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Recruitment Events

The two main times for recruitment events are during Fall REX/Rush in late August/early September and during CPW in April. Your job is to plan all recruitment activities and events that take place during these two times, as well as any events that may occur at other points during the year!

Calendar

The typical year of recruitment events, listed in rough chronological order, for the past few years has been as follows, but feel free to mix it up!

REX: Activities Midway, 24 Hour Show, Theater Arts Open House
IAP: 24 Hour Show
CPW: To Be or Not to Be, Theater Games, Activities Midway, Scene Night

Remember: delegate! You don't have to manage every aspect of every one of these events yourself. Think of yourself as more of a mini-Producer/Pub Man.

During REX and CPW, you can use a spreadsheet like this one so that others can sign up to help out at non-performance events. Be sure to send this out a couple of weeks in advance and bump it consistently; also, keep in mind that people who initially signed up may have to drop out, as both REX and CPW can be quite busy for some folks.

Activities Midway

Be sure to sign up for this on time to ensure that the Ensemble gets a table. One table will do. Ask to be near other theater groups, such as the Musical Theater Guild, Roadkill Buffet, and E33 Productions.

Bring the sandwich board! Pin up posters and photos as you like. Also be sure to bring our cardboard cutout of Billy Shakes.

Make business cards! These are really easy to hand out, and you can use them to advertise both the Ensemble as a whole (be sure to include our address, ensemble.mit.edu) as well as any REX or CPW events that may be upcoming. You can get them printed at CopyTech at a convenient time and location for a convenient price. Note that their online order form is a little misleading; just be sure to make ample use of the comments section (the people at CopyTech are really nice!). Here are some cards we've used in past years. 

During the fall, bring advertisements for upcoming auditions!

Set up an interest form, and bring laptops so that people can fill it out! During REX, include a poll so that prefrosh can vote for their favorite title. (In fact, it may be wise to advertise the form as "Help pick our title for the 24 Hour Show!" before it is revealed to them that the form they are filling out is actually an interest form.) The form might look something like this. Afterward, remember to go back and collect the emails to put on an Ensemble interest list. Interest lists from each year live in ensemble-interest@; add emails from the specific year to ensemble-interest-[year]@ (if this does not yet exist, make it!) and ensure that ensemble-interest-[year]@ is added to ensemble-interest@. (Remember to make ensemble-request@ the owner of any list you make!). During REX, make a note of the people interested in helping out with tech; see below.

Bring silly hats! It's traditional.

Show up on time! ASA will fine you if you don't. This will also allow you ample amount of time to set up.

Talk to prefrosh! Some things to emphasize are that we are a community of largely undergraduates who alternate hiring outside directors and having our own members and alums direct shows.

24 Hour Show

(to be completed)

Scene Night

(to be completed)

Theater Arts Open House

(to be completed)

Theater Games

This is an hour-long event, usually head in the afternoon. Be sure to reserve a classroom for the period, leaving time for setup and clean up. It is suggested that at least two people who are comfortable with leading theater games run this event. Draw on usual Warm-Up and Morale games for inspiration. Consider separating the prefrosh into two groups if the number of people who show up become unwieldy. Bring cards to advertise your other events and the Ensemble at large!

To Be or Not to Be

This is a fairly chill, low-key event where you'll read aloud Ryan North's Hamlet-based choose-your-own-adventure book To Be or Not to Be. Encourage participation by holding vote on which path to choose; also, feel free to pass the book around so anyone who would like to can get a chance to read. While any number of Ensemble members can help out, this event really only takes one person to run. Invest in snacks!

The event is usually held in the Ensemble Office for an hour in the evening. We like to start this event at a strange time, like 10:28pm, so that it stands out on the CPW agenda. When you've reached a natural pausing point (i.e., your character arc ends!), feel free to open it up for questions about the Ensemble and theater life at MIT in general. Keep it casual, but also remind participants of the other events they can take part in! Bring cards to advertise your other events and the Ensemble at large!

Show Recruitment

It is your responsibility to try to recruit any eligible potential members to the Ensemble.
It often helps to connect with potential new members while working on the show. Keep an eye on any non-members, get to know them, and make sure they see how awesome the Ensemble is! In addition, help the Producer and the TD ensure that non-members participating in the show (as well as members, during term shows!) are completing their prod hours and showing up to Put-In and Strike.
Towards the end of the show, check with the Producer and the TD to see which non-members have completed their membership requirements and are therefore eligible to join. It should help to use a spreadsheet to keep track of them all. If there are people who can't complete their prod hours or are missing Put-In or Strike, try to help them find an opportunity to make up those hours somehow.
After the show, check with the Producer, the TD, and the other officers to finalize a list of eligible Dartes. Place them on the ensemble-dartes@ mailing list, then send out an email to all of them inviting them to join the Ensemble! Be sure to include any important information, such as:
  • the fact that they're a Darte
  • what it means to be a Darte
  • what they did to become eligible as a Darte
  • perks of joining the Ensemble
  • membership requirements
  • the fact that they should email er@ if they want to join
Have fun with it. Give it a personal touch. Here's a sample. Bump the email as needed. If people reply stating their intent to join, rejoice! It could be nice to send them a personal response.
Before the next BoT/EoT meeting, compile a list of all joining Dartes and provide them to the President, so that the new Dartes may be speared! Then rinse and repeat.

Membership

The OAL keeps track of members and makes them feel loved. Make sure members are fulfilling their requirements. Read the constitution so you know what the requirements are! If membership requirements are not being fulfilled, let the officers know.

Shakespeare Awareness

We think everyone knows who Shakespeare is. But MIT is not known for its liberal arts program. The more they remember that Shakespeare exists, the more, we think anyway, they want to join us. Give their soul to the old man. Random pictures of Shakespeare would be cool. Have fun with it.

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