smArts & Culture | your arts marketing edge

Workshops & webinars for arts managers

Has the  National Arts Marketing conference put you in the mood for learning?

Well, a whole bunch of affordable learning opportunities are coming up soon – some are even free. Take a look and see what's right for you.

Workshop
Mapping and Geographic Information Systems for Nonprofits
Philly Net Tuesday
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
6 – 9 PM
Buffalo Billiards (second floor)
118 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia PA
Free

We’re seeing more and more creative uses for mapping and GIS. Are these tools right for your organization?

Matthew Fisher of Night Kitchen Interactive will share the upcoming PhilaPlace.org which aims to "illuminate the history and culture of Philadelphia's unique neighborhoods" through an interactive map of personal stories connected to specific locations. I’ve been fortunate to work with Night Kitchen in the past – their work is thoughtful, playful, and innovative all at the same time.

How can you engage the public and crowd-source the collection of data?

Katie Edwards of Clean Air Council will share the tools used to create IdleFreePhilly.org, a site for the public to report idling vehicles around the city and collectively work to reduce air pollution.

How can freely available Census data help you accomplish your mission?

Anne Jeffers of the US Census Bureau will share how to access the census data, what sort of information is available, and how you can incorporate it into your work.

How can GIS inform policy and directly engage the public in the political process?

Tamara Manik-Perlman of Avencia will discuss RedistrictingTheNation.com/Philadelphia, a joint project with Committee of 70 to study the gerrymandering of legislative districts and present it to the public in an easy to use website.

It's not necessary to RSVP. Find out more on Philly Net Tuesday's Facebook page.

Lecture
Boosting Your Board: Keeping your board motivated to fundraise during stormy times
Presented by philanthropist Carole Haas Gravagno
Drexel University’s Arts Administration Graduate Student Association
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
6 – 8 PM
Campbell Auditorium, Stratton Hall
32nd & Chestnut Streets
Philadelphia, PA
Free. Light refreshments.

Hear the wisdom gained by Carole Haas Gravagno in her roles as an active board member of 12 organizations, including Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Arden Theatre Company, and the Please Touch Museum. As a long-time philanthropist, she has served on a long list of boards including Temple University, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the William Penn Foundation.

Find out more on the event's Facebook page by clicking here.

Webinar
Mobile Applications for the Arts: Where Are We?
Presented by Ron Evans, groupofminds.com
Carnegie Mellon’s Center for Arts Management & Technology
November 5, 2009
2 – 3:30 PM Eastern Time
$25

Mobile phones are ubiquitous. According to a recent report, 17% of active internet users worldwide access online content through their mobile devices.

Arts marketing consultant Ron Evans shares the results of his own multi-city study of mobile phone use by arts patrons and discusses trends that you can leverage as an arts manager. You’ll hear about the “best of the best” uses of mobile technology by arts groups, as well as applications, strategies, and costs. You’ll also have the chance to take part in the Q&A. This one is on my calendar for sure.

Find out more about the Mobile Applications webinar by clicking this link.

Workshop
How to craft a potent tagline for your org, program, or campaign
Presented by Nancy Schwartz, president, Nancy Schwartz & Company
Support Center for Nonprofit Management
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
9:30 AM – 1 PM
305 Seventh Avenue, 11th Floor
New York, NY
$60 - $160 - Fee based on the size of your organization

After announcing the winners of the 2009 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards, communications expert Nancy Schwartz facilitates this half-day workshop on creating effective taglines. The session includes a new diagnostic tool, and Q&A. According to Nancy’s blog there are only a few seats available, so register today if you want to be part of this tagline clinic.

Find out more about the Tagline workshop.

