Our students spent the morning and early afternoon continuing work with Underbelly Cowgate and Gryphon Venues on NOLA as well as Irreconcilable Differences. They continued to engage in dialogues regarding why each company had chosen to come to the Fringe and what they wanted to glean from their experiences. The students got valuable insight as to why the Fringe Festival is such an important arts arena.


Mark Fisher, theater critic for The Guardian and author of The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide sat down with us afterward to discuss sat down with us to discuss what individual factors come into play to determine the difference between "success" and mediocrity at the Fringe. He gave us a couple of examples of shows that might effectively define what it means to be successful. He also invited us to his forum with Maureen Beatty, from The List at Summerhall, Guy Matheson, one of Britain's top solo performers, comedian Ian Fox, and the producer Teresa Burns.

In defining success we looked at some shows from Traverse Theater, the National Theatre of Scotland, Finn Anderson, the Pleasance Grand, and Underbelly, including Bullet Catch, Appointment with the Wicker Man, Streets: the Musical, PEEP, and Sexytime! We discussed the importance of press coverage, topical subject matter, danger/risk, and artistic distinction and how all of these factors come together in different quantities to define individual success for each organization, dependent on their goals. 

Later that evening, some of our students continued to work with I Heart Hamas at Gryphon and PBH's Free Fringe presentation of Overexposed: A Slightly Awkward Peep Show at Finger's Piano Bar.

We went back to Fringe Central for a seminar on how to get the right people into your performances. Generally, they meant promoters, producers, tour managers, and publishers. Mike Hall, from the BBC was present as well as the producer, Frodo McDaniel, Francesca Clark from Pleasance, and Louise Callow. They discussed with us how it is that promoters actually go about finding shows. They don't like flyers, and are specifically concerned with word-of-mouth with regard to their choices. They have a strict timeline and like to be contacted one or two months before the festival about what you're doing and why they should be interested. They insist on targeted communication, and will ignore blanket email blasts. They like to be contacted via twitter, but once again, in a targeted manner. 

They reiterated the importance of a good image, but Mike from BBC insisted that BBC does not care about your flyer or branding.

An interesting section was the importance of your "cigarette pitch", a short, concise description of your work that would have someone interested by the time they finish their cigarette. This is important because a lot of the promoters frequent pubs as locations for scouting new work. They specifically mentioned Traverse Bar, Udderbelly, and Summerhall as locations to meet producers.

Today, our students got their first opportunities to begin exploring marketing techniques at the Festival today! As a part of the Structures of the Fringe Festival class, students team up to assist individual shows by giving marketing advice, working as the show's street team, and assisting in some of the late-stage logistical work that can fall to the wayside. The company's get free, committed laborers and the students have an opportunity to meet tons of influential people, put their skills into practice, and in return for their service, are given venue passes which allow free entry into most shows and discounted amenities.



Lauren & Leah were teamed up with Irreconcilable Differences, an interactive play wherein the choice as to who lives or dies in a failing marriage is made by the audience.

Zach, Sam, and Hayley worked together to assist NOLA, a documentary-style, verbatim theater piece on the continuing effects of the BP Oil Spill on the city of New Orleans, produced by two-time Fringe-First Award Winners, the Suffolk-based Look Left Look Right Productions.

On August 1, so that we could more effectively market the show, we went to the Irish theater company, Refractive Lens', interactive play Irreconcilable Differences, which challenges the audience to make the difficult decision as to who should live or die after a couple whose lives are in the balance have aired out the entirety of their dirty laundry.

The show was great, and we got a chance to talk with the actors and the production team afterward and they were so grateful to have our help, that we barely got the opportunity to tell them how wonderful they were. Hopefully they get the opportunity to take a look at our blog and see this.

YOU WERE GREAT!

Afterwards, we headed tot he historic pub, The Last Drop, and had our fill of some tasty Scottish fare. The group got the chance to know each other over a couple pots of tea and some Mince and Tatties.

The day was capped off with a walking tour of the city so that the students could become better affiliated with the city at large.

Fringe Central proved to be a wealth of information, coffee, and free WiFi! Zach, Sam, and Jacob Merinar (the first of our delayed students to arrive) attended the first seminar of our festival run, "How to Sell a Show", a definitive guide on how to best utilize the services offered by the Media Management sector of the Fringe Society. Panelists included Sheridan Humphries, independent PR for C Venues, Peter Shaw, Editor of Broadway Baby, Paul Levy, Editor of Fringe Review, and Valerie Potter, an independent press agent with loads of Fringe experience. The panel was mediated by the Fringe Society's Media Manager, Andrew.

The panel discussed candidly the madness of the Fringe as it relates to effectively publicizing your show. It can be easy to get lost in the mix when you're trying to be heard over 2,700 other shows, but the panel outlined numerous ways to get the most bang for your buck at the festival.

Some of the subjects included: 
 - Holistic Marketing
 - Fringe's Meet the Media
 - Flyering Do's and Don't's
 - Writing a Press Release
 - Social Media Integration
 - Discussion surrounding Stuart Lee's Guardian article on Fringe venue politics.

All in all, the event offered practical insight into the world of marketing, and the panel fielded questions for about as long as they lectured. They were personable, professional, and eager to help each and every member of the audience.