We had to learn our lines, of code.
We love plays. We love local theaters. This year Senestre hasn’t missed a single performance at
Idaho Shakespeare Festival. We see as many regional theater plays as possible. We scour social media for new plays being announced.
It also helps that we’re good friends with many of the local actors, directors, and writers.
Last Christmas we were seeing a performance of Jodi Sings Judy produced by the Alley Repertory Theater. They are easily one of our favorite companies and have done some amazing shows in the past. Like we do, we stuck around to congratulate friends as they exited the dressing rooms. Also made a few new friends with performers we hadn’t met yet.
Of course there was alcohol involved as the all the Alley plays take place at the
Visual Arts Collective (VAC), a 21 and over art gallery/performance venue with one of the best bars in the area.
A few gin and tonics in and the powers that be at Alley Rep and Senestre decided it was time for them to get a new website.
These were the hurdles:
- It was difficult to purchase tickets on the website.
- It was very, VERY difficult to update shows and information.
- Zero SEO work.
- It was outdated.
Act II
We looked at dozens of other theater sites. Each one had a piece we liked, but they all had a main format.
Here’s the show and here’s how to get tickets. That made sense. There’s nothing worse than trying to make a purchase online that takes 3 minutes of searching and 10 minutes of purchasing.
We also realized there’s a lot of passion for what they do. Not only by them, but by the people who support them. The people who manage to help them sell out shows and see each performance over and over. We need to also make the website for them.
There was also a bit of a time crunch. From the time we learned what shows were coming, tickets were about to be sold and we had a very short period to design, build and launch.
So we set up a staging site… get it? Stage?
Anyhow, let’s get to act III. We created a look we love, designed a new logo (to be revealed soon) and launched it last night. It wasn’t shortly after the DNS kicked in that tickets sales already started happening. Standing ovation… even if it was just in our office.
So here it is. Give it a look. Explore the shows and find a few tickets for their upcoming performances. We promise you that you won’t be disappointed.
