WHAT IS THR
Thomas Hampton Reviews is a listing of live events; concerts, plays, readings, dance, opera and more. THR also reviews selected shows, offering a MACRO REVIEW that distills the ideas behind a show, offering potential audiences an overview of whether a show may be right for them. THR is a partner of the live performer and event producer, allowing more options for aesthetically pleasing direct appeal marketing by email and social networks.

HOW DO I USE THR
If you go see shows, check in with THR to see what performances are in your area. If you perform/ play out/ produce, use THR to create an event page and other posts about your show/ live event. You can then direct traffic to these posts to spread the word using social networking sites like facebook and twitter, or cut and paste the post in to an email for direct appeal email marketing.

We have done the work to make sure your post will look good; now you have to get the eyeballs on it. For more advanced marketing strategies involving your THR post, please read ADVANCED MARKETING STRATEGIES…

WHAT KIND OF POSTS CAN I CREATE
You can use a fill in form to create an event page about your play, reading, concert, puppet show, or any other live performance or event.

I USED THE FILL IN FORM, BUT MY POST IS NOT LIVE ON THE SITE

THR is currently in ALPHA, meaning the site is up and running, but not all of the ‘kinks’ have been worked out. Our posts are not yet fully automated, so it may take some time for us to create your post from the information you provided. While we are constantly striving to get everything up on the site as soon as possible, we strongly recommend that you submit to us as early as possible to allow plenty of time for your post to be created and go live on the site.

I HAVE MORE MONEY THAN TIME, CAN I PAY YOU TO DO EVERYTHING FOR ME
Sure. Granted, we will still have to have some email correspondence, or a phone call to make sure we get all of the information we need to create a great post for your event; but we are more than happy to do the work for you, for a modest fee to compensate us for our time.

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY SHOW
Direct appeal marketing is a powerful tool for performers and producers. After you create a page for your event, share the link to your page on Facebook and Twitter. You can even highlight your event page, and copy and paste it directly in to an email that you send to your entire list. For more advanced marketing strategies involving your THR post, please read ADVANCED MARKETING STRATEGIES…

HOW DO I REQUEST A REVIEW
You are welcome to request a review for your live performance.  When you create an Event Page, your show is automatically considered for review.  We do not discriminate; we cover music, dance, theater, opera… if it is live performance, we’ll review it. We do, however, choose shows that interest us, so don’t hesitate to tell us a bit about your show, and why it is special. It is standard industry practice that you will provide complimentary admission to the reviewer and a guest. If that irks you, don’t bother requesting us to come.

WHO IS THOMAS HAMPTON
Thomas Hampton is a nom de plume. All of our writers write under the name Thomas Hampton in order to give our our site a consistent presence and brand. We think Thomas Hampton sounds like a trustworthy fellow, and hope you agree that our reviews back that up. We do not hide behind the nom de plume, but rather use it to engage multiple reviewers involved in the fields that they cover, while offering a consistently branded presence wherever artists choose to use our site to promote their work, regardless of location.

THERE IS A FACTUAL ERROR OR MISSPELLING IN A POST
We are sorry about that! Unfortunately, we are currently unable to allow you to edit the post yourself. Please send us an email, with the subject heading CORRECTION, and we will fix it for you.

WHAT IS A MACRO REVIEW
Good question. We made up the term MACRO REVIEW to describe our style of review. We attempt to touch on the themes and ideas behind a performance, and how it fits in with the performance scene around it. We focus on our favorite parts of a performance, and attempt to convey the greater meaning behind a show. If you find the ideas and themes of interest to you, we think you should take a chance on the show.

CAN I ADVERTISE ON THR
Yes you can! Your ad will be targeted at a great group of people who spend money on the arts, see bands play live, and are interested in being a part of cultural activities. Because performers and producers are constantly posting new pages, and links to these posts to their social networks, your ad will be seen by new visitors to the site every day. Please send us an email, with the subject heading AD, and we will discuss rates and other details regarding your ad.

ADVANCED MARKETING STRATEGIES
The following are some personal thoughts on direct appeal marketing. If you choose to be proactive, we recommend that you follow through; after all, if no one knows about your show, how do you expect to fill the seats?

Direct appeal marketing, or targeting your email lists and friends with emails, Facebook posts, and other social network postings, is the best free pr you can do. There is nothing like direct appeal to interested parties to push your show. Unless you have a large pr budget and dedicated staff, having each cast and crew/ band member push to their own personal email, Facebook, and Twitter contacts multiple times throughout the lead up to and run of your show is the most cost effective marketing strategy you can follow.

Use your THR post to mix up your direct appeal marketing. Your lists will get sick of seeing the same email/ facebook post over and over, and will eventually disregard any and all emails you send. So, mix it up! Send out your own emails, and then in a few days, or next week, send out an email that is your THR post.

If you use Facebook, understand that unless you are posting while your friends are on the service and watching their feed, they will not see your post. It will be buried on their wall. We recommend posting to Facebook/ Twitter every 30 minutes, to ensure that your contacts there will see your posts. Just like email, mix it up; post a general post, or link to your website or Facebook event. Then 30 minutes later, post your THR page. And don’t just post to your wall. Post on your friends’ walls too! This way, both your contacts and your friend’s contacts can potentially see your post, doubling your potential viewership. (Posts written on your friends’ walls are only viewable by people who are friends with you and your friend.)

Divide up days that different members of your cast and crew will actively post to their social networks.  When it is your time to post, utilize four or five different items to share.  They can be your THR Event Page, your theater company or show’s official website, the image you use for your flyer/ poster, your online ticketing link, your Facebook event page.  Share these links with your networks, taking a 30 minute break between each post.  Your goal is to reach your network with a post while they are actively viewing their wall.  Make sure to include a brief personal message with each link/ image to engage your audience.

Not everyone has the time to sit around all day updating to Facebook and Twitter. There are 3rd party platforms/ websites/ services that you can utilize to autopost for you. Posterous is a great tool that allows you to time delay posts to Twitter, Facebook (both pages and personal walls,) Wordpress blogs, and just about any other social networking site/ blog you can shake a stick at. By signing up for a free Posterous account, and linking it to your other Facebook, Twitter, etc… accounts, you can use emails or Posterous’ web based post creator to set up an entire campaign of posts ahead of time.