Belated Birthday Wish

Did anyone else realise that the website's second birthday passed without notice?
The ITA website was formally launched on the 1st March 1998. Since that date the site has recorded more than 18,000 hits - an average of 24 per day. A hit is recorded each time someone visits the website. Over the last few months that figure has been closer to 40 hits per day.
The busiest section on the ITA website is the Green Room Gossip area. Altogether there have been more than 2,300 messages posted on the message boards; they're currently growing at something like 5 posts per day!
All this has been accomplished with great assistance from the ITA committee and Informed Technology but, i'm ashamed to say, very little support from most clubs. To date, i've only seen three club newsletters that have listed the ITA web address. I'm yet to see a club reproduce the address in a programme for a show.
connect with your local theatre
www.theatre.asn.au
Two lines on each programme or newsletter; it's not much to ask. My birthday wish for the site is that more clubs will get directly behind this endeavour and support it.
Cheers
Grant

Hi Grant,
I know you haven't yet had chance to come and see THE LAST SUPPER, but when you do, I'm sure you'll notice the ITA's web address on every programme (and every flyer and poster too, for that matter).
I agree wholeheartedly that advertising the web page to a wider audience can only benefit the clubs. If the general public is more aware of the productions on offer, then that translates into bums on seats.
How can the clubs knock back an invitation like that...?
JB

As a programme compiler I am ashamed to say that I have not featured the ITA site on a theatre programme!!!!!!!!!
Suitably chastened I shall do so IMMEDIATELY, in fact just as soon as I have disconnected!
AND I'd forgotton the second birthday too, as did the LINK producers, shame on us.

hehe thanks guys!
while i'm on a winning wicket here...
i'd like to suggest that the ITA committee move internet connectivity for the ITA office higher up on the priority list. I've got several good reasons why this should be pursued with some urgency.
Already significant amendments to season dates and audition information are appearing on the ITA website sooner than the information is sent to the ITA office. Yet staff in the office are unable to access this up-to-date information because they don't have an internet connection - although they have the computer equipment capable of doing so.
As corrections or notices of new events arrive at the ITA office there is an inevitable delay of a few weeks before being published in the Link. If the office were connected to the internet, the information could be added or updated directly on the site making the information instantly available to members.
Norma, Kim and others frequently respond to calls for help posted on the web site's message boards. They might be able to provide even more timely and accurate information if they could respond to requests directly from the ITA office where they have the necessary information at hand.
The team of librarians has been busy cataloguing the script library to the point where the on-line version available on the website is always out of date. If the ITA office had an internet connection, the librarians would be able to update the catalogue information directly on the web database. The latest information would not just be available in the office, but to all members and visitors to the website.
According to the latest Link newsletter, the ITA has finally bitten the bullet and decided to commence work on a register of theatre resources. This mammoth undertaking might be more readily accomplished if as many people as possible can contribute directly to the resource - like adding their shows to the what's on section. What's one good way of encouraging people to assist in compiling and contributing information? Surely they will more readily commit to assisting if they can see that they can access it for themselves and derive immediate benefits - where better than at the ITA's own website?
David's editorial in the Link magazine (hehe now i'm picking up on some of David's comments - bit like the chicken and egg except that i know David was around a long time before me!) mentions the difficulty of disseminating ITA information to members of member companies. The editorial discusses a number of potential solutions - all very costly relative to publishing the information on the internet for free. Adequately promoted the ITA site has the potential to reach thousands more people interested in theatre.
So, am i suggesing we scrap the Link and stop answering phone enquiries at the ITA office? Absolutely not! Rather i'm suggesting a range of possibilities that would complement these vital communication links. Not everyone will want to access the information on the internet, as Peter Fry suggests. The Link should be maintained, not as a concession to the Luddites (Peter's word, not mine!), but as an important, accessible, tangible promotion and information tool.
A while back i attended an international symposium on Interactive MultiMedia where all sorts of new technologies were being touted as world beaters.
The final keynote speaker spoke in glowing terms about a brilliant device that has revolutionised the provision of information to millions of people. The speaker explained some of the remarkable functionality of the device: it is hardware independent, lightweight, intuitive to use, charging and battery problems are a thing of the past, what's more you don't lose its memory if there is a power blackout or the batteries run flat, the display is legible in a wide range of lighting conditions, you can almost instantly access any information contained in the device, information can easily be annotated using a stylus pen device, the devices are very cheap to produce and can provide information in a variety of languages. He described how he had used this remarkable device in number of environments traditionally hostile or downright dangerous to the current crop of laptop computers including while drinking coffee, lying in bed, flying on an aircraft and even taking a bath! He dubbed this remarkable feat of engineering the Binary Optical Organised Knowledge device. :)
Long live the Link! And let's get the ITA office online!
Cheers
Grant

Y'know, we were talking about this very subject at last night's monthly ITA committee meeting...
Hopefully soon, Grant, hopefully soon.
JB

Hi Jarrod
Jarrod Buttery wrote:
-------------------------------
> I know you haven't yet had chance to come and see THE LAST
> SUPPER,
I plan to correct that glaring omission next weekend
> but when you do, I'm sure you'll notice the ITA's web address on
> every programme (and every flyer and poster too, for that matter).
I can report that this has been a real boon for the ITA website. Just one company printing the web address on publicity material for a single show and the number of daily hits has nearly doubled from 35 to 60 per day!
Imagine if every company did the same thing for each show and included the information in their newsletters!
> I agree wholeheartedly that advertising the web page to a wider
> audience can only benefit the clubs. If the general public is more
> aware of the productions on offer, then that translates into bums on
> seats.
Hear hear!
I noted with interest a comment from the AGM printed in the Link that some companies were reluctant to include general ITA info in their own newsletters as they wanted to maintain their own identity.
I appreciate the concerns, but wholeheartedly agree with Jarrod that a greater public awareness of the wealth of affordable entertainment available will return benefits for all theatre companies.
When your own audience and members become aware of productions elsewhere, you don't lose their custom but rather build a culture of attendance and active participation in the performing arts from which we all benefit.
Cheers
Grant

I can't find Max's offering on the board though it came through on my e-mail
I think "Webmaster" by definition, does make the titleholder "Master of his Domain"

Hi Jonno
Jonno wrote:
-------------------------------
> I can't find Max's offering on the board
> though it came through on my e-mail
It's all the fault of these naughty people that keep mailing directly to the list instead of posting their messages and replies on the website - including yours truly who replied to a message sent directly to the list by Stephen.
> I think "Webmaster" by definition, does
> make the titleholder "Master of his Domain"
The title might apply very well on many, if not most, websites. I believe it is not very applicable here.
On most websites the content is strictly controlled by the web administrator who physically publishes everything. The ITA website is more like an open channel, where many people can publish their own views. Whilst i have probably been the largest contributor to discussion, a quick scan of the stats page reveals that my messages account for only 20% of what appears on the boards.
As far as the domain and server space is concerned, www.theatre.asn.au is registered to the ITA, not me.
Although it probably doesn't appear so, i effectively have no more power here than anyone else.
Cheers
Grant
PS. I'll see if i can't copy and paste Max's message on the boards.