Andrew Taylor on the Business of Arts & Culture
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Alternate measures
  Posted: September 27, 2005
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I'm still reconstructing my keynote from the Arts Alive conference in New Jersey. I was inspired to rewrite the whole darn thing just hours before, so I have to rework my original draft. My thanks to the organizers for inviting me. And stay tuned for a posted version of my comments.

In the meanwhile, I thought I'd throw out some ''alternate measures'' that popped up throughout the speech (and some I forgot to mention), used by some innovative arts organizations to get useful feedback on their impact. If you know of others, please post them as a comment:

• Manning the perimeter
  One associate in marketing at a major theater determined the exact distance from the building that groups of audience members would start discussing the show and their experience. They wouldn't talk in the lobby. They wouldn't talk in the first 100 feet or so, walking toward their cars. There was a seemingly magic distance from the theater that most groups would finally start chatting. And that's where my associate scattered minions and work study students to listen in and report back.
• Ask a Cabbie
  Another associate serving as an Executive Director would travel extensively, and on every trip home he would hop in a cab at the airport and ask some random questions: ''Do you know of a good museum in town? Have you ever been? What's the buzz on the best place to visit to see art?" He would do the same in the cities he visited, to see how his organization fared against others in the country.
• The One-Question Intercept Interview
  Disney is famous for its feedback systems. If you ever visit, you see at least one of them: the one-question survey. As you are guided onto a monorail or served a soda, staff is trained to ask a question: ''Where are you folks from?'' ''How are you enjoying the day?'' I've known arts organizations that use similar techniques, encouraging staff to ask one of a list of simple questions, and make note of the responses. Just think if each box office operator or teller asked a single question with every transaction how much you could learn (and they could learn about listening).
  Some organizations I know even set a measure to beat: at one lunch break a week, stop someone on the street and ask directions to your facility. Keep a tally to see if you're doing better week to week.
• View from the Duck Blind
  You can also learn volumes about your building and its patrons by simply watching with a critical eye. Observe an hour's worth of visitors as they enter, for example, to see where they wander first, where their eyes go when they're looking for their way. If more than a few look the same direction, be sure there's something there to guide future visitors.
• Instant Focus Group
  If you're working on a new promotional piece, bring a mock-up home to the kids or the neighbors. Throw it down and ask them what they'd do if they wanted to buy a ticket or reserve a spot for the event. If it takes them more than three seconds to answer you...you're dead.

Tiny steps, to be sure. But such is how journeys begin.