Production Info
This client made use of the following services:
Development of this site involved a team of two people over the course of about a month. To streamline the process, Pico Playhouse chose to host their website with us.
clients
Client: Pico Playhouse
Produced June, 2004
Pico Playhouse is a small, 99 seat theater located in Los Angeles, CA. They were looking for an inexpensive, yet very functional website. Because the theater is small, we felt it would be best to go with a simple structure, focusing on what the theater does best: producing shows, and renting rehearsal and production space.
We opted to pursue a simple design for several reasons. At the top of the list was cost. We had a limited budget and a tall order for functionality. Furthermore, the playhouse was new and didn't have a logo or marketing direction yet. We went with something pleasing, yet minimal, and put most of our energy into the content management and mailing list systems.
The entire site is driven by a content management system. The custom configuration allows the theater manager to add new shows into the system by filling out a few details. The systems calculates if the show is currently playing, has yet to open, or has already closed. It then formats the show appropriately and posts it to the correct location in the site. The system also makes it possible to upload images and have them formatted to appear with the show.
The theater manager can also post news to the front page through the same interface. The system automatically generates the appropriate web pages, and filters news items so only the most recent items are shown on the main page.
This automation lets the theater focus on their core business, while the website practically takes care of itself.
The playhouse also maintains a mailing list and wanted to streamline their mailings by using e-mail. Furthermore, they wanted to let visitors subscribe online. To meet these needs, we implemented a very robust and intuitive mailing list system that would handle all of their e-mailing needs. Then, we created a custom solution that took a visitor's contact info (after they submitted it) and added it to two separate databases. The first database is used by the e-mail system to send out e-newsletters. The second database can be downloaded by the theater manager and used with programs such as Microsoft Word to create mailing labels and custom letters to subscribers.
All this functionality was wrapped into a user-friendly administrative interface, allowing the theater manager to quickly access the site's systems. This allows the theater to keep in touch with their clientele, and keep their site up to date, all without the need for a web master.
design - develop - implement - host