Audience Experience

There is nothing worse than the idea of your own money getting lost. The process of claiming funds, albeit fax free, is frustrating to begin with, spending $500 on band-aids is even worse. It is easy to have the sense that you are always having your money wasted on things, and the more accounts it gets tied up in, the more likely you'll be locked out at the wrong moment. It is all about how you make people feel.. Not the actual words you use. It is all about how the system makes people feel, not the amount of work it takes.

If a theater has an audience, then a video game has a player.  And if a book has a reader, a piece of software has a user. The company I'm working for has put a piece of software out into the world. Something complex, many moving parts, difficult to understand at the best of moments.  And I am one of the few people seeking out the response of the audience/player/user/customer. No longer are metrics measured in dollars, they are measured in engagement. Usefulness. And abandon rates.

Big month!!  Published a short story in the Morris- Jumel Mansion Anthology ("The Making of A Modern Woman") And doing a monologue from my series of short stories currently called "Imaginary Friends and Other Enemies" (info below) GOLDEN FLEECE LTD. THE COMPOSERS CHAMBER THEATRE Lou Rodgers, Producing Artistic Director presents THE ARGONAUT SERIES ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2016 AT 8:00 PM ARGONAUT SERIES #74 (PLAYWRIGHTS IN PROGRESS) Presenting Playwrights: Sal Anzalone Stuart R. Brown Julia Genoveva Lou Rodgers Tammy Rose ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ Studios 353 353 West 48th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues), 2nd Floor, New York, NY FOR RESERVATIONS AND INFORMATION, CALL  (212) 691-6105 .

There are moments in everyday life when you want to tell someone something. I was on a shuttle bus and wanted to apologize to someone sitting in front of me. It would have been easy to tell him when I first got on, but I was distracted finding a seat. It would have been easy to get up at the first traffic light, when the bus was stopped. Or at the second.  Things were quiet enough for conversation too. We were about to head into the countryside, so I knew there were not many more moments. When I approached him, it was not the person I thought it was. I did feel better that I had tried. And that there was one more traffic light than I had expected.

Working on a series of short stories. UX Journeys, simple ones around an app.  Stuff that's possible and even stuff that's likely.  (As one friend puts it, it's all been done in the movies). I'd like to only write User Journeys.  Craft them into a narrative, and develop it into something complex.  Everyone who does an app goes into it trying to predict the User. But they are unpredictable.

I am currently coming up with a list of ideas that we take for granted in everyday society, ideas which are inherently untrue. This is coming up in the world and in this country, the more that a certain Mr. Drumph has media attention.  He makes outlandish and untrue statements which are dismissed as "sarcasm" but he accuses his opponent of lies. Quite often, we live in a world which is upside down.  Benefits are given to those who least need it, and those who need it most are excluded.  This goes for money, but also information. For instance, contractors (who have little to no loyalty to a company) are given the least instruction, are not required to complete any standard training (especially in terms of keeping company secrets). Also, technical requirements, which Usernames and passwords are required for what sites, as well as what sites are acceptable and which are not. (Youtube? Gmail?)  And mostly, when I asked to join the women's group and got a broken link-I

Law and Order is a version of NYC. The Monkees is a version of LA in the mid 60s. The Love Boat is a mix of live action 80s corn and romantic stories. On a boat. Where do you want to hang out regularly?

RULES FOR THE INDEPENDENT ARTIST You must satisfy the person who likes you, who expects things of you. Take them into your tribe. FAN Respect them: 1)Create quality work that attracts people 2)Word will get around AUDIENCE Create a base of people who will want to listen & watch your new stuff 3)The "Brand" is only the word for the "World" they can expect 4)Give them something to be attentive to CUSTOMER Let them vote with their dollars: 5)At some point, they will want you to succeed at this 6)Make it EASY for them to encourage you USER Let them be loyal, easily 7)Make it easy to recommend your work 8)Make it sharable and tangible

Trav SD does what he says, offers a variety of arts. If you don't like what's on offer, wait till the act is over, 10 minutes at most. Books are marvelous, but live life is important, too!! It's better (and exactly like) Facebook.  Things to make you smile. And cat videos (starring humans)!

The Lumineers are on Q (an NPR show, taped in Canada).  They are talking about how their fans were rooting for them on the way up, and now people are mad/annoyed/sad that they are now "famous" (They've had a minor hit as a band with "Hey-Ho") So, I love rooting for the underdog.  Perennially and persistently. What do you do as an audience member/fan when you know that your favorite band has jumped the shark? As a lifelong fan of the Monkees, I've always taken a lot of joy in the TV show and the music.  Yet, somehow, I find myself cringing when I hear that they've become "famous" again.  They are on their 50th anniversary tour right now, and I'm shying away from it for the most part.  I don't think I'll go to any of the shows. Ironically enough, I think if I were alive when they were first popular, I wouldn't like them-because everyone else liked them (they outsold the Beatles & Rolling Stones put together in 1967).

Despite his famous grave at Sleepy Hollow, HDT is alive and well. There are countless books, events, plays being read, written, performed and published about him every year. The "interpretations" take on various permutations.  Live-action humans who lead educational programs, or people who write books for children.  Or, theater which extends the documented & literary materials into personal immediacy (not that I am biased, but this is what I do). Lately, there has also been a video game created about Walden. And a young graphic designer who wants to "update" Thoreau's words for the modern age.  Something about "how dated the language is" and the "inaccessibility" of its ideas.  (I can't bear to include a link, or even the designer's name for fear of adding to publicity, and thereby adding "support") The last example is the slippery slope.  At what point does he need to be repackaged, yet again? Instead of taki

Do you turn to Yelp to get insight into the experiences of your customers? How do you know when there is a disconnect? http://mashable.com/2016/01/19/dive-bar-yelp/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link#B6WAlKonNOqa If customers are clueless, how can you educate them? Or convince them to come back when they are in a mood befitting your astmosphere? Like above, come back & have a drink with us. Isn't it always better to break through social media into humanity? 

If you are a guy, try to remove all judgement for the length of this post. And read it to the end. This is not women complaining, this is a series of articles I've seen in the past few DAYS that seem like Women Being Dissatisfied in the Marketplace means that more than 50% of consumers are not happy. What is the actual percentage of women as decision makers for YOUR brand anyway? Buying a bra: http://www.buzzfeed.com/kristinchirico/no-one-can-figure-out-my-bra-size#.qm0BwENYnA Why women feel that critics no longer represent them http://www.autostraddle.com/carol-didnt-get-oscar-snubbed-because-its-too-gay-it-got-oscar-snubbed-because-it-dismisses-men-324022/ Why women & minorites feel that Hollywood no longer represents them: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscar-nominees-include-zero-nonwhite-855751 Women are generally NOT believed, no matter what http://www.vox.com/2016/1/14/10767998/believe-rape-victims-bill-cosby