THE CHINESE LADY Marketing and Communications Consultant

Job Title: Marketing and Communications Consultant, The Chinese Lady (Temporarily Remote)
Job Status: Project-based freelance, part-time
Salary: Project fee of $2500, payable in installments
Reports to: Director of Marketing

ABOUT TIMELINE

TimeLine Theatre Company, recipient of the 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, is a Chicago not-for-profit theatre company with an annual budget of more than $2 million. Since its inception in 1997, the company has garnered more than 50 awards for artistic excellence and business management. TimeLine is now also preparing for its next chapter with the establishment of a new home in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood.

Through 24 seasons dedicated to presenting stories that explore today’s social and political issues through the lens of the past, TimeLine’s stage has featured countless facets of that mission. From LGBTQIA+ experiences (The Normal Heart, Boy) to Jewish experiences (A Shayna Maidel, My Name is Asher Lev) to issues of cultures intersecting and intertwining (Chimerica, A Disappearing Number, A Walk in the Woods), TimeLine’s rich production history highlights a mix of perspectives. Our most recent in-person season investigated issues of humanity, legacy, and family in Oslo, Rutherford and Son, and James Ijames’ Kill Move Paradise. During a stoppage of live performances in 2020-2021, TimeLine showcased free online content, including public programs featuring Tyla Abercrumbie’s Relentless, Lloyd Suh’s The Chinese Lady, and TimeLine’s Playwrights Collective. Our 2021-2022 season will include full productions of Relentless and The Chinese Lady.

While our programming seeks to reflect and support our community, we acknowledge that TimeLine has more work to do to transform into a fully antiracist, multicultural organization. Our staff, Board, and Company are committed to instituting antiracist policies and practices, championing diversity and inclusion on our stages, and fighting back against the years of oppression that our BIPOC colleagues have experienced in the theatre and performing arts industry. You can read more about our ongoing work here: timelinetheatre.com/2020/11/everyones-history.

ABOUT THE POSITION

TimeLine is seeking a Marketing and Communications Consultant to work as part of TimeLine’s Marketing team to create and implement a culturally conscious marketing and community engagement plan for TimeLine’s production of The Chinese Lady. This position will be paid a project fee, with the projected total time spent estimated at 100 hours. You will report to the Director of Marketing and Communications, with the opportunity to collaborate with many other departments (both artistic and administrative). The overall goal of this engagement is to expand the diversity of the audience for The Chinese Lady, and to advance TimeLine’s capacity to invite and attract similar audiences into the future.

If you are hired as the Marketing and Communications Consultant for the Chicago premiere of The Chinese Lady by Lloyd Suh, directed by Helen Young, you will join the efforts to promote this piercing and darkly poetic portrait of America as seen through the eyes of a young Chinese woman. Brought to the United States at age 14 from China in 1834 by enterprising American merchants, Afong Moy is put on display so the American public can get its first view of an “authentic Chinese Lady.” Over the course of 55 years, she performs an ethnicity that both defines and challenges her own views of herself, as she witnesses stunning transformations in the American identity. As these dual truths become irreconcilable, Afong must reckon with herself and the history of her new home with startling discovery and personal revelations. The Chinese Lady illuminates the roots of the prejudice, bigotry, and hate facing today’s Asian-American and Pacific Islander community and inspires us to see and understand each other anew. The production was featured in a free virtual discussion, “The Chinese Lady: Building a Bridge Toward Asian Visibility,” an edited version of which can be viewed on TimeLine’s YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/fLY5fFBCO78

RESPONSIBILITIES/DUTIES

The core responsibility of this position is to advise, refine, and innovate a community engagement strategy and action plan. While we’ve listed several ways a Marketing and Communications Consultant might be successful below, the implementation will depend in part upon your expertise and experiences. We welcome additional ideas for ways to engage culturally specific audiences beyond those included here.

