Week 2:
Of Broken Printers and Play Sponsors

June 4, 2018

This week was a lot of struggling with technology. The Internet at the mainstage theater isn’t very good, which can lead to a lot of problems with our online ticketing system. Also, the printer that we use to print out tickets can malfunction a lot, including when customers are right in front of me. I’m having to learn a lot about managing conflict and trying to keep up a smile when we’re having technical difficulties. Luckily, every customer I’ve interacted with has been understanding of any delays, whether it’s a broken printer, a confusing ticketing system, or some other sort of miscommunication. CRT is a very welcoming environment, and the positivity of the company is reflected by the positivity of the customers.

During Development this week, I had several projects that I was working on. One project that I pretty much completed solo was the sponsor wall. CRT is a non-profit, which means that we rely heavily on donations from patrons and companies to keep running. Ticket sales make up only about half of the money that it takes to keep the theatre running. As part of our thank-you to the people and companies that directly sponsor our productions, we put their names and/or logos in frames and hang them up on the wall that leads to our mainstage theater. It’s easily visible from the main entrance, and people have to walk past it to get into the theater itself. This year, the sponsor wall was my responsibility. My supervisor, Graham, made all of the images, but I printed them out, cut them down to fit the frames, framed them, and hung all of them up on the wall. I had to hammer in new nails for most of the frames, and for the top row, I had to hammer them in from on top of a stepladder. I’m pretty proud of this wall, and I like being able to see my handiwork whenever I walk into the theater.

My other major project was a bit more repetitive. Since CRT is a non-profit organization, certain donations get tax benefits. This is through a program called Enterprise Zone. I had to go through a spreadsheet filled with Enterprise Zone-eligible donors and enter their information into Spektrix. This was part of my Spektrix training process- I had to get trained in both the sales and fundraising sections of Spektrix to do my work properly. The Enterprise Zone project was important but less rewarding emotionally than the sponsor wall. It was especially frustrating when I had to go in and merge identical accounts, which I had to do with pretty much every other donor whose information I was entering into the system. However, I’m learning that work doesn’t have to be exciting all the time to be important. I’m saving people a lot of hassle in the future by ironing these problems out now.

One of the biggest highlights of my week was dinner at Graham’s house. He invited Rosemary and me over to have dinner and play board games with him and his wife, Bethany. Bethany is my official company mentor, and it was nice to be able to talk to her, as she’s been busy being the choreographer for Wizard of Oz and we haven’t had time to meet yet. I even got to hold their new baby, Edie! I feel like both of them are important mentors to me here at CRT, and I’m glad I got a chance to get to know them better.