Front of House: -

Key Responsibilities:
Front of House
What is 'front of house'?
This covers all the areas generally connected with the theatre as a venue rather
than the actual performance or play. It refers to a range of departments
including the box office, theatre management as well as cleaners, catering,
ushers, parking and security.

Front of House Manager:

This is the member of staff in the theatre who has overall responsibility for the
audience and FoH facilities, such as the bars, programmes, and ticket sales via
the box office. They are required to be on duty every evening in the foyer to
oversee the people attending that night's performance and make sure all the
theatre facilities are running smoothly.

The Box Office

Run by the Box Office Manager this department is responsible for performance
ticket sales. The Manager is most likely to have started out as a member of the
Box Office Staff and then moved up to the position of Manager. Tickets are sold
by telephone, email, via websites and in person, and the Box Office Staff will co-
ordinate these to ensure correct booking of the seats. In an average sized
theatre there will probably be four or five staff, usually employed on a full-time
basis although casual staff will sometimes be employed during busy periods.

Ushers
Ushers are the most visible part of the FoH staff and are responsible for the
welcoming, guidance, safety and comfort of the audience. They are usually
employed on a casual basis. In a larger theatre there can be many different
types of ushers - ticket and door ushers, theatre shop ushers and assisted
learning device ushers who help any members of the audience who may have
hearing difficulties.

Catering
During the interval the theatre bars are open to the audience and are run by
the bar staff who may be employed either on a permanent or casual basis and
are usually supervised by the Catering Manager. The Catering Manager may
have had previous hotel or restaurant experience as well as following formal
catering training.
Bar
Works behind the bar as necessary, selling drinks and preparing interval
orders;
Complies with licensing conditions relating to the supply of alcohol;
Restocks the Bar and Bar Stores;
Maintains other hygiene and Food Safety requirements, in the bar
following ‘clean as you go’ principles as required, and as directed by the
Duty Manager;
Undertakes other regular bar cleaning jobs in the weekly schedule and as
directed;
Completes stock takes of bar stock and cleaning materials in the weekly
schedule.
Health and Fire Safety
Oversees any necessary evacuation of the Auditorium, in accordance
with the Evacuation Policy;
Maintains a high standard of tidiness throughout the Theatre.

Person Specification:
Essential:
Minor Experience of bar work;
Proven ability to work effectively without direct supervision;
An honest and reliable individual;
A team-player who is personable and has the ability to communicate
effectively with people at all levels both internally and externally;
Able to sustain a proactive worth ethic throughout long and late shifts;
A polite manner, and a calm and professional attitude;
Excellent verbal communication skills (including a good standard of
spoken English);
Good mental arithmetic skills and ICT skills;
Knowledgeable interest in and empathy for the arts;
Dress Code:
• All Black unless specified by the client: Neat comfortable work clothing
which includes long sleeved black shirt of blouse, dress slacks (no jeans) or
knee length skirts, (loose enough to facilitate movement). Sleeveless, low
cut tops and miniskirts are frowned upon.
• Minimal jewelry: stoppers/ studs and watches
• Soft, comfortable, closed toes flat shoes ( for safety reasons)
Public Relations Objective:
To get people talking about you, your company, or your
product.
For that you need to develop a good public relations (PR) plan.

Applying some PR fundamentals, : such as

Knowing how to deal with the media,

Getting your press release to stand out

Public relations (PR) is all about getting noticed.

When you’re planning your PR strategy, the whole idea is to get customers talking.
Keep these key issues in mind to get you or your company noticed:
•You have to be different. Conventional publicity strategies get lost in the noise.
You have to find a creative way to stand out from the crowd and get noticed.
•Publicity should help you reach your market objective. Getting publicity is fun,
but it’s a waste of time and money if it doesn’t help you achieve your marketing
objectives. If getting on the front page of The Wall Street Journal doesn’t help you
make more money or increase your firm’s market share, it really isn't worth the
trouble.
•You don’t have to have media contacts to get big-time publicity. You don’t
have to know Joe TV star to get on his TV show; you just have to come up with an
idea that will interest his producer.

