Ken Davenport - Opinions from a Broadway Producer

Photos from The Producer's Perspective Social.

Every year I post the invite for our annual holiday soiree on my blog, and every year I wonder, "I wonder if people will come?" 

And every year, you do!

A big thanks to the record number of you that turned out last night to social it up with each other over chips and dip and some "producer punch" (that could have started a car, it was so strong).  We had producers, writers, directors, actors, finance folks, MBA students, and even a couple that came all the way from Ireland (!).  

The social is one of my favorite nights of the year (it's right up there near Tony night).  It's just so awesome to see so many people who are so passionate about the theater in one place at one time.  

So thanks again for coming.  And for those of you who missed it, you can see a bit of what you missed in the photos below.

And you can clear your calendar for next December, because you can bet your bippy we'll be doing it again.

 

 

(Got a comment?  I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!) 

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FUN STUFF 

- Win 2 tickets to see The Mountaintop!  Click here to enter.

The 4th Annual Producer's Perspective Social - And you're invited!

Save the date, PPers, it's time for the Producer's Perspective offline event of the year, the Producer's Perspective social.

(insert sound of "whoop whoop" here)

Don't know what the Social is?

Every year I invite all my readers to get offline and come mix and mingle with other readers here at my office.  We have food, drink, games, and a chance for you to mix, mingle and network with other folks who love the theater  just like you.  We'll have actors, writers, producers, designers and more in one place for a few hours.  And I'm proud to say that it's the biggest mixer of its kind in the city.  

This year marks my fourth social (!), and it plans to be the biggest yet.  

So come!  It's free.  It's fun.  It's another word that begins with an f that I can't come up with right now because it's like 2:30 in the morning.

Here are the deets!

The Producer's Perspective Social
Thursday, December 15th
6:30 - 8:30 PM
250 West 49th St.  #301

One rule . . . you must RSVP.  Do so by clicking here.  We've got limited space here at the ol' DTE headquarters, and we also need to know how much dip to buy. Oh, and all the previous years of the social have "sold out".  

(NOTE: Your RSVP only guarantees your admission. If you would like to bring a guest, please have them RSVP separately.) 

So RSVP today and I will see you on the 15th!

Click here to RSVP.  And let's social it up.  

 

(Got a comment?  I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!) 

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FUN STUFF 

- Win 2 tickets to see Lysistrata Jones on Broadway.  Click here

Do you want bigger fries with that?

As you probably know, especially if you're reading the Day-By-Day blog, I'm currently in tech for Godspell.  Tech means two things:  late nights and junk food.  

Last night, at just after 10 PM, I regressed to the ol' standby:  McDonald's.  Yep, those no-sauce-but-salted Chicken McNuggets in the picture below are mine.  

But I didn't take that pic to freak you out about my sodium and saturated fat intake.  I took that photo to show you what was writ large on the fry packaging.

See, it's that time of year - it's McDonald's Monopoly time.  

This whopper-sized promotion has been in use by the fast food giant since 1987 (!) and shows no sign of going directly to promotional jail without passing go.  This is the first year, however, that I noticed a little tweak to the campaign.

On the box of medium fries, it says, "Want game pieces?  Get large fries!"  

Mickey D's knows that people love their Monopoly.  And they decided to hold back those coveted game pieces for the super-sizers in their world in an attempt to convert customers to some bigger sizes and bigger bucks in the future.

And I'd bet that it works.  

It's a fine marketing line, and it can be very effective to remind people what they are missing, especially when it's only a few cents more.  

I couldn't help but wonder if there was a way to say to someone sitting in the balcony who got their tickets at TKTS, "Want a better view?  Buy tickets in advance on Telecharge.com."  Or what about messaging "Want more legroom?" to a full price buyer about upgrading to aisle seats.  (Airlines do this often.)  Or even a group sales call-to-action like, "Want to save money on your tickets?  Bring friends to the theater!" 

I didn't even know Monopoly was going on until I looked at my fries.  

And our customers may not even know about some of our other options unless we remind them.  

And since it's always easier to get a current customer to buy a little more than to get a new customer to buy in the first place, "reminder marketing" could be as profitable as a hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place.

(Got a comment?  I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!) 

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FUN STUFF 

- 6 Days to Godspell!  Read the day-by-day account of producing Godspell on Broadway here.

- Spend an hour with me at Godspell tech!  Click here for info on how!

- Tune up your marketing materials at my new seminar!  Learn more here!

- Win 2 tickets to see The Blue Flower at Second Stage Off Broadway!  Click here!