  • Promote and facilitate collaboration between TimeLine Theatre and its production of The Chinese Lady and various community groups and constituencies, by, for example:
    • Reaching out to organizations, groups, and individuals who may be interested in the themes of the production for cross-promotion and/or attendance
    • Distributing information about ticket opportunities, including discount codes
    • Securing community members to participate as speakers during pre- and post-show discussions
  • Identify and target advertising and promotional opportunities within diverse communities not currently attending TimeLine productions
    • Engage with and actively listen to community members to form dynamic and lasting connections
  • Create an event plan and promoting special events for new audiences
  • Assist with identifying and inviting key influencers and other community members to attend special events
  • Participate in the development of the production’s overall marketing campaign and voice input on campaign elements throughout the process

COMPENSATION AND TIMEFRAME

  • Project fee of $2500, payable in installments.
  • The project will begin in November 2021 and continue through June 25, 2022.
  • We anticipate the project encompassing approximately 100 hours of work, with a flexible schedule and increasing weekly time commitment through the course of the project. Must have some daytime availability for occasional marketing team and staff meetings. We expect there to be initial meetings between November 2021 and February 2022, but the bulk of hours are to be completed in 2022.
  • Work can be primarily completed remotely with personal internet service connection and computer equipment required; however, there may be opportunities to work in office with TimeLine staff, in accordance with COVID-19 safety protocols. During the run of the production, some in-person attendance may be required.

QUALIFICATIONS/SKILLS

  • Must have an interest in advancing racial equity and supporting inclusion in theatre
  • Demonstrated experience with community-building and marketing, including with culturally specific and new arts audiences
  • Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills
  • Must be computer proficient

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

  • You enjoy working independently, assuming responsibility, and taking initiative using good judgment and strong attention to detail
  • You get energy from new perspectives and thrive on a collaborative team
  • You can effectively identify and communicate issues or problems as they arise, and move deliberately to find solutions to them
  • You are mission-driven and are comfortable making decisions based on stated values of the project

EMPLOYMENT POLICIES

TimeLine is committed to monitoring public health recommendations, as well as the best practices for wellness and safety of all of those we serve. If you have any questions regarding COVID safety plans or compliance, please do not hesitate to reach out.

It is an essential practice of TimeLine Theatre Company to recruit, hire, train and promote individuals, based upon personal capabilities and qualifications and without regard to race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin or ancestry, marital status, citizenship, disability, military status, creed, or any other trait or characteristic protected by law. TimeLine Theatre Company is dedicated to the goal of building a diverse staff and an inclusive work environment. This policy of Equal Employment Opportunity applies to policies and procedures relating to all terms and conditions of employment at TimeLine Theatre.

TO APPLY

  1. Please email, in one clearly-labeled document (PDF preferred), a resume and your answers to the questions below. Your email should be to the attention of Lara Goetsch, Director of Marketing and Communications, at marketing@timelinetheatre.com with the subject line of your email, “THE CHINESE LADY Marketing and Communications Consultant Position”
  2. We will respond whether or not you are called in for interviews. Please no phone calls. If you do have questions about your application, please email us at the above address.
  3. Applications will be accepted through October 31.

Questions – REQUIRED

In addition to submitting your resume, please take the time to answer the following questions. You do not have to write a cover letter for this application, so we ask that you put your efforts into answering these questions in complete, thoughtful sentences (no need to write more than 3-4 sentences per question). Thanks!

  1. What role does your community (or communities) play in your life, and how do you see yourself applying those experiences at TimeLine Theatre?
  2. Please choose one value from the list below. How have you used that value in a professional setting in the past?
    Staff members at TimeLine Theatre Company share the core values of the organization:   

    • COLLABORATIVE: Valuing teamwork as a creative force
    • EXCEPTIONAL: Exemplifying excellence and innovation in everything we do
    • FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE: Managing resources effectively and appropriately
    • INCLUSIVE: Embracing diversity in all its forms
    • INTIMATE: Creating a close connection between art and audience
    • RESPECTFUL: Listening and being open to everyone’s perspective
    • HEALTHY & SAFE: Ensuring a clean environment and nurturing wellness
  3. Based on your understanding of TimeLine and/or the production of The Chinese Lady, what most interests you in being involved in this project?
  4. How did you find out about this position?