It occurs to me that I keep ranting on about the distributed power of on-line technology, and the need for arts organizations to explore new ways of communicating with their audiences, but I don’t provide a whole lot of specifics. So, I thought it would be useful to point you to two of the main weblog hosting services (there are hundreds more, but these are quick, cheap, easy, and fairly powerful alternatives). Caveats follow about how and when to use such technology, but here’s where to start if you’d like to start a weblog for you or your organization (or a special project blog, or an issue-focused roundtable blog, or an artist blog for your orchestra, or an education blog for your arts education staff, or…or…or…).
Blogger
A software system purchased by Google a while back, providing the engine for many of the world’s most popular weblogs. It’s a quick and easy set-up to get a hosted account (meaning you don’t have to do anything on your organization’s web site, except perhaps add a link), and you can be blogging in no time.TypePad
A personal favorite of mine for the clarity of its interface, and the extra (but useful) bells and whistles they keep adding (like a mobile blog feature that lets you send photos and text directly to your blog from your mobile phone…kinda cool).
All you would do is establish a hosted weblog on one of these providers, then integrate links to that conversation throughout your existing web site. A single link on your home page might be enough, if your web manager is a cranky individual. Better yet would be several links to the conversation, wherever it most suits the web page content. Then, also be sure to mention the weblog in your newsletters, curtain announcements, programs, e-mail updates, and elsewhere, to get the conversation humming. Consider it another performance or exhibit, perhaps, and draft the same kind of marketing/information campaign you might launch for a real-world event.
The trick with any on-line effort, however, is the same trick as managing your arts organization in the real world: focus, clarity, purpose, restraint. It’s so easy to get pulled off mission by a method of doing something, and it takes almost Herculean restraint to stay focused on the web. Weblog technology, or any dynamic on-line publishing tool, can be a black hole of attention and energy, if you don’t determine (as an organization) how and why (and when) the effort actually supports your most essential work.
So, don’t start a broadly focused weblog about your organizational life and how much money you need. But, perhaps, find a fixed-term project (an upcoming commission, or new production, or exhibit, or somesuch), gather two or three exceptionally compelling individuals to talk about it on-line as it struggles to become real, and encourage your audience to lend their voice, as well.
For inspiration, take a look at two organizations I’ve mentioned before, who are using weblog technology to extend their mission and engage their audience in a new way:
On The Boards
The Seattle-based theater company encourages on-line discussion about their work — even those that might not like it.Doug Varone & Dancers
A weblog created by the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center to let the artist of a commissioned work talk through the trials and discoveries of his creative process.
Now, go ye forth and blog.
