In northwest New Jersey, Robert Diamond ‘01 runs his Broadway World “anti-office” empire by working from home and keeping an eye on the lake outside his window. No stranger to the city and the grind that goes with it, his appreciation for the position he’s currently sitting in shines straight through. He currently lives only about 45 minutes away from where he grew up and started his company, but the pace and lifestyle is decidedly different from his early days building the business.
Diamond’s interest in technology was first ignited at the age of six, when his older brother got a Commodore 64 personal computer as a bar mitzvah gift – which Diamond promptly began tinkering with, and in doing so, taught himself some basic coding skills. His work life was jumpstarted by his mother when she lovingly circled a newspaper classified ad and slipped it under his bedroom door during one of his early dismissal days as a senior in high school. This was how Diamond learned of a local technical-publishing startup company looking for a webmaster apprentice.
He applied, got hired, and found himself working in an office above a Domino’s Pizza for $7/hr. Within two weeks, Diamond was promoted to Senior Webmaster of SYS-CON Media, and continued to work with them for the next eight years, thus beginning his professional career in technology and the job that would carry him out of high school, and all the way through college.
With a passion for programming and the accumulation of real workplace experience with the publishing company, it seemed natural when he first began his studies at Syracuse University to matriculate as a computer science major. But his broader interests in technology soon overshadowed his original plan; he needed to widen his educational aperture, so he started to explore some other options.
In the dorms of Syracuse in 1997, his freshman RA was a student in the precursor of the iSchool at the time, and seeing that Diamond was struggling to find his way in computer science, the RA suggested that he come take a closer look at the educational opportunities being offered over there. Diamond’s imagination was immediately captured by what he viewed as limitless practical applications afforded by the School of Information Studies curriculum. It was still based in technology and much of the same subject matter as computer science, but with a more multi-disciplinary approach, and a culture encouraging technological trailblazing. When deciding to switch majors to information management and technology, he wasn’t sure what would come of the new trajectory, but knew he wanted to be active in a place where technology, development, and business intersected.
He traces his passion for theater and Broadway back to his junior year in high school when he attended a performance of The Phantom of the Opera with his parents. While driving home after the show his father introduced Diamond to the work of the Tony and Olivier Award-winning actor Michael Crawford. Once home, and unable to find a satisfying amount of information about the original Phantom’s biggest star online, Diamond decided to build his own Michael Crawford appreciation site.
Well, that site was not sanctioned by Crawford’s team, which they did not initially appreciate, but through sincere interest and intentions and some good faith maneuvering, instead of lawsuits and animosity, they hired him to build and run the first formally sanctioned Michael Crawford fan site. This ultimately led to Diamond being tapped to build the website for Crawford’s official return to Broadway in 2002 in the production Dance of the Vampires. And with this series of events, Diamond’s debut in the theater/information/technology/business space was live and off book.
Due to the unfortunate and early closure of the ‘Vampires’ musical, Diamond was faced with an opportunity to pivot his efforts, and he saw a void in the information market for internet-savvy professional theater fans. He used what he had learned during his short, but meaningful, exposure to the scene behind the neon lights, and in 2003, delivered Broadway World to all the fans he had met along the way, and to all the ones he believed existed. This was the first one-stop-shop for all news and information devoted to the business, glitz and glamor that is Broadway.
Impressively, he was juggling all of the Crawford and Broadway stuff while managing a team of working adults at the publishing company, being a full time student, and wedging in a college social life. Pulling those hours, efficiently managing his time, and building a community around his interests were lessons required by Diamond’s schedule during that period, but those skills and practices have helped him keep moving throughout his entire career.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 21: during the BroadwayWorld.com 20th Birthday Concert & Celebration at Sony Hall on May 21, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)
Broadway World has more users than all other entities in the same space combined. It covers theaters in 100 markets across the US, 40 countries, 12 languages, and spans a wide spectrum of the arts. In 2014 the site was recognized with the Award for Excellence in Theatre Arts Education from the Theatre Museum. And, in 2023, Broadway World celebrated its 20th anniversary with a huge celebration/benefit at SONY Hall, complete with award-winning performers, and the mayor of NYC declaring May 21st as Broadway World Day.
Many times throughout the evolution of his business, Diamond has needed to pivot priorities and strategies in order to stay ahead of the curve, or to deal with real-time unforeseen challenges. When the pandemic hit the theater industry, it was more than disruptive, and as live venues closed and all the artists quarantined, he managed to keep his employees busy and his company relevant. In fact, Broadway World was able to keep the arts alive by helping artists produce shows from their living rooms to entertain anxious fans holed up in their own homes. It just so happens that this coincided with the time he and his wife were going through the exciting birth of their first child. The constant need to adapt and innovate keeps him ever on his toes, but fortifies his belief that through an earnest “can-do” attitude (sometimes more of a “must-do” attitude) there is always a path forward, and success can be forged through strategic hard work.
For Diamond, the iSchool played a crucial role in laying the strong foundation of technical skills, a multidisciplinary approach to problem solving, and a penchant for entrepreneurship that he would use throughout his career. Referring to the educational aspects he leans on most in his work, he says, “the project management skills, and speaking classes, all of the experiences of working in teams and working with disparate personalities all thrown together and figuring out who is best to do what. These are the skills I continue to use in the business world.”
His story is one of grit, hard work, the choices to align his education with his passions, and a little bit of good luck. And although he could honorably relax and rest on his laurels, he is still out there creating, innovating, and investing in his community every day of the week. Even at the end of the tough days Diamond is grateful for where his path has taken him and he knows that with his young family and booming businesses, his show must go on.