Welcome to the first installment of Prop News! I hope it becomes
a valuable resource for you in the months and years to come. I have
a lot of plans for the newsletter, and for the website. I want it to
become a place where prop people from all over the world can meet,
share ideas, and communicate. Please tell anyone you know who may
be interested about this site, so that the community can grow!

*NOTE: This first issue of the newsletter is really long. Future
issues won't be so long, I just had a lot to say in this first issue.
You can expect to receive new issues of Prop News once a week.

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In this issue:
1. Introducing myself
2. Plans and goals for PropPeople.com
3. Future plans for Prop News
4. A request for listings in the Job Board
5. A note about advertising

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>Introducing myself

My name is Sean McArdle, and this project is my brainchild. I'm a
professional props carpenter, currently working for the Long Wharf
Theatre in New Haven, CT. I graduated from the University of
Illinois, Champaign/Urbana, with an MFA in Theatre with an
emphasis in Props Design and Management. I also have a BA in
Theatre and Fine Art from Doane College in Crete, Nebraska.

Props is an important, and large part of my life. I know a lot of
people who work in props, but I realized that there is little sense
of a larger community. There is a loose network in place, but it is
very limited. So I decided to do something about it.

How did you get started in props? It's a question that all of us have
a different answer for. I think that "I kind of fell into it" is a
pretty common answer. I know it's true for me. One of the biggest
reasons I was inspired to create this web site was because of the
younger props people that I know who are trying desperately
to start a career, but have little guidance or resources. So in an
important way, this place has really been built for future props
people. I wanted them to have a place where they could meet
people, and learn about having a props career.

This project started as an experiment, and I feel it could be very
successful for all of us. I wanted to give something back, to create
something that would help props people everywhere. I hope
this place fulfills a need for you.

http://PropPeople.com

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> Plans and goals for PropPeople.com

If you do a search for props on the Internet, you won't find very
much in the way of resources and information. I decided to create
this site in part because of that huge lack of information. My hope
is that this site will fill some of that void, and give props people a
place on the web where they can meet, share ideas, network, and
find ways to improve our craft.

Another goal is to give students interested in props a source of
information. It is near impossible to get a formal education in the
area of props, and what instruction exists is sometimes difficult to
find. My hope is that this site will help point future prop people
in the directions they need to start a career in this field.

The following is a list of general goals that I have for this site:
*To create a place that becomes an online community that prop
people will want to use to meet and communicate with other
people in their craft
*For the Discussion Board to be a place where people can ask
questions, learn from others, share resources, and help each
other out with their productions
*For the job board to become a place where prop people regularly
refer to when looking for work
*To provide vaulable products and services to prop shops and
departments
*In general, to simply fulfill the online needs of prop people
everywhere!

This is a list of things that I hope to add to the site in the near future:
*A directory of educational theatre programs that support props
students, both undergraduate and graduate, that includes details
of the programs
*To host a directory of props internship programs and positions
that are available
*A searchable vendor database
*The first Props FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
*A directory of prop people, both so that people can find each
other and so people who are freelancing can increase their
chances of getting work
*Online portfolio hosting
*Links to valuable research resources on the web
*Free to download e-books on a variety of subjects
*New products in the PropPeople.com Store
*Look for the manual "How to Create a Killer Portfolio that Will Get
You Work!" to be available very soon!
*A manual that teaches you how to take advantage of the
"Qualified Performing Artist" tax credit and save you tons of
money on your taxes, especially if you don't make much money!
*A campaign to organize a USITT commission for Props
*A traditional printed newsletter

This place is for you, the props student or professional. I really
want to hear from you! What do you think of the site? What
things do you like? What things don't you like? What other
things would you like to see here? What other ways could this
site be of help to you?

If you have any comments or questions about PropPeople.com,
please drop me a line at propboy@proppeople.com. I look
forward to hearing from you!

http://PropPeople.com

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> Future plans for Prop News

My goal for this newsletter is for it to become an informational
resource for the props community, as well as a way that you
can find out about new additions to the website. You will get
articles on a variety of subjects that are of interest to prop
people. Here's a list of topics that I want to cover:

*Using computers and the Internet in props
*New materials and uses for them
*Methods of organizing stock
*New construction techniques
*Industry news
*Props education

I would like to invite anyone who is interested in writing an article
to please drop me a line and let me know! I've already invited a
few people to write guest articles, and I'm always looking for more.
I maintain this web site and newsletter in my spare time, so any
help is greatly appreciated. If you have an idea for an
article, please write me at propboy@proppeople.com. I'd love
to hear about it!

http://PropPeople.com/newsletter.htm

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> A request for listings in the Job Board

There are already a number of listings on the PropPeople.com Job
Board. If you have an opening, please send the details of it to me at
propboy@proppeople.com and I'll list it right away. There are a lot
of people visiting the site right now, so posting an opening on the
job board is a great way to find future employees.

http://PropPeople.com/jobboard.htm

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>A note about advertising

In the future you can expect to see advertising both on the website
and in Prop News. Though I plan to sell advertising on the site,
it will be under some strict guidelines. I'm only going to sell ads to
companies and people who market products and services useful to
props people. You'll see no banner ads encouraging you to "punch
the monkey" on my site.

I hope you'll see ads from companies like Rosco and Rosebrand, and
perhaps Design Master or McFeely's Square Drive Screws. Maybe
I'll be able to swing some discounts for all of us as well! More
research is needed in this area on my part, but I pledge to you that
this won't become an overly commercial site.

If you have a company who would like to advertise on
PropPeople.com, please click on the following link. There you will
find instructions on how to join the advertising mailing list.

http://PropPeople.com/advertising

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Thanks for joining this newsletter, and for your support of
PropPeople.com. I hope you use the site often! There are
several discussion threads that have been started on the
discussion board, so I would encourage you to check it out
and add your opinion. Here's the direct link:
http://server3.ezboard.com/bproppeoplediscussionboard

Until next week!
Sean McArdle
Owner/Webmaster
http://PropPeople.com
propboy@proppeople.com

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Prop News : The PropPeople.com Newsletter Vol.1, Issue 1 2/20/2000
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