It is the first time that I have complete oversight of the marketing portion of an event.
It is a challenge as we have a minimal budget and the fact that the group, which is well known in Cambridge and Somerville, will be performing in a better known space (The Boston Playwrights' Theater, where they have no real name recognition.
Like many of these ventures, my best friends are checklists, resource identification, thinking creatively and touching base.
-Checklists help you not only to stay on task, they help you create opportunities.
-Resource identification on a shoestring is so important. Everything and Anything is a resource. For this company, resources have been coworkers (members of this group work 9-5 jobs), sites like facebook and twitter, other theater companies, basements, churches, and universities.
-Thinking creatively comes in handy when it comes to finding different audiences to promote an event like this. For example, this theater is a part of a university that will be in the midst of students returning to school or attending school for the first time. Often times visiting parents and families are looking for entertainment nearby, especially when they are new to the city.
-Touching base should never be forgotten. The people you work for want an accounting of what you've done, what your impact is and how it's all ROI (return on investment). You want to make sure that you are providing all that as well as uncovering any new resources they may have and identifying ways they can assist in the goal to fill seats and create buzz.
Less than a month to go and it hasn't been incredibly easy, but we will get there and it will be worth the trip.