theatreWashington

theatreWashington - Failure to Launch?

As a retired federal employee I have witnessed numerous reorganizations over the decades which all shared the same fate: they ultimately failed and wasted a lot of money. All brought in consultants, were characterized by enthusiasm at the start, and were viewed as "works in progress," right up until the next management fad.

This latest "chapter" in the Helen Hayes Awards (HHA) saga is being touted as a "Re-Branding Process" and that designation does not bode well. By definition, companies re-brand their organizations or products largely because they were failures. They may argue that the process is one to better define their mission or that it is an effort to take their service to the next level, but this is positive spin on what comes down to an advertising and marketing campaign. And HHA is not using theatreWashington as a way of meeting the competition, since there is none. Maybe that's the problem.

Though tW has coyly announced only Phase One of a three-phase "rollout," with congratulatory zeal about past commitments and confidence in new directions - looking for "buy-in," undoubtedly - a number of items are clear, and none of them comforting. Here are my ten comments:

1. They will have the same leadership. Yes, some new faces have been added, and maybe they'll transition to the top spots. But for now, it's the same players running the organization.

2. There's no mention of a change in the HHA process, the bone of contention for the many mid-to-small size companies who are repeatedly shut-out of the nominations and awards ceremonies.

3. "Helen Hayes Recommended" play selections - last year's marketing strategy, if you recall - has not worked. Though roughly half of the plays mounted receive this "coveted" honor, it hasn't meant much at the box office.

4. The user friendly, "Find a Show" function - an interactive database - provides nothing of added value to a patron. Offhand, it looks like information overload. Right now I can access websites not only for a listing of all plays in the area, but a consolidation of reviews (some of my own!) telling me everything I want or need to know about a show, including "price, genre, age-appropriateness," etc. Individual theater websites, a look on third-party ticket suppliers, utilization of search engines, and yes, even a trip to the library will fill in any gaps.

5. The launch is occurring in an arts-heavy community, with plenty of entertainment alternatives (sports, music, movies, etc.), in the middle of a recession. Maybe people have too much on their plates (possible), or don't have the money (probable), or the theaters have overbuilt their supply based on flush times (likely). It's not clear to me that the perceptions issue is on the audiences' end.

6. Do we want or even need a "Cloud or hive-mind" mentality such a computer database portends? It's ironic that such diversity exemplified by the social media should lead - paradoxically - to conformity and polarization. Ever read those profanity-filled flames?!

7. Is the Washington, DC-area really number two behind New York? The Windy City could surely take exception and based on my travel there over the last 12 years they would have a strong case. Chicago is less spread out with most theaters within walking distance of Downtown and easily accessible by CTA and the two discount ticket outlets are located within tourism centers or adjacent to one. Their theaters are entrepreneurial, improvisational by nature, not activist, filling a niche market for life; and the community has a strong sense of design, hence, style and it is reflected in their production values. Chicago's awards process - the Jeffs - is better organized and operated and more equitable than the Helen Hayes, evaluating shows from both large and mid-sized companies. While older patrons are the norm, as here, you see many more men in attendance and they are engaged - not being dragged along by wives or partners - serving as role models for young males, who would rather be anywhere but inside a theater down here. Finally, the city sits at the hub of the Midwest, at the crossroads of money, ideas, and innovation. One look at their architecture says it all. Compared to Chicago, I fear, we must come across as rather antiquated or provincial.

8. The organization is top-heavy with chiefs - 25-member board of directors and 20 HHA governors - and far too few staff. Who's going to do the work and where is the money coming from?

9. The database will be used to solicit donations. Once you are entered into the system, your purchasing and lifestyle choices will be followed like Facebook. For every dinnertime phone call, you will get instead a dozen emails and reams of junk mail asking for money.

10. The jargon-laden, celebratory, and public relations rollout of spin says absolutely nothing about the professional theater: how TW is going to affect the product that is put in front of an audience. WHERE IS THE QUALITY?

My advice? Scrap what you have and start the process again from the ground up, beginning with all the stakeholders, including the most important ones, your audience. Better still turn a fully divested operation over to another party, with no conflicts of interest, separate from the HHA process. Until you do, most of those "upwards of 80" theaters will languish as they have in the past, if they still remain in business, during this down economy.