Internship @ MOSAIC THEATRE (Week 7)

Although week 7 was not as interesting as the past few weeks, it was a week of hard work and lots of learning. Throughout the week my job entailed recording all emails, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and personal work information from all of Mosaic Theatre's patrons on PatronMail. PatronMail is a networking email site where companies can send large email blasts to all of their customers. Each customer can also be searched and emailed individually, as all of their information is in their account.

I was handed a list of over 3,000 patrons, so basically that's what I did the entire week. It was a little tiring and dull but I got to see the range of patrons Mosaic has all over Florida and even in some other places like New York and Los Angeles.

I learned the the way Mosaic Theatre got a hand on 3,000 new patrons was because they made a trade with the Caldwell Theatre; patrons for patrons. I thought that was a very smart business move, because now Mosaic is getting even more recognition across Florida.

So this made me think…How can I take all that I'm learning here about 'spreading the word' and apply it to the Lynn Drama Club?? After all, the Lynn Drama Club does have a few issues with awareness amongst the Boca and Florida community. We are in desperate need of larger number of audiences and more sold out shows. Nonetheless, this is why week 7 was so important.

As passed onto PatronMail all of this information, I started making a little Ideas List for the Lynn Drama Club; some marketing, social networking, and creative ideas. First, I thought the Lynn Drama Club should be a little more involved with the community via social networks, so I thought that it would be a great idea to set up the Club with a Tumblr, Twitter, StumbleUpon, and PatronMail account. It's an easy and great way of getting the company out there. As an actress, I was taught about the importance of social media and the impact it can have on a society as Internet-friendly as today. An important way of getting yourself known is to open up accounts wherever you could. So, I'm pretty sure this should apply to the Lynn Drama Club to.

Second, I thought it would be a great idea for the Club to start having some fill out charts at the entrance of every play, so that people could leave their information and subscribe to get more information about the Club and what we do. We could add them to PatronMail and sending everyone monthly BLASTS. It's also a great way of contacting them and sending them specials about all of our auditions and workshops.

The list had more ideas, but some that are still a working progress. Regardless, this week was a interesting one and I had a lot to learn and to pass on for the Lynn Drama Club. I really feel like it's a great way of taking all that I'm doing this summer and apply it to things that matter; like I'm hopefully going to be able to make a difference in the Drama Club at Lynn.

Happy Acting,
Gracias

Internship @ MOSAIC THEATRE (Week 6)

During week 6 it was essential for Mosaic to start sending 'Thank You' letters to those patrons who had already subscribed for the upcoming 12th Season at Mosaic Theatre, and more importantly to send reminders to those previous patron/subscribers who had yet to subscribe. Therefore, that was my job for the entire week.

I made two spread-sheets divided between those who had already subscribed for Season 12 and those who had not yet done so. Afterwords, I checked each patron to make sure that all of their mailing and other details were up-to-date and correct. This would not only make the labeling process easier, but also serve as an efficient way to verify that all patrons were contacted, leaving no one out. This job was not as easy as it first looked like. I had to go back and forth between the spread-sheets and the files in the cabinet to make sure all the information matched perfectly. Most of the patron's spouses also had separate files and information along the spread-sheets, and since their mailing address was identical, I had to search for them and match them up together in order to send their letter together.

Nonetheless, this process took an entire work day, and the next two days in week 6 would be dedicated to making labels for all the letters, printing them out, sticking them to the envelopes -whilst keeping them in alphabetical order- stuffing the envelopes with all of the required pages of information, sealing them, stamping them, and finally sending the letters off. There was approximately a little over 350 letters to send, so you can only imagine how this repetitive process can not only take a long time, but also wear someone out. Nevertheless, it's the hard work a company must undergo in order to reach a healthy number of audiences for each play, as well as a relatively high quota.

This was obviously not the most interesting project I've been given in my Internship, but somehow I ended up really liking it because I gained experience working with Microsoft Excel -putting to test all of what my teachers at Lynn taught me about using the program- and I also learned valuable techniques on how to keep information in order.

More so, I come to understand the importance of keeping constant contact with any patron that comes to see the shows. The more Mosaic appears to have control, organization and initiative, the more people will be drawn to the theater's professionalism.

Happy Acting,
Gracias

  

Internship @ MOSAIC THEATRE (Week 5)

Hey there again!!
So half of my Internship is over and now comes the second half; and because the play, The Edge of Our Bodies, finished, the second half of my Internship will involve less interaction with patrons and more administrative projects. During this 5th week, Mosaic Theatre has begun preparing for next season, and organization is the key. This is where I come in.

