Mezzanine Theater Diary - Beta 9- Page 2

[LxGstv]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 1:20pm

How about an option to add a picture as well?
I know that it would be similar to a view from my seat, but why not combine all the features?! A list, review and a pic...

[benpackard]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 1:28pm

LxGstv said: "How about an option to add a picture as well?
I know that it would be similar to a view from my seat, but why not combine all the features?! A list, review and a pic..."

Photos is definitely on the to-do list. I often also take a photo of the cast replacements from program insert or the board in the box office (not sure what that thing is called?)

 

Updated On: 7/10/19 at 01:28 PM

[CarmenA3]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 1:28pm

benpackard said: "Cape Twirl of Doom said: "I really like the way the app works and the layout, my only suggestion would be to add Off-Broadway shows. Or is this only supposed to be for Broadway shows? I see way too many Off-Broadway shows to send all the missing titles. Maybe you can get all that info from Playbill.com or various companies like Signature, Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, etc."

Yep definitely want to get Off-Broadway in there, probably my second priority after West End. Unfortunately it just takes a long time to get everything added (1,500 productions so far). I'm also working on a feature for entering your own shows and productions on your diary rather than having to suggest them. Not sure when that will be ready but it is something I want in there soon.

Thanks for trying out the app and for your feedback!"

Adding off-Broadway certainly increases productions many-fold. Have you thought about having theatre "champions" (or maybe "stage managers" LOL) that could help you add shows? Also, a person or two that "own" a particular theater take charge in adding productions for that venue/company? That way you don't have to keep up with every show coming in. You could also add an approval step so they enter the info an you just need to click approve before it's made available to general users.

As a solo theatre goer, one of my biggest wishlist items is a "be my +1" finder type of tool. Sometimes it's easier to find a pair of tickets, so pairing up with someone would be super helpful.

I'm sure it's been requested as well... can we upload pics from our seat? 

 

[benpackard]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 1:37pm

CarmenA3 said: "Adding off-Broadway certainly increases productions many-fold. Have you thought about having theatre "champions" (or maybe "stage managers" LOL)that could help you add shows? Also, a person or two that "own" a particular theater take charge in adding productions for that venue/company? That way you don't have to keep up with every show coming in. You could also add an approval step so they enter the info an you just need to click approve before it's made available to general users.

As a solo theatre goer, one of my biggest wishlist items is a "be my +1" finder type of tool. Sometimes it's easier to find a pair of tickets, so pairing up with someone would be super helpful.

I'm sure it's been requested as well... can we upload pics from our seat?

"

Pics - yep, see above.

The data one is tricky but at the moment I'm leaning towards a system where I let users add their own productions and they show up in their diary like normal, but don't automatically become search results for other users. I will then add some kind of server job to alert me whenever a new show or production gets added a few times so I can identify stuff I'm missing. But I'm still thinking this over. And the first step is still getting as much added as I can. As for 'stage managers' (love it!) - that's a good idea, but I would want to develop some nicer tools first for them to input the data since I currently add it directly to the database.

+1 tool: Haven't thought about that. It might be a bit out of scope, but I'm going to think about it some more. Honestly, it could make for a decent app all on its own...

[CarmenA3]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 2:40pm

benpackard said: "
Pics - yep, see above.

The data one is tricky but at the moment I'm leaning towards a system where I let users add their own productions and they show up in their diary like normal, but don't automatically become search results for other users. I will then add some kind of server job to alert me whenever a new show or production gets added a few times so I can identify stuff I'm missing. But I'm still thinking this over. And the first step is still getting as much added as I can. As for 'stage managers' (love it!) - that's a good idea, but I would want to develop some nicer tools first for them to input the data since I currently add it directly to the database.

+1 tool: Haven't thought about that. It might be a bit out of scope, but I'm going to think about it some more. Honestly, it could make for a decent app all on its own..."

 

Yey to all your responses above :) Will continue adding shows - though like others, retroactively is just not going to be super realistic as there are too many shows I've gone to this year alone.

Would be great to score aspects of a show...like seats with bad legroom or obstructed views (other than a seat marked partial/obstructed view) or how ok a view from a balcony is.

Another fun feature could be a "At This Performance" to see who else is at a particular performance of a show. eg, I can add a show with a future date (and maybe the app can send me a reminder to post my diary entry afterwards?) and see who else is going. I can see a lot of enhancements you could add..
-tag friends going with you to that performance (good way to get more people on the app) 
-some sort of communication tool so if we wanted to say hello and meet at, say, stagedoor after the show, we could.
 

Updated On: 7/10/19 at 02:40 PM

[benpackard]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 3:33pm

More excellent suggestions, thank you.

To you and any others who have mentioned your existing lists that are too long to add manually - would anyone be open to sharing their list, or at least some part of it? I'd love to see what kind of format people are using. Perhaps there's some way I can provide a basic importer to at least partially help. If you have a list and are willing to share it, you can send it to ben 'at' theater diary dot com.

[Sarah329]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 5:48pm

This app is really cool! I just downloaded it and think it has a LOT of potential! I’d love some kind of show counter so I know the number of shows. And like others mentioned, maybe the ability to add pictures or include off bway/west end shows?
Great job though on the app!!

[mfaye9]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 6:10pm

benpackard said: "More excellent suggestions, thank you.

To you and any others who have mentioned your existing lists that are too long to add manually - would anyone be open to sharing their list, or at least some part of it? I'd love to see what kind of format people are using. Perhaps there's some way I can provide a basic importer to at least partially help. If you have a list and are willing to share it, you can send it to ben 'at' theater diary dot com."

