8/4/2019 State of the Arts Topic 6: I believe that the Art we
create has more and wider appeal than the existing audiences in
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Discussion Report
#6
Topic-IbelievethattheArtwecreatehasmoreandwiderappealthan
theexistingaudiencesindicate.Giventheerosionoftraditionalmediaho
canwecollectivelyreachnewaudiences.
Initiator-RoySurette
ANDHowdowecometoabetterunderstandingofhowtousenewtechnologiestoboth
manage,marketandreachnewaudiencestosustainartisticexcellence.JohnHobday
Participants-Janeneedles,JohnHobday,LaradeBeaupre,PaulFlicker,DianeIsabelle,Kate
Wisdom,LoriSchubert,oneother(?)
DiscussionKeyPoints
-A
Toreplacemediaadvertisingbecauseitistoocostlyanddoesnotreachthetargetnaymore
Newwaysfortheatrestohavevisibility:EG:GeurillatheatreinNYSubway.Promolive10-20
minexcerptsonthestreet,intheshoppingcentres,intheMetro.Notveryeffectiveasthe
environmentisnotsuitedtomanyshows.(noise,traffic,uglysurroundingsetc).Busking.
Emailisthoughttobesaturated.Dopeoplereadtheannouncements.Iftheyarenotprioritized
theymightbeoverlooked/flushed.
Facebookiswheremosteventorganizersreachtheiraudiences.Doesnotreachtheover40
crowd.Canbeeffectiveespeciallyinruralsituation.
QDFhasadailyupdate.AlsohasageneraltheatrecalendarforallMTLandregionstheatre
productions.Fulltimejobtoupdate.Wouldtherebeaneedforaculturalcalendarononesite
forallQCevents?
WherecantouristsfindoutaboutwhatisoninEnglish?
Voir/Hourlistingsforculturalagenda
Onceanewaudiencememberhasseenashowtheywillbeonamailinglistforanewsletter.
Lesslikelynowtosubscribethanbefore.
Segaltheatrewilldistributeticketsfreetonewfirsttimeaudiencemembers
MarketinginUSisverytenacious.Weshouldfollowthatmodeltosignupnewaudiences.
Onewaytodevelopaudienceistosolicitinterestgroupstobuildupafollowing.
Alltheprofessionalcompaniescouldcometogethertodiscussaudiencedevelopment.
LinkwithCEGEPscouldbeimproved.MostCEGEPtheatrestudentsonlynamedonetheatrein
MTL.Centauroffersfreeticketsbuttheydonotusethem.
FrenchhighschoolsandCEGEPsaremorelikelytocomeinagroup.Thestudentspay$15ticket.
8/4/2019 State of the Arts Topic 6: I believe that the Art we
create has more and wider appeal than the existing audiences in
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Discussion Report #6 p. 2
Audiencegenerally70-30%someshowsare80-20%Engtofrratio
CulturalDiversityaudienceswillcometoashowwheretheircommunityisthesubjectofthe
play.EG:Italiancommunity.Donotsubscribeafterthatvisit.
Demographicchallenge:30-50agegroup.Thisgroupwillgotobignameshowsorhockeyand
pay$150plusforaticket.Theydonotattendplays.
Ishavingastarnameanoption:ThisworksverywellinfrancophoneQCbecausetheyinvented
thestarsystem25yearsago.HowevertheCanadianTVstarsystemdoesnottranslatetoEnglish
communityinQC.
RecognitionofourEnglishactorsisnon-existent.
Timesofperformances
Forpeoplefromthesuburbs,wouldmorematineesbeuseful?Showat7pm?
SomeFrenchshowsarecancellingSaturdaynightduetotravelbacktosuburbsLasttraintoWestislandleavesat9.15pm
Thegroupallagreedthatyouhavetoeducatechildrenbytakingthemtothetheatre.Youcan
alsohaveshowsgotoschoolsespeciallyinruralareaswherethereisnotheatre.Govtfunds
shouldbeavailableforboth.
Isthereapossibleinfluenceoffilmforlivetheatreaudiencedevelopment.Discussionprosand
cons.
Challengeisthe30-50demographic
Loriremarkedthatthereisadeclineofintellectualism.Thisissimilarintheliteraryworld.
TheRegions.ThereisademonstratedneedforculturetotourtheregionsofQC.350,000Eng.
Speakerslivingintheruralregions.QDFTouringprojectwilladdressthisneedandwilladviseon
thecostsforbringinglivetheatretotourtheregions.Therearenofundsforthis.
WestIslandaudiencemembersdoattendfringetheywillstayforthedayandsee6shows.
Centaurhasseenthesamefundingsince86sohaveabsorbedtheinflationetc.
Howdoweaddressthefuturecutsofapossible10%infunds.Cutstocast-2-3castmembers.
Nolargeshows.Wehavetodevelopastrategytoattractnewmemberstotheatres.
