I’m traveling today to attend the Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference in New York (here’s a good overview of the conference in today’s NY Times). Hoping to get more grist for the weblog mill, and eager to mix and mingle with alumni of the Arts Administration degree program I direct, and other old friends […]
Archives for January 2004
A cash-laden update to the Nutcracker story
A story in yesterday’s Boston Globe continued the saga of Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker production. As faithful readers will recall, the Wang Center announced last November that they’d be bumping the Ballet’s blockbuster to replace it with the touring Radio City Christmas Spectacular (here’s my original entry on the subject, and a follow-up). It seems the […]
Apple Computer enables a new generation of amateur
There is huge potential in Apple Computer’s new product announcements at yesterday’s Macworld Expo. Arts organizations should pay particular attention to the upgraded iLife software suite, which Steve Jobs called “the Microsoft Office for the rest of your life.” Why should you care about a software suite from a computer company with such a tiny […]
Do what you say, say what you mean
Friend and colleague (and PhD candidate in Marketing) Jennifer Wiggins adds some details to my rant yesterday about misunderstanding survey results. The article I cited and the sponsoring organization were excited to find that 90 percent of survey participants planned on attending more cultural events in 2004. What they missed was the real finding: that […]
Self-delusion through surveys
An odd little survey reported by the BBC shows the disconnect between audience intention and audience action, as well as the sad state of surveying in decision-making. The study concludes that tons of people have intentions to attend more arts events in the coming year, but few have shown any effort to actually do so. […]
Sunday in the Park with George
Stephen Sondheim’s 1984 musical based (very) loosely on the life and work of impressionist painter Georges Seurat. The themes suggest that while great art can help us see new connections, great artists are often disconnected from their worlds and their work by the process of it.