Editor’s note: Over the next two weeks, we’ll feature posts around the final convening of our Chief Executive Program, The Summit at Sundance. We invite you to participate in an online discussion of four major issues facing the cultural field. In this post, Fielding Grasty introduces the first of the problem statements. Problem to solve: Develop employees and organizational systems that will transform our organizations and the field. The global financial crisis has passed for much of the world, but an era of uncertainty … [Read more...]
About Fielding Grasty
Fielding Grasty is NAS Director, Programs and Assistant Secretary to the Board. Fielding’s professional interest areas include finance, governance and board engagement, sustainability and cooperation between the nonprofit and commercial sectors. He’s also passionate about ocean health.
Goldilocks and the Three Bowls of Data
Posted April 8th, 2013
by Fielding Grasty
Barring residence under a rock or an other-worldly state of bliss, it is unlikely that you have escaped the phenomenon of “big data.” What is big data? Everyone knows that, right? Not so much. Gartner offers a helpful definition: Big data [are] high-volume, high-velocity and high-variety information assets that demand cost-effective, innovative forms of information processing for enhanced insight and decision making. Good! Three very important dimensions, but we’re not quite there. SAS boils it down a bit: Big data is a popular … [Read more...]
Stories from the Field: The Loft Literary Center
Posted January 13th, 2013
by Fielding Grasty
In the last several years, myriad organizations have moved into online education from different sectors. The proliferation of broadband and ubiquity of digital platforms enabling the distribution of high-definition video and related educational tools at low cost have converged to make this an option for organizations of any size. At National Arts Strategies, we first dipped our toes in the digital sea in 2009, presenting two series of online events: Talk with an Expert and Closer Look. I led development and presentation of both series. While a … [Read more...]
Salzburg Global Forum: Some Final Thoughts
We introduced Field Notes as a means of amplifying meaningful conversation. Over the last couple of weeks we put that to the test with content from the Salzburg Global Forum for Young Cultural Leaders, a program that was essentially 5 days of non-stop (and I mean that in the best possible sense) conversation among 64 people from 35 different countries. On an individual basis, I learned something from each conversation, each interview, each post. On a collective basis, what I learned was not something new but it was still incredibly valuable … [Read more...]
Finance au naturel
Posted October 24th, 2012
by Fielding Grasty
A wise person* once observed that it isn’t until that the tide goes out that one knows who’s been swimming naked. After the "Great Recession," it became apparent that many of us invested in something other than swimwear. I have served as Seminar Director for the NAS Finance seminar since its launch in April 2009, during, but not in response to, the economic crisis. As destructive as the macroeconomic environment has been, finance is a topic that is equally relevant to cultural managers in both buoyant and scary times. Having just wrapped … [Read more...]
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