Workshop
Enter the Collaboratory: An Interactive Think-Jam for Increasing Arts Attendance
Presented by Maureen Craig
Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance
Session #1- Tues. Nov. 10, 8:30am – 12:30pm
Register at: http://collaboratory1.eventbrite.com

Session #2 -Tues. Nov. 10, 1:00-5:00pm
Register at: http://collaboratory2.eventbrite.com

Session #3 - Weds. Nov. 11, 1:00-5:00pm
Register at: http://collaboratory4.eventbrite.com

International House
3701 Chestnut Street
South America Room
Philadelphia, PA
$40 Cultural Alliance members/$80 non-members. Bring a co-worker to the same session and save 50%

The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance latest report on arts engagement, Research into Action, is fascinating. As part of their research, brand strategist Maureen Craig conducted focus groups with urban and suburban Philadelphia area residents of multiple ages and ethnicities. Find out what they said about arts and culture – what excites them, what bores them, what confuses them, what frustrates them, what inspires them. This session will include an in-depth presentation and an innovative, hands-on exercise for brainstorming. Three different workshop times are available.

Find out more about the Increasing Arts Attendance workshop.

Special deal – ends October 31
Course: Arts Blogging – Without the Angst (Premium)
Class: Intro to Arts Blogging
smArts & Culture
$68 for both ($115 value)
Deadline October 31, 2009

If you’re trying to get your arts group’s blog off the ground, you have until October 31, 2009 to get a special deal. Sign up for the premium version of the ecourse (which already comes with all kinds of extra goodies) and get the audio class at no charge.

Find out more by clicking this link.

Arts, Culture & Technology Meetup
Panel on Creative Commons
November date TBA
New York venue TBA
Fee TBA – all proceeds will benefit Creative Commons

Wondering what Creative Commons licensing means for cultural organizations? Join this New York meetup for a panel discussion. This regular event has grown enormously since Julia Kaganskiy organized the first one not even a year ago – so much so that she has her first sponsor in the New York Times! Seats always fill up fast, so check back at the meetup page for details later this week.

Ebook
Getting Started with Social Media for Artists and Arts Organizations
By Rebecca Coleman
$19.95

I’ve already told you how much I like Rebecca Coleman’s detailed how-to on social media for the arts. I even asked her to let me include her blogging chapter in the premium version of my arts blogging course. Rebecca’s PDF ebook is now available in alternative formats through Smashwords, where you can get it in Epub, Sony Reader, Kindle, or Palm Doc formats. Pretty neat.

A hard copy version is in the works, too.

Find out more about Getting Started with Social Media here.

Enhance Your Expertise for Free

Lots of good stuff coming up for you, both online and in-person.

New Ways for Arts Organizations to Finance their Operations
Thursday, May 28, 2009
12 noon Eastern Time
Online discussion

Presented jointly by the Nonprofit Finance Fund and the Chronicle of Philanthropy (@philanthropy), this online discussion addresses the challenges the recession poses as the number of ticket buyers decline and donors cut back on spending. Find out and talk about new approaches to revenue streams, managing costs, and engaging your audience. This online chat is part of the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s series of conversations that take place every other Thursday at noon. Besides the fact that these discussions are always interesting and informative, hearing the questions and comments from the participants gives you a sense of the issues that are most pressing for arts organizations from all over – sometimes it’s a relief to know that you’re not the only one struggling with a particular problem. For more information, or to submit a question, visit the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s site.  (via @philaculture)

Net Tuesday: Mobile Technology for Social Change
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
6 – 9 PM
Buffalo Billiards
118 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia
Free

Philly NetSquared organizers Ivan Boothe (@rootwork)and Seth Horwitz (@sethhorwitz) share the best mobile technology projects featured at the recent NetSquared Conference, and invite you join the conversation with your own examples of nonprofits using cell phone applications in innovative ways. For more information and a list of projects from the conference, with links, visit the Philly NetSquared blog.

Joining Forces in the Back Office: How Collaboration Can Help Your Organization
Chronicle of Philanthropy
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
2 – 3 PM Eastern Time
Webinar

Can merging “back office” functions like accounting and IT help nonprofit organizations weather the recession? Bringing their own experience in collaboration, the bad as well as the good, are Stan Birnbaum, President, MACC CommonWealth Services, Robert A. Kret, Director, Hunter Museum of American Art, and Lois Savage, President, Lodestar Foundation. This webinar will address issues including:

• How to build relationships to begin a successful collaboration
• How the purchasing power of a big group and the concentration of administrative expertise can bring significant cost savings.
• How collaboration can bring greater continuity to your organization and impress your donors.

