With a passion for the performing arts and a knack for digital marketing, Hanaa Al-Husseini, 11, has breathed new life into Emerson Theatre Company. Through her cohesive designs and innovative ideas, ETC has grown exponentially. Al-Husseini’s devotion and persistence has ultimately fostered a theater company full of engagement and inclusivity.
In late May 2024, Al-Husseini was titled the Social Media Officer for ETC’s International Thespian Society Troupe #10183. Since then, Emerson Theatre Company has grown swiftly, publicizing the theater company through pushing effective and brand-oriented media content. Before this school year started, Al-Husseini began her mission of improving the aesthetic and quality of Emerson Theatre’s Instagram by making media kits and Instagram posts, hoping to publicize the company widely and grow it’s audience. As she turned the corner into becoming an upperclassman, Al-Husseini wished to make her mark in the company.
“I chose to be the head of our social media because I wanted to make a change in our company through something that I know I’m good at,” Al-Husseini said.
Although Al-Husseini’s end goal was clear, she soon found that her path to accomplishing her objective was not as simple. When this school year started, the workload of junior year, combined with the growing demand of social media posts, and she began to lose her intrigue for social media managing. Due to her growing demotivation and exhaustion, Al-Husseini had to look to her friends and family for motivation and support.
“Juggling junior year and being the social media officer has been stressful,” Al-Husseini said. “My friends, boyfriend and family have motivated me through the pressure.”
As her loved ones supported her, Al-Husseini began to find the fun in social media management again, identifying the patterns and algorithms within a scroll, making all posts more efficient. With the help of her fellow officers, she strategically plans the timing and general theme of her posts, ensuring that each post is cohesive. For example, leading up to the performance of “One Man, Two Guvnors,” Al-Husseini worked tirelessly with her publicity crew to produce daily posts that followed both the blue color-scheme of Emerson Theatre Company, as well as the 60s theme of the play.
“I love social media, not for scrolling, but because it’s so interesting,” Al-Husseini said. “I love figuring out the algorithm and trying to strategize how to get our videos out there!”
In October 2024, Emerson Theatre’s TikTok account earned over 100,000 likes for a comedic video about memorizing lines, proving that Al-Husseini’s hard work and strategies were beginning to truly make a difference in ETC. She has effectively rebranded the Emerson Theatre Company’s social media accounts, having every post follow a specific color and font scheme, allowing for the theater company to be distinct and unique.
“I’ve helped ETC gain a wide range of audiences and made our Instagram look clean and professional. This has positively impacted our brand as a whole,” Al-Husseini said.
Al-Husseini continues to improve Emerson Theatre’s brand, striving for excellence and, of course, more followers, truly setting the standard for building the brand of Emerson Theatre Company. To see more of Al-Husseini’s work, follow Emerson Theater Company at @emersonhstheatre on Instagram and TikTok.
Lizbeth Ascencio • Dec 9, 2024 at 8:05 pm
What’ a great article and I am not saying this because my daughter is the one being featured, but it is very well written. What a talented author you have in this newspaper!