Sunday, May 20, 2012

CFF Staff Profile: Tim Mullaney


Hello readers!

I’ve met many of you already, either in person or through the wonder of electronic communication. For those who don’t know me, my name is Tim Mullaney, and I’m the Chicago Fringe Festival marketing manager.

In the coming months, you’ll be hearing from other Fringe staff members, who will be blogging about who they are and what they do for Fringe – and maybe they’ll talk about some opportunities for you to get involved in various aspects of the ChiFringe universe, as well.

So without further ado, let me get the ball rolling.

Who am I?

You can visit the Chicago Fringe website to read my bio. But here are four facts about my current culture consumption:

Book I am currently reading: Lake Overturn, by Vestal McIntyre.

Current top-played song on my iTunes: Ignition, by R. Kelly. (Feel free to express your opinion of this song – or, dare I say it, your thoughts about R. Kelly – in the comments.)

Playbill currently on my desk: The Street Tempo Theatreproduction of “Little Shop of Horrors.” Extended through May 27 at Stage 773. Recommended!

Websites currently open on Chrome: The Chicago Tribune (NATO craziness!), Tennis.com (should I get up at 5 AM to watch Nadal v. Djokovic??) and Open Culture (another recommendation – want Morgan Freeman to teach you howto read?). And, of course, Facebook and Twitter. Like the Fringe Festival page! Follow us on Twitter!

What do I do for Fringe?

I’m a communications jack-of-all-trades. This means I write a lot of the posts for this blog! I also compose most of our press releases and eblasts, and write press/advertising copy of all sorts. I talk to interviewers about Fringe – want to write up a piece about the Festival for your publication, your blog, your Facebook page, your knitting club newsletter? Shoot me a line! That's tim@chicagofringe.org. 

I also help determine our advertising strategy. Do you work for a media outlet that you think reaches a lot of prospective Fringe audience members? Please let me know!

I coordinate cross-promotional efforts with other theatres, festivals, etc. If you’re interested . . . hit me up!
I organize our annual design contest. We’re accepting submissions for two more days!

I like bejeweled hats.
You’ll see me around the Festival in Pilsen, sending Tweets and Facebook posts, interviewing artists, and generally spreading the word about what a great event Fringe is and what some of the best ways to enjoy it are. Say hi! And if you want to help us get the word out about the Festival between now and August 30, we’d be happy for the help. The more voices talking Fringe up, the better, so don’t hesitate to reach out. I’d be more than happy to let you know about marketing-related volunteer opportunities (and volunteer opportunities in general)! Again, that email address is tim@chicagofringe.org.

As the keeper of the blog, I’d like to thank you for reading. And if there are things you’d like to see more of (or less of) on the blog, let us know in the comments!