For more information, or to register, visit the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s site.

Should Your Organization Merge? The Key to a Successful Nonprofit Merger
Chronicle of Philanthropy
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
2 – 3 PM Eastern Time
Webinar

Wow. According to the promotional copy for this session, one in five nonprofit leaders is considering merging their organization with another, in response to the lagging economy. This webinar shows you how a carefully planned merger can help your organization grow and expand its reach in your community, but can also be difficult to achieve smoothly. Experts in nonprofit mergers, Bob Harrington, Director, Strategic Restructuring Practice Area, La Piana Associates, and Phillip Kilbridge, Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco, join Doug Sauer, Chief Executive Officer, New York Council of Nonprofits, who oversaw his own organization’s recent merger.
For more information, or to register, visit the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s site.

Twitter Island
Rescheduled: June 6, 2009
Chicago Art Department
1837 South Halsted
Chicago

Twitter Island II, the next step in artists Lauri Apple and Seth Gershberg’s project documenting the dynamics of twitter interaction, has been rescheduled for June 6. Read all about Twitter Island in my two-part interview with Lauri, here and here. For more information, or to volunteer to participate, visit the Institute for Applied Tweetonomics. Yes, really: Applied Tweetonomics.

Is Your Social Media Plan Working?
Free PDF
Offer ends May 28, 2009
Sign up and get it free

If you’re wondering how all those stats for your organization’s blog, or twitter stream, or Facebook page add up to anything intelligible, you might want to check out this new PDF: “How do you know if it’s working? The right social media metrics for the arts.” Until May 28 (that's tomorrow), you can get it for free when you sign up for the super helpful smArts & Culture newsletter. After the 28th, though, you can’t even buy it. Why? Because you’re busy. And that means that if you don’t have a deadline, you’ll never get around to it. And if you never get around to it, you won’t be able to tell if your social media outreach is wildly successful, or just so-so. And you’d want to know that, yes?

Sign up here.

Offer expired May 28, 2009

Start Something New This Week

It’s Mother’s Day.

I’m not a mom myself. All I have to care for is a sweet elderly dog named Edie.

Needless to say, she didn’t take me out for brunch today. She never does.

In honor of Mother’s Day though, I thought, maybe it would be cool to encourage people to bring something into the world, arts marketing-wise.

Maybe, if there’s something you’ve been thinking about doing to help your organization connect with the people who love you the most, this week might be the time to start.

• Maybe it’s something new, like twitter, that you just haven’t taken the time to figure out (and when you do, you’ll see how little time it actually takes).

• Maybe it’s rewriting the copy on your home page to be less about how fabulous your organization is (and no doubt it is fabulous) and more about how incredible your patron feels when she’s involved.

• Maybe it’s brainstorming how to engage your people in ways that are far more participatory and satisfying than the usual pre-concert lecture.

• Or, maybe it’s getting your blog off of your to-do list and onto the computer screens (and mobile phones) of all your biggest fans.

(If an organizational blog has been on your to-do list for the last year and a half, you might think about taking my Intro to Arts Blogging class as a first step. I won’t get into the details; you can find out more about it here. The main thing is, from Mother’s Day until the end of this week, you can get it for half price. Or not, if this isn’t your thing. Just saying.)

.........................................

What have I been putting off that I’d like to bring into the world this week?

Well, I’d like to work more with audio (see above-mentioned class). I’ve never been a podcaster, and I can’t stand the sound of my own voice. But some people don’t have time to read lengthy articles.

You can listen to an mp3, on the other hand, on your way to work, while you’re doing the dishes, or discreetly in staff meetings. I recommend the last option.

It takes me out of my comfort zone, but being comfortable is not important. What’s important is that arts people might need another way to expand their marketing skills, and offering audio articles and classes might fill that need.

I’ll let you know how it works out.

.........................................

What are you going to start this week?

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Get Out Your Calendar!

Whew!

These are a busy few days coming up. Why does everything I want to do seem to happen at once?

