DC Capital Fringe: Working with Schmaps, Twitter & iPhones

DC Capital Fringe as Social Media Mini-Case Pushing Boundaries, a solo storytelling performance by Ellouise Schoettler currently at the DC Capital Fringe Festival, is the story of a 1950s “I Love Lucy” housewife who morphed into a national ERA Activitist.Four reviewers attended opening night; each wrote glowing reviews.Ellouise, a nationally known storyteller, is my mother. I’m serving as Ellouise’s public relations and social media manager for the Fringe performances, and learning mini case study lessons along the way.

This post is one of a series that talk about ways we’ve been blending social media with traditional marketing. We welcome your comments, observations — and any lessons you’re learning from using social media at the DC Fringe. Together, this information will help all of us better understand using social media as a performer for such an event-specific purpose.

Working with Schmaps, Twitter & iPhones

#3 on ShowBizRadio’s Suggestions for improving the DC Capital Fringe boils down to better venue location communication: Improve signage to reduce venue confusion. And that made me think of Schmap, a social mapping service.

Using Schmaps isn’t going to improve signage exactly, but it can offer easy-to-read directions and information, both online and via mobile device.

Schmap -- the Computer Screen Version

Saturday, I created a basic Schmap and sent it out through a Twitter link just a few hours before Pushing Boundaries’ 1 p.m. show. Just an experiment really.

This first Pushing Boundary Schmap wasn’t a brilliant design job, but it only took a few minutes and did what we hoped it would do — give anyone who was looking for a last-minute program idea more than a what – we gave them the why and where, all in one quick shot.  In essence — a Landing Page with some clear calls to action.

What was our Schmap reach? By show time, about 90 impressions. I wasn’t at the performance so it’s unclear if any of those converted to ticket sales, although the show drew a heathly number of walk-up sales.

I’m smitten enough with Schmaps to keep working with it, both for Pushing Boundaries and some  unrelated client work I have on my list. There is a free and Pro version, and we were able to take advantage of a promotion available to all for a free 2-year subscription of the Pro version, but truthfully, the free version probably would be fine for our needs.

Anyone else using Schmaps at the Fringe… If so, please let us know — did anyone walk in saying that they found you because of it?

They had me at the Landing Page

I was happy for just the ease to create a Tweet-able Landing Page in a matter of moments, but now that I’ve had time to play with it on my iPhone, I like the way the content translates onto my iPhone Screen, allowing me to:

Various iPhone Screen shots, from original Tweet w/ Schmap link to street views.

1. Scroll through easy to read text (and images).
2. Easily Link to the iPhone Directions Ap that pulls up a map, direction query options and link to a 360 street-side view that, while not real time (Google Maps), allows us to see right away if there are food and other options nearby
3. Share the info with others.

Aps that include both geo-locator, pictures, messages and more-info links are increasing popular. I’d been playing with FourSquare, Google Profiles, and Yelp. It’s clear I need to spend more timing looking at the other options.

What’s your current favorite?

Read Related Capital Fringe Posts:

• Social Media @ 2010 DC Capital Fringe: Leveraging Free Tools
• Social Media @ 2010 DC Capital Fringe: Twitter Lessons
• Social Media @2010 DC Capital Fringe: Working with Schmaps, Twitter & iPhones
• Pushing Boundaries at the DC Capital Fringe - 1970s Networking in a Social Media World