Barry has asked us to introduce ourselves, so I will begin by saying that I am extremely honored to be a guest blogger here. I am an artist, entrepreneur and a HUGE web-advocate with an interest in technology of all kinds: old, new and the intersection between the two. I believe the Internet is not only an efficient tool (for almost everything), but it is changing how we think. I will be posting about both of these things. Read the rest of this entry »
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Bob Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, discusses a recent forum on the Arts conducted by the US Conference of Mayors. This national group of mayors includes the arts as a key factor in the health and growth of American cities in their new 10-Point Plan for Cities.
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This fall, Americans for the Arts has been clearing its shelves to make room for new products and publications, and as a result, we’ve uncovered extra copies of Animating Democracy: The Artistic Imagination as a Force in Civic Dialogue which are available for complimentary distribution (bulk orders only). In 1996, The Ford Foundation awarded a grant to Americans for the Arts to profile a selection of artists and cultural organizations whose work engages the public in dialogue on key issues. This pivotal report mapped practice across disciplines at that time, identified issues and trends, and suggested funding and policy opportunities.
To receive a shipment of this exceptional resource, please contact Animating Democracy Project Manager Michael del Vecchio at 202.371.2830 or mdelvecchio@artsusa.org. Minimum order: 25 copies. Copies are not packaged for resale. Recipient will be responsible for shipping costs.
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I’m Shane D. Hudson, one of the bloggers that Barry mentioned last week. I’m excited to get started, and I thought I’d begin by introducing myself and talk a little about the perspective I will bring to this blog.
I am currently the associate director of Development for PlayMakers Repertory Company at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. I recently relocated to my home state after living in Boston for 14 years. I moved to Boston to study theatre at Emerson College where received a BFA in Performing Arts Management.
In Boston, I served as general manager and regional marketing director for Blue Man Group and concurrently as theater manager for the historic Charles Playhouse. I was also very involved with the non-profit theatre community in Boston, serving as executive director of StageSource, the Alliance of Theater Artists and Producers. I then spent almost a decade on the StageSource Board of Directors.
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The economic crisis is starting to trickle down to arts organizations all over the nation. Recent casualties of the crisis include Opera Pacific, Milwaukee Shakespeare Festival, and several Broadway shows. To adjust for the weakening economy, planned productions have been abandoned at Seattle Repertory Theatre, Washington National Opera, the New York City Opera and even at the seemingly untouchable Metropolitan Opera. Not to mention the St. Louis Museum of Art postponing its $125 million expansion or the Shakespeare Theatre missing its gala goal by $300,000. Read the rest of this entry »
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I begin this, my first post, with some good news: my organization, the Heard Museum is in great standing to survive and thrive in this down economy. Some of you reading may think, “Really?” or “You’re living in a dream world.” But the better question is “how?” Here briefly is what specifically my department is doing to make it through these tough times.
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Back in September a request went out to the Americans for the Arts membership looking for volunteers to share their thoughts on ARTSblog year round. I am happy to introduce you to twelve members that will be blogging a couple times a month on arts issues of concern to them, their organizations, and their community. Of course you are invited and encouraged to comment, question, and otherwise interact with them and the greater arts community on those issues.
The bloggers range from those that have their own blogs, which you may be familiar with, to those that have never blogged before. We have tried to get a good mix of art forms, for profit, non profit, consultant, various parts of the country, etc. All have a passion for the arts of course, and want to share that passion with all of you.
So without further ado, here are the twelve. You can begin looking for their postings as early as next week. Read the rest of this entry »
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Hey,
Last night I went on a dine-around which focused on Email Marketing. I had not gone on a dine-around the other two nights they were offered. The whole thing idea of a dine -around felt a little forced….but whoa…the discussion we all had! These mere two and half hours the nine of us spent in a completely empty restaurant in Houston was exactly why I came to this conference.
We talked about everything from email marketing to human resources. Everyone was cool, intelligent and helped me with questions I had – but did not have the right people around me to ask. Read the rest of this entry »
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I’m sure I needn’t explain, but for those that need a little more info…
A word from our sponsor about Mark Rothko.
(Full disclosure: Ovation TV is a sponsor of both Americans for the Arts and LA Stage Alliance, but also works the search engine optimization because the page listed above came up in my image search for Mark Rothko Chapel Houston)
Thanks to Bob for the lift!
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The chapel is divine. I cannot imagine your struggle, but I thank you for your transcendent work.
image gank from: agentsofurbanism.com
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Here’s the thing I’ve noticed about Alan Brown and his presentations, he gives you the carrot and the stick. He’s been commissioned by numerous organizations to help get at the intrinsic value of the arts and drill down into segmenting ticket buyers and donors based on values – not transactions.
He’s helping us begin to understand the why.
