|
Members of the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company.
Photo by Tom Caravaglia.
|
Tom, to begin, describe what you do at CDDC. What are your primary responsibilities?
We are a very small operation at CDDC, working with an operating budget of just over 500k. Basically, I am in charge of all things Administrative and Carolyn runs all things Artistic. There is a great deal of overlap. We have an administrative staff of 2.5 (including me). It's a very hands-on position. I direct all of the Marketing, Fundraising, Board Development and general operations with the help of a full-time Company Manager and a part-time bookkeeper. We out-source a number of functions that would normally be in-house.
Can you give us a brief description of the scale and scope of CDDC?
Celebrating its 23rd season, the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company is a contemporary dance ensemble highly acclaimed for its artistic excellence and range as well as its extraordinary ability to communicate to audiences about dance and the creative process. CDDC appears at major theaters, dance festivals, universities and schools regionally, nationally and internationally and is lauded for its exceptional arts education and professional development programming.
Led by the dynamic artistic vision of company founder and Artistic Director, Carolyn Dorfman, the company presents new and repertory works by Ms. Dorfman and nationally known choreographers and regularly commissions original scores and artistic collaborations.
CDDC consists of 9 dancers who all live in New York City. All of the company's rehearsals take place in New York as well as in rehearsal studios that we rent throughout Manhattan. CDDC's administrative offices are located in Union, New Jersey.
Having made the leap from a career in theater to now running a dance company, can you point out what you see as the main differences (or similarities) between the two worlds?
One of the major differences I experience in running a dance company rather than a theatre company is the fact that we don't have a theater of our own. Theatre companies become known as a destination for their audiences. They have favorite restaurants to attend before or after the theatre, they know the parking situation, they may even have the same seats every time they attend. It's much easier to get to "know" an audience like this.
As a touring dance company I find it a real challenge to develop that relationship with an audience. We do, however, have an annual residency each Spring at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's F.M. Kirby Theatre on the campus of Drew University in Madison, NJ. This has afforded us the opportunity to try to develop closer ties to a particular community and become known to audiences in the area. We also find that our New Jersey audiences will travel within the state and into New York to see CDDC perform. This has been a particularly important aspect of our use of outgoing e-mail marketing ... a way we can keep our audience continuously informed about ever-changing performance venues.
Do you find that the same marketing principles apply to both theater and dance? If so, what are they and why do you think they are equally applicable?
On the most basic level, I think the same principles apply. We try to make a compelling case to influence the buying habits for a potential audience member and get them to come to an upcoming event. However, without subscribers, or a large number of performance opportunities to promote, and our relatively small budget, our chances for connecting with that potential audience is much more limited.
Much of a touring dance company's marketing is actually done by the theater that is presenting the company. Providing exciting photos and compelling descriptions about the work is an important tool for presenters to market the company's performance.
We have attempted to make a deeper connection to our existing audience and try to give them tools so they can help broaden and diversify our audience. We believe that if our audience has a better understanding about the work before, during and after seeing it, they will be better ambassadors for the company and will help us by bringing new people to see our work.
How does e-mail factor into your overall marketing strategy at CDDC? Is this something that has changed with your move from theater to dance?
I have been attempting to utilize outgoing e-mail as one of our marketing tools since I joined CDDC. We also use direct mail, and some limited print advertising. We work very hard to get feature stories and other free publicity whenever possible. Carolyn is always available for interviews and we provide great photos of our work that has led to some excellent coverage.
When I joined CDDC in 2000, I was only beginning to understand the potential of e-mail marketing. I began to use my e-mail list (basically all of the contacts I had accumulated over time), sending information about upcoming performances but it was very time-consuming and frustrating. Much more of my time was spent managing bounced e-mails and sending them in small enough batches so I wouldn't be identified as a Spammer. I started using PatronMail in 2003 and have been a very content user ever since.
What further developments do you have planned for your e-marketing for the future?
Something new I'd like to pursue with PatronMail this year is adding streaming video to our website and integrating that into our e-mails. For dance, in particular, a moving image can be much more effective than a still photo in conveying the excitement and energy of a piece.
This past season, we began showing a brief video-documentary (2 or 3 minutes) of the choreographer talking about the upcoming piece. Audiences loved this and felt instantly connected to the work. I'd like to experiment with showing some of these interviews in our e-mails and on our website. I'm also very interested in Pod-casting ... and I'm thinking of ways to integrate it as well.
|
