Have you been wondering how you’ll get that extra help you need this fall? Did you know that part of the new services provided in Americans for the Arts Job Bank allow you to post an internship posting for free?
We already have over 650 registered job seekers since our new Job Bank was launched in mid-June. Once you’ve posted your position, you’ll be able to browse through over 450 resumes posted on our website. And, all postings receive an average of 146 click throughs.
Simply visit http://JobBank.artsusa.org, create an Employer account and get started! Questions? E-mail JobBank@artsusa.org.
Tagged with: About-UsLeadershipMembershipVolunteerism
August 21st, 2007 at 10:05am
Nora Koerner
Well, the slow days of summer, as always, prove to be anything but slow. And probably like all of you I am continually snowed under by mountains of articles, magazines, newspapers, books, research studies and other reading material that seem to sit there threatening me with some dire consequence if I don’t get to them. Herewith, in no particular order of priority, a round-up of what I have been reading and clipping:
Cause-related Marketing Fatigue - As reported in Business Week (July 9/16, 2007) consumers seems to be losing interest in cause marketing campaigns that link products to social causes. Of course, the big “(Product) Red” campaign designed to raise money for African Aids victims got a lot of press for failing to hit its goals, and perhaps serving corporate marketing goals more effectively than fundraising goals. And the support of Avon and others have helped push breast cancer awareness and the pink ribbon into the public consciousness (and has also in some ways suppressed awareness of National Arts and Humanities Month, since both causes share October). According to the research firm Cone, in May 36% of consumers said they had bought a product during the prior 12 months after learning of the manufacturer’s commitment to a cause they believed in. This is down from 43% in 2004. Only 14% said they intentionally paid more for a product that supports a cause, down from 28%. And only 30% said they told a friend or family member about a product or company committed to a social issue, down from 43% three years ago. This may make it harder for arts groups to build these relationships in the future. On the other hand, the numbers are probably still high enough to make it worth a company’s while to engage in cause marketing relationships.
Breakthrough Creativity - The same issue of Business Week reviews a new book, “Smart World: Breakthrough Creativity and the New Science of Ideas.” The book attempts to provide new insights into how creative breakthroughs happen, and covers great leaps of genius and creativity in science, business and the arts. Without commenting on the merits of the book, which I have not yet read, it is another example of the growing recognition that creativity and innovation in science, business and the arts are linked, and that this holds great promise for efforts to persuade business and educators that the arts matter if we are to generate the next Francis Crick and James Watson (who discovered the structure of DNA) or Picasso. Todd Siler, an artist with a PhD from MIT who is now working with our Creativity Connection program, does creative training and brainstorming sessions for business using the visual arts, and addresses how creativity intersects science and art in his book Think Like a Genius , which was published back in 1999, so this is not entirely a new idea. However, “creativity” now appears to be hot, and that should be good for the arts.
Tapping Retiring Boomer Volunteers - Again from that same issue of Business Week, is an article (”Pro Bono Perfection“) about the gratification that early retiring boomers are finding through volunteer work. People that don’t volunteer indicate it is only because they have not found the right opportunity or don’t know where to begin. The article comments how many younger retired Boomers jump into too many superficial volunteer opportunities at once to stay busy, but find themselves unsatisfied. It also cites the mis-perception by many groups using these volunteers that they “just need to keep the old folks busy” and don’t really take advantage of their often high-level skills. Many of this new breed of volunteers eventually find themselves working in highly professional virtually staff-like capacities. The article is major ammunition for a program like Business Volunteers for the Arts, which matches business-people with arts groups as pro bono management consultants. While it focuses on working professionals, there is no reason why it can’t also target recent retirees, who have so much time, expertise, and energy.
Is Second Life Still Alive? - Articles about Second Life continue to populate the business, technology and arts press, describing a bustling, growing “virtual world” with its own economy, businesses, art (and naughtiness). At the same time, a recent Wired magazine article described a Second Life that appears to be vastly underpopulated, with most “users” creating an avatar, looking around and then leaving, never to return. In The Art Newspaperon July 4th, however, an article was posted that described how Second Life is becoming a viable place for artists to interact and actually sell their work. The Andy Warhol Foundation has funded exhibits in Second Life, and the MacArthur Foundation has just announced a new grant program designed to explore the world of this new digital society. The Art Newspaper has assembled video tours of exhibitions and performances on Second Life here. It reports that there are now hundreds of galleries in Second Life selling work, both real and virtual. Dealers collect a 30% commission, just like in the real world, and one gallery reports that about 200 avatars a day visit the gallery. Another artist reports making abut $10,000 in recent months from Second Life generated sales. So maybe Second Life is not so dead after all, and we should all be exploring how to have a presence in this community? I am sure this is not the end of the story.
