Students in Professor Iris Mohr’s marketing classes are putting what they have learned in the classroom to practical use.
Close to 150 students in three classes are working to redefine Queens Theatre in the Park’s Web site.

According to Mohr, whose expertise lies in entertainment and buzz marketing, St. John’s was approached by Queens Theatre because it wants to reach out to new audiences – particularly younger audiences.

“We’re starting with one of the most basic pieces of this business: its Web site,” John Kelly said, a senior, who is in Mohr’s Service Marketing class. “Without a well constructed and user-friendly Web site, Queens Theatre won’t be able to go anywhere.”

Queens Theatre in the Park is located in Flushing Meadow Corona Park and opened in 1989.

It is located inside the New York State Pavilion, which was designed for the 1964 World’s Fair. The Theatre is now completing a nearly $21 million publicly funded renovation.

Part of overhauling the Theatre is reaching out to new audiences and that’s where St. John’s students come in.

In order to help the Theatre find these new audiences, the students in Mohr’s classes, which include Service Marketing, Principles of Marketing and Consumer Behavior, are working in small groups and looking at marketing and spending trends.

Specifically, they are looking to find out what people in Queens and Long Island spend, especially when it comes to theatre-related spending.

Mohr said that her students are getting the opportunity to “work within a limited budget in order to improve the Theatre’s outreach,” noting “not all marketing has to be expensive.”

Because the students are working within a limited budget, they have to be more creative.

“I encourage out-of-box thinking,” Mohr said.

The marketing professor said she thinks that this project gives students a chance to see real concepts in action.

“I feel they’re getting a lot of hands-on experience,”
she said.

Students in her classes feel that this is a beneficial experience as well.

“What we’re doing might actually help them [the Theatre],” said Ann Paskor, a senior in Mohr’s Service Marketing class.
“It’s applicable to real life.”

Tiara Puglisi, a junior, has Mohr for two classes and is working on similar projects for both.

“It’s nice to be able to put all the pieces together,” she said, adding that she never thought she would be able to complete a marketing plan while in college.

Tony Cefali, a senior who wants to be an entrepreneur, added, “It’s good preparation for what I’m going to need in a future career.”