Staff Profile – Peter Harte, Marketing & New Media Coordinator

How long have you worked at Soulpepper and tell us a little bit about what your job consisted of lately.

I’m the Marketing & New Media Coordinator and this month marks my three year anniversary with Soulpepper! My position within the communications department allows me to get my hands into a lot of different areas. A large portion of my job is creating and sending e-mails to members of our e-mail list in order to keep them informed of the many productions we have on our stages. I also help in managing the content on soulpepper.ca and youngcentre.ca, monitoring site traffic, user navigation, and what source led them to our site in the first place. Tracking all this information allows for me and the rest of my department to analyze how we can tailor our digital presence to suit our patrons needs.  This digital side of my duties are those that I’ve had previous work experience in and still enjoy, but since I’ve been at Soulpepper I’ve been given the opportunity to expand my skills into the areas of advertising (both print and online), budget tracking, content planning, and copywriting.

What kinds of shows/productions/events have you been involved in outside of work?

I attend a lot of theatre and dance performances but aside from being a supporting patron I’m not directly involved in production. There were a few years after I finished University where my friends and I would come up with a theme, create “art pieces” in various mediums, and throw parties in this auto garage my friend’s family owned. I had a great time doing it and I do still love being creative, but for various reasons I’ve lost interest in creating art and then putting on a show. I think having spent so much time in school doing exactly that, that I need some time away to focus on other things in life that I enjoy.

I used to spend a lot of my time after work building websites and editing videos for some of the comedian friends that I have. But I’ve stopped taking on these side jobs because I’m trying to focus more of my recreational time away from a computer. However, working with comedians is very fun and even inspired me to do stand up a few times – which I plan on continuing to do. Who knew I had such confidence? Who knew that people would listen to me? You’d pay $5 for that?

When you’re not at work, what are you doing?

My favourite thing to do when I’m not at work is getting on my bike and exploring new areas of the city. Or heading down to the waterfront trail and just bootin’ it until I feel like my lungs are gonna explode. I’ve also been running and signing up for races for the past 6 years and I guess you could say that I’m in love with running. It gives me more confidence, strength and peace of mind than I ever expected it to. But getting my bike 3 years ago and having fallen in love with him has made me have to take some time away from my running shoes. But no big deal. Running and I will have a relationship forever.

I’ve just begun rock climbing and I can see it becoming an addiction but I still have a lot to learn. I also need to redeem this trampoline class gift certificate that I’ve had for some time…

What do you love about working at Soulpepper?

At the risk of giving the same response as every other staff member who’s been asked this question; my answer is the people! The staff, the artists, the production teams – every single person that I’ve met here has been so friendly, warm and accepting. I’ve always felt like a bit of a weirdo, but here I feel at home. The people inside this building are so funny, distinctly themselves, and unconditionally accepting that it has made me so much more comfortable with my own “unique qualities”. Being exposed to so much theatre and the artists who give so much of themselves to their work is truly inspiring and makes me crave that same thrill. I’m not sure exactly what this looks like yet. I still have a lot of dance moves to coordinate and outfits to sew ;D

Photo: Nathan Kelly