Tonys Blog

Downshifting

Written by Tony Adams Tuesday, 15 September 2009 12:23

Been blogging a lot less lately. Lots of things to write about, not so much time to do it.

A few of the off-line things I've done lately are: opening 8 shows in a three month span, working on curating next years Alcyone Festival; reading and re-reading pretty much the entire body of Maria Irene Fornes' work (which is pretty awesome thing to do if you have the time); writing Trickster, looking for a space for Trickster, and all the usual fundraising, marketing, board development, etc.

Oh, and redesigned the website. Hopefully, it has a similar feel, but is the templating is much better coded, and quicker. (I'm totally digging on compressed css.) There's also fewer scripts running to get the same effects, so hopefully fewer conflicts for anyone who's still using IE. Let me know what you think.

But the real reason I've been bloggin less is a pretty good one, I think. I've been spending more time with the family. I know I'm not the only one out there trying to balance work and family life.

Saturday was Tony Jr's third birthday and below is the first time we've gotten a picture with all four of us in the same shot. (Guess who's eyes they are . . . )



The more time I spend with Jenn and the kids, the less blogging I do. I'm pretty fine with that. Sometimes balance comes natually, sometimes it has to be forced. I've met a lot of lonely old men, who never tried for balance, never tried to fit others into their lives. That's not the life I'm working for.

I'm not abandoning the blog, but I probably won't be writing every day again for a bit. So as life goes in ebbs and flows, so does my online writing. The busier I am off-line, the less I write online. The less I write online, the more time I have for parenting--hopefully that leads to two fewer assholes in the world in twenty years. A win-win if you ask me. Add a comment

Speaking of Can We Do Better. . .

Written by Tony Adams Tuesday, 08 September 2009 10:55

After Saturday's performance of Lorca in a Green Dress, I was talking to an audience member. She said how glad she was that she came, she really liked the show. At first she wasn't sure about coming. After we talked a bit I asked her how she heard about the show.

"On Hottix," she replied. "But I didn't want to buy tickets there because of the fees."

She ended up buying them off of our website instead, and said she was happy the money went to us instead of Ticketmaster. Our full price tickets only cost her 50 cents more than Hottix's half-price ticket.

I had to go check for myself:

For Saturday shows, Hottix costs:
$10 ticket
$4.75 "Convience Charge."
$3 "Order Processing Fee."

Total Hottix "half-price" ticket is $17.50.

Total full price tickets on Saturday are $18 in advance or $20 at the door.

We try to keep our ticket prices as low as possible so anyone can see our shows. Additionally we offer discounts and special deals. Folks who are strapped for cash and want to see our work, hopefully still can.

But what's the point of offering half-price tickets if it costs patrons pretty much the same amount as full-price tickets would cost?

Seriously? Can Hottix not do better? Add a comment

It's My Responsibility

Written by Tony Adams Wednesday, 02 September 2009 10:49

I've had a lot of jobs through the years. They were all over the map, from the first "work" I did, helping to pick vegetables for my grandfathers' market, to bailing hay, to running an oil change shop in high school (in practice, not in title) to designing, and office jobs. I've had many bosses, but few leaders. The only things that held constant were responsibility and blame.

When things go well, it's easy to take credit, when things don't go how you like it; it's even easier to blame someone else. It seems to be much harder for us to accept responsibility.

I was thinking of this when our shows opened. I was in my favorite seat in the house, watching. My favorite seat, of course, is actually standing in the back of the house. It's a great vantage point. I can see what's going on onstage, in the house, in the booth.

For me it's always been easier to accept responsibility than take credit. But standing there, I know that everything that happens is my responsibility. If an actor has problems with his lines, in a show I didn't direct, it's my responsibility. I signed off on the casting choices. If someone had issues buying tickets online it's my responsibility. If the bathroom runs out of toilet paper, it's my responsibility. If playwrights are unhappy due to the response time, it's my responsibility.

Are any of these things my fault? Maybe, maybe not. They're still my responsibility. The "fancy title" means it's all my responsibility. Blame is easy to toss out. But it doesn't fix much. Anytime something goes wrong someone is responsible for that. Often it is not the person who gets the blame.

If something goes wrong (there's always something), was it a mistake that can be learned from so it doesn't become habitual? Is there anyone looking at fixing issues as they arise?

If things go really awry, was the wrong person hired for the job? Did they take a chance on someone or something and it didn't work out. Was someone let loose without the tools or training to succeed? Was it not planned for? Was the planning not shared with everyone, so everyone knows what is going on?

Where you work, who is responsible for that?

What are you responsible for? Add a comment