Ready, Fire, Aim!

There is a school of thought that says you need to know everything before you do anything. Lay out charts, graphs, get a degree, take years to plan.  I have a masters degree and I understand that.

Then there is the school of thought that says "Ready, Fire, Aim".   Could that fail? Yes. But I can learn much faster and make corrections as I go with this philosophy.  By the way, I don't expect to fail, but I do expect to learn a lot as I go.  If, by any chance, that alienates anyone, then they don't need to be in our tribe.  It's ok. This is new marketing. Not mass marketing. And the internet gives us the chance to correct as we go.

"Ready, Fire, Aim" has been my philosophy for about 20 years.   I have done ok.  I think successful artists tend to think this way. I didn't know everything before I did my first Broadway audition.  I learned as I did more and more auditions.  We could actually ask Jamibeth how I did because she was one of the first casting directors to audition me! It was either Phantom or Les Miz.  Even if I wasn't totally "cooked" I must have done well enough to keep the ball rolling.  My point is: if there is a exciting enough kernel embedded in the idea (audition) then it moves forward and people will keep up with you just to see you grow into your potential. 

Side bar: Part of our mission is to provide an education tab on our website that will help teach other Broadway hopefuls.  Help them get a leg up and learn from all our contacts before they walk in the door via short videos from casting directors about what they like to see in an audition in addition to our other educational programs and services.  Plus links to other sites that have tools like that.

In "Ready, Fire, Aim" mode I am learning how to write good polling questions via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_survey .   I think traditional business folks might giggle at that because they would hire a professional poller, plan it for 3 months, have meetings, stick stuff up on a wall, whiteboard it and maybe miss a chance to move forward fast.  When I was doing research on the Greenwich/Stamford area, I went to Wikipedia.  I also went to Greenwich and Stamford in person, many times, and talked to business and arts folks. For 6 months we have done that. Building a tribe of supporters, checking out the area, going to meetings with business folks, meeting the mayor. I am running the preliminary questionnaire by folks that I trust in business and in the arts.

My point is:  We could keep studying and planning like traditional business does, or we can jump in there with our awesome team of business and artistic professionals who believe in this project, who see the unique elements, and make this work.  We can learn from everything we are doing and create something new that benefits the area and the arts. Now.

If you are interested in helping me do some polling in Stamford in a couple weeks, write me at:  missohiokh@yahoo.com    I have the surveys almost finished and we will have a great time finding out what would drive those same cool folks, who are out on a Thursday night, to our theatre.