Meet the Staff: Stacy Jones

And now a few words from our publicity director Stacy Jones….

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Hey Fringey People,

The second Fringe approaches! I hope you’re all as excited as I am for another summer on the streets of Hollywood. I’m looking forward to all the things that made me fall in love with Fringe: the huge (and often extreme) spectrum of artistic expression, the inspiring range of personalities and opinions, and watching everyone celebrate all their hard work! And did I mention the sangria?

For those of you returning to the fest, you might know me as the lady with the flip camera. Last year, my fabulous volunteer James and I interviewed over 60 different participant groups, and this year I’ll have even more volunteers helping me to hit the streets and get to know the participants up close.

I wish coordinating and conducting interviews was the only part of my job, but as Publicity Director, it’s also my job to make sure press knows about our event. I help to secure media sponsorships, write press releases, and broker comp tickets for press (so if you get an email from me during Fringe, you’d better respond quickly to insure coverage of your show!).

A lot of people try to hit me up for advice about successfully promoting a Fringe show, so I thought I’d outline a few basic things you can do to maximize the impact of your show:

• Write a press release and post it on the Fringe site as well as sending it to press contacts that you think would enjoy your show (think big: LA Times, LA Weekly & Backstage all came out for Fringe last year, among many others)
• Invest time in building up social media like Twitter & Facebook
• Networking is the most simple (and often most effective) tactic you can adopt. Do it.
• Read our Participant Packet, which outlines lots of promotional ideas

It was only a few years ago that a group of us sat around an apartment in Hollywood talking about the local arts and theater scene and somehow developed the idea of a festival. For a long time, even as we developed branding and applied for our nonprofit status, the Fringe felt like a dream. Finally, after years of hard work, we were able to see our ideas come to life. What a fulfilling moment.

But it’s not just about us… I know all of you have worked extremely hard to get your shows to the Hollywood Fringe, and I’m proud of each and every one of you, even those I haven’t yet met. Without you, our dream of a thriving artistic community in Hollywood would still be just a dream. So thanks! I know you guys are going to rock it out this summer, and I can’t wait.

Fringe on!
Stacy Jones, Publicity Director