Sure, we do the pre-theatre announcements, usually done in a funny way, (Rock of Ages says it “it makes you look like a douchebag.”) I’m just not convinced that the “Please take this moment to shut off your cell phones” is enough for audiences. We need to do more. Check cell phones in the lobby? Or get the community together for an ad campaign!

Buy some television commercials, Do a live social etiquette lesson on ustream.tv, create videos and throw them up on YouTube. We can get the Ad Council and the FCC in on this. We need a public message that is funny and will stick. (Sure, there are more important things like Teen Dating Violence Protection and quitting smoking, but cell phone abuse is out of control, right?)

I think it would be great if we did a video series of regular life incidents where the cell phone is involved and throw in one of our theatre celebrities.

Scene 1: A family is enjoying a lovely conversation over a beautiful dining room table. Amidst light-hearted chatter, a cell phone goes off. Everyone is looking at the eldest kid who answers it. Kid says “Oh hey Bra, yeah, no, it’s fine, I can chat.”  Mom looks at Dad, Sister looks at younger sister. Then they all turn to brother. They know what’s about to happen. BOOM! Patti Lupone BUSTS in. She screams, “Who do you think you are? This is a dinner table. Everyone at this table has respect except for YOU. Get ‘em out of here (then an usher comes in, all dressed up, escorts the douchey kid out of the house.) Then, Patti sings “Here she is boys! Tell the world! Heaaaaz Patti!” Cue ad message.

Scene 2: A crowded, quiet subway. Next stop, Broadway/Lafayette. A super cute girl walks on and gets a call. She gets service! She picks it up and snorts and laughs “Omygod, I know, O-M-G-W-T-F, I knah! Omygod, I hate her! I knah! I knah!” Everyone on the subway gets quiet…you hear a rattling of the car; There’s a roar coming, but, it’s not the train. From the sea of passengers barges through a very angry Hugh Jackman. He grabs the cell phone and crushes it with his hands. He gazes at the shell-shocked girl. All he says is “You’re annoying everyone on the train.” Then runs out, Wolverine style.

What do you think? Do you have any other suggestions of ad ideas for this theatre cell phone problem? Leave your ideas in the comment sections below.

One girl seriously wanted to be Sherry and wanted to know her chances of getting the part. I think we should let Kerry Butler do the job first.

We are doing a tweetup tonight for the fans of Rock of Ages at 5:30 at B. Smiths.

I wonder if the girl who wants to be Sherry will be there. I wonder if her dream will come true of being Sherry? Hey, Don’t Stop Believin’, right?

We are working on a few promotions that are in the pipeline. In the meantime, watch the Live Stream of the dancers who will teach a Master Class at Chelsea Piers today at 10am.

Live video by Ustream

1. Buy domain names. You can do this cheaply through godaddy.com or Network Solutions. If you can, buy as many variations of the domain name as possible. Do this before the show is announced to avoid squatters. Remember to get the domain name of the show and also reserve ‘nameofshowTICKETS.com’ - Domize is a great site to help you get started.

2. Reserve your Twitter name. The popularity of the tweet has caused a lot of the Twitter user names to be taken. Read my earlier post about this.

3. Create a splash page and add some content, be sure to add the title of the show to this page for search engine optimization.

4. Add a mailing list. There are a lot of free services that allow you to host the collection of names and it’s easy to set up. Try Vertical Response, iContact, PatronMail, Campaign Monitor or even Feedburner.

5. Add Google Analytics to the site and track how many people have come to the site.

Here are a few tips:

- Avoid using underscores in the name and using too markety terms like “Buy” or “Tickets”
- Try and reserve the name of the show so it’s easy for people to find and identify you.  Twitter only allows up to 16 characters for the domain, so if the title is too long, shorten to the most important words in the show’s title.  It has to be longer than 4 letters.
- Twitter is not case sensitive but it will show up as the way you set it.  So if you pick “Twitter.com/SoundofMusic” that is the way it will be officially
- If the name of your show or brand is already taken, shorten your title and add ‘play’ or ‘musical’ or ’show’ to the end of it.  - If you plan on sending the show out on a tour, do not use “Broadway” or “NYC” as it’s location specific and Twitter is global.
- Do not pick an obsene name or use “XXX” into the title

If you pick a name you end up not liking, there is a way to change it. After changing it, make sure to let your followers know so you’ll continue receiving all of your messages with your new user name. However if people if people @reply your old username, you won’t see it in your stream.

Twitter names are going fast so go to Twitter.com and reserve it!  If you are already on it - follow AMC here.