Sunday, September 26, 2010

The Social Network

The Social Network

If you've clicked onto this particular story thinking you're going to get a review on that brand new film out this weekend, think again.

Sorry. But stick around and continue reading anyway.

Instead of a movie review, I've learned about another new social network. This one is intended as a social media platform that caters to live theatre audiences, while cultivating new ones. Together, the Alliance of Resident Theatres (ART)/New York and TheaterMania.com have launched the New York Theatre Network (NYTN), which officially launches on September 28, but is already live. 

According to media materials provided to me, NYTN will serve as a "multi-prong theatre hub" used as:
An information source, an event site, and a home for social networking, dedicated to deepening the engagement between artists and audiences in the theatre capital of the world.
Think of a compendium of the New York theatre offerings beyond Broadway. True to the mission of ART/New York, NYTN is filled with information about plays, musicals and venues comprising some of the nearly 300 members of ART/New York's Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway community.

To reach those potential audiences that contemplate life beyond Broadway:
NYTN is unique in that it puts both the larger theatre with a sizable advertising budget and the smallest theatre with no advertising budget on a level playing field. As the “MenuPages” of the theatre world, NYTN allows users to browse in multiple ways -- satisfying every appetite. NYTN also allows fans and member theatres to deepen their relationship by interacting through open discussion boards that can be created by the theatre company or the fans. NYTN’s social networking function allows users to see what their friends are sharing and liking and then makes recommendations to users based on their own preferences as well as their friends’. Additionally, users can view videos associated with the shows and purchase tickets to shows through the site.
Personally, some of the best shows I've seen in New York City over the past few years have been those out of the Broadway spotlight. It's encouraging to see an opportunity for those offerings to reach new audiences.

I applaud the combined efforts of ART/New York and Theatermania.com to harness the power of social networking to -- as ART/New York Executive Director Virginia Louloudes has so eloquently stated -- "Bring live theatre back into popular culture ... and demonstrate that theatres are affordable and accessible to everyone."

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).


In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.

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2 Comments:

At 27 September, 2010, Anonymous Timothy Childs said...

This is a terrific idea, but it's only as good as its member theaters/companies. I wonder how it will best Facebook as a successful marketing platform, but I'm certainly interested to see its growth after its launch tomorrow.

- Timothy Childs
http://iblogbroadway.com/

 
At 29 September, 2010, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Timothy, I totally agree with you and hope that member theaters will be keeping their profiles updated regularly. I want this to be my go to site, instead of having to search all over the net for my theater news and info. I think NYTN is less about besting Facebook though, and more about fostering a close knit theater community (and marketing directly to that community). I love that everything will be all in one place, this site could be my dream come true.

 

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