The Art of Diagnosis - The Carnegie Museum of Art, Andy Warhol Museum and the University of Pittsburgh Medical School recently launched Art and Medicine, a new four-week course for medical students designed to hone visual thinking and observation skills through the study of art in the museum’s galleries. A similar program has existed for some time at the Metropolitan Museum working with one or more of the major NYC medical schools. These sorts of innovative programs help highlight the critical role the arts can play in the lives of non-artists, in ways that can make them better at their jobs. While this is not the same “instrumental vs intrinsic” value argument, it points out how artificial that supposed dichotomy is. A strong arts education may or may not (as recent research suggests) help a student get higher math scores that will get them into medical school, but it WILL help that young person develop visual acuity and observation skills that will make them a better doctor. I think this one example highlights how the applied skills developed through the arts have an even impact that we are only just beginning to quantify and communicate.
Okay, my stack is still a few feet tall, but this is already way too long for a Blog entry, so I will spare you further reports. More to come in the coming weeks. Of course, by the time I get around to this again, the pile will have mysteriously replenished itself!
Tagged with: BusinessFundraisingLeadershipPartnershipsResearchVolunteerism
August 17th, 2007 at 09:53am
Gary Steuer
The content for this post comes by way of Daniel Adolphson, United Arts Workforce Campaign Director at COMPAS in Minneapolis.
It’s a late night here in the Cities….we are totally shocked and numb here at what has happened.
To bring the importance of our work home…the school bus that was on the bridge when it went down had children on it that were from an organization that we fund - the community theatre project. All of the children are accounted for…about 8 were hurt. Never take your work for granted…we just never know what could happen next.
Now, when you see images of the school bus in the disaster, you know.
Tagged with: Arts-EducationFundraisingLeadershipVolunteerism
August 3rd, 2007 at 08:51am
Rebecca Borden
Researchers, like Linda Babock, have found that men and women are indeed often different when it comes to opening negotiations. The American Association of University Women released a study in April 2007 shows that the pay gap for women starts at around 80% out of college but widens to 69% after ten years. On Monday July 30, the Washington Post/MSNBC profiled new study, published by the Kennedy School of Government, Â that found that men and women get very different responses when they initiate negotiations.
“It is not that women always act one way and men act another way; it tends to be moderated by situational factors,” Bowles said. “The point of this paper is: Yes, there is an economic rationale to negotiate, but you have to weigh that against social risks of negotiating. What we show is those risks are higher for women than for men.”
Given that the workforce of our arts & cultural sector is predominantly female and we work with an abudance of scare resources, are we perhaps more conditioned not to ask for more? Or, do arts professionals view negotiation (in all its forms and manifestations) differently? Or maybe by placing the arts at the core of our work, we approach the construction of “value” quite differently?
Care to share some negotiating tips for the common good?
Tagged with: LeadershipVolunteerism
July 31st, 2007 at 01:46pm
Rebecca Borden
So the convention has now faded a bit into the past, and visions of pink flamingos (and slot machines) have stopped haunting my dreams. Now I can try to put the frenzy of activity in Las Vegas into some perspective. All in all, I thought the convention was a great success. I was especially pleased with how the new track structure worked. For the first couple of conventions after the Arts & Business Council merger, I was not sure we had really delivered on the promise of the convention adequately representing the addition of a Private-Sector focus. I really feel this convention began to get where we want to be in this area. Sessions on voluntarism, the National Arts Policy Roundtable, corporate arts support and young philanthropists, just to name a few, were reasonably to very well-attended, and the participants seemed to cover the spectrum of Americans for the Arts constituencies. The MetLife National Arts Forum, which featured SirKen Robinson, and was a collaboration with the arts education track, seemed to be a smashing success, had a packed house, and also incorporated a lively panel conversation and an interactive working session facilitiated by Eric Booth. Mark Brewer, the Private-Sector Innovator, also delivered a great talk, briskly and entertainingly presented, with refreshingly light and effective use of the dreaded PowerPoint. Of course, he was essentially telling us our model of fundraising is dead in the water, so it was a good thing the news was delivered in a manner that allowed for no slumber. So, let’s make the 2008Â Annual Convention even better than 2007 - please contribute session and speaker ideas! (One more comment - thanks to the Private-Sector Staff, especially Julie Peeler, Jay House and Valerie Beaman, for a job well done.)
Tagged with: AdvocacyBusinessEventsFundraisingVolunteerism
June 13th, 2007 at 09:18am
Gary Steuer
