Here’s just one more example of why good design really does matter. Terry Teachout, drama critic for The Wall Street Journal, recently posted his updated guidelines for getting him to review a theater company’s production on his “About Last Night” blog here. It’s a great reminder that ticket buyers aren’t the only people visiting your website and making decisions about your organization based on the site’s design and ease of use. Just as every performance on stage counts, so does every website hit - you never know who’s lurking in the audience.

Teachout says: “Web sites matter–a lot. A clean-looking home page that conveys a maximum of information with a minimum of clutter tells me that you know what you’re doing, thus increasing the likelihood that I’ll come see you. An unprofessional-looking, illogically organized home page suggests the opposite. (If you can’t spell, hire a proofreader.) This doesn’t mean I won’t consider reviewing you–I know appearances can be deceiving–but bad design is a needless obstacle to your being taken seriously by other online visitors.”

Our most recent theater company website launch: www.pigiron.org We think it’s a pretty good example, even if we do say so ourselves.

Lots of good tips and opportunities this month! As always, make sure you do your research before applying to any contest. We give you the links, you figure out which opportunities are right for you.

Philadelphia Arts Capital Grants Fund
Mayor John F. Street is announcing a Request for Expressions of Interest for the $5 million City-wide Capital Grants Fund, a new source of funding for Philadelphia’s cultural community made possible through the $150 million Cultural and Commercial Corridors Bond Ordinance. The City-wide Capital Grants funding will be available to eligible organizations to help fund capital projects and will be allocated through a competitive grants process. Capital projects are those dedicated to improvement, expansion, or rehabilitation of existing buildings owned or leased by nonprofit cultural institutions.
To read the announcement and get more information please visit: www.phila.gov/capitalgrantsfund

Philly Fringe Call for Artists Online
The participation form for the 2007 Philly Fringe is now online and ready for your use. Completing this form is the first step you’ll need to take to be a part of the Philly Fringe which runs from August 31 - September 15, 2007. Just go to “How to Participate in the Philly Fringe” to learn more and fill out the participation form. Here you’ll find details on what it means to be a Fringe artist, a timeline for Festival planning, and instructions on how to fill out the form. Participation Deadline: April 13, 2007
www.livearts-fringe.org

1812 Productions accepting submissions to The Jilline Ringle Solo Performance Program
This initiative was founded in summer of 2005 to honor the memory of Jilline Ringle, the incomparable Six Foot Red Head Amazon From Hell Whom All Men Desire. Jilline was best known to Philadelphia audiences for the one-woman cabarets she created and performed —shows like La Dolce Vita, Come Fly With Me, and the joyful Mondo Mangia. This current submission call is for the “Couple Extra Bucks” Fund portion of the program. Grants from this fund range between $250 and $1000. They are open for individual artists who have a solo performance scheduled in the upcoming year (May 2007- May 2008) and need a “couple extra bucks” for set, lights, costumes, graphic design, tech support, marketing – anything related to the production of their solo piece. Application deadline: May 1, 2007.
Complete guidelines and applications are available at www.1812productions.org.

CMJ Music Marathon accepting submissions
CMJ Network Inc. has announced the dates of the 27th annual CMJ Music Marathon, Tuesday, October 16 - Saturday, October 20 in New York City. Band/Artist Showcase submissions are being accepted NOW with discount application prices. Submission deadline: July 16.
www.cmj.com/marathon

2nd Annual Women’s Music Commission Competition Opens
Ralph N. Jackson, President of the BMI Foundation, Inc., has announced the opening of the 2nd Annual Women’s Music Commission. The winning composer will receive a $5,000 commission to create a new work to be premiered by the Colorado Quartet at Symphony Space in NYC. This commission commemorates the 25th Anniversary of the Colorado Quartet and the 30th Anniversary of Symphony Space, and celebrates both organizations’ long and outstanding commitment to American composers and new music. Submission deadline: May 15.
bmifoundation.org

Neil Young Cover Song Contest for Women Musicians
American Laundromat Records and Daisy Rock Guitars are co- sponsoring a contest inviting female artists and female-fronted bands to submit a cover version of Neil Young’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” to win a Daisy Rock guitar, consideration for an official Daisy Rock endorsement, and a guaranteed slot on the upcoming American Laundromat Records benefit CD “Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young.” All proceeds from the Cinnamon Girl project will be donated to Casting For Recovery, a national non-profit support and educational program for women who have or have had breast cancer. Submission deadline: May 15.
www.myspace.com/cinnamongirltribute

Independent Music Video Festival Call For Entries
Get your independent music video submission into this year’s international Indie Music Video Festival (IMVF). All genres accepted. Premiering at the NXNE Film Festival. Call for entries is underway now, and submission deadline is April 15.
www.imvf.com

I’ve been back from SXSWi for a little bit now, so I thought I’d write a recap before it fades into the sunset of my memory.

