that that's where we're going and encourage them to come along.

Other topics that were discussed include:
The informal class proposal/initative (I will be following up with the next steps and contacting the current teacher with information on the AIC)
Gathering grant information
Gathering information on getting listed in tourist guides/at tourist places like the convention center
Finishing the Special Events list for flyering opportunities
Building the New Troupe Resource page
Getting a handle on/control of the monthly/quarterly advertising budget and planning how to use it.
Sending out a PSA
Thinking on the message we use to sell the AIC and our shows.

The main thing we need from people right now is manpower and dedication ot making the AIC grow. PLEASE contact me if you are interested in helping in any capacity.

Wes and Andy, thank you soooooooo much for having this meeting. I am very sorry I couldn't attend. While I'm tempted to take on more work I am aware that's not the smartest thing to do.
I'm more than happy to coordinate fundraising efforts with special events pr and also community outreach. I've got skills in all areas but there is only so much time to do things.
Community outreach seems pretty darn important. I'm hoping we see a bunch of people pony up for the SafePlace walk/event that Ted posted about.
XO