I’m off the weblogging habit for the next few weeks to refuel and decompress. I wish any who read this post have a joyous and safe holiday season. In fact, I wish the same for those who don’t read this post, I just don’t wish it quite as much. See you in the new year!
Archives for 2006
Creative connections as practical necessity
Thomas Friedman writes in the New York Times that the American public education system is preparing students for a world that’s fading fast, or long gone. Paraphrasing Marc Tucker from the National Center on Education and the Economy, Friedman suggests that an increasingly global and integrated world economy will make traditional ways of learning and […]
Fostering the healthy artist
The issue of health insurance is a complex one for any independent artist, small collective, or cultural nonprofit. It’s certainly not a challenge unique to the arts (any small business or independent contractor is faced with similar strains). But the issue can be particularly problematic for creative professionals, who often do dangerous or physically demanding […]
Watching your word-of-mouth
Marketing Pilgrim has a useful overview of how companies can and should listen in on conversation about them on-line. As more and more conversations by real consumers are being posted, there are more and more ways for you to learn from your audiences, or the people that might be your audience if you listened. The […]
Generation C(ontent), Generation C(ash)
Trendwatching.com has an interesting briefing on what they’re calling Generation C(ash), a new phase in the life of Generation C(ontent). The first wave saw an increasing number of consumers taking on creative roles in their interaction with brands and services — posting photos and videos, remixing media, blogging product reviews, even rewriting software. The next […]
Hercules, Atlas, Sisyphus, Garland, Rooney
A friend and colleague was honored last week with a Governor’s Award in Support of the Arts (in Wisconsin). Lynne Watrous Eich is certainly deserving of the award, after three decades of thoughtful, innovative, and responsive service to Dane County, Wisconsin, as Director of the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission. Because this was the first […]
When does a work of art begin?
Liz Lerman Dance Exchange has always explored the boundary between artist and audience, between professional and amateur (it’s right there in their public description of themselves). So, it’s fascinating to watch them experiment with an even more public way of doing their creative work. The Funny Uncles weblog is an on-going public discussion leading up […]
A good prospect for a (virtual) board member, perhaps
Anshe Chung has all the elements of a good prospect for your nonprofit board — she’s a millionaire, a real estate mogul, and an innovative entrepreneur with an eye for design and aesthetic value. While it’s true that she’s not technically a real person, but an avatar…an on-line character in the virtual world of Second […]
The non-representative fundraising photo (that works)
Jeff Brooks of Donor Power Blog has a thoughtful post on the tension between the actual work of a nonprofit, and the perceptions or messages that attract contributed income. His case in point is ”Old Man Eating,” a perennial fundraising photo archetype used among urban rescue missions. ”Old Man Eating,” or OME as Brooks and […]
More ways to express your public self
Social networking technology is vastly changing the face and nature of the web, and how individuals use it. Massively popular user-driven sites like MySpace or Flickr or YouTube enable users to share their voice and vision with a wider world — in photos, in videos, in text, in network connections, in playlists of favorite music. […]