Learn Insanely Helpful Stuff without Leaving Your Office

Nonprofits and Social Networks
Webinar
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
1 PM Eastern Time
Free

The actual name of this webinar is “Nonprofits Are Embracing Social Networks: Industry Survey Reveals 74.2% of Nonprofits Have a Presence on Facebook,” but I couldn’t bear to give you a title that long. Regardless, that’s an interesting statistic, yes? Especially in light of the recent Washington Post-Facebook Causes controversy. Even more surprising to me is that the research found that nearly 40% of nonprofits have social networking communities on their own sites!

In this webinar, you’ll hear the highlights of the survey undertaken by NTEN, Common Knowledge, and ThePort in March 2009.

Visit nten.org to register.

How to Get Testimonials
(Actual name: “Stuff Havi thinks you should know about how to get really really great testimonials and referrals.” But you might not know Havi, so …)
Telecourse
Sunday, May 3, 2009 (first class)
4 PM Eastern Time

I’ll bet you get fan mail. And what do you do with it? Is it safely tucked away in a folder marked “Love Letters,” on your desktop or filing cabinet?

If it isn’t – if you lose track of every nice note about your organization as soon as something else demands your attention, you might think about taking this course. Because if you haven’t kept track of the lovely things your patrons have said about you, that means you have to go and ask them. And that’s awkward.

I’ve taken lots of classes with Havi Brooks, and I can tell you, she knows what she’s talking about. Are there testimonials on my site? No. That’s why I’m taking the course myself. Maybe you should, too?

Register here.

Intro to Arts Blogging
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
2 - 3 PM Eastern Time
Teleclass

I’m giving a class, too.

Arts nonprofit people know that a blog will help their organization. Some already have blogs up on their sites.

But the number one thing I hear from people is

“…we have a blog, but … we’re not doing anything with it.”

If that sounds even a tiny bit like something you’ve said recently, maybe I can help. You get an hour class, plus a question-and-answer session, and a recording of the whole thing to listen to whenever.

Details and registration are right here. Registration is now closed.

Oh! Almost forgot – registration closes at midnight Eastern Time on Monday, May 4.

Philadelphia Excitement

A lot of smArts & Culture readers are in the Philadelphia area, so I’ve included some super cool Philly events. But Ignite and Net Tuesday happen all over the world, so check to see if there’s one coming up where you live!

Ignite Philly 3
Saturday May 2, 2009
Doors open at 7 PM
Presentations start at 8 PM
Free (over 21)
Johnny Brenda’s
1201 N. Frankford Ave

Have you heard of Ignite?

Started in Seattle in 2006, Ignite is a series of five-minute talks accompanied by 20 slides meant to spark conversation and ideas. Local speakers are innovators in the fields of design, technology, environmental issues, open source culture, community building and more.

More info at www.ignitephilly.org.

Nonprofits and Twitter
Philly Net Tuesday
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
6 -9 PM
Buffalo Billiards
118 Chestnut Street
Free

I talk a lot here about Twitter. If you’re in the Philadelphia area, and you’re Twitter-curious, drop by Net Tuesday for a discussion about how nonprofits and social change organizations are using the ubiquitous micro-blogging service.

The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance will be discussing its recent use of Twitter to engage its members in online advocacy efforts and “live reporting” from events like Philadelphia City Council meetings. This month’s Net Tuesday is sponsored by bg Theory.

More info on Net Tuesday here.

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More:

• How Artists Use Twitter

• Can You Reach Your Core Arts Patrons on Facebook?

• Engage Your Artists with Social Media

• Artist An Xiao on Twitter as Medium Part 1 and Part 2

• What Are Social Media Metrics for the Arts?

• Your Arts Blog Readers: Why Less is More

• Live-Tweeting Theater

• Follow Your Arts Tweeps

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What’s Holding Back Your Arts Blog?

I’ve been thinking a lot about blogging lately.

True, it’s not the most cutting-edge social media tool anymore, or even the hottest – twitter and Facebook probably fit that bill right now.

But it’s very possible that your arts organization still hasn’t taken advantage of blogging as a part of your arts marketing strategy -- as a tool to connect with the people that are craziest about what you do.

Is that even the tiniest bit accurate?

...............................................

