A dependable haven for artists in isolation, Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is in its sixth year of non-stop weekly Community Gatherings, having led over 300 consecutive conversations. The series has offered the theater community unlimited camaraderie since April 17, 2020. TRU hosts these Community Gatherings every Friday at 5pm ET via Zoom, originally presented to explore the creation of art and theater in the time of COVID-19, and now to ensure that these crucial conversations continue going forward.

Click https://truonline.org/events/digital-first-marketing/ to receive this Friday’s Zoom link. These gatherings are a service for the theater community and are offered free for TRU members; non-members may also attend for free, but we ask that non-members help keep us running by buying a ticket, making a donation or joining as a member.

4/17 – Digital-First Marketing in a 21st-Century World: Insights from a Successful Producer and a Digital Marketer. In the room: Josh Dennis, founder of MidConn Marketing, specializing in web design, social media, SEO and all aspects of digital marketing; Stephen Sunderlin, founding artistic director of Vital Theatre Company. A conversation about marketing in today’s economy, from two perspectives. While Stephen is best known for producing 55-minute musicals for young audiences, performed by professional adult actors, the ideas he shares apply far beyond family theater. Josh designs for and supports a wide range of businesses within and beyond the arts. This conversation will explore how digital has changed the way live theater is marketed, why strong work alone is not enough, and what producers, marketers, and publicists need to understand in order to break through in a crowded marketplace. Is there a difference between marketing for an arts organization versus a corporate client? Can the two worlds learn from each other? In today’s attention economy, people are constantly bombarded and increasingly selective about where they allocate their time, money, and attention. Josh will offer his perspective and experience as head of a digital marketing company. Stephen will share some adult insights, even though he just happens to produce children’s theater. Click https://truonline.org/events/digital-first-marketing/ to register and receive the link.

More information about upcoming interviews is available at: truonline.org/tru-community-gathering.

To receive the Zoom invitation for weekly meetings, email TRUnltd@aol.com with “Zoom Me” in the subject header. These gatherings are free for TRU members, non-members are asked to make an optional tax-deductible donation or consider joining TRU at truonline.org/membership to support the organization’s ongoing service to the community.

Videos of past Community Gatherings may be viewed on TRU’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/channel/UC43rsChi4fA23dNLeloaF_A/. And a podcast series, TRU Talks About Theater, featuring 2023 Community Gathering conversations, is available wherever you get your podcasts; or tune in at ElectraCast: https://electracast.com/?s=Theater+Resources

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a thirty-three-year-old 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of the arts. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.

TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, opportunities and productions; presents weekly Community Gatherings about the arts, and monthly Town Halls about current social issues; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program taught by prominent producers and general managers in New York theater; and presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop business skills. TRU serves writers through the TRU Voices Play Reading Series, TRUSpeak: Hear Our Voices (adapting short plays into films), Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop, How to Write a Musical That Works and a Director-Writer Communications Lab.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by the Leibowitz Greenway Foundation, Merrie L. Davis, Dunbar Hofmann Productions and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org.

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