His findings are the carrot, leading us on new paths toward deeper engagement with our patrons and the stick/s are his questions posed, dropped into the talks ever so casually. Nudging us further along this new path than we thought we were comfortable traveling – at least not without a flashlight or bread crumbs.
Following Alan is a little like embarking on a carb-free fairy tale, skip the bread and get right to the moral of the story which may seem scary and obvious all at once. Inevitable, even.
Why aren’t we talking to our patrons more? How might we better understand them? What do they experience when they decide to come to your house? HIs work with the MUPS is a place to start for newbies.
He closed the afternoon session about Ticket buyer segmentation with this little tidbit. I’m paraphrasing: I urge you to get on an education diet. Design a learning pathway for your organization. Essentially he was following up on the suggestion that we, as arts marketers, need to survey smarter, be strategic in our thinking and that we might not always need to involve a huge consulting contract to find out why it is your patrons are walking through your door. It can be as simple as asking them. “For the cost of a cookie” How you treat them once you know is where it gets trickier!
What will you ask your customers?
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Writing a blog is nothing to sneeze at. I’m inspired, motivated, and focused. But I’m also overwhelmed at the information in my head, the chicken scratch notes, and the invaluable conversations I’ve had in elevators, in bath room lines, and at the hotel bar (BTW, Oscar will take care of you in at the Hilton Americas, Houston)… and trying desperately to synthesize it into something useful for the readers.
My bottom line take-away at this moment is that the messaging is not only TO the audience, but is ABOUT the audience. We need to sell the experience as much as the art form. OK. Now tell me how to convince my [multiple] arts directors that!
Tom Lancaster (of KC Direct Response Marketing for Heartland’s Chorus) did give me some great advice while sharing a vise. I heard not only message-ing, but saw an EXCELLENT model of it in their [work in progress] website. From old version to what’s possibly next – he paved the way for executing this step. I hope the model of his demo proves great results. He also gave me great leverage for bringing on board artistic directors to this campaign process. Tom, will you be my new BFF?
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Day Two for me today at NAMP.
I opted to not attend the second Branding workshop. Instead I attended the Donor Segmentation in Practice workshop. The presenters were Alan Brown and Heidi Onkst.
Now I could go into great detail about what the practice of segmentation process is….but let me just tell you what I took away from this session.
How does donating to your organization make a difference in your community? Ask yourself this question. Ask your staff this question. THEN come up with questions and ask your donors why they give to you.
Make the case for donating to your organization by telling your story AND telling the story of your donors. For a GREAT example of this go to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center Website. They went through a whole process in the last year to restructure how they make and ask. You will notice that they have no giving levels on their website. We got rid of giving levels too. Watch the video of their donor Mike Twigg!
I definitely walked away from this session with practical things that I can use immediately.
I am starting to come up with a list of things that are resonating with me from my experience here at NAMP:
I am taking the afternoon to work on our FY09 budget. Exciting I know…but it has to be done. I am going to a Dine Around (whoever came up with this name…awesome ) about e-mail marketing. I am very much looking forward to the discussion!
Later!
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I have 24 hours at NAMP
This is my visit to the Conference. I arrived late last night. Please forgive my laptop because it lost its desire to print “g” the other day. so every now and aain (see!!!) it will forget (better!!!).
OK 6 am. One day at NAMP begins. I’m determined to be the first post of the day.
This day looks intriguing. I have a prep meeting for my session at 8am. Conference call back with my team at 8:30. Alan Brown’s morning plenary at 9am. don’t know which to choose yet at 10:30? I’ll let you know later. After lunch, I help present a session: Entrances, Exits and Escalators. Looking forward to being part of this session, because experiences that the Detroit Symphony studied can be meaningful especially now as the rest of you go into a struggling economy. I have been in Detroit since 1999 and went into recession in 2001 following 9/11 and have not yet come out!!! We know bad times. If (when) GM, Ford and Chrysler struggle, trust me when I tell you we, and the rest of the arts, follow.
I think the round table discussions look great. especially anything that discusses merging donors and ticket buyers, and the concept of aligning marketing and development better. Anyway this will get us started , check back later and I’ll review my day
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Blogging has begun!
Pre-conference pricing institute.
For those of you who deal with a box office day in, day out, keep your eye out for Steven Roth, Alan Brown and Tim Baker and The Pricing Intitute . Their session laid out the fundamentals to analyzing ticket buying patterns and maximizing that data to increase revenue. Talk about priming the pump!
As they said in the presentation, don’t leave money on the table.
Check their site and look out for them in your city.
The hotel has a great pool and terrace on the 24th floor. If you’re here be sure to check them out.
What the hotel doesn’t have is great internet connectivity. Maybe I’m being a little West Coast centric, but I’ve come to expect wireless in conference hotels. Ethernet in the rooms is surprising to me and not being able to log on during sessions is a let down. So I’m left to post at the end of the day rather than in realtime, chrono order be damned! Read the rest of this entry »
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