I took part in a panel on nonprofit blogging for Philly Net Tuesday back in January. I was surprised to see that we had the highest turnout thus far for that meeting – the place was packed. People were standing in a balcony overlooking the main room. And over and over we heard the same stories from the nonprofit staffers in the audience:

“Well, we have a blog, but we’re not really doing anything with it …”

“We really want to start a blog, but we have no idea where to start …”

...............................................

You probably already know that a blog could be helpful in reaching your patrons – you don’t need to be sold on that idea. Your executive director probably doesn’t need to be sold on that idea, at this point.

Or, maybe you’ve already gone to the trouble of launching a blog, but now what?

...............................................

I recently held a free question-and-answer session on blogging for my newsletter subscribers (newsletter subscribers get these kind of perks, by the way). Before the session, I checked out the organizations represented by the people who signed up. And I was a little taken aback to find that none of their organizations seemed to have a blog up and running yet (that I could tell).

In the works? Yes.

But up? No.

...............................................

So here’s what I've done.

I’ve put together a class that will ease you into the process of launching (or resuscitating!) your arts blog.

It's called:

Intro to Arts Blogging

(Clever, huh?)

What you’ll learn:

• You’ll learn what goes into the planning, and yes, a blog starts with planning, not with building a site! When you need a marketing campaign for an exhibition or performance, you don’t just wing it, do you? Same thing here. You’ll learn how decisions made early in the process can ensure your blog’s success.

• You’ll get juicy tips on attracting readers. The whole build-it-and-they-will-come thing just doesn’t work anymore. You’ll hear about proven methods to find visitors who care about the fantastic things you do.

• You’ll hear success stories – arts organizations that have integrated blogging into their marketing mix in a way that helps them reach their real fans.

• You’ll hear about common barriers and pitfalls, and how to overcome them. Sometimes it’s about countering internal organizational fears and assumptions. Sometimes it’s about thinking ahead. Sometimes it’s about fixing what’s broken. You’ll learn about solutions that get you past these obstacles.

What you’ll get:

• One hour live teleclass* on Intro to Arts Blogging

• Your blogging questions answered live during the Q&A

• Bonus: An mp3 recording of the class to listen to any time, on your computer or mp3 player

When:

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

2 - 3 PM Eastern Time (11 AM – 12 noon Pacific Time)

Don’t worry if you’re running late – you can join the call at any time without disrupting the class – no one will know.

Is your office noisy? Class participants will be muted until they’re ready to ask questions, so no one will hear the rehearsal going on in the background where you work.

Are you worried you'll disturb your office mates? You don't have to say a word in the class unless you want to -- you're welcome to just listen.

If your schedule’s too packed for the live class, no worries. Sign up anyway for the recording, and listen at your leisure, on your commute, or at the gym. And you’ll always have the recording for reference.

*What’s a teleclass? It’s like a conference call. I’ll be teaching the class live, on the phone, to a group of callers like you. After you sign up for the class, I’ll send you a phone number and an access code. At the time the call is scheduled, you’ll call the number and follow the recorded directions to enter the access code. That’s it!

Cost: $42

For a stress-free entry into the world of blogging, your burning blogging questions answered, plus the recording to listen to any time. That's about a third of what it costs to work with me one-on-one. This is a deal.

(If you're viewing this post in a reader like Google Reader or Bloglines, or reading it via email, please click here to register for the class.)

And if you take the class and feel like it wasn't all that, I'll refund your money right away. Promise.

Please note: registration closes on Monday, May 4, 2009 at midnight Eastern Time.

Philly: GIS and Geeks Who Game

If you’re in the Philadelphia region, and you’d like to rub shoulders with the local geek-erati, there are a couple of fabulous events coming up for you. They’re not arts-specific, but there’s a nonprofit connection, and fun with games and maps.

G2: Geeks Who Game
When: Thursday, April 2, 2009, 6 – 9 PM
Where: Tattooed Mom on South Street in Center City Philadelphia
Admission: bring 1 jump drive OR 1 package of school supplies (pens, notebooks, highlighters, etc.)

Geeks Who Give host a super-fun game night and mentor drive for Philadelphia Futures, a local nonprofit that matches kids with, you guessed it, mentors. Both geeks and non-geeks are invited for all kinds of gaming, from board games to cards. And since you’ll be working up an appetite crowning checkers and such, food and drink specials are sure to come in handy.

