Heliopolis - Publicity Behind the Scenes

Do you hear that buzzing sound? It could be the return of bees to your local flower field. It could be the electrical circuits racing through the electric lines above your head. Or it could be people talking about the amazing Heliopolis show that just took place at the small and intimate Randall Museum Theater.

I haven't blogged in a while, so I'll discuss the event production a bit. After conceptualizing the event's theme and general goals, the initial work was securing a venue for the dates of the event and touring the facility, which the Randall Museum graciously arranged with us back in December.The next step was preparing publicity materials, including a press release, locating a graphic designer to make the smooth, eye-catching images for flyers, posters, invitations, and whatever else necessary to make the event look and be appealing to the intended audience.

Identifying the audience was also part of this and can be one of the trickiest parts. We wanted to reach as wide a segment of the population while also paying attention to smaller subcultures. To do this, we used imagery that we thought would appeal to a women as well as men, straight as well as queer. We also targeted advertising in areas of San Francisco and the East Bay where people already interested in circus and dance, whether primarily as watchers or also as performers, were likely to see it. This included eateries in "hip" areas, dance studios, universities, and community centers. We utilized Web 2.0 tools like Facebook and Youtube to help us get the word out to friends and past clients of Gregangelo. In addition, we contacted our press network and received coverage in the local newspapers, as well as very brief notes on television and on the radio.

Once people began buying tickets, we got a better picture of who our audience was and adjusted out marketing approach slightly to reach certain segments of the population, notably other artists and people with Middle Eastern/Mediterranean background or interest. During the last two weeks, we also placed quite a number of telephone calls to friends, work associates, and businesses to encourage the purchase of pre-sale tickets since we preferred to handle as few transactions at the event itself as possible. With her years of subscription sales experience for such notable arts organizations as the SF Ballet and the SF Opera, Lorna Zilba helped us significantly during this aspect.

Thankfully, we did not need to devote much time to recruiting volunteers, partially because the space itself was not very large - a 150-seat theater attached to a small museum. Our existing relationship with FIDM, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandizing, also helped. Most of our enthusiastic volunteers that weekend came from FIDM. Partnerships are indeed important in helping make productions successful.

Photo credit: Holly Stewart. Poster design: Taylor Collins

Oh boy....there's a pasty-type thing baking in the oven and filling the house with a good smell. There's miso boiling on the stove top. Jeffrey is next to me and it sounds like he is (calmly) dealing with a very irritated caller, who just found out that the person planning her event changed her request from a few acts to a thirty-minute show, without asking the producer first. Oh my. A timer on his desk is tick-tick-ticking (to let him know when to pull his food out of the oven, I imagine). Tension....
But it has come after a somewhat relaxing week. We are taking care of details, preparing for the oncoming storm of business in the next few months.
Gregangelo and Henry Holloway (our master stilt-jumper and stuntman of V Troupe) have been out on the city streets all week in blue, shiny body suits and masks on roller skates, shouting at the monkey-suited public, for a guerilla-advertising job that a new company hired us for.
VTroupe is preparing to fly to Cincinnatti for a performance in early March.
We are hosting our monthly showcase next Sunday, the 24th, which will feature slapstick dance, acrobatic dance, aerial performance, film, and very likely some magic and opera as well!
For me (and I think for many artists), this time of year is ideal for holing up on rainy days and dreaming up the next creative ventures. There's little or no temptation to go outside when it's rainy and cold, so one has the opportunity to look within and dream up the future. I'm dreaming up performance pieces about ancient celtic tales. The circus is dreaming up new shows, and big business for all of our artists.
The picture above is of Gregangelo (blue) and Henry (green). The jesus guy has nothing to do with the circus.