by Antonio Miniño

You might know Dave Charest is the guy with "wicked smaht' marketing tips for indie artists" or you might follow his insights on twitter. I know Dave as the marketing director of Astoria Performing Arts Center, which is on the top of my favorite indie theatre company list.

Katie Rosin of Kampfire PR suggested that just like shows swap postcards to help promote each other, Dave and I should swap interviews as fellow marketing directors. You'll be able to check out my answers on his website very soon. In the meantime here's what Dave had to say.

How did you get involved with marketing theater?

Hmm, I've always ended up the marketing guy whenever I'm involved with a project. When I'm engrossed in something I get really enthusiastic about it. And my enthusiasm tends to take over from there. It's infectious. So I'm pretty good at getting people excited about the things I truly believe in.  When I was studying a lot of online marketing I was intrigued by how theaters and artists could take advantage of this platform especially with the rise of social media. I thought it really lent itself to creative people and storytellers in particular. As I observed what different artists and theaters were doing I found myself disappointed with a lot of the marketing I had been seeing. Too much of it was ad based "buy tickets now" type of stuff.  I thought this approach was a big mistake. Especially for smaller, self-producing types who didn't have the luxury of throwing money at the marketing problem. I thought there was a better way. A way that allowed these artists to do something a bit more personal and really allow them to build connections with their audience. So I started blogging, interviewing people, and discussing my ideas with anyone who would listen. One of those people was my friend, Tom Wojtunik, Artistic Director of the Astoria Performing Arts Center. He put me in touch with Executive Director Taryn Sacramone. They where both game to try my ideas and some things that were a bit different from what they had been doing.  I've been on as Marketing Director since 2009 and it's been really great to see thing turns out like we thought they would since we've started to look at marketing in the long term.

What is your biggest challenge when it comes to marketing a particular show?

My biggest challenge is always convincing people that it's not about the marketing of a particular show. In fact, I don't think it's about theater at all. It's really about what you stand for. And the more you can connect with people on that level - with a system of beliefs - the more likely they are to buy-in to whatever it is you're producing.  For us at APAC, it's really all about Astoria and the people who make this community so great. It's the reason we showcase the artists we work with, it's the reason we promote our picks for the best Astoria restaurants, and it's the reason we offer programs for kids and seniors. It's a celebration of these amazing people coming together to share their stories.

If you had to choose only one marketing resource what would it be?

Wow. It's really hard to choose just one because your success is based on many resources working together. So to answer the question without limiting myself I'm going to say - people or word of mouth. If you can give people something to talk about they will. The technology and tools are always going to change but the need for people to share with one another will not. So do cool stuff and people will market it for you. 

What's your favorite thing about working with theaters?

As a marketer it's always my pleasure to introduce talented artists to audiences and vice versa. I view my work as a collaboration between myself, the artists and the audience. And I really love learning from and sharing with them both. It's fascinating.

What are you working on now? Tell us About it.

Right now we're producing the world premiere of Ashlin Halfnight's A Hard Wall at High Speed. And once again we're blessed with an amazingly talented cast and crew. This story about one man's mistake and how it changes a nation revolves around a truly compelling premise that will have people talking. We're thrilled to offer a home in Astoria for artists to develop this type of work and for Astoria audiences to see it.

Anything else you'd like to add?

To anyone who hasn't been to Astoria I'd like to make it easy for you to come out and experience some great theater and a wonderful community, our tickets never cost more that $18 and the prices are even lower for students and seniors. So come out have some dinner and see a show. I'm so confident you'll be glad you came out to Astoria that if for any reason you don't think the trip was worth it I'll personally refund the face value of your ticket. Just send a picture of your program and the date and time of the show you attended to me directly at: Dave (at) apacny.org and I'll make it happen.