Philadelphia Futures matches one student with one mentor, starting in freshman year. The student/mentor relationship continues until the student graduates from high school. Futures provides academic support in the form of tutoring, SAT prep, college visits, advanced course work, and more.

Geeks Who Give seeks to mobilize their community to reach beyond its self-contained boundaries, to route its amazingly powerful and positive energy to people and causes that really need it.

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Mapping for Nonprofits: An introduction to geographic information systems (GIS)
Philly Net Tuesday
When: Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 6 – 9 PM
Where: Buffalo Billiards in Old City Philadelphia
Admission: FREE!

For this Net Tuesday, Robert Cheetham, founder and president of Avencia, presents on mapping and geographic information systems for nonprofits.

From Google Earth to GeoRSS, maps and geography services are changing the way we interpret our world and engage with communities. The presentation will explore how geographic information systems (GIS) technology is being used to enhance the missions, meet the challenges, and answer the questions faced by nonprofit organizations.

For more details, visit Philly NetSquared.

NPower Pennsylvania sponsors this month’s Net Tuesday.

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More:

• What Are Social Media Metrics for the Arts?

• Can You Reach Your Core Arts Patrons on Facebook?

• Live-tweeting Theater

• Martha Graham ReMash Challenge

• Socially Networked Membership

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Photo: STML. Some rights reserved.

Blogging for Nonprofits

If you’re in the Philadelphia area, don’t forget that tonight’s Net Tuesday is all about blogging for nonprofits.

So if you’re blogging for your organization, or thinking about taking the plunge, Net Tuesday is the place to be.

More speakers have been added to the panel. The roster is now:

• Andrew Schwalm and the First Person Arts blog and Malcolm X Park Blog

• Daniel Pantano and the Academy of Vocal Arts Opera Blog

• Judah Ferst and the Buzzing 4 Change blog

• Larry Blumenthal and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton blog

• And me. Of this blog. But you already know what I think about everything. Come for everybody else.

RSVP on meetup or facebook, or just show up, it’s okay. And it’s FREE.

Photo by inf. Some rights reserved.

1stfans, First Saturday, Net Tuesday - FREE!

1stfans @ Target First Saturday
Brooklyn Museum
Saturday, January 3, 5-11 PM
FREE

The Brooklyn Museum kicks off 1stfans tomorrow during First Saturday, the museum’s eclectic monthly open house. You might remember that I’m a fan of 1stfans, the first socially networked membership program ever.

During this First Saturday, members of 1stfans get their very own print by artists from Swoon’s studio, created while they watch, on whatever found paper they bring with them (a variety of paper will also be available thanks to Materials for the Arts).1stfans are encouraged to post their own photos of the pieces to their exclusive flickr group.

The museum also debuts its first twitter feed artist, An Xiao, who just started tweeting this morning for 1stfans -- in Morse code! Guess what the message said.

The feed is members-only -- you have to be a 1stfan to follow – another good reason to join. I love An’s proposal. She’ll be speaking about it tomorrow at First Saturday, too.

If you’re in the New York area, go! You can join when you get there, and still get your Swoon print!

Blogging for Nonprofits
Philly Net Tuesday
Independent’s Hall
32 Strawberry Street, 2nd Floor
Philadelphia
Tuesday, January 6, 6:30 PM
FREE

Are you blogging for your arts organization? 

Are you wondering how to get started?

The first Net Tuesday of the year focuses on blogging for nonprofit organizations. Local nonprofit bloggers share techniques, strategies, and tools; explore the issues around message and voice; and explain how they raise money and awareness.

An open panel will include:

• Judah Ferst, Buzzing 4 Change

• Daniel Pantano, The Academy of Vocal Arts Opera Blog

• Possibly others, to be announced

• And me. But I’ll mostly just be listening to Dan crack everybody up.

And that’s not all.

Net Tuesday members will create a blog for a lucky nonprofit – yours, perhaps? -- before your very eyes, and discuss the possibility of providing ongoing volunteer support and encouragement for nonprofit bloggers.

See you there!

More?

