Quick Response codes (ah…Quick Response!) are EVERYWHERE these days. You scan them with your smartphone and woosh! you are transported to a website with more information about the product. From Kellogg's to the US Marines, it seems everyone is getting on the QR bus. A major campaign by the Presbyterian Church (USA) recently used QR codes to drive donors to their donation site; one could make a credit card donation from their phone's browser.
I've had more questions in the past month about QR codes than any other technological tool. Here's an excerpt from my blog post (which includes a quick how-to):
…a small QR code on the back of the program that leads to the donation page for the ensemble might elicit a donation from a curious audience member. A code on the poster that leads to the group’s ticketing site or email subscription form could garner a few new listeners. An earth-conscious group might even consider putting text translations online rather than spending paper on them…or even the entire program (and using a QR code on the ticket).
What are some ways your choir is using QR codes? How else can you imagine this tool being used in the performing arts world?
Ryan Kelly says
Waiting for my food, I noticed a tri-cornered advertisement standing on my table. One side included a QR code to an online version of the “peg game” that is at most Cracker Barrel tables. I realized this was a very interesting idea. The QR code did not create a customer; I had already come to the restaurant and purchased my meal. However, it did have the potential to improve a customer’s dining experience. It further engrossed them in the organization, drew their attention away from their wait, and entertained them. Without this game, they would have left happy with their meal. With the game, they perhaps left just a little bit happier and more satisfied.
So, I started thinking about how I could incorporate this idea with my community choir concerts this last season. I primarily did this by having QR codes in the printed concert programs that offered “bonus” material to the printed program notes. I still wrote program notes, but the QR code linked to a simple web page I created that contained links to program-related articles, photos, audio, multimedia, etc. So, for an entire concert program, maybe I would have focused on 4-5 pieces online that I included extra material. Some things I might have online:
– Links to recommended recordings
– Links to YouTube interview
– Facsimiles of autographs (e.g. Mozart Requiem autograph pages)
– Fun trivia
– Articles discussing poetry
– A poll, or interactive way for them to comment on the music they were listening to
None of this is earthshattering, but it is extra stuff that might not be able to be printed in the concert program, and for those interested, might just make their experience a percentage “more satisyfing” than without it. One more comment from experience. My first test of this, I did NOT include printed program notes in the program, and just did them online linked from the concert program QR code. I announced from the podium at the concert that those who had smartphones could access these program notes…and realized as I was speaking that I was alienating 85% of my audience by telling them there was something cool that they couldn’t have because they didn’t have a new phone. Rather than give everyone something (in the program) and offering a little extra to those interested, I excluded most and offered the notes to only a small group. So, the next concert, I printed some program notes, included the QR code for the bonus material, AND included a link to the web site for those who wanted to see the web site when they got home (if they didn’t have a smartphone). That way, everyone could access the material.