A Valentine’s Ode: Top Arts Marketing Online Destinations

February 10, 2011

In honor of Valentine’s Day, LCWA’s Arts and Leisure Division would like to send a virtual bouquet to the online marketing resources we can’t imagine living without:

You’ve Cott Mail
Since the mid-1990s, arts marketer Thomas Cott has been scanning dozens of news outlets, blogs and more, and emailing a daily digest that links to a handful of timely articles about arts and culture. Topics range from the latest online ticketing trends, to outside-the-box marketing efforts in other countries. If you love the business of show business, click here to browse the archives and sign-up for You’ve Cott Mail.

Theater Loop by Chris Jones
No denying it, Chicago Tribune theater critic Chris Jones’ blog is the #1 destination for breaking news about Chicago’s live theater scene. Chris is 1) articulate, 2) prolific and 3) uncommonly quick to post his scoops and reviews. Hint: the reader comments that follow Chris’ posts are an entertaining way to gauge the collective sentiment of Chicago theater fans.

Stage – Chicago Sun-Times
Never discount Chicago Sun-Times critic Hedy Weiss. She’s an insightful writer, and has had her finger on the pulse of Chicago’s dance and theater scenes for decades. Until recently, the aforementioned critic across town had Hedy beat online. Fortunately for Hedy, her new stage page is far easier to find and navigate on the Sun-Times’ recently rebooted website.

New York Times/Theater
Daahling….of course you read the Times, right? The New York Times theater page has all of the latest Broadway and off Broadway news, reviews, interviews, videos, slide shows, etc. Bookmark it, particularly if you want to sound cultured at cocktail parties.

Time Out Chicago/Kids
It’s an age-old question for parents – what are we doing with the kids this weekend? Look no further than Time Out Chicago’s Kids blog, which is bursting with hundreds of local destinations and things to do with kids. For a constant feed, follow their Twitter feed, TOCKids.

TheatreinChicago.com
Plenty of websites claim to cover Chicago theater. Heck, buy a domain name with “Chicago” and “theater” in it, and suddenly you’re a critic demanding comped aisle seats! Still, one of our favorites is TheatreinChicago.com, primarily for its “Review Round-up” , which aggregates reviews for plays and musicals all over town.

Performink
Chicago’s theater trade newspaper went online a few years ago, but that hasn’t diminished its readership. Editor Carrie Kaufmann has never been more on top of her game, and Behind the Curtain columnist Kerry Reid now has more room to include this, that and the other about all things Chicago theater.

blog.lcwa.com
You’re reading the LCWA blog, so it must be one of your favorites. Right? So why not bookmark us? Even better, follow us on Twitter @LCWATeam for links to future blog posts by our team on topics like how to enter the world of online contests, to how to improve employee communication.

These are just a handful of the arts and entertainment sites that we love. Do you have other favorites?