• Philly Net Tuesdays
  

• Socially Networked Membership
  

• Artists and Preservationists

• Arts Newbie Bloggers & Part 2

• Artist and Audience

Swoon detail by Trois Tetes. Some rights reserved.

Words that Shaped my Worldview

Recently, Chris Brogan recommended a post by Colin Beveridge: Books that Changed My Worldview.

I was inspired. Sort of.

I’m not sure that the following books and other writings changed my worldview, but they certainly shaped it and/or the way I do things.

1. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
Getting Things Done, otherwise known as the Productivity Geek Bible, made me realize how much effort it takes to use my brain as my primary reminder/calendar/to-do list repository.

I discovered GTD when I first started working as director of marketing and PR for The Academy of Vocal Arts. At the time, I felt overwhelmed with the sheer number of deadlines, responsibilities, and agendas that fell in my lap, and was looking for help.

Enter GTD.

GTD taught me to get my to-do list out of my brain and into something – anything! --  that would keep it safe. It taught me to break down projects into individual tasks and to always determine my next steps. It also encouraged me to do away with Byzantine systems of categorization. Everything goes into “To Do,” whether it’s work-related or personal. “Wash a load of laundry” is right there underneath “respond to email from Client X.” Ah, yes, the mysterious Client X…

I also learned from GTD to review the list every day to determine priorities for the day, and weekly, to be sure nothing’s falling through the cracks.

GTD changed how I look at everything I want to do in life, in a very practical way.

2. Seth Godin’s writings for Fast Company
I could name any of Seth’s books and show you how they changed my views about marketing. But before I read Purple Cow, Unleashing the Idea Virus, and Free Prize Inside, I read Seth in Fast Company, and that was really the turning point.

I found Seth’s ideas at a time when I was struggling to define my role at AVA and philosophy regarding arts marketing. Seth helped me see a number of things:

• That no amount of money (a perennial woe in the nonprofit arts world) will help if your product is nothing special;

• That telling a story, whether to your customer or your boss or board, is more compelling than enumerating the facts;

• That going along with the status quo, or trying to please everybody doesn’t guarantee job security or make for a very satisfying career;

• That in order to champion a new idea, you need to find ways for everyone in your organization to feel ownership.

I could go on.

The point is that coming across Seth’s ideas made a huge difference in how I approached every facet of my job, and in particular the way I began to approach marketing.

3. See? Business magazines aren't all ridiculous. Fast Company also introduced me to the fantastic Tom Peters, and later his books like The Pursuit of Wow! I had never conceived of anything like the Brand Called You, in which Peters lays out his ideas about personal responsibility for career advancement and satisfaction.

My ideas up until that time had been greatly influenced by members of my family, who were held hostage to the same awful jobs by the promise of a pension.

I knew the world had changed. I never held a job that offered that kind of compensation. But it was a leap to go from believing that I should depend on an employer for job security and satisfaction, to understanding that job security doesn’t exist anymore and that the rest is up to me.

And this is a good thing.

4. The unbelievably readable philosopher Arthur Danto changed how I felt about art criticism. Anyone who thinks art talk has to be mired in unintelligible jargon should take a crack at anything by Danto. He has helped me see how ALL contemporary art is conceptual, that this is the defining characteristic of art of our time. His writing is exciting, crystal clear, and utterly a pleasure. Try The Transfiguration of the Commonplace.

5. The Originality of the Avant-Garde and Other Modernist Myths by Rosalind E. Krauss
See number 4, but okay, with a more jargon and references to authors and texts I had never heard of and probably will never read. Regardless, this work of post-modern crit published in 1985 was extremely readable and eye-opening. Why? Read the title again.

6. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Like investing, so much of marketing planning is based on past performance. “We’re doing Hamlet next season. How well did our direct mail strategy work the last time we did it?” Taleb shows how we look for patterns and invent stories where there are none (which is why stories are so powerful. See Godin, number 2), how it’s impossible to see all the factors contributing to results, and how what you don’t know could change everything. And he does it through brilliant storytelling (!) and a unique voice. I like to bring up The Black Swan when people ask me “what’s a surefire marketing formula?”

