not sure what would be a good weekend to produce a music festival?
should you guess what your community wants?
or….
maybe do THIS?
if you have an opinion on when you’d like to see LIB08 happen, you too can chime in.
in fact, please do.
projects
post production plague & the Artist Network…belated
LIB07 went off with nary a hitch, and wild success a week ago…finally! i liken the process of working on a music festival to going through labor with 20+ people for 5 months, and when the baby’s delivered it graduates, and moves off to college.
so we ushered LIB off, and in the aftermath, as per usual, i got insanely sick. full on can’t-get-out-of-bed sick, the ground moves when i get up sick, my sinuses are on a rampage sick, there’s a symphony in my lungs sick, etc…. this generally happens after every big production. back when i was managing the circus, we would all get sick after big performances, as if on cue. maybe it’s a matter of immunity being the first to get dumped overboard once the momentum throws a mutiny, or maybe it’s a matter of the celebratory champagne bottles that get passed around the whole crew at the end of the weekend. either way…. it’s been like that for the past week, and i am finally now starting to head in the direction of health once again.
there is a LOT of new news coming up in the next couple of weeks. changes are afoot, and on their heels are a some new projects that i’m gonna be wrapping my head around–and hopefully, a few of them are going to be MY projects, which should also be an exciting change.
– – –
until THEN, however…. i wanted to make a belated little mention here about…
the Spring 2007 Do LaB Aritst Network email that we put out just one day before the festival doors opened. in the ensuing madness i didn’t have a chance to post anything about it here before, but it’s something i’m tremendously proud of, and keep getting prouder of with each issue. (this is the second. the first one came out in Winter 07). we put out this online arts publication showcasing the best of the creativity emerging from the Do Lab’s community on a quarterly basis and i’m very happy to be able to report that as the Do LaB’s email list keeps growing (now, a full 30% larger than it was back when we did the first issue of the AN, just 4 months ago), our open and click-thru rates get higher and higher. the Spring AN email, featuring some kick-ass videos, had the highest open & click thru rates of any of our emails, with almost 3 times as many people actually checking it out as did the first one).
and furthering the community- generated direction that this project is heading, the design for this issue of the AN was created by the winner of the LIB Poster Contest, Albertico Acosta. having different graphic artists within the community participate in creating the AN is definitely something i’d like to continue. albertico’s winning poster entry (chosen by the community’s vote):
The Do LaB Lucent Misting Oasis @ Coachella
it’s 24 days till LIB and we just surpassed the LIB06 presale ticket sales.
now it’s time to buckle in and level up to the next project on the game-plan: Coachella.
since 2005 the Do LaB has been bringing domes to coachella. the first year the Do LaB dome was essentially a spot for festival-goers to be able to escape from the sun for a bit. it had a (renegade) sound-system where we set up some our djs to play, and a misting machine which allowed people to cool off from the heat. in 2006 we returned with the full Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque performing a show developed specifically for coachella called the Forbidden Om, and the Misting Oasis evolved from simply a reprieve to a dynamic performance area with stilters, aerialists, and acrobats thrilling the gathering crowds with four shows a day.
by this year coachella realized that the domes, which could only hold approximately 200 people at capacity were not a very cost-effective option for a festival which attracts 150,000 attendees per day. so for 2007 we are developing an acre-big installation that involves giant flowers blooming from the polo field floor with the drooping petals designed as shade structures.
and in the center, a performance and sound stage which can support a 360 degree, panoramic audience view.
the scope of exposure has also increased, with the festival itself expanding from just a weekend to three days. and with just two weeks and a three-hour drive between coachella and Lightning in a Bottle, this prime promotional opportunity has not gone unnoticed.the do lab has a number of ways planned for engaging the event’s primed music festival-attending audience, from the traiditional, to some that apply new technologies into the design of our experience.
after all, even the way you discover something shapes your experience of it–brand, product, or music festival.
[LIB07] what the hell is a strategy, anyway? #3
very brief tonight:
our music contest page is FINALLY live!
http://lightninginabottle.org/contest
thank you to the undaunted mr. shaw for getting it to work.
[LIB07] what the hell is a strategy, anyway? #2
i’d like to say a few words about how horrifyingly, dismayingly, pitifully, AWFUL our purchase page is. we didn’t design it. it’s what our ticketing company is making us use, and we can’t change it and it’s totally driving me crazy!
yeah, THANKS, inticketing!
yeah, i know you’re green, and use soy-based ink, and recycled materials, and that’s all great, but…what are you thinking with your web services?
check it out:
THIS is our website that the Do LaB designed:
THIS is our purchase page from inticketing:
…..i think i might cry.
like are you kidding me? who okayed THAT from an experience design standpoint, huh?
yes, dear, customer, you’ve come this far with us. we have reminded you of how awesome LIB was last year, we have managed to convey some hint of the kind of crazymagic experience that awaits you this year, and just at the point where you are really ready to make the commitment to join us on the LIB adventure, the point at which, you are essentially trying the ticket on in the dressing room, asking us, “what do you think? does this look good on me?” what does inticketing do?
oh, it throws the lamest looking webpage with a whole lot of T+C bullshit at you.
well, you know….. those tickets do kind of make your butt look sort of big.
oh… this is making me so frustrated, i’m considering just getting our programmer to hack the freakin‘ thing. at least put some pictures on it, for god’s sake! move the T+C crap BELOW the credit card info part. or, better yet, just keep the “i agree” checkbox, and say “click here for terms and conditions.”
bad experience design is bad customer service, inticketing!
from the standpoint of an experience creation company, this makes me feel like we’re actually MISTREATING our potential attendees.
like, no, really, our event is WAY better than this lame purchasing experience.
we promise!
sigh… anyway…
miraculously, even in spite of all of that, tickets are starting to pick up this week. in the past three days alone we’ve acquired guests from utah, ohio, and texas! we probably have about 15 states represented at this point. including hawaii, oregon, colorado, new york, and my home state, massachusettss—woot!
the word is definitely getting out there.