Social Media | Geeky Impresario | New Media, Comedy, Entertainment Insight by Frank McDade

Virtual Stage Manager

How do you integrate technology with the Arts? Start from within and work your way out. I know in the world of Social Media, not everyone is perfect for every network. It takes a general interest from the individual, usually stemming from a “need” to be present on that website. When we were ordering the licensing agreement for our show, MTI sent us an e-mail noting of additional services that they now provide. Among those was a Virtual Stage Management system, ironically called the Virtual Stage Manager. If you’re familiar with the VirtualCallboard, this online product is very similar. If you have a moment, I recommend taking the time to download the informational PDF from their website. I included a link to it at the bottom of this posting.

The Virtual Stage Manager opens up the opportunity for the production staff to integrate technology in to the informational communication and distribution process that normally takes place through traditional mediums in a production. There are many shows pre-uploaded in to the program so it is as simple as 1-2-3 to set-up. For those that are not completely technically savvy this is a great opportunity to utilize what the internet has to offer in a way that is simple and intriguing. The features of this system eliminates paper waste and increases efficiency. The tools and features include mass text messaging and e-mail to actors, integrated performer’s calendars for ease of scheduling rehearsals, and artists profiles. I believe this is a huge step in welcoming the world of theater to the benefits of technology.

This entire process allows the managers to use the web to reach the artists, from there the company as a whole may move on to effectively reach their outside audience via the same vehicle that brought them together. Many people will pose the question of – why would anybody pay money to carry through with a system that works perfectly fine offline? Answer: to adapt to where the future is taking us without being left behind. We have all seen what the economy is doing to our world – and we know it may never be the same as it was in the past. It may be something as simple as altering internal habits of a production that will lead to effectively integrating the use of Technology.

The one downfall of this program is that A.) It is limiting to a handful of shows that are licensed through MTI and B.) it is pretty costly. Let’s face it – MTI doesn’t offer every show and the Arts are not particularly rolling in cash. That may be the roadblock. How can we enhance our tools and resources when we are barely able to provide enough funds to throw together a show? In any case – the initiative is out there we just have to work from. Take what we can and run with it. If nobody is taking that step forward then we are merely being counterproductive and not working towards a general idea of how to fully create the Arts 2.0.

For my own benefit I have been utilizing all of those free features that are rolling around out there. Products such as Google Docs and Google Maps can provide the same kind of features as this Virtual Stage Manager, it just takes the correct individual to recreate them in a way that is beneficial to their production. I created a website to lie as the hub of various social media and online tool applications. It costs as much as a web hosting account does along with the man hours and dedication to finding these features and successfully integrating them.

One day I hope to see more networks such as the Virtual Stage Manager that offer internal and external networking opportunities to the Arts community – free of charge. Nominal fee’s are great, but what is the benefit if you can’t wet the mouth’s of your customers?

Check it out:
http://www.stagemanagement.com/vsm/index.php

1 Comment

Frank McDade, December 21st 2008 | Tags: arts + technology, Social Media, The Arts, theater networking, virtual stage manager, virtualcallboard
Posted in Art + Technology, Arts & Entertainment, Social Media

We’re Divorced! Support to my friends article.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/14/second.life.divorce/index.html?iref=newssearch

This article kind of follows suit with what I was saying before about being aware of what your goals are in working with social media. In this instance it is love. I know of quite a few people who have met their significant other through the internet so I don’t have a prejudiced against it or anything, I think it is a rather good way to meet somebody. What happens though when the social medium is more important to the user than the person they are interacting with? In this case it seems as if that is what went on.

So, these two met in Second Life. Second Life is a social website that allows users to create carbon copies of themselves, named avatars, which are able to take out anything that a normal human would be able to do. Oh, they fly too. It is a lot more intricate than that, but the love story is the purpose of this post. After marrying on Second Life, apparently they did the same in real life. Now unlike chatting via instant messenger, I feel this is far less personal. Internet communication cuts out all the key factors in effectively communicating in the first place, so having a fictional character represent you is the icing on the cake.