7. Greg Sandow's blog, High Brow/Low Brow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America by Lawrence Levine, and Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations, by Clay Shirky.
Until I started reading Greg Sandow’s blog a couple of years ago, I was fairly ignorant of the history of the classical music audience. Realizing that things were not always as they are -- reverent audience sitting in silence and applauding at the “right” time at a classical concert -- changed how I see the relationship between artist, presenter, and audience. Sandow’s blog explores the future of classical music, backed up by some truly fascinating data.

Similarly, Highbrow/Lowbrow tells the story of the “sacralization” of art, and links the phenomenon to class differences that emerged in the U.S. during the late 19th century.

I lump Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody in with the works above because I believe it demonstrates the power and creativity of the amateur, whatever the field. Honestly, I used to be one of those people (having gone through art school) who thought, “leave it to the professionals!” when I encountered work that I found substandard and amateurish.

Now, while I may not necessarily feel that what I see constitutes art (See Danto, No. 4), I do think it’s the result of creativity, desire, and skill at some level. And I believe in that.

It’s my opinion that the “Everybody” of the title will change how we define audience and arts participation.

What’s on your list?

More on books:

• Arts Leadership: Read Tribes by Seth Godin
  

• Free Social Media Ebook by John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing
  

• Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky
  

• More Free Ideas, from Seth (Flipping the Funnel ebook for nonprofits)

• The Story Behind the Story

Photo by austinevan on flickr. Some rights reserved.

Artist and Audience

 

“It’s … about breaking down the wall between artist and audience,” [Institute for Figuring Co-Founder Margaret] Wertheim said. “We don’t want to pontificate from on high. We believe that everyone can make art.”

That’s a quote from a recent New York Times article by Jori Finkel about Machine Project, a Los Angeles art/theater collective, and more specifically, their venture with LACMA, “A Field Guide to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.”

Starting from the premise that there is a lack of public space in Los Angeles, Machine Project took over LACMA for a day of turning the sacred halls of the museum into a place where people could take part in activities like making music inside a Richard Serra sculpture, discover surprising objects and actions, joining collaborative works in progress, or just hanging out with friends (remember that thing about the social aspect of the arts? How a lot of people are more motivated by doing something with their friends than by the art itself?).

It sounds like a true collaboration between Machine Project and LACMA. The museum didn’t turn over its building lock, stock, and barrel to the group. There were lots of ideas it vetoed.

Like synchronized fountain wading. 

(You can read the rest of the ideas that didn't make it in the limited edition print poem available in the gift shop (note: PDF will load directly in browser)). And according to the article, Machine Project’s day at LACMA is providing material for a book to be published by the museum.

Charlotte Cotton, the photography curator who invited [Machine Project founder] Mr. Allen to invigorate the museum for a day, said she was drawn to his sense of adventure. “Mark didn’t want to just become the entertainment for the museum, throwing some sort of quirky, artsy party,” she said. “But this ain’t Hans Haacke either,” she added, using shorthand for the so-called institutional critiques of the 1990s, which posed philosophical questions about the museum setting.

I love that.

So often we think of engaging the public (or a sought-after segment, like younger people) by simply having a cocktail party in our arts organization’s space. My arts marketing students complain that, as a group, they’re seen by nonprofits as only interested in drinking and dating.

People have so much more to express and experience. We have a collective lack of imagination on this issue.

In the Times piece, Allen describes

…the Institute for Figuring’s “Crocheting the Hyperbolic Plane,” where hyperbolic refers to an unruly form of non-Euclidean geometry. The form is made naturally by sea sponges and coral, but mathematicians struggled for years to model it until Daina Taimina seized on crocheting as a solution about a decade ago.

Mr. Allen loved the mix of participants: young artists, mathematicians and “these older women who would drive three hours to learn a new type of crocheting,” he said. “That opened my eyes to the idea that you could use workshops to bring different audiences together.”

Are there ways that you can bring the public into your arts venue or organization that are more participatory?

Does it seem sacrilege?

More?

Cultural Engagement

deepLocal in Technology in the Arts Recap

Awareness Through Theater Remix

Photo by chrisspurgeon on flickr. Creative Commons, some rights reserved.