Welcome to the New www.pcs.org!

PCS made the decision last Spring to abandon the old “online brochure” model of our website, as attractive as it was, and replace it with something far more dynamic, interactive and yes, to use a buzz word, more “web 2.0.” Rather than try to define that in words for you, here’s a fun video made by a professor at KSU (Michael Wesch) that describes what we mean by “web 2.0.” Once you’ve watched that, you’ll understand where we’re going with the following new features at pcs.org.

What’s in store?
Here are a few of the things you can do when you visit us on the web that you could never do before. What’s more, you still can’t do most of these things at most theater websites around the country. Just one more way PCS is changing the way theaters relate with their patrons and participate in building community. For more detailed instructions on any of these features, follow the links to a more detailed “how to” page.

• Sign in as a registered user…or not. Portland Center Stage respects your privacy, so we won’t require that you register and sign in to our site in order to have fun playing and learning there. If you want to get the most out of the social experience of interacting at the new pcs.org, however, you may find that you want to identify yourself in some way with your comments. more and how to do it

• Read blog entries from Chris Coleman, Artistic Director, as well as from cast members and other staff members at Portland Center Stage. We’ve made it super easy to pull up all of Chris Coleman’s entries straight from the homepage by clicking on a button that says “Chris’ Blog” near the top of the page. more and how to find other blogs

• Leave your own comments at the bottom of these blog entries. That’s right, your words can be left for the world to read on the “walls” of our website. We just ask that you be respectful and adhere to a few simple guidelines. more, including guidelines

• Keep up to date on the most recent comments from other users, including PCS staff and the general public. how to track recent comments

• Write your own reviews of the plays you see! The space for this is easy to find. From the homepage, just click on the name of the play you saw. When you get to the page for that play, scroll down and start typing in your review. more on reviews

• Vote in Online Polls about all sorts of things. more on polls

• View or download multimedia files from our accounts at Flickr, Myspace and Youtube. more on multimedia

Some things don’t change so much
Of course, you can still learn about past or upcoming shows, purchase tickets, make a donation to the operating fund or the capital campaign, read past newsletters and press releases or find out how to contact us here by phone or email. We are making improvements in these areas as well, and the architecture of our new site makes that easier to do.

So jump in, the cyberspace is warm and inviting and we want the new pcs.org to include reflections of you.