How Austin Opera Leans Into Digital Program Books
Photo from a performance of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. Courtesy of Austin Opera.
As more cultural organizations shift from printed programs to digital program books, they face the challenge of adapting and expanding the concept of their program. What could we include in a digital program book that we could never include in print?
Austin Opera does a great job of leaning into the digital nature of their program books. We recently caught up with Chief Advancement Officer Jennifer Basten to talk about their use of digital program books.
Prior to Fall 2021, how did you create and deliver your program books?
Austin Opera provided and still provides printed programs for all of our productions. Prior to 2021, we linked to digital PDF versions of performance programs through our mobile app.
What inspired you to use InsideGuide to create your digital program for the 2021-22 season?
When the Covid-19 pandemic caused the world-wide shut down of live performances, Austin Opera kept audiences and the community engaged through a robust suite of digital offerings including a weekly broadcast of singers in recital and opera films presented at the drive-in movie theater. Along with the digital artistic programming, we invested in an app developed with Instant Encore that had the ability to link out to PDF versions of the performance program.
Once we launched the app and began providing production information through that dissemination vehicle, we knew we would want to continue this practice into the future. Audiences were connecting with us more and more through digital channels, and this was a natural extension of that. When the company returned to a full season of live performances in the fall of 2021, we upgraded our app to integrate with InsideGuide to continue providing a touch-free experience at the theater but in a much more engaging and interactive way.
Austin Opera began using InsideGuide in Fall 2021 with their production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. The animated header image really draws the eye and sets the tone for this digital program book.
How did the program book change when you created it in InsideGuide?
InsideGuide allows patrons to access all of the information in the printed program as well as digital content designed to increase their enjoyment of the production with videos and podcast links.
TIP: Click here to learn how to you can add videos to your digital program book.
How did you leverage the digital nature of the program books?
The Watch & Listen section has been a wonderful addition to our digital program books. Austin Opera was creating these terrific videos and podcasts by conductors and musicologists and so to have it integrated with the performance program content, it has increased our viewers of these digital assets and helped engage audiences more deeply. Patrons can see the available videos in the performance program section and it links them directly to the videos housed on our Vimeo channel. It’s so helpful to have all of our digital content easily accessible in one place!
The Watch & Listen section of Austin Opera’s digital program book links to videos on Vimeo and audio recordings on Soundcloud.
Do you plan to continue using InsideGuide for your 2022-23 digital programs? If so, are there any changes you’re planning to make?
We will absolutely use the InsideGuide this season! The interface is easy for our patrons to use and access information and is also easy for our marketing team to set up on the backend. It also adds another level of sophistication to our app.
How have patrons responded to your digital program books?
Patrons have let us know that they enjoy having access to the information well in advance of arriving at the theater. They are so much more likely to access the program book before the performance rather than having to wait until they arrive in the theater.
What advice do you have for others considering using InsideGuide for their digital program books?
Go for it! You won’t regret it!
Want to learn what your digital program books could do?
Let’s talk! We would love to discuss what InsideGuide can do for you.
To schedule an InsideGuide demo, click here.
Have a question? Contact David.