Sneak Peek

Happy Friday!!  Today I thought it would be cool if I could share a sneak peek of what is about to be delivered to your house (that is, if you have opted in to receive our mail)... It's our annual Winter Brochure

The theme this year is travel!  We want to take you on an adventure of a lifetime.  This year we chose to highlight some of the more exotic acts like Recycled Percussion and Jack Hanna's Into the Wild!  And we kept some of the standard favorites in there too - Dr. Maya Angelou and Bill Cosby round out the bunch!

Keep an eye out for Hugh Masekela's wide spread arms in your mailbox so that you can learn all about the great line up we have.  

And in case you were wondering - which I know you are - we mail 100,000 brochures out every time we do a mailing. And we distribute another 15,000 throughout Worcester County with the help of our Street Team.

If you know someone who likes to drive around and pass out materials all while making a little money doing it, have them email marketing@thehanovertheatre.org to inquire about Street Team position openings.  With our exotic acts coming fast we will be using the street team more than ever.

Speaking of our exotic show list - have you had a chance to check out the video of Recycled Percussion?  I have never been a huge fan of America's Got Talent, but I do watch the show on occasion, and I distinctly remember seeing the group rock out!  If you haven't seen the video yet, turn up the volume and check them out.  They have a similar act to the Blue Man Group, but they do it all with "junk" and they don't paint their faces.

20,000 Envelopes

As many people know The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts is a non-profit organization, depending on the generosity of many to build, run and maintain the theatre.  The theatre relies on the membership, annual campaign contributions and corporate sponsorships to sustain operations and ensure success.  Long story short: without raising money to run the theatre- I wouldn't have the job I have today, which is why our annual campaign is so important to me.


Our mission at the theatre is to foster a love and appreciation for the performing arts in audiences of today and tomorrow.  I have always been a theatre lover, since the first time I was on stage, but I was never afforded the opportunity to see real Broadway caliber theatre until much older.  Each time I see a show, the spark I used to get on stage reignites, and I love knowing that the theatre mission is to help spread that joy to others.

The theatre supports this mission directly with our annual Access to the Arts fund.  The Access to the Arts fund supports many programs including the internship program which takes on at least four local college students each year and the motivational speaker program which brought in Erin Gruwell (Inspiration for the film, The Freedom Writers) to speak to Worcester Public School Students.  It also funds the donation of 1,500 tickets to A Christmas Carol every year to kids and families in partnership with the United Way.


With all of that said, one of the main components of this campaign is to raise awareness of where the donation dollars go to and ask for a donation for the next year's operations.  This includes writing a personalized letter to current members and past donators, mailed with an informational rack card and a theatre-addressed envelope.  


One might think this is a small task, but it is a lot more complex than I had ever imagined.  I have been involved with this mailer since the very beginning and I am responsible for much of the design of the piece.  This is a small task for a single printed piece, but when it is being mailed to such a large list - the stakes are much higher.  


Now, most of the letters never actually make it to the theatre, the get printed and mailed from the mail house, but the envelopes and rack cards on the other hand are sent to the theatre as only a portion of that supply needs to go to the printer... In today's case, the envelopes were delivered: 20,000 of them.  That is a TON of envelopes.


I am happy to say 10,000 of the envelopes will be mailed out in the next few weeks, while another 10,000 will be distributed at both Rock of Ages and Shrek the Musical.  So the supply closet will empty our quickly.  In the mean time its a tight fit for all of our promotional materials and stationaries.