Hey Ben, just shared my Google sheet for you to take a look at. Feel free to reach out with any questions or if it didn't go through.

[benpackard]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 6:34pm

Sarah329 - Agreed, show counter is needed.

mfaye9- Received, many thanks - will let you know if I have any questions.

[MattieIce2018]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 7:46pm

Would it be possible to add national tours to the list of productions in the future? I don’t live near NYC so I usually end up seeing shows when they come to my area on tour.

[benpackard]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 8:03pm

MattieIce2018 said: "Would it be possible to add national tours to the list of productions in the future? I don’t live near NYC so I usually end up seeing shows when they come to my area on tour."

Yep, planning on getting to tours before too long.

[iflip4musicals]

Posted: 7/11/19 at 8:59am

This is a great tool and very easy to use! I was able to enter in all of my (Broadway) shows from 2018 - present quickly!

Is there a way to have drop downs for seat locations so it’s more consistent and/or have the seat locations on the main Diary page? I like to track my seat and how much I’ve paid for tickets.

Thanks!

[benpackard]

Posted: 7/11/19 at 9:16am

iflip4musicals said: "This is a great tool and very easy to use! I was able to enter in all of my (Broadway) shows from 2018 - present quickly!

Is there a way to have drop downs for seat locations so it’s more consistent and/or have the seat locations on the main Diary page? I like to track my seat and how much I’ve paid for tickets.

Thanks!"

Thanks for the suggestions, will give them some thought.

[CarmenA3]

Posted: 7/11/19 at 12:13pm

My sheet is on its way to you Ben :)

I'll second the post that mentioned proper seat locations!

A "fun facts" category is the ticket purchase type (eg rush, lottery, at box office, online, reseller). 

You've got potential for some great data mining opportunities (I'm in database dev/analytics, everything is a datapoint to me LOL). 

[benpackard]

Posted: 7/11/19 at 12:23pm

Thanks CarmenA3! I replied to your email too.

 

[benpackard]

Posted: 7/11/19 at 12:38pm

Thanks everyone for the feedback so far, it has been much more supportive and voluminous than I dared hope for. I will keep checking this thread for suggestions and will post updates here for new releases.

If you are a Twitter user, I also recommend following the Mezzanine account since I will be using it for a few polls on which direction to take for certain features: https://twitter.com/mezzanineapp

[Nicole 10]

Posted: 7/11/19 at 12:59pm

Hi, 

This app is amazing and has so much great potential! I think a cool feature down the line could be if you scan your ticket, the app could maybe scan the barcode or through text recognition, it could auto populate the show, theater, seats, and date into your diary maybe? It would be super useful and a way to input data faster!

[benpackard]

Posted: 7/11/19 at 1:05pm

Ooh very interesting - I'll have to start scanning some of my tickets to see if anything useful is in the barcode.

[scarlet721]

Posted: 7/11/19 at 6:54pm

ben--

i'm not an app kind of person, is there a way (or going to be a way) to just to things via your website?

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 7/11/19 at 8:33pm

This looks GREAT! I would love to see it reach android sometime and hopefully soon because I would use this like ALL the time. There use to be a great app on facebook that did this but it's long, long gone and I have long missed it. This looks like an app that could fill that long empty void. I wish you and the development of the app the best!

[benpackard]

Posted: 7/12/19 at 8:36am

scarlet721 said: "i'm not an app kind of person, is there a way (or going to be a way) to just to things via your website?"

Thanks for the suggestion - I don't have plans for web application just yet but it would be cool to add eventually.

[benpackard]

Posted: 7/12/19 at 3:43pm

Just a note that there is a new version of the Mezzanine beta out today with basic iPad support (screenshot here: https://twitter.com/mezzanineapp/status/1149765209852194818)

Next week I hope to get started on some of the awesome suggestions posted here. 

[benpackard]

Posted: 7/17/19 at 8:38pm

Added a bunch of West End shows this week - thanks for all the submissions of missing shows, keep em coming!

[benpackard]

Posted: 8/5/19 at 11:57am

Today's beta update adds some features requested on this thread and elsewhere - thanks so much for all the suggestions so far.

* Diary entries now include performance time. Matinee and Evening performances can be tagged in one tap, or you can pick from a full list of named options (All Day, Late, Midnight, etc) or enter a specific time manually. The performance time is also used to sort multiple diary entries on the same day.
* Diary entries can be saved without a month or a year (e.g. ‘Sometime in 1990&rsquo
* Diary entries can now be added for a date in the future.
* Diary entries include a general-purpose ‘notes’ field.
* A bunch of West End productions have been added to Mezzanine, with more to come.
* The production picker is a little smarter. It now prioritizes productions in cities where you have previously added diary entries. Still more work to do here as the database grows.
* You can now change your profile picture, update your name, and reset your password from the settings screen.
* When Mezzanine tells you to check your email for a verification link, it includes which email address the link was sent to.

Still open beta slots at www.theaterdiary.com/beta

[CarmenA3]

Posted: 8/5/19 at 12:53pm

Thanks for the update!

I have a few questions...

-do we automatically get the update on our phones by just opening the app? I'm in now and my version is 1.0(3). I'm on iOS.

-Can you add Seawall/A Life please, it's not in the Broadway list.

-I tried to use the "suggest a show...", but I don't have mail set up on my Phone (on purpose), so it errored out. Can there be a different method for sending messages back?