Hoggetowne

Lessons Learned

Communication

Communication is one of the biggest things that you can learn and use when managing the show. It is incredibly important to communicate what you want to both your cast members and your production team. If not, things can lead to disaster, or at least bad headaches.

Communication does not just mean making announcements at rehearsals. It is a collection of different things that have to come together, because people have various ways in which they will receive communications the best.

• Announcements at rehearsal are important!
• Sending emails out prior to rehearsal (at least one day in advance, try for two) keeps people in the mindset of what they are doing, and gives them a reminder of what has happened the past weekend and what is going to happen the following weekend.
• Maintaining a calendar on the website is a good thing to have. If you make changes to it, make an announcement about the changes both in email and at rehearsal.
• Keeping the website up to date is also key. People do use it, and will check it on a regular basis.
• Of course, there are always phone communications. If there are going to be changes, particularly last minute, the phone is a good tool.

Maintaining good communications between your production team is key. Be sure that everyone is on the same page, otherwise the mess that ensues from crossed communications is not a fun thing to have happen. Also be sure that your production team members are communicating well with the cast. If they are not, do something about it, because if the cast does not get messages properly, bad things happen.