Vaudeville Managers Protective Organization - Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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IL ER FRIED N THE TRICAL PHOTOGR PHER 12 South Filth Ave., Chicago, Ill. NCZIT llLll:iUll SU l1'Cl. PHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTIONS and ENLARGEMENTS Our Photo-Reproductions aml Enlargements are worlcl lamous, and in quality anal price are miles ahead ol any reprocluctions malls. PHGTOGRAPH SITTING5 Qur New Studios are equipped with the most modern anal up-to-slate lighting! system lanown. We can plmtogjraplm your entire company at any time ol the Llav or night at prices which will save you ahout per cent. Write' us llor price list ancl samples. AllllllIll'Ll NN'llll llll' rilluph all l:l'lk'xll1l.IlI, l I u . . . llll'Zlfl'lL'ill l.1ll'liX' .lllkl XN'lllullNV xllipl-lx IYRAMES' ,xun SIQQNS 5

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operate either with the manager or the per- former for the furtherance of their publicity. In the old days almost anything which was the press agent game, the public would perhaps take it with a grain of salt, but the good natured newspaper men would publish it out of kindness for a fellow craftsman., But this condition has changed. VVith the com- mercialism of the theatre, the public have ad- vanced as well. They no longer believe stuff about the greatest act in the world, they no longer take heed of the Hashy notices versed, and decorated with all the adjectives in the dictionary. What they want is facts, brief pithy sentences which convey the truth and tell the story. The newspapers no longer publish the flam- boyant notices of former days, even regarding vaudeville at- tractions, what they also want is facts, written in a breezy, inter- esting way, so as to brighten their columns instead of holding the publisher and staff up to ridicule. i That is what the General Publicity Service strivesito do. Be it about a theatre, a production, an act, a fair, a club, a park or in fact any client who desires publicity, it ,gives them in the right way, in the way that will sink in and will be newsy enough for the average editor to print in his co-lumns, not be- cause it is a press agent yarn but because it is a matter 'of news interest which he thinks his readers desire to read. It is upon this foundation that the Service is founded and will have its growth. Maud Daniel For the manager it is an invaluable aid, for no matter if there is a local press agent in your city for your theatre, he only knows what he is told, he has no means of obtaining data con- cerning coming performers other than what they send him, which they often-times neglect to do and if he be the most capable man in the world he cannot write on facts he does not know. For that reason the Service is of value without estimate for the manager. To the performer its value is even greater. 'VVhileit sad to relate, it is nevertheless true that the average vaudevillian 51 a

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does not appreciate the value of proper publicity. They as a rule have no press sheet, no data to send ahead of them other than a few clippings from newspapers where they have appeared in the past. May be one or more of the members of and act have interesting stories connected with them or their work but they have no means of telling it and they thereby lose a great deal of valuable publicity which, were they properly exploited would be of immense value to them, not only locally but the country over, for the act with the up-to-date ideas is seldom idle and is constantly getting more salary. Ask any manager of a modern theatre and see what he says about the press sheet or a set of notices. ' See if he does not agree as to the value of them. T . Another thing about the performers, they are notoriously bad business people, in fact it is no disgrace to say that artistic temperament and business brains do not mix. They neglect to send billing, program copy, press matter and photographs on time. This is the most important, as much a part of their con- tract as the playing of the engagement, for a part of their salary is paid for the proper advance billing but still it is neglected. This is something that the General Publicity Service does for an act. It takes the billing, program copy, press matter and photos, sends them out each week, getting a receipt from the local manager in every instance and watching it in a way and with a system that precludes mistakes, with the. result that our acts are never, cancelled because this material did not arrive on time. And most important of all the fee is a very small one, only about a couple of dollars a week. Another important branch of the Service is that WC lialidlff advertising for all the papers, giving the advertiser the benefit of our knowledge of type and the printers art and placing the advertising where it will do the one wishing it the most good. For this we charge no fee whatever. 53