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

This past weekend was a blast.  The Upright Citizens Brigade played host to the 11th. annual Del Close improv marathon.  I was able to sit in on a number of great, and not so great, comedy acts from people all over the country.  It really helped put my mind in to perspective around what it is that I am trying to do out here.  

By talking to people in line, I was able to gain insight in to the various improv classes offered throughout the city.  I really don’t want to wait until the UCB opens up classes that I would be able to take, so in the mean time I now know of other options that are available to me.

On top of the performance aspect of it all, I followed all of the Twitter-chatter.  Social Media is a hot topic in every industry, comedy not excluded.  For how many bits and references there were to these online communication giants, there wasn’t any ongoing promotion around asking those in attendance to actually use them in connecting with others. 

So, I provide to you a list of random insight around the event as well a recommendation around where DCM can take online interaction in the years to come.

• Watching multiple performers from various locations across the U.S. stimulates your passion for the art.
• Ranging Smells:  The UCB Theatre was the biggest culprit here.  Within the time period that I sat in one location, the smell of the theatre transformed from spaghetti-o’s to tuna, finally ending with a mixture that was recognizable as Big-Mac.
• Some performers you fall in love with and others you dread.  I found myself mixing and matching individuals from different groups in my head.
• Great mixture of Raw, Fresh, Talent and Season Professionals.
• Apparently bed bugs are a NYC issue.
• Don’t rely on technology to take notes.  Throughout the weekend I just entered any and all thoughts that I had in to my iPhone.  When I went to sync it with my computer it deleted all of them.  FML.
• Sweat in line just to sit in a sweaty theatre. It’ll be worth it.
• If you’re tired and are a snorer, it’s probably smart not to fall asleep in the auditorium.
• I ate a lot of Pizza.  And that was by choice.
• Grandmothers should not take their 2 year old grandson to an improv marathon, no matter what the situation may be.
• You just gotta do it.

More Social Integration at Future Del Close Marathon’s

The Del Close Marathon website is great because it is a reference guide. That is clearly established and you can’t get lost. It offers an ongoing list of performances by time, location, actor, etc. and also provides a description of each of them.

One of the largest improvements that I believe should happen for the Del Close Marathon in future years is to promote social networking.  Both on their webpage, through promotional materials and some how throughout the course of the event.  Personally, I know I met a few people by following the hashtag #DCM11 on Twitter so there is ample opportunity to connect with others. Towards the beginning there were tweets going out about using the aforementioned hashtag, but that should have been established beforehand. 

It’s not a whole lot of work, it just takes someone to spend the time to keep Social Media on top of mind.  The UCB already had a dedicated twitter handler @UCBTheatreNY and DCM had on-site photogrpahers who often sent out a twitter message directing people to their photos.  All these need to be fed in to one centralized location so that the attendees can revel in the public documentation that occurred.

Below is the trend of the hashtag DCM11 on Twitter, with the most number of tweets peaking on Saturday with 148.

#DCM11 Twitter Trend

I’m sure this graph would be about the same but with a higher volume in tweet counts (378 total to date), and probably with a spike earlier on rather than a gradual hump  from anticipation of the event.  As time passes within the next few days, YouTube and Blog activity will probably increase, as of now there is a total of about 5 collective mentions in platforms outside of Twitter.

There may be a central location with a social feed but I haven’t heard of it.  So, next year let’s incorporate it.  I’m ready and willing to help!