It was my first time there, and my first time at any web conference, actually, so everything was 100% fresh for me. On day one the airline lost my luggage (Damn you, American Airlines!) but everything was smooth besides. I got myself checked in, found some great vegetarian enchiladas, and hit an opening night party (Where they accidentally served this non-drinker a Jack and Coke in place of a Diet Coke. That was a big gulp of surprise!)

SXSWi was a blur of panels and people, business cards and food, and parties. I couldn’t possibly set it all down here and convey how inspiring and fun it was. I’ve never had so much energy on so little sleep. It’s invigorating to be around around literally thousands of web pros. Most of us do our daily work alone or in small teams, and it’s incredibly refreshing to get together and trade stories, tips, and germs.

Panel-wise, the main standouts were:

• Jason Santa Maria & Rob Weychert’s Field Guide To Design Inspiration - A great show on how to integrate design into your daily life
  
• Mark Boulton and Richard Rutter’s Web Typography Sucks !important - This one wins my award for Best Presentation. Web typography is really in a sad state. Mark and Richard did an excellent job and showed me the path to redemption. Do yourself a favor and check out their slides and the podcast of the panel.
  
• Alec Cove’s Beautiful Algorithms - As is evidenced by the fancy leaves in this site, I loves my algorithms. This was a treasure trove of inspiration.
• Jim Coudal and Brendan Dawes’s Short Attention Span - Use your ADD to make a profit!
  
• Jeremy Keith and Derek Featherstone’s Ajax Kung Fu Meets Accessibility Feng Shui - I had to buy Kieth’s book after this one. (Ka-ching for Kieth!) He laid out a very smart workflow for AJAX that degrades gracefully.
• Matt Mullenweg’s Scaling Your Community - He started Wordpress, so pay attention kids.
• Kevin Rose and Kent Nichol’s (among others) Future of Video on the Internet. - You know it’s at least going to be a fun panel when there’s a drinking game involved. All the panelists had beers. Take a drink if someone says ‘paradigm’, another when someone asks a question.

Other Highlights:

• Real Mexican food! Not like the bland ‘philly style’ stuff I get around here. You really can’t go wrong, at least not at any of the places I chanced.
• Lifehacker party / meeting Gina Trapani at her book signing - Lifehacker is my blog of choice. I sometimes worry that I waste more time reading it than their tips save me. I had Gina sign the page in her book where she introduces her Todo.txt system. That little guy has changed the way I work.
  
• The Drupal session at BarCamp - Easily the most fun “party” I went to. How cool is it to hang around with other Drupalers and actually get smarter while the free drinks are flying around!
  
• Bowling, which was fun despite my…
  
• Blisters!

I met many charming and attractive people and we had great meals and conversations about life and the web. Way too many to count here, but it was particularly nice for me to meet and hang out with so many Philly folks. I think we might all have been there. There were some I already knew, and some I hadn’t met yet. In a funny way it was like being back at home.

Now I’m going to risk some dirty looks and say that I just don’t get Twitter. Twitter is a service that accepts SMS messages from your phone and broadcasts them to your friends, a group, or the web. (I think.) And it was all over SXSW. Everywhere you turned it was Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. I’m sorry but I don’t see what’s so useful or enjoyable about sending or reading messages about how you’re at some bar or that you just spotted some celebrity. Maybe I’m just too private a person, but I don’t feel the need to send or receive constant micro-updates on my friends. It’s just kind of boring.

And now, please enjoy the Flickr set!

Here’s an opportunity to submit your music for a tour of the UK.  CME Artist Services has been organizing and promoting musical tours in the UK for the last five consecutive years. This event explores the music Mecca of historic East Anglia, with additional gigs in Bristol and London, Colchester College; top music venues in Norwich, Cambridge, and Ipswich; and rural English country pubs including the country’s oldest and most haunted live music venue. The tour runs from Friday, May 25th through Sunday, June 4th, 2007 and is open to all genres of music and all nationalities. Submission deadline: March 1. Get details at www.cmeas.com.  (As always, do your research and read the fine print before you submit your work to any contests.)

In lieu of a December newsletter, we’ve decided to post this month’s tips on Birdfeed. Here are a few news items and tips you may find useful this month. We pass along the info, but you should be sure to research all contests before you enter!

• The National Endowment for the Arts and Theatre Communications Group announce the 2007 deadlines for the NEA/TCG Career Development Programs for Theatre Directors and Designers. www.tcg.org

• The New Music Video Awards is accepting submissions through January 22.

• The Future of Music Coaltion has released a new study that shows radio ownership consolidation at the national and local levels has led to fewer choices in radio programming and harmed the listening public and those working in the music and media industries, including DJs, programmers and musicians. Read the report at futureofmusic.org.

• FMC’s sixth annual Policy Summit is also fully archived on their site. 120 panelists debated the issues that are emerging as music promotion and distribution moves to a global, digital platform. Webcasts are now online.