tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546405077556834405.post843802736338367269..comments2023-06-25T04:01:00.577-04:00Comments on Fringe or Die: 5 Ways to Make a Fringe Fan a Fringe FanaticMr. Fringey says:http://www.blogger.com/profile/11604088862319911295noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546405077556834405.post-88164496748984230622009-10-03T10:44:33.632-04:002009-10-03T10:44:33.632-04:00The news about our festival had been out in the pu...The news about our festival had been out in the public for ONE year. It is/was the first time, so, we thought we would have to educate the general public about the fringe. <br /><br />As we got closer we tried to do some promotion as some of the performers did their individual appearances in Libraries, clubs, bars, etc..<br /> <br />In June we had a meeting for performers to get information, PRESS & the public to learn more about Experience Long Island. We videoed it. It is on youtube, so that anyone who missed the LIVE meeting could still get the information. <br /><br />We set up a separate website just for the festival & created an email box specifically to get correspondence. I think not being able to use the word, messed with the promotion.....<br /><br />A month or so before the festival we put the post cards in EVERY library on Long Island. They were distributed to 60 libraries in Suffolk County & 58 in Nassau County.<br /><br />We also did direct mail to 2500 individuals, had them out in display dispensers in the Tilles Center itself, gave packets of postcards to each performer to distribute to their own mailing lists & contacts.<br /><br />We also received a good amount of PRESS in the way of articles before the festival. Also some Verizon Fios 1 spots.<br /><br />In our geographic location, people are very used to festivals, events, fundraisers, they are not impressed, for they do NOT understand. Cutting through the norm to something different will be a long journey, I fear......<br /><br />I don't think many actually grasped what we were trying to do.<br /><br />Not sure about doing it again.....debbydollhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02219765465837760822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546405077556834405.post-76567718116996448422009-10-02T15:44:15.519-04:002009-10-02T15:44:15.519-04:00"When fringe performers hand these types of a..."When fringe performers hand these types of audience members their postcards, advertising their own show, it’s like handing someone a strange reptile with a virus."<br /><br />LMAO!!! This is SO TRUE! It can happen not only at a new Fringe, where the general public hasn't yet become acquainted with "Fringe energy", but also at Fringes that haven't worked to do their own publicity and self-defining in a WIDE radius around their site. Case in point, Calgary, two summers ago. The Calgary Fringe moved to a new neighborhood -- a 'hood that had had VERY mixed feelings about whether they wanted to be the site of a theatre festival -- and trying to flyer in that area was a good way to understand what leprosy feels like. People would look away to avoid eye contact. Mothers whispered to their children, "Don't talk to the lady, honey, she's homeless." I couldn't have gotten rid of my flyers if they were dipped in gold leaf. <br /><br />Your article is great, Slash! Totally on target!!Amyhttp://www.amysalloway.comnoreply@blogger.com