Theatre North Carolina: Welcome to the New Theatre North Carolina!

Two years ago Angie Hays, Executive Director of the North Carolina Theatre Conference (NCTC), asked me to present a session on social media at the 2008 NCTC Producing Theatre Conference. At that point I had already been on Facebook for a few years, and I had developed a couple short-lived personal blogs. I was intrigued with social media and I thought, "Why not!" I started researching social media, RSS feeds, podcasts, Twitter, Facebook, blogs and more. I also thought it might make sense to start a new blog as an experiment and thus Theatre North Carolina was born. Now, two years and 1170 posts later, Theatre North Carolina is about to make a major change.

Theatre North Carolina has been many things: an experiment in social media; a forum for my personal thoughts and ideas; a resource for auditions announcements and arts jobs; a home for industry trends and articles; an outlet for my Glee and Spring Awakening obsessions; and, a photo album for my adorable poodle. At times I've posted information from across the state, and sometimes I've focused on theatre closer to my home in Durham. Over the past six months I've posted my weekend theatre-going itineraries and in the process I've seen over 50 performances at dozens of venues.

Theatre North Carolina, which now racks up more than 7,000 thousand hits per month, has become something more than the little blog I originally created as an experiment. It has become a true resource for the theatre industry in the state. It has become a home for theatre resources and it has become an expression of my personality. I've met dozens of people though this blog, and I've made some long-term friendships. I am forever indebted to this blog, NCTC and social media in general for giving me the opportunity to write about the things I love and keeping me busy in the process.

So, what's the big change? Well, everything! Theatre North Carolina has been completely redesigned and re-envisioned as the official blog of the North Carolina Theatre Conference. The look is different, the blog is different and the result is pretty cool! I think you'll like it! What does this mean? Well, it means that Theatre North Carolina won't be my personal blog anymore. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere! I'll be working with NCTC to gather information and give the theatre industry of North Carolina a comprehensive resources for news, jobs, auditions, trends and NCTC events.

There will be some other changes too. More than just the look and style of the blog, Theatre North Carolina will now only post news and announcements for NCTC Member Organizations. Due to space limitations we will not post any performance listings. We hope that theatres across the state, large and small, for-profit and not-for-profit, professional and community will all become active members of NCTC and Theatre North Carolina becomes even more of a comprehensive, statewide resource.

The mission of the North Carolina Theatre Conference is to improve and enhance the environment for quality theatre in North Carolina through service, leadership and advocacy. We need your support to make that fulfill this mission. If you aren't currently a member, or if you represent an organization that isn't currently a member, we invite you to join us. For information about becoming a member of NCTC please visit www.nctc.org or email [email protected].

If you are a member organization and you have news or information you would like us to post, please email [email protected].

So, thanks for following Theatre North Carolina and being a part of my virtual world for the past two years. Shortly this version of Theatre North Carolina will disappear, but no worries, www.theatrenorthcarolina.com will direct you to the new blog. In the meantime click the image below to go to the new Theatre North Carolina!