On Tuesday, Ryan mentioned a lot of ways to get your troupe online and seen by the world. That’s an important thing to do when you’re starting to grow. Just as important is to remember that your troupe will grow and change in membership, style, focus and quality. As the calendar year is coming to a close, now is a good time to see if your online presence really reflects the status of your troupe today.
What does the audience see?
Your troupe’s webpage or Facebook presence is very much a window to your show for audience members. Even if you’re active in posting content, now is a good time to take a look at your routines and see if they’re still representative of your group.
A webpage is an easy thing to overlook in the age of social media, but that’s still the place people often land first when searching for something to do in your town. You’ve seen your webpage 100’s of times. Now is a chance to look at it with new eyes. Does the message of the webpage that applied to your group three years ago, still apply? Is the information current? For Pete’s sake, is the contact information and showtimes listed correctly? I hope so. If you have access to a photographer. Maybe now is a good time to update those photos. (And before you say “Physician heal thyself”, NIN’s webpage will be getting a bit of a minor facelift in the new year to reflect where we are now).
When you go back to Facebook, Twitter, and the rest (please tell me someone is using Ello to promote shows) your content is ever evolving, but the same principal applies. Maybe some new photos. Maybe a new flyer for that same show you’ve been doing will better reflect you in 2015.
What do festivals see?
Hey look, it’s my troupe – in 2005.
Unlike audience members, festival reviewers have their own things that catch their attention. Your profile here is your resume to the world. If you want to be invited to perform in other cities, it’s best to have that resume updated. It’s even more important here to have a current cast listing and imagery so the groups inviting you know what to expect. Even if your profile is pretty solid, it will definitely not go unnoticed if you submit the same video three years in a row. (Keep in mind, if you weren’t invited last year, and submit the same show, your odds aren’t much higher).
Take some time out from a practice this month and watch some of your recent videos. Try to find one more suited to your group’s current frame of mind. Check your bio too. Does it reflect the shows you’re doing now?
A lot of focus here has been on your bio and video, but check out all of your information. Is your cast list accurate? Does your profile lead to a Twitter account that hasn’t been used in a year? Clean it up. And then you’ll be in a better place.
![reviewaccountingstandards[1]](http://www.nationalimprovnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/reviewaccountingstandards1.jpg)
An outside eye
Festival producers love to help. They are happy to talk about what they look for in a submission, and they’re typically happy to talk to you if you haven’t been selected on what things you might do to help you get into more festivals. Reach out to festival producers and ask them to look over your profile. It’s a great way to get some free advice.
That’s true all the time. But this month, it’s especially true. I’ve talked with several festival producers and theatre owners who agreed to be available to any troupe who asks for a profile review. If you’re interested in getting feedback on your troupe’s profile, leave a comment here or drop me a PM and your profile will be forwarded along to a few producers who will look over your troupe profile and offer advice on getting into festivals in 2015.
You might be surprised at the things you hear. Your best ever video might not be as helpful to you as a decent more recent video. Your really clever bio might not be as helpful understanding who you are as a plainly written description of who you really are (Keep in mind that your bio might be the 100th one read that week. It’s probably not that much more clever than any others).
Let’s all showcase ourselves the best we can.
Currently Bill is an instructor at The Torch Theatre and producer for the Phoenix Improv Festival. He tours teaching and performing across North America.
I’ve spent a lot of time this fall watching video submissions for the San Diego Improv Festival. Here are a few of my suggestions:
1) Have a video. I was amazed how many teams submitted that did not have a video. If you personally know the festival producers, you have a shot to get in the festival without a video. Unless you have a connection or played that festival previously, you’re probably throwing your submission fee down the drain.
2) Have a video of an entire show. Highlight videos may have their place, but they are not appropriate to submit to a festival.
3) Have a video of an entire show in front of an audience. Not a rehearsal in an empty room.
4) Feel free to brag. If your team has played festivals, include that in your long bio. If you are a house team at a theater, say it. If you’ve been together for longer than one year, say it. If you have a link to an online review of your group, include it. After you’ve watched several dozen videos of teams you’ve never heard of, it may come down to which team the committee thinks is more serious.
Finally, if you don’t get into a festival, go and watch the first five minutes of the NIN submission videos of six random teams (not teams local to the festival) who did get accepted. Then watch your video.