Know thyself

Your personality:

Now, if you are unsure about this topic, check out a horoscope if you must, find a mirror, ask a friend, but whatever you do, be honest with yourself.

The question you should ask yourself is:“What do I feel comfortable with?What kind of person am I?How much time and energy do I have available.Etc.“

Reading this and anticipating Venice and wanting to help with its promotion naturally suggests, that you wish to put some time and effort into this.And naturally you just want to do it all!

I do,too!

However, be realistic.

If you're not a fan of the masses, and your idea of a good saturday evening consists of drinking tea with your best friends and watching a movie or playing „The need for Speed“, distributing Flyers at a rowdy Lesbian party at four in the morning might just not be your thing.

If however, you have a single cute friend,who you feel desperately needs a GF or something else, you might want to consider the option of sending her into the raging drunk masses.

Which brings us to next issue at hand.

Your community.

Me, I'm bouncing around in the gay community.Big city, big scene.

Great target group.

You might be stuck at school in Tiny Town,Nebraska and not know a single Lesbian besides Ellen and probably Condolezza Rice.But your mom and her friends love soaps and succesful Ladies.

Cater the show to them.

Introducing your family members and friends to the „gay lifestyle“ through shows they can get invested in and characters they will grow to love, is a nice way of paving the way to coming out, btw.

Just be careful you're not too obvious.My mom did get suspicious, when we started watching „Ellen“ at nine in the morning.But things worked out fine.I just have to talk her out of constantly trying to set me up with her 30 year older absolutely straight co-workers, one day.

Ok, but back to the matters at hand.

You're a computer geek who doesn't really like going out there?Not reallly creative..and you don't have SO much time either?
Great!
Google is yo thang!

You're hanging out at your usual Lesbian bar with your mates every weekend?Great! Organize a public screening(I'll check with the Venice Ladies if that's ok, copyrightwise)

You just love to party?
Organize a Venice Beach party.(That's a LOT of work,though.)

You don't really have THAT much time?
Email your local gay magazine, newspaper, paper, computer paper, whatever you may read, and let them know about Venice.

It's important to get yourself some backing.
Get your local peeps together, or get yourself some support from others on the boards, or from here.

We're here to help, and to rock and roll!
Cheers!
ami




Venice 2


All the ideas out there are great and important.
However, they somehow must make the big step of realization, and that's where the real work comes in.

Let's see.You might want buttons, for example.Your mom offered to sell them at the next church bake sale.

Now, there are the big questions of:Design, Size,Cost,Production,Delivery.
Design:
Anybody else made some you liked?
Email them, or order directly from their shop(like Donna's,for example)
You want another design?
You want a specific scene,Logo, whatever?
Are you capable of handling photoshop?
Are you willing to try around with it a bit?
Download it here for a free trial version of 30 days.
Or ask your friends if they know their way around photishop.
Head over there one night with some beer and chips, and get cracking.

Design is taken care of, now you google the options of getting Buttons made in your area, or getting them sent.

How many do you want?Do you want to sell them?How much money do you want to invest?
How do you pay?

Usually it's very possible to get everything taken care of online.

Ok, finally the day has arrived, and you get your buttons in the mail.


It's just a question of doing it.Especially things you have never done before.

Spreading the Word

Welcome,

so there you are, no new fanfic is up, no new ep, YT comments are empty..and you happen to be having an hour on your hands.

So,while you wait for your spaghetti to boil, you think, you could invest that time comfortably into something productive, like getting the word spread on Venice.

Great.

What do you do?

Google.

You have several options where you can spread the word.

LGBT magazines

Mainstream magazines

TV magazines

Newspapers

Weeklies

Computer Geek mags

Internet forums

Again, do what you feel most comfortable with,and choose the venue which you feel drawn to most.

There are several places to start

1^st option,Internet

Forums

In which Forum would mentioning Venice make sense?

Otalia Forum on Facebook definitely.

Your group on exchanging knitting techniques and cooking recipes?

Maybe.

If it's chock full of Lesbians,for example, or Ladies loving stories and soaps.

Please, always, when posting and promoting the show on Forums, be respectful, be tactful and do not be obnoxious.

Tailor your post to your audience.

Compuer geeky forum:“The first serious try of trying to get the webseries as a business model working.“ Jump from TV to the web“ „very interactive with the fans,etc.“

L word forum:“Beds and hot make out sessions were mentioned.“

It's best to post where you are familiar and where mood and content is familiar as well.

2^nd option:

Internet mags

email them under their contact adress and tell them just exactly why they want to run an article on the show.

For more info on how to do that:

3^rd option

Newspapers and magazines

Before you randomly crank out mails and letters to these, ask yourself, why they would possibly want to publish an article on Venice.

