IT'S BLOG, IT'S BLOG....

(Photo: Artists and Fringe Staff heart the Fringe! Photo by Alex Clark)

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Welcome to the Fringernet! …or Fringeaverse. …or Flog? We’re still figuring it out.

There’s a lot going on in the world right now and forces are pushing and pulling at Fringe, at artists, at everyone in our beloved Fringe and performing arts community. I dunno about y’all, but this Artist Liaison (*waves* Hi, it’s me, Amber!) feels the need to serve our mission further by creating more connections, not only between adventurous artists and adventurous audiences, but with each other, all year.

I love the vibe around Fringe Central when the festival is on; folks talking about their shows, fanatics telling artists what they liked about their shows or getting excited about the shows they can’t wait to see. I love the connections made over subjects both silly and serious, between locals and touring artists, and just art in general. While I hold dear the special capsule that the festival supplies us with for those wonderful 11 days a year and would never want to dull its particular high, the winters here are long and I could go for a maintenance hit of community every now and then, y’know?

But a physical Fringe Central isn’t always doable for many reasons. What if–I posit–there was a Fringe Central online that you could drop in on every once in a while? Eh?  EH??? Sittin’ at your desk? Wondering what’s happening around our community? Takin’ a little break to get a little smile from some of the most adventurous folks you might know? That’s my wish for this little blog. Nothing formal, no set agenda, just hopefully getting enough content to drop on you every now and then to give you that Fringey feeling. I’d love to hear about shows you’re seeing and shows you’re making. I’d love to see the puppet you’re building or the joy in your rehearsal room! Let’s do a silly poll or play the “this would make a great Fringe show” game. I wanna see what you’re Fringey about in the off-festival season or things you’d like to clock about the Twin Cities area for performers coming through at any time. Maybe you’re a new producer or a curious audience member that wants a little insight on the inner workings or the next steps of a production or company. Yeah! Come sit at my table and let me talk your ear off. Maybe I’ll call an expert over and get you some better answers! I’m here to help...or get you to someone who can! All of this and more! Connection! Support! Community!!!!

What do you like to chat about when you’re at Fringe Central? That’s what this blog is all about.

But there’s a problem. We can’t just call it “Fringe Central Online.” We spend a lot of time in the office formulating the clearest communication we can for this weird thing we do. The last thing I want is for our new artists and audiences to confuse our festival-times congregating place with our online blog. So. We’ve been throwing some names around for this silly endeavor, but we can’t come to an agreement with something to stick. What a good experiment for our first entry!

Here’s a list of some current suggestions:

• Flog (Fringe + blog)
• Frog - submitted by our TD Corinne because it’s cuter than Flog.
• Fringernet - suggested by artist friend Heather Meyer and I think it's rather clever.
• Fringe Central 2: Electric Blogaloo (or just “Electric Blogaloo”) - that one’s mine, so I’m partial.
• Fringeeasy
• Fringe Uncentered
• Button’s Blog - Dawn came up with that one, and who doesn’t love Buttons?
• Fringe Unbuttoned
• Fringeaverse - I just came up with that one now when I started this entry but meh.
• What’s in the Fringerator - Danna Sheridan is the GENIUS behind this suggestion.
• On the Fringe
• Fringe on Fringe

Woof. I dunno, y’all. Too many choices? Not enough? You wanna suggest some?

WELCOME TO BLOG.

Coming next: 

Did you know our Multi-city Touring Lotteries are gonna close next week? I have asked some artists that have toured to these cities to give us some info about their festivals. Check back next week to hear about Green Bay Fringe and Borderlight Festival (and maybe more) from the artists who’ve lived them!