{"id":2318,"date":"2015-11-03T17:57:19","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T00:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/?p=2318"},"modified":"2015-11-05T14:43:31","modified_gmt":"2015-11-05T21:43:31","slug":"what-is-audience-engagement-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/2015\/11\/what-is-audience-engagement-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Audience Engagement? (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Engagement\"It’s commonplace to talk about the need for “audience engagement”<\/strong> – but what does the term actually mean? And how does an arts\/cultural organization know if its succeeding?<\/p>\n

Perhaps it’s an intentionally amorphous<\/em> concept – akin to\u00a0Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart’s famous characterization of the nature of pornography: \u201cI know it when I see it.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

Or perhaps it’s best considered an aspirational<\/em>\u00a0notion – \u00a0sacred words etched into mission statements and strategic plans that bear homage to the ultimate ideal of connection between art, arts organization and audience.<\/p>\n

Might anyone like to argue for the establishment of an objective and quantifiable standard<\/em> of “audience engagement”? If so, how might your<\/span> organization behave differently if it held itself accountable to a Richter Scale of audience engagement?<\/p>\n

What else could\/should be encompassed in the definition “audience engagement”?<\/p>\n

Let’s have that discussion!<\/p>\n

Today – and for the next few – I’m delighted (and grateful) to offer the insights of several friends and colleagues to whom I’ve asked this specific question:<\/p>\n

What is the meaning of the word \u201cengagement\u201d? \u00a0And how does an arts organization know if it is succeeding?<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

————-<\/p>\n

Greg Sandow<\/a>\u00a0– who writes on the future of classical music<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I worked in pop music, no one ever talked about audience engagement. Why? Of course because they had an engaged audience. So our use of the term is a danger sign, first because we’re saying something’s missing, but more profoundly because the words are so abstract.<\/p>\n

I wouldn’t use the term myself. Instead I’d ask:<\/p>\n