Manage the Media with Public Relations Fundamentals

In the world of public relations (PR), finding the media outlets to send your press
releases and other PR materials to so you can reach your target audience is
crucial. Do your research, think expansively, and stay connected to the media
with these tips:
•Build a personal contact file. Keep at it until you have a list of at least 100 media
contacts who know you personally and take your call when you have a story you
want to publicize.
•Follow up. Call everyone to whom you send your press release — several times
each, if necessary. Do this and you will get coverage.
 •Become the “go-to guy.” Show the press that you’re the one to call for expert
interviews in your particular field.
•Don’t limit yourself. Broaden your outreach. A CEO reads Forbes, but he also
watches the evening TV news.
•Offer an exclusive. If it’s important for you to get into a particular publication,
offer the editor an exclusive on the story (meaning you won’t send out a press
release to other media until that publication has run it first).
•Go where the cameras already are. Instead of trying to get media to cover
your event, make noise at an event they’re already covering. Domino’s Pizza
gets national TV coverage by bringing free pizza to the post office on April 15 to
feed last-minute taxpayers standing in line.
•Media are not interested in you or your product. They care only whether your
story will interest their readers or viewers.
•Remember: Media are your customer. They are buying stories, and you are
selling. Meet their needs, and they will run your stories.

Convincing Editors to Print Your Press Release

Editors receive hundreds of press releases weekly and they toss out most of them.
To make your press release stand out and get the attention of an editor, make
sure your press release is professionally prepared, the content is important and
newsworthy, and it’s short and to the point. These tips will help make your press
release stand out even more:
•Offer a free booklet or report. Readers love freebies, and editors love to offer
them.
•Set up a hotline for people to call for information or advice.
•Stage a special or timely event or gimmick. A manufacturer of juice machines
gained media coverage by holding “juicing seminars” in major cities.
•Introduce a new product or service. Many magazines have special sections
featuring new products and services.
•Offer new literature. Many trade journals have sections featuring new sales
literature (brochures and catalogs, for example).
•Tie in with a current trend, fad, or news issue and piggyback on that coverage.
•Sound a call to action. Ask people to participate in a boycott, for example.
•Tie your publicity to your high-visibility advertising if it received a lot of attention
and created some buzz.
Marketing:
Marketing is the process of planning and executing the pricing, promotion and
distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges between buyers and
sellers.

- "Exchange" occurs when two parties each have something of value to the other: A
buyer buys clothes from a department store. The "value" acquired by the store is profit
and the customer acquired clothes - both gaining something to accomplish their goal.

The Marketing Mix (4 P's)

The marketing mix is the unique combination of pricing, promotion, product offerings
and distribution system (place) to reach a specific group of consumers (the target
market).

Target Market - the customers who are most likely to buy the firm's products or attend
their event. Also called target audience.

Example: fast food restaurant's target market is different than a health food store's target
audience.

The Right Principle: companies try to get the right goods to the right people at the
right place at the right time at the right price using the right promotional strategies.

"The 4 P's"
Product - is the firm's goods or services they are selling. This includes not only physical
unit, also package, warranty, and brand and company image.

PRICE - price is determined by demand for the goods and the cost of the goods.
Examples of various pricing strategies: introductory prices, sale prices, odd
pricing ($9.99 vs. $10.00).
Place/Distribution: How a product flows from producer to customer. Wholesalers link
the producer of the goods to the customer.

Promotion: different elements that help increase the sale of the product. Examples:
advertising, sales, public relations.

Marketing:
Links to Tips and Tools to Help you!!!

https://blog.bizzabo.com/event-marketing-guide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iKvveq6Tt4 Private Ryan’s Aftervideo 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc2QIfvM4w0&t=211s