Interviewed Erin McInnis, Marketing Director, of the Nashville Children's Theatre.

1. Erin McInnis
Marketing Director
Nashville Children’s Theatre

2. NCT Promo Video
2015-2016 season
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojkw
i02XJJo
*This is just one example of the work Erin
oversees as the Marketing Director

3. Education
 Wake Forest University
~Major: History
~Minors: Theatre and English
MFA from University of Arizona Film School
*This was a two-year program (in addition to
work done over the summer)

4. Early Career
 Through connections received internship at Nashville
Film Festival
 NFF Executive Director got her a job at Nashville
Public Television
 Was a part of the filming for “Nashville Crossroads”
 Started up NPT’s Facebook page and YouTube
channel
Marketing Director for Nashville Shakespeare Festival
Marketing Director for Nashville Children’s Theatre as
of August 2015

5. Her job at NCT
 “My job entails anything and everything.”
 Graphic building, get pieces of
advertisement out to the public, work out
logistics with visiting schools, point person
for all media contacts, write press releases,
and design advertisements
 She reports to the Managing director of
NCT. That is her immediate boss

6. A Day in the Life Of…
 Supposed to be an 8:30-4:00 job, but that
rarely happens
 Because of the high demand from social
media, she is constantly on the job
responding to things that are happening
online

7. Highlights/Favorite Things
 “What I really like about marketing in
today’s world is that it’s so much more
personable.”
 Constantly asking “what is it about us that
people like?”
 She says, that she enjoys figuring out that
relationship

8. How do you define PR?
 “More and more I’m seeing that PR and
Marketing go hand in hand, especially in
non-profits. We are responsible for
maintaining our voice.”
 She believes that there are certain
expectations in a field like this, and PR is
responsible for maintaining that

9. How NCT Connects to the
Public
Creates an
open
communication
with their target
audience
*organized by
Erin McInnis

10. Significant Issues and
Trends
 Social media is constantly changing
 “It’s harder and harder to get your voice
heard by Facebook because the rules are
constantly changing.”
 Different shows require different tactics
 Target audiences are constantly
changing depending on what’s deemed
“appropriate”

11. What is something you wish you had
known before you became a professional
in this field?
 “I always knew that certain professions
required long hours, but I wish someone
would have told me that I was not going
to be working a 9-5 job.”
 When overseeing something like social
media it’s hard to ever leave work
because you constantly have it in the
palm of your hand

12. Children’s Theatre
VS
Standard Theatre
 “We all exist in a world of metaphors and
we all experience the same metaphors
but on different levels.”
 At NCT they don’t want to talk down to
kids, they want kids to be able to
experience live theatre just like adults do.
It’s a family environment.

13. Advice to young professionals
still in college
 “Just try things. We get so stuck trying to
put ourselves in boxes. This industry can be
so broad and everything is always
changing.”
 “If I were doing what I went to school to
do I would be Ron Howard’s personal
assistant or working for an HBO show
doing research.”

14. Why did you choose theatre
as your place of work?
 Involved in community theatre when
growing up.
 Did sound engineering and sound
building in college
 “There’s just something about this group
of people coming together and that
there’s a tangible end result.”
 Enjoys collaborative efforts of the arts

15. Nashville Children’s Theatre
All graphics
and
promotional
images
created
by/supervised
by Marketing
Director Erin
McInnis