During the next 4 weeks, starting this past 5th week of my Internship, my projects revolve around doing inventory, organizing next season's subscription and ticket orders, making spread sheets to organize all the papers and documents in the office, shredding those that are of no use anymore,  etc. More interestingly though, because of my age and knowledge of how to use social media networking sites, Richard and Jon - my bosses - have asked me to help make Mosaic Theatre more internet friendly.They want to find new ways to spread the word about their showcases, events, ticket offers, etc., so I offered to help setting them up with a range of different networking sites like:

- TUMBLR          (http://mosaictheatre.tumblr.com                                                                                
- FACEBOOK    (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mosaic-Theatre/114093584692?ref=mf)
- TWITTER         (http://twitter.com/mosaictheatre)
- INSTAGRAM

Therefore, throughout the week, I set them up with these sites, personalized them, showed them how to use them, and I now update them evert work day. I also suggested to them that they start looking for a Social Media Intern and I spread the word about this in the sites as well. So I really stepped it up in terms of my responsibilities and adding a little bit of my knowledge and personality into the job.

Nevertheless, this week has been an interesting one and I actually feel really proud of my self because I took the initiative to offer a diverse way of helping the company and truly set the bar higher for myself. I can certainly tell that my bosses liked to see this side of me as they thanked me for introducing them to a side of the business they has not yet quite understood how to work. Yes, they did have a Twitter and Facebook already, but did not fully understand how to use them to their full advantage.

I never thought that this is the way my Internship would go. I'm an acting major and didn't expect to be doing marketing for the company, but I'm glad I did. I'm starting to spread my wings a little more, exploring what other aspects of the business I can work with and take charge. More so, by going on other theatre's websites and viewing their profiles, to make sure that Mosaic is up to date with all of them and also add them or Mosaic as followers, I have come to see that there are many others theatre's across the US that I can go do Internships of apprenticeships for. This gives me a sense of hope and inspiration to go look for other opportunities in other places in the world and not limit myself to my surroundings.

Ergo, this week was awesome!! Learning how to run a theatre office was not what I expected or initially wanted, but I'm learning about so many different things that I can now genuinely understand and appreciate the muscle behind the stage and play. The office that makes the art of theatre possible!!

I really do recommend for any aspiring actors/actresses that they at some point take the time to work as an Intern at a small theatre company like this one, to comprehend and learn about the backbone of the theatre.

Happy Acting,
Gracias

Internship @ MOSAIC THEATRE (Week 4)

Hey Hey Hey!!

Right, so week 4 was a busy one. Since it was the last weekend that The Edge of Our Bodies would be running, people were really rushing to come watch it before it ended. The box office was a little crazy with so many people rushing in, getting late, or forgetting to book tickets, but since I had three weeks of enough training, I did pretty awesome. Nonetheless, this weekend was kind of like my test to see if I learned to run the box office and be house manager under pressure, and I believe I passed with flying colors. :)

Other than doing my regular little administrative projects during the week, and running box office and house manager during the weekend, on Tuesday night I got to do something a little different. Mosaic Theatre hosted a play reading with FREE admission, so I was on crowd control. More so, since we didn't have ushers working that night, I also served as an usher. Surprisingly, a lot of people came, so I guess play readings are more crowd appealing than what I believed.

After the play reading, we hosted a little party with snacks and wine. I served all the wine and snacks and went around the party talking to everyone and asking about their opinions about the play reading. Luckily, everyone seemed to have loved it.

In other words, this week was less learning and more putting to the test, which makes sense as it was the play's last week running, so my duties would soon change, and it was the end of the first half of my internship.

My bosses think I'm a huge help, which is very nice to hear. :)

One thing that did stand out about this week though was that I had to engage in SALES. My boss asked me to remind patrons to subscribe for next season and to try and get as many as I could to do so as we needed more subscriptions. This was a little bit of a task, as I'm not use to sales, but my boss told me to be relaxed and use my personality, so I did. I approached it in a very excited, jokingly, and relaxed way and after a few tries I got the hang of it and got quite a few people to subscribe.

Anyway, I'm sure these next 4 weeks are going to be hard but exciting as my jobs will probably entail different things now. Regardless, I'm excited.

Happy Acting,
Gracias