For the first time in a very long time, I spent an entire day with high school boys. No, I'm not The Cougar, I simply went to the Star Trek movie and then to the Village Vanguard to see jazz pianist Brad Mehldau this past Saturday.As previously planned, my mom, Aliza and I got to the movie theater at Lincoln Center precisely one hour and a half early for Star Trek. I'd guesstimate we were about People 29, 30 and 31 in line at that point, and out of those people, we probably doubled the number of women. That said, after posting about the … [Read more...]
Mind meld
On Wednesday night, my friend Joe and I discovered that we will both be taking our Treky moms to see the Star Trek IMAX for Mother's Day. Joe and I get along quite well, have similar jobs, etc. so there's no great shock that our upbringings may have been alike, but we were wondering: is the Mother's Day/Star Trek movie correlation some kind of stealth marketing agenda? Are there great throngs of people with Treky mothers we don't know about? Chauvenist norms would seem to dictate that releasing the movie around Father's Day might sell more … [Read more...]
Something like curiousity
Speaking of advertising on ArtsJournal, an ad for the 2009 NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera caught my eye:Columbia University and the National Endowment for the Arts are pleased to announce the 6th annual Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera. This 10-day intensive workshop brings writers and editors from across the country to New York City for a total immersion in the world of classical music and opera. The twenty-four fellows will attend nightly performances, participate in writing workshops, take … [Read more...]
Good for nothin’
I don't really do publicity for free. Well, I suppose this blog is free (" "), and on occasion I'll write a friend's bio or look at a website for free. And I have lunch with people and brainstorm about PR more than I probably should for free, and sometimes I pitch artists who aren't mine for the sake of good stories everywhere for, what I guess is technically, "free". But generally, this is my job; concert/show tickets and clothes must be bought and rent must be paid, usually in that order. Which is why it's totally ridiculous that … [Read more...]
My name’s McCardle
You'd think from the number of times I've mentioned my jury duty on this blog I had served on a three-month trial. In actuality, I only spent 2 days on jury selection, and wasn't even chosen to serve, probably due to the fact that, when given the opportunity to ask anything of one of the defense attorneys, I asked if he truly believed in every client he chose to represent. Next. The other defense attorney possessed an uncanny ability to not connect with any of us. One woman in the front row had written down "reading" as a hobby on her jury … [Read more...]
Tuxedo Swap?
I am much-delayed in posting this: my sister forwarded it along to "keep me occupied" during jury duty. My expert opinion is that this is a Good Promotion. I was going to make it relevant by suggesting some string quartets I'd like to see "jersey swap", but I honestly couldn't come up with any. … [Read more...]
No such thing as a free ticket
Last week, Judith Dobrzynski at Real Clear Arts posted this thought:With newspapers and magazines shrinking faster than the ozone layer, coverage of events like this concert will disappear except for blogs. And that creates a large problem for arts institutions dependent on the media for free marketing and PR, especially those in the performing arts. I was talking about this very subject last week with the PR head of an important music institution. Though he hasn't lost coverage by mainstream … [Read more...]
Naked emperors
Steve Reich 2009 Pulitzer (from Ronen) and John Zorn 2006 MacArthur Genius Grant mentions on The Colbert Report:The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cWho's Not Honoring Me Now? - Emmyscolbertnation.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorFirst 100 Days The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cWho's Not Honoring Me Now? - The MacArthur Foundationcolbertnation.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorFirst 100 Days A few weeks back, I saw a young pianist perform an original composition of his, in addition to some standard … [Read more...]
[create your own pun on Teachout/teachings here]
On Monday, much more famous ArtsJournal blogger Terry Teachout posted a fantastic list of ways to get him to review your plays on his blog About Last Night. I love this, because it rewards his regular blog readers; they now have a distinct advantage over press people/playwrights who only read his Wall Street Journal column. As I've mentioned before on this blog, I think it's extremely important for publicists to do as much research on journalists as we expect them to do on our clients, or, if an artist/company is pitching themselves, on their … [Read more...]
Talk to me about promoting Pilates
On mostly Fridays, but sometimes Mondays, I'll post an interview with someone who knows a lot more than yours truly about specific marketing and publicity topics. This week, my Pilates instructor Jeanette Palmer on keeping students coming back to her classes, on why yoga gets all the good press, and on teaching and marketing to different ability levels. The problem with doing this interview is, of course, that she now knows what I'm thinking about when I'm supposed to be "deepening" my "C-curve". Ballet-trained at the Boston Conservatory … [Read more...]
Important marketing question:
Why isn't there a Starbucks by 71 Thomas Street, where Manhattanites have to report for jury duty? There's not a coffee shop for three whole blocks! Business opportunity alert. I went to Bouley Bakery, and then scampered back with a quickness so as to not lose my plug-seat. I can case a joint for outlets in under a minute, and people were eyeing my prize all morning.They have wireless at jury duty, turns out. Although who knows what they're scanning for if you use it. To be safe, I packed my own modem.Yes, I realize this has nothing to do with … [Read more...]
By extension
Maybe one day when I grow up I'll get to move to a Big City. I'm tired of this tiny island, where a girl can't even go to a simple Zumba class without running into someone who works at Carnegie Hall. As previously mentioned, I am Not Good at Zumba. No one needs to see me bump/grinding in a futile attempt to get skinny, so you can only imagine my internal oh-brother eye-roll when I spied someone from Carnegie in class on Sunday. (Maybe he won't remember having met me last summer...) oh yes, he does, "You're Amanda, right?" Fan-zumba-tastic. … [Read more...]
Nude pictures
Sometimes the lack of mainstream press coverage for classical music gets me down. But then I see things like this, and realize work could always be worse. From Defamer:Have you heard the one about the Disney Channel star in a nude-photo scandal? No, not that one. Or that one. But rather Adrienne Bailon, the co-star of Disney's series Cheetah Girls and, before last weekend, among the network's last remaining female talent not to have half-naked pictures of herself circulating online. Good thing she has a friend in the crisis-publicity racket, … [Read more...]
Fun and games
I can take exactly no credit for this idea (it's all Michael!), but we're running an mp3 scavenger hunt to promote the New York City performance of Michael Gordon's work 'Trance' on Wednesday, April 22nd at (le) poisson rouge. Start at Sequenza21, where you'll find a free download of Trance 1 and a clue for the blog that's hosting Trance 2. Then continue on to collect Trance 2, Trance 3, Trance 4, Trance Drone, Trance 5 (Part 1) and Trance 5 (Part 2). When you have a list of seven blogs, e mail me. The first three people e mail me a list of the … [Read more...]