If it's a LGBT magazine, it's obviously very important to mention, that it is a labor of love, wanting to finally tell Lesbian stories, etc.

Mainstream magazines and Newspapers will also be interested.

Why?

Women's/Lifestyle magazines:

For example:

„Crystal Chappell, Soap Star is venturing into the new medium of web series,etc.Stories you can watch at home,after you get home from work,etc.“

Why would Newsweek, or The New York Times care?

Because for a long time, now, Web series have been heralded as the next Generation of TV.

Ratings are dwindling, people spend more time in front of their computers than in front of their TVs and it is certainly easier to watch what you want when you want it, and not having to be home by 8 on Tuesday's to catch your favorite show.

For a long time, a lot of people have been waiting for TV to make the jump to the internet, as Newspapers are doing right now.

However, it just hasn't worked so far.

Therefore,there's a really good reason for basically just anybody to be very interested in „Venice“ right now.

Ok, now, you've just put the Spaghetti into the water..you have a few minutes.

What do you do?

Google LGBT media outlets on the internet for example.

You found a few,and since you already posted yourself crazy yesterday, when the casserole was in the oven, you decide to send out a few emails to some online publications today.

If you wish for an author to write an article on something, make it easy for him/her.

Include pictures.Include previous articles,include the website,episodes,etc.

Include a brief description and the why this person is going to be grateful to have found your email in his/her mailbox today because they just want to write an article about Venice now.

If you mention GL, why not include a link to a YT clip?

One thing you always need to be making sure, however, is to always respect the copyright.

Do not send a picture without knowing and stating where it is from.

Do not quote an article without giving credit.

Ok here are some interviews and articles to draw information from, if you find any more, if you have any links,or sample letters, please share:-)

Interview with Kim Turrisi:

http://www.ccandfriends.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=1275

CC Interview on NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/arts/television/25otalia.html

Afterellen Interview with CC

http://www.afterellen.com/people/2009/9/crystal-chappell?page=0%2C3

Btw, I just wanted to remind you, that this is a rough draft for the "kit" I am dreamin up.Corrections, additions, ideas,etc, are more than welcome, I'm basically begging for them:-)

Therefore if you have already done any of that work mentioned (For exapmle during the "Save the Light Campaign) please do share.

Hugs to all of you out there, this is gonna be a bittersweet week.

Doreen

World Domination

Hellloooo Peeeps!
Today, after I read the Article with Crystal Chappell on afterellen.com (http://www.afterellen.com/people/2009/9/crystal-chappell) I have felt felt, that now the time has come.
The time to set in motion what I have been deeply craving to do, since I've read that NY Times article (to which I can't sadly find the link right now):
Promote Venice.
I am an international member of the great conglomeration of fans around the "Otalia" storyline on CBS.
I cared so much for the beautiful love story, that even my little lazy hands went to pen a few postcards in a big effort to save the show and our two beautiful ladies in it.
However, that was not to be.
Since then, I have blown many a fuse over the very obvious(at least to me) censorship that that beautiful tale of love, and yes, actually passion, too, between one Natalia Rivera and Olivia Spencer had to undergo on that show.
The outright lack of Lesbian loving and living on TV worldwide is,to me at least , another symptom of the great shift to the conservative right and a more open voiced and unabashed homophobia raging these days.
But I am getting too political.
I simply want to see myself on screen.Noit exactly myself, but another woman, loving other women.A Lesbian.A Dyke.A Bisexual.A labelless unicum.A charmed one.Whatever you may call it.
I NEED to see me, and people like me on my screen.
And this most dire of time, Ms.Chappell has stepped forward to save the World from warlords..
Umm.
You get the picture.
There are a lot of people who are volunteering their time.Their effort.Their love.For this project.
And for a great part also for "us".
And I am grateful.I want to see it.And I want it to suceed.
Really want it to suceed.
Now, while my little postcards with the pretty German stamps(I actually went to the trouble to get Lighthouse ones) might have made a few execs someplace go all "Aaaaw...but who cares really?", the stakes are very different for a web show.
The internationals are representatives for a large untapped market.
And I want to help tap that market.
Now, while I can't support the show with money, or with free flights, with food, film, lodgings, or even free footmassages for the hard toiling Ladies, I can still support it.
I can let people know about it.
Here in Berlin.
And you..you can let them know about it, wherever you are.
No clue how?
Well, this is what this blog is for.
(Well, this and my mindless ramblings, obviously)
Let's get this show on the road!
Doreen


First order of business:
The how to promote Venice kit.
Plan is to get a "kit" created, that has several promotional options available, for the interested, invested peep.An assortment of options of what one can do, and how.
What can/should go in there?And how can we make that idea real?
Please leave your ideas in the comments.
I'll subsummarize soon.

Love y'all! Take care and have a great week!