Wife, Amy, filed for a divorce after finding her hubby had an affair on her – online – with a digital prostitute. She states that he has never cheated in real life, but if he can do it on Second Life it is just as bad. So my question is: What’s more important, your physical wife or digital wife?

Neither, apparently. Cheating on both is by far most important. Straight to the point. People need to get their priorities in check before this leads to an epidemic. Divorce rates and horrible relationships are already at an all-time high, we don’t need to add any further complications in to these processes.

1 Comment

Frank McDade, November 16th 2008 | Tags: Avatar, Divorce, Marriage, Online Dating, Second Life
Posted in Arts & Entertainment, Social Media

Am I REALLY friends with hotbabe_02_4U?

Geographical location was a big deal at recess, I distinctly remember there were designated areas for each type of kid to mingle. For those of us that never had the opportunity to become the “Big Man on the Playground”, the time has arrived for us to take claim to our glory. Too often, I find myself on Myspace or Facebook connecting with people that I claimed I would never talk to again just to see my friend count raise one more number. We have limitless boundaries with social media. The sad truth is the person on the other side of your friend request doesn’t have to deal with the awkwardness that is you, which leads me to be weary of how people look at those they interact with online.

Social Media websites thrive on the thought of users making as many connections as possible. These connections are commonly referred to as “friends” and the more that an individual has is the direct result of their popularity within their online community. As futile as online friendships can be, I feel as if they are only going to get worse. Users are connecting at rapid rates but those they are connecting to hold no true value to them outside of the online landscape. Meaning – you may have 345+ connections on Linkedin, but what will most of those people really do for you? If anything, your increase in friend count jams these websites linking strategies. They take the information formulated by you and your contacts and tie them together in to a nice little package. With that package, they present it to users searching for those with similar interests. If the information on you and your “friends” pages are not similar and you have no real connection besides that of the online nature, it screws with their system and at times may provide faulty results. There are automated systems that present you with certain people based on similar information, then ask if you would like to become their friend.

According to the Dunbar number, one person is able to effectively communicate with 150 people during a given period of time. With this principle in mind, anyone with over 150 friends on any given social networking site has obvious intentions other than friendship. Establish why you are online! What is your goal? Are you there for entertainment purposes? To reconnect with those you have lost contact with? Or to be another number on somebody’s friend list? The following is a chart developed by the website Life Without Alacrity that outlines social media friendships in correlation to Dunbar’s Number.

You can see that the the number of users with a considerable amount of connections stay fairly consistent until it hits around the 150 range. The peak on the right-side of the graph represent the people online that I am most afraid of. These people devote their lives to dominating the blogosphere with no foreseeable end to their madness in the future. If this chart looks the way it does now, imagine how it will look within the next few years! The power of these online friend feasters, along with the domination of social media websites, will create enough force to destroy a planet such as Pluto. Oh, wait. Not a good sign.

Actually, Social Media Website Digg has recently been deleting the accounts of those that are taking advantage of their website by posting an unconceivable amount of information just to gain populatirty within the website.

As I sit and think about it, I wish that I could grow down and take claim to the portion of the playground that I was socially assigned to. By doing that, I would have created my own opportunity to become the BMOP (in my own little territory of course) which would have prepared me for the overwhelming world of social media interaction. I am declaring myself as a narcissistic self promoter. If you stumbleupon me in the web world ask why I am there, or why I am requesting your friendship. I will have an answer along the lines of “For the sake of sane online users everywhere, accept my friendship!” If we continue to allow people to clutter their way to the top of the Social Media platform of popularity, we only have ourselves to blame.

2 Comments

Frank McDade, November 7th 2008 | Tags: digg, dunbar's number, facebook, frank mcdade, friend requests, friends, friends 2.0, linkedin, myspace, Social Media, social networks
Posted in Arts & Entertainment, Social Media

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