practitioner interview
TRANSCRIPT
Erin McInnisMarketing Director Nashville Children’s Theatre
NCT Promo Video 2015-2016 season https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
ojkwi02XJJo
*This is just one example of the work Erin oversees as the Marketing Director
Education Wake Forest University~Major: History~Minors: Theatre and English
MFA from University of Arizona Film School *This was a two-year program (in addition to work done over the summer)
Early Career Through connections received internship at Nashville
Film Festival NFF Executive Director got her a job at Nashville
Public Television Was a part of the filming for “Nashville Crossroads” Started up NPT’s Facebook page and YouTube
channelMarketing Director for Nashville Shakespeare FestivalMarketing Director for Nashville Children’s Theatre as of August 2015
Her job at NCT “My job entails anything and
everything.” Graphic building, get pieces of
advertisement out to the public, work out logistics with visiting schools, point person for all media contacts, write press releases, and design advertisements
She reports to the Managing director of NCT. That is her immediate boss
A Day in the Life Of… Supposed to be an 8:30-4:00 job, but
that rarely happens Because of the high demand from social
media, she is constantly on the job responding to things that are happening online
Highlights/Favorite Things “What I really like about marketing in
today’s world is that it’s so much more personable.”
Constantly asking “what is it about us that people like?” She says, that she enjoys figuring out that
relationship
How do you define PR? “More and more I’m seeing that PR and
Marketing go hand in hand, especially in non-profits. We are responsible for maintaining our voice.”
She believes that there are certain expectations in a field like this, and PR is responsible for maintaining that
How NCT Connects to the Public
Creates an open communication with their target audience
*organized by Erin McInnis
Significant Issues and Trends Social media is constantly changing “It’s harder and harder to get your voice
heard by Facebook because the rules are constantly changing.”
Different shows require different tactics Target audiences are constantly
changing depending on what’s deemed “appropriate”
What is something you wish you had known before you became a professional in this field? “I always knew that certain professions
required long hours, but I wish someone would have told me that I was not going to be working a 9-5 job.”
When overseeing something like social media it’s hard to ever leave work because you constantly have it in the palm of your hand
Children’s TheatreVSStandard Theatre “We all exist in a world of metaphors
and we all experience the same metaphors but on different levels.”
At NCT they don’t want to talk down to kids, they want kids to be able to experience live theatre just like adults do. It’s a family environment.
Advice to young professionals still in college “Just try things. We get so stuck trying
to put ourselves in boxes. This industry can be so broad and everything is always changing.”
“If I were doing what I went to school to do I would be Ron Howard’s personal assistant or working for an HBO show doing research.”
Why did you choose theatre as your place of work? Involved in community theatre when
growing up. Did sound engineering and sound
building in college “There’s just something about this
group of people coming together and that there’s a tangible end result.”
Enjoys collaborative efforts of the arts
Nashville Children’s Theatre
All graphics and promotional images created by/supervised by Marketing Director Erin McInnis