Actor and theater-maker Sarah Parker answers some questions about her upcoming role, the Frankenstein story viewed through a feminist perspective and most importantly is her show scary?  Sarah will be featured in Gadfly Theatre Production's Final Frontier Festival: Horror, composed of six one-act plays that are queer and/or feminist centric. Sarah plays The Bride in "Belong Dead, " written by Andrew Rosdail and directed by Immanuel Elliott.

There are two sets of one-acts in the festival; you'll be able to see Sarah perform in Set A. More info about attending and tickets available through Gadfly Theatre Productions.

Who do you recommend attend "Final Frontier Festival: Horror?"
SP: Maybe not small children or people who are triggered by representations of physical violence or domestic violence. Other than that, I think most people should go! "Belong Dead" is a huge conversation starter, and given Gadfly's track record with choosing socially relevant scripts, I think the other pieces will be too. The creepy modernization of "Frankenstein" will be appealing to anyone who likes sci-fi, video games, or anything with a superhero/supernatural bent, so I think it reaches pretty far beyond a traditional theatre audience. The message of the show will definitely appeal to feminists, but I also think it has appeal for groups who can sometimes misunderstand feminism, like some members of the gaming community and other subcultures of "geekdom."

Boosting your digital audience engagement, including increasing clicks on your links and having others re-share your content, starts with identifying other businesses and individuals who are thought-leaders in your field. How do you find the experts in what you do? Hopefully, you've already visited your favorite search engine for some basic searches on who to follow in your field. Once you have looked up professional organizations, blogs and podcast creators, and relevant hash tags (#socialmedia, #mplsactors, #websitecreation, #smallbiz, #audiencedevelopment, etc.) you can start to find lots of potential "digital friends."  I recommend building lists on your Twitter account to keep track of these superstars. But also sign up for their email lists, check out their websites and resources, follow them on Instagram and Facebook. Explore what they do and examine what is working well for them and keep in mind your common ground.

Who could you follow on social media?

• First, find your current collaborators, project partners and clients on social media.
• Second, learn who your main competition follows and who is following them.
  
• Finally, identify your ideal clients or collaborators for the medium- and long-term.
  

Expand from there. You will attract like-minded people by keeping your social media posts relevant to your audience and directly linked to your mission and goals.

Connect with your online friends by asking questions, congratulating successes, and re-sharing their posts and content that is relevant to both of you.

Finally, keep in touch with your digital buddies. Watch out for opportunities they might appreciate and help them to expand their online reach. Reciprocity is the name of the game when it comes to social media and engaging your stakeholders online.

Minneapolis illustrator Hannah Culbert took some time to chat with me about the inspiration for her art, collaboration with her "crazy talented" peers and a sneak peak of her upcoming show at The Light Grey Art Lab. Read the interview and then share your comments below.

Are you a collaborator? A creative? A person with a passion?

Me too. Recently I have been admiring how much entrepreneurs, artists, and small nonprofits have in common: limited people power, grassroots marketing, the need for relationship building, and a lot of heart.

How do we use our limited resources to reach our goals and create success stories?

In both a small organization or a personal business each of your supporters, colleagues, and clients represents an opportunity for growth. This is why so many leaders embrace a business approach that focuses on relationship building including: high quality customer service, personalized communication, and channels for feedback.

Many tools that we use to facilitate relationship building today are technology driven. A strategic combination of email, social media, website, and mission-driven content supports our face-to-face efforts to create connections with our most important stakeholders.

My professional background is a tangled mix of business and nonprofit organizations, and early on I gravitated to arts and performing arts organizations. While, I don't perform anymore outside of karaoke night, I just seem to "fit" better where creativity and people driven missions are pursued. And the best "for profit" teams I have worked with have a passion for what they do and they people they serve. Passion lends itself well to a people-focused, grassroots, marketing strategy. A deep level of dedication and zeal emanates naturally from the people in these organizations and can be captured and shared with social marketing.

Have you had an experience where you truly feel you captured your enthusiasm for your work in a communication? Share below in the comments.

(Above:The Cardinal Restaurant and Bar servers having a silly moment. When the photo was shared on Facebook it connected well with their fans.)