Pardon my being blunt, but I'm approaching this from 2 angles.

About me.
I started acting in 1987 when I graduated from High School. (You can guess my age from that.)

I met with some limited success. Mostly extra work which was for more prevalent in those days, and a few features roles.

The connection I made panned out better in the technical realm. I got some PA work, and worked as a stage hand in some very off-Broadway production.

I did learn a lot in those days and I decided I would probably do better behind the camera.

So in 1990 I started college for Film and Video Production. I got an Associate Degree from Bronx Community, and then... after working in other odd on and off jobs, both media related and not, I returned to try and get my Masters at the New York Institute of Technology.

I ended up with a BFA there before personal family issues forced me to drop out.

Long story short. I know the business from the POV of an actor, and an indy/student Producer/Director.

About ActorsConnect.com
So... What is WRONG with ActorsConnect.com?

Right off the bat, I couldn't search through headshots. There is no obvious way to sign up as a Producer/Director for that access.

I realize there is a need to protect our privacy as actors, but we also need to be reachable by people who want to hire us. If the Producer/Director can't find us easily, why would THEY use this site? And if they don't use this site... Why would I?

The people actors MOST need to connect to is those who are working to make media. Film makers.

Connecting to each is great, but if this site is going to be successful, it's got to be less social and more professional.

The "castings" section is pointless. Actors don't find work, work finds them.

We already go through Backstage, and those with the money to produce content don't have the patients or time to come to a site and post their listing. It's worth the $65-$100 to post the add in Backstage because it is well circulated among actors. This place is not. At least not Yet. As a producer, it's not worth the time it would take post a free listing.

What you want for producers, is way to "shop" for actors that you want to call in for auditions. I think a simple shopping cart technology would work great for this. Browse through a catalog of talent, add the ones you're interested in auditioning, and get a list of their contact info e-mailed at checkout.

Now THAT would be useful to both actors and Producer/Directors, and as a result, I would check here more often, as both.

My $.02. Thanks for listening.

First off thanks for your very candid comments/feedback on the site. I'm happy to see that you took the time to look at the site and find what works and what doesn't for you. As a web guy and actor constructive criticism are always welcome!

To your first point regarding the member directory. When we moved the site over to the new server we didn't notice it was broken. To that end, you'll notice on the top of the page "Main Menu" there is a link to the "Member Directory". You'll notice that you have the options to search on various fields of the users profile when you click advance (i.e. Union Status, State, etc.). We'll continue refine the search function and make more fields of the profile searchable.

To your point regarding a shopping cart type system and individual logins. I think they are interesting ideas and worth thinking about how it can be incorporated into a future enhancement of the site. Again, thanks for your feedback!