{"id":1238,"date":"2008-12-02T08:36:38","date_gmt":"2008-12-02T16:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/2008\/12\/defining_the_goal_defending_th\/"},"modified":"2008-12-02T08:36:38","modified_gmt":"2008-12-02T16:36:38","slug":"defining_the_goal_defending_th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/main\/defining_the_goal_defending_th.php","title":{"rendered":"Defining the goal, defending the essential"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the recent conference in Dublin, there was an odd silence in the room when one of the closing plenary participants asked about policy (it was Emily<\/a>, actually), and how the changing landscape of new technology and new audiences might inform future policy for the two major forces sitting next to me on the panel (the Arts Council<\/a> and RT\u00c9<\/a>, Ireland’s public media network). As an outsider to the conversation, I had assumed policy would be an essential concept in Ireland — especially as a large bulk of arts funding is provided through the government, and there are few foundations or individual funders to muddy the waters. But nobody wanted to talk about it.<\/p>\n

As I’ve posited before<\/a>, ”policy” is one of the most important words we actively avoid in arts and culture. Yet even in Ireland, where government policy is a big, obvious lever to pull, it seemed strangely abstract and boring.<\/p>\n

To fill the silence (I hate silence…but I’m working on it), I read back to them what I kept hearing during the conference sessions about what they wanted, what they feared, and what threats and opportunities they saw in emerging communications technologies for the arts. Policy, I suggested, is the process by which you define collective goals, and map the systems and rules that might help you achieve them. From what I heard, some of the key collective goals of those convened included:<\/p>\n