New tech magazine

[Diarmuid]

Hiya,

I am attempting to set up a magazine, aimed at those studying or in the amateur dramatic side of technical theatre. I was wondering whether anyone here had any ideas as to what they would like to see in it?

Also, if anyone is interested in writing for it, they would be more than welcome, and there is the possibility of maybe free T-shirts for contributors, when the magazine is started. :)

 

Thanks

 

Diarmuid

[Andrew C]

any ideas as to what they would like to see in it?

Practical H&S advice, licencing issues, successful grant application stories...

[paulears]

as somebody who is pretty involved with small scale mag production, I'd just say this - DON'T DO IT.

 

Probably seems a bit negative, it will cost you a fortune, take up hours of your time, and don't even think advertisers will come near you. You might be able to tap up a few people to give you a one-off donation (it isn't really an ad, unless it generates business for them - and small scale doesn't - ever)

 

Getting people to contribute is really, really difficult. You'll need specific software that the printers will accept - publisher, illustrator, quark etc - many publishers now want pdf-x files especially if you have images.

 

If you think you can get away with word - think again. It may well be ok for newsletters - but it handles images pretty badly, at least as far as printers are concerned.

 

Have you considered who will want it. Noda, Abtt, plasa, etc all have really good mags that cater for beginners to professionals - plus a few decent forums like this one - who will actually want your mag? and what will each issue cost?

 

I'd urge you to do your sums carefully. You could spend a lot of money here.

[WJProctor]

I think, something that would be good in a magazine or one the blue-room possible would be a section reviewing products, and discussing them in some detail. However the problem I guess would be keeping these independant. I do alot of stuff in the I.T. industry and its easy to find out review of software, hardware etc for you to read before you purchase.

 

Something like this in Electronic Magazine form would be quite good for starters..

[soundo26]

Please remember that not all techs work just in theatre!!!!!!!! Hope there are some other angles in there.

[djw1981]

An E-zine would be good, rather like a d evelopment of the BR wiki, with articles covering certain productions or work-aroudns to common problems, and maybe a 'comedy' advice page :)

[Jivemaster]

Seasons ago there was Sound on Stage. Factual informative and in the right places funny. Still after 6 (I think) issues the iron came firmly down.

 

That was a major publisher with access to wholesale distribution. If they couldn't make it work why should you? You are competing with L&SI and lots of others. You will need Quark and full photoshop, and need to write all the bits yourself as most people can write but submit copy after the date.

[WJProctor]

Everyone seems to be very negative about this. I realise its alot of work for people envolved, but for a community such as the Blue Room is would be a great addition. If it was in PDF format or something people could take it with them to read on their PDA, print it out, do what ever they want. Also everyone seems to think its needs to be super professional in the first place. Whats wrong with using publisher or word, it has some of the advanced features and could be used to produce things that look quite good.

 

I think you need to get some support from others and then go for it, it sounds great to me..

[Ynot]

Everyone seems to be very negative about this. I realise its a lot of work for people involved, but for a community such as the Blue Room is would be a great addition.

I agree in principle that it would be agood idea, though also agree that it would be hellishly difficult to get up and running and KEEP it up and running. Editorial experience is probably the most necessary task and hardest thing to do - objectively.

 

Give it a go as an on-line thing and see how that progresses...

[the kid]

Defiantly a email thing I find that unless sites are regularly up dated (every day or every week) I forget about them.

[Jivemaster]

The IDEA of a mag is fine there is much to be said, info to be shared. There are many am-dram people. The problem is the practicality. Getting contributions in and edited and published, and getting enough people to buy the mag, which hinges on several things including production quality and perceived value.

 

Whether Diarmuid can turn this idea into a well respected reality before he runs out of time, money or enthusiasm is uncertain.

 

Would a posting along the lines of Bryson's Blog be a worthwhile start. Posted here or in another place could you get contributions in and readers in so thet your reputation goes up.

[mac.calder]

If you are keen on it, I would certainly go for email distribution with web based archiving. What I would do, to start it up in your free time is give yourself a relatively long release cycle - maybe bi-monthly to begin with. If you grow, great, you may find yourself with a market to publish as well..

[paulears]

I agree - my issue really is with the idea of printing - just get a quote and you'll see the problem, add in postage and it really is a killer

[leofric]

Ok most people think it is going to be a lot of work but only you know if you have that commitment.

 

There is some money in this sector of the market though, there are quite a few companies who service non-proffesional events as asignificant part of there business, they don't all do it for love.

 

If you included church groups and productions some of them have money to spend on kit and a few lots of money to spend. For instance, the church that recently hired Hammersmith Apollo and produced a Delerious gig with their full touring show, artic, two trusses, vari-lites, line array PA and an AV rig with a full freelance crew on full wages, and then gave the tickets away.

 

It's a good idea, it will be hard, but if things were easy why do them?

[Pete McCrea]

If you included church groups and productions some of them have money to spend on kit and a few lots of money to spend. For instance, the church that recently hired Hammersmith Apollo and produced a Delerious gig with their full touring show, artic, two trusses, vari-lites, line array PA and an AV rig with a full freelance crew on full wages, and then gave the tickets away.

Church's are a mixed bunch. Several members on here represent a few churches that have money to spend. A lot of churches don't. I am a member of one of the bigger anglican churches, and I can tell you that even though they put on some big events, the budget is low....

 

But this isn't about that, it's about whether a magazine aimed at Amatuer Theatrical practioners. If it was distributed around that, aimed at the hobby-ists, then there might well be a market. With insights into the full scale shows etc, like LSI write ups but possibly aimed at a lower experience level (The guy that has used two radio mics for his recent production and has no idea how it's done with 10+ channels etc), then there might be money in it. Or aimed along the lines of 'Practical Theatre- a beginers guide. This month using a profile to light a soloist'

 

As others have said, a lot of hard work, and potentially very costly. But get it right and it could work.