lawvd
Moderator
Registered: 12/01/07
Posts: 26
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| #1 |
This is a place for far-reaching thinking. What would you like
OSHP to look like 10 years from now. Take that and run any
direction you like... be creative! |
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Spoons
Registered: 12/20/07
Posts: 9
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| #2 |
I believe that OSHP needs to focus the next ten years on increasing their audience base 100% by increasing community enthusiasm for the arts, finding out what the community of Oregon would like to see on stage, and finding out what would best sell in the community of Oregon. After all OSHP is Oregon Straw Hat Players, which is a community theater group in Oregon; shouldn’t we “cater” more to the huge potential audience that is right in our own backyard? I believe that OSHP Board of Directors can greatly affect the success of a goal like this by how the board chooses to achieve the goal. I personally really notice that the PAC is only half full or less for most shows I have attended or been onstage for. The seats that are being filled may be paying the bills; however, I believe the growth potential from the local Oregon Community is not effectively being addressed. |
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jenniferreif1
Registered: 12/02/07
Posts: 5
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| #3 |
I agree with the idea of finding out what the community of Oregon would like to see on stage. How we do that, I'm not sure. Maybe a survey filled out by those who attend our shows? There could be a little incentive mixed into actually filling out the survey too - something like free tickets to the next show or a gift certificate to a local business.
I have to be frank, however, the people that we are trying to attract to our productions (the community at large) are most likely not regular theater goers - those people ALREADY attend our shows. While we as a theater group may have splendid ideas about which shows to do, the community at large may not readily recognize the title of the show and choose not to come because of this.
Perhaps our group needs to be more prolific in the community? What I mean is have more opportunities for community outreach. Have some of our actors and others associated with a particular show go to say, a nursing home, or school and just present a snippet of an upcoming show? Or perhaps (and I don't know the legalities here, so if this isn't possible, excuse my ignorance) Take snapshots of various scenes in the show and set that to the backdrop of a song from the show and put that on local cable T.V. access - a commercial, if you will.
As I had mentioned once before, why not do a show with some of the proceeds going toward something like Friends of Autism (my special favorite :0)? The local media would be all over that and we would attract people that normally wouldn't come to a show and would come because it was for a "good cause".
I had also mentioned before about workshops geared toward children as well as children with special needs. I need to think more about the particulars in regard to workshops for kids with special needs, but I think it would be wonderful and a novel idea for our theater group. It would truly mark our theater group as one that in particular promotes theater for EVERYONE. |
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pamelacrary
Registered: 12/02/07
Posts: 13
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| #4 |
Thanks Steve and Jennifer. We definitely want to keep this conversation going...
Visibility within the community and striving for more attendance is not exclusively a board concern, I consider all members an ambassador for our group. Word of mouth is always great publicity and we can all do this.
Many may or may not know that we indeed are trying to become more visible within the community. Not only are we active within local Chamber of Commerce events, we also have a recent history of caroling in December, playing for a senior church group, members singing or playing at local events, having informational tables at Bill's around show times, attending National Night Out, and having a table at the local farmer's market in the summer. We have donated tickets for auctions to benefit early childhood education, and violence against women. Ideas of more opportunities are always welcome.
We have discussed a survey for audience members at our shows, but this again targets the same people that already come to our shows. If we have a drawing for tickets, I am not sure, but there might be gaming licenses we need to be careful of. We did raffle off a set of chairs a few years ago "best seats in the house". Which went well, though nobody asked about it for the next show.
We have also had wonderful publicity within the past year including major newspapers and television coverage, we hope this continues. We do want to keep the community of Oregon at the center of our wheel.
All of these ideas are great. We are looking at ways to incorporate more along with looking at how to go about doing a show for a certain cause. This involves certain licensing agreements that we need to explore more.
It would be nice also to do a food drive and have cast and crew bring in donations while we are rehearsing for those weeks and maybe have a goodwill donation bucket of some sort. But this would also require storage which we really do not have as of yet. We have a group looking at feasibility of having our own property in the future.
With every show there comes licensing agreements. Usually, a show can not be publicized in any part without an agreement to do this. This includes short pieces of a show in front of a small audience or playing music with a copyright.
One of the things I like most about this group is that they do welcome those from surrounding areas who may not have the opportunities OSHP has to offer; and that All are welcomed as a valuable member and part of a growing group from day one.
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Spoons
Registered: 12/20/07
Posts: 9
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| #5 |
Are there records to look back at the last 10 years (or longer) of audience attendance, cast dynamics (cast size, cast age distribution, etc)? It should be possible to extract some reasonable statistics from information like that. It might be a place to start to find out what the community likes to see based on actual numbers. |
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pamelacrary
Registered: 12/02/07
Posts: 13
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| #6 |
I will see what we have, thanks for the suggestion. |
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jenniferreif1
Registered: 12/02/07
Posts: 5
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| #7 |
Hey All!
Remember I was asking all of you about the possibility of doing a production that includes children with special needs and donating some of the proceeds to a local autism support group?
Please, please, please, when you have the time, check out the following website and tell me what you think.
http://www.themiracleproject.org It gives details about workshops to train people on how to put on a production with children with special needs.
Thanks,
Jennifer |
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