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The following highlights comments made by members of the Cinema Society of San Diego at the “25th Season Think Tank Session” that was held on Saturday, March 29th, from 9:00am to 11:00am at Lotsa Pasta Restaurant.
WELCOME GIFT:
The group loved this season’s mug, and urged for a silver (to signify the 25th season) large travel mug. Other ideas included silver key chain, business card holder, a deck of cards highlighting the season offerings, and a 25th season lanyard.
SEASON PASS:
With a requirement that it needs to fit in a wallet, everyone loved the idea of a bar coded ticket pass, that could be made small (for a key chain) and large (with a lanyard).
LOGO:
Andy displayed the new 25th season logo, created by young graphic artist Josh Jacobs. It will be used in our newsletter, web site, posters and on-screen slides. Andy has also asked Josh to create a new logo for seasons 26 and beyond--our current logo with “Since 1984” added to the bottom.
TRAILER:
Production houses are currently being explored for developing a trailer on screen. One theme was having the stars in the background create a constellation of 25.
NEWSLETTER:
The group was very pleased with the newsletter in its current design, and liked how the newsletter was blown up to posters that are placed at the entrances of the theater auditoriums. It was suggested that, when e-mailing the newsletter, we should include a link to microsoft outlook, so that the events go immediately into people’s calendars. A discussion involving the web site began, including the creation of a tutorial for new and existing members on how simple the web site is. This tutorial could be a powerpoint presentation in the auditorium; a demonstration at the freshman class orientation, and/or a video on the web site itself.
TRAVEL:
Palm Springs International Film Festival is about to celebrate its 20th edition, and Andy is planning on meeting with the festival director to discuss a joint-celebration. Other suggested trips include: a one day trip to Los Angeles, to visit studios, the Academy and other cinematic gems, the return of the “Cinema at Sea Cruise”, and a theater projection booth tour.
MODERATORS:
Once it was clear that Andy wasn’t kidding about “Cinema Society of San Diego American Idol”, Andy showed the group that there is a special check line on the new application for anyone wishing to “try out” to moderate one of the auditoriums, while Andy handles the other. On nights when there is a special guest, Andy will then escort the guest from one auditorium to the other.
DIRECTORS CIRCLE:
Andy gave a brief history of this elite group within the Society, and thanked them for their financial support in helping the organization attract gifted and talented artists from around the world to visit us with our presentations. As a thank you to those showing up this morning, the group was invited to join the Directors Circle member at an upcoming filmmakers reception.
PROGRAM / SPECIAL EVENTS
The idea of a welcome night program, involving historical information, congratulatory wishes, etc. was determined a bad use of time.
However, the group liked the idea of private home parties, featuring a visit by short film filmmakers who had created popular shorts from the previous seasons.
Opening night of the 25th season was discussed, along with ideas involving retrospectives, celebrity salutes, and the taking over of our original theater--UltraStar Flower Hill Cinema--for a showing of 4 “classic” Cinema Society “hits” on the theater’s four screens.
As to party ideas, most felt that if we presented an opening night kick off party, that would be enough.
WEB SITE:
The web site got many compliments, and one member wanted a link for members to find films showcased at the Cinema Society.
Andy spoke about the on-line store he would like to launch, including the sales of Society merchandise and dvd’s of past films.
OTHER IDEAS / COMMENTS / SUGGESTIONS;
A major debate occurred over the annual showing of the shorts PRECIOUS IMAGES and ORNAMENTS.
Issues involving the practice of saving seats, people taking handicapped seats, the future of our “home” Theater and Andy’s introductions told everyone the plot of the movies--all were discussed.
The “25th Season Think Tank Session” closed at 11:00am, with a thank you by Andy to Carol Blomstrom of Lotsa Pasta for her coffees and cupcakes, and her providing a lovely environment for this forum.
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