Theatre and Performing Arts forum

ellenmelon

So I have a wee issue with this forum. It has been set up as a discussion forum but I think it needs to have a wider scope if it is to become a bit more vibrant as at the moment I think its pretty dead compared to what it could be.

The theatre scene anywhere relies on comaraderie. You scratch my back I'll scratch yours. Often societies/smaller theatres run on little to no budget and rely on word of mouth and especially now days, internet to advertise shows. It reveals to them a whole new audience with little outlay. So I'm not quite sure why its neccessary to say Threads which are set up just to advertise events/gigs..will be deleted and the poster may be banned and it ..is NOT for the advertising and/or promotion of upcoming events of any kind is really over the top and unneccessary to be honest. I can't imagine you'd get, I dont know, the larger theatres in Dublin advertising, I'm talking about the smaller shows in school halls kind of thing. I think flexibility is important.

I also think you should be able to advertise for positions within the performing arts. Even a sticky where jobs are posted but only the mod can post them, with the username of the person added so further communication's can be done via PMs.

One thing that really annoyed me was the deletion of a lot of threads lately. Grr.If it isnt acceptable to post on them any more (which means a time limit needs to be set ie after a month they're locked or whatever), on other forums I'm on theyre locked so people can still read them for the info contained within but don't drag them up constantly by posting months/years later. I hate zombie threads as much as the next person.

Or if just locking the thread isn't 'acceptable', stickies are great and could be set up like FAQ's with subjects like "What to see on the WestEnd/Broadway" or "Where to find prop's in your city" or "Contacts within the theatre/PA scene in Ireland".

Yeah, so reiterate; I am a wholehearted believer in the fact that we need to look after each other in this industry. Its hard work for little pay a lot of the time and this forum could be a more helpful resource than it is at the moment if some changes were implemented. A discussion forum is only useful to a point. /endshippyramble

There, thats me! If you read that, kudos.

Thanks,
ellenmelon

(Im almost certain this is the right place to put this. If not, let me know!

For clarification purposes: yes, I am currently in NZ but I will be returning to Ireland when I graduated as my family/partners family live there and I think there is still a lot to come from this industry in Ireland. FYI

Just curious, have you raised these points to the Mod? They might be willing to take suggestions on board.

I'm surprised how quiet the Theatre board here is to be honest. But then again, given the hours people work in theatre I suppose it might make sense!

seamus

I agree.

This has been discussed before: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055096233 (private link, only mods can see it, sorry)

But Bard never responded. Perhaps if you PM him nicely with a link to this thread, asking him for his feedback on the issue.

I think a proper process for advertising auditions or independent/small shows on the forum needs to be discussed.
The industry is small and most people in it rely on word-of-mouth, bulletin boards (the wooden type) and internet forums for notices of work that's available, so I don't know why Bard has chosen to leave the forum out of the loop and use it for discussion only. With the volume of people here, there has to be some serious potential there for traffic to this board from working and aspiring actors and of course directors, writers and so forth.

There is of course a need to remove blatant advertising, same as any other board. Also, although the community has a bit of cameraderie as you say, there can be quite a bit of venom and backbiting between certain individuals, which would need to be kept in check.

ellenmelon

Myth wrote: »

Just curious, have you raised these points to the Mod? They might be willing to take suggestions on board.

I'm surprised how quiet the Theatre board here is to be honest. But then again, given the hours people work in theatre I suppose it might make sense!

No I haven't, but I will do as seamus said and PM him the post. The reason I posted here was to bounce it off people so I could acertain whether or not my ideas were reasonable you know?

It is very quiet, thats why I'm hoping it will get busier and be a really good resource

ellenmelon

seamus wrote: »

I agree.

This has been discussed before: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055096233 (private link, only mods can see it, sorry)

But Bard never responded. Perhaps if you PM him nicely with a link to this thread, asking him for his feedback on the issue.

I think a proper process for advertising auditions or independent/small shows on the forum needs to be discussed.
The industry is small and most people in it rely on word-of-mouth, bulletin boards (the wooden type) and internet forums for notices of work that's available, so I don't know why Bard has chosen to leave the forum out of the loop and use it for discussion only. With the volume of people here, there has to be some serious potential there for traffic to this board from working and aspiring actors and of course directors, writers and so forth.

There is of course a need to remove blatant advertising, same as any other board. Also, although the community has a bit of cameraderie as you say, there can be quite a bit of venom and backbiting between certain individuals, which would need to be kept in check.

I agree with you on all points I will PM him the link, as I said to the poster before you I wanted to see whether I was being reasonable you know?

And heck yes is there backbiting..it wouldnt be the theatre without drama

Bard

I've responded on that other thread now.

OP: You should however have sent me a PM about this first, before starting this thread.

ellenmelon

Bard wrote: »

I've responded on that other thread now.

OP: You should however have sent me a PM about this first, before starting this thread.

It would be appreciated if you could post your response here also, as another poster said on this thread, that thread is Moderator Only so not much use to me/other non-mods.

To be completeley honest, I didnt have to do anything before posting this thread. As I mentioned earlier I wanted to gauge whether what I was thinking was fair, then someone suggested I make you, the mod of that forum aware.

seamus

The general gist is that he'll think about it and come back with a decision soon

ellenmelon

seamus wrote: »

The general gist is that he'll think about it and come back with a decision soon

sweet, cheers.

Bard

This is what I said there:

Bard wrote:

I'm only seeing this thread now - sorry.

Sorry, but up until now I've had the rule of "no advertising or recruitment" on the forum and I've stuck rigidly by it. I don't have time to PM everyone who comes in, doesn't bother reading the rules and just breaks them anyway. I just enforce the rules as they stand.

As fade2black says, no, I wouldn't like to see the forum becoming flooded with these kind of threads- but perhaps the rule should be changed. I'll certainly consider it and make a decision very soon.

ellenmelon wrote:

To be completeley honest, I didnt have to do anything before posting this thread.

It would still have been better had you brought your thoughts to my attention first before going ahead and posting a thread about it.

I appreciate your suggestions and based on them, I've changed the rules and updated the charter ( Please have a look here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055024631 )

Thanks,