It's Friday.

Well... it’s Friday. I figured that it would be a good time for a blog. The phones has stopped ringing, the emails have all been checked. So it’s time to write.

I have been working with Theatre Collingwood for just under two months now. Although my dreams of travelling to NYC this summer have come to an end, I have managed to find a very professional marketing and sales job within my local area.

Wasaga Beach and Collingwood is primarily a vacation haven for tourists. The streets are full of fast food outlets and what I like to call ‘junk’ retailers (i.e- stuff that you buy just because you are in ‘Wasaga Beach woooo’). Evidently, the area is not the best place to seek a professional level job.

I was lucky enough to find this job listing on the internet and was selected amongst an array of other theatre and marketing savvy students.

It has definitely been a challenge. The new wave of social media marketing results in a stagnant level of response. Over 90% of our businesses demographic are aged 70+. Most of these individuals are not familiar with the terms ‘Twitter’ ‘Wifi’ and ‘lol’. Technology has left them behind. Computers are dinosaurs.

What is the most successful way to market to these individuals?... Cold calling. Oh yes. The good ol’ days of cold calling people when they are eating dinner is back! (If you think that cold calling never left or that cold calling is still ‘hip’ then you might want to re-think your business marketing plan)

In the world of theatre, a phone call and a letter goes a long way.

I have learnt that marketing is not how well you can sell the product; it’s how well you are able to sell yourself. Marketing is a conversation. A conversation that you (as the marketer) are responsible for starting; the goal- and the difficult part- is to have others continue and carry it along.

Most of this should be common sense to anyone working within the industry... or at least I hope it is.

Every day I am amazed when I stop and realize that the small town of Collingwood and Wasaga Beach was able to teach me this. Even to this day, when I see someone walking down the street in a suit with designer dress shoes and a holdall I can’t help but think... “Are they lost?”

Enjoy today. After all, it’s Friday.

Tim Hendry.