We just used the Virtual Stage Management website for the first time in our last production of the season, Thoroughly Modern Millie. We wanted to try it out on a single show before committing to paying for a full year. After spending some time with this system, I can offer my insight as to what advantages we gained. First, I'd like to say that we will be signing up to use this system again. It saved us so much time and I can't really believe that we were generating so much unnecessary paperwork before. The site really forces you to change your perspective on how to schedule and commincate during your show as you don't need to post calendars for your cast or notes or pretty much anything else. After you break down your show (Millie was actually already broken down because they have done most MTI musicals and have a library of other shows including straight plays), you assign cast members and technicians to positions in your production. This was the most time consuming part of the process, but by the end, I had basically created my Character/Scene breakdown which I had to do anyway. After that, scheduling was a breeze! You create an event and then just say who you want at the event (which could be as simple as "everyone in Act I, Scene I"). since you have broken down the show in the system. It knows which cast members to call to the event! And more importantly, that event only shows up on the calendar for those cast members. The magic of this system (as opposed to Google calendars mentioned above) is that each cast member has their own calendar that is specific to them. They only see the events that THEY are called to, not every event scheduled. I can also send out Daily Schedule emails and text messages to every cast member by clicking a single button and every email and text message is individualized for that person with just THEIR scheduled information. You couldn't even come close to doing that sort of thing with Google calendars! Last minute changes were also a breeze for us. We had a situation where a rehearsal location was changed about an hour before it started because of a conflict with another group. My ASM was able to send emails and instant text messages to everyone called to that rehearsal in about 20 seconds by updating the event information. Using our old phone tree system, we would have been on the phone for over an hour trying to reach everyone. There were so many other ways this system made my team more efficient and helped us communicate more effectively with our cast and crew that I can't even begin to mention. As a stage manager, I think paperwork is an important part of our jobs, but I also think it is time for us to embrace new technology that may, in some ways, do away with the paperwork that often defines us. I am so much less concerned with how my Excel spreadsheets look now, than I was before. We are managers first and good communicators, not paper-pushers. I can't wait until our next season starts to use this system again. Maybe next time we can be nearly paperless, except for the scripts...