Katya Andresen writes a very good (if somewhat breathless–she has committed to posting every day) blog about nonprofit marketing, cleverly titled Katya's Nonprofit Marketing Blog. In a recent post, Thriving in the social media gift economy, she discussed some important social media concepts, comparing the market economy with the "gift economy," especially as it relates to social norms. (To paraphrase one example she gives, we bring a bottle of … [Read more...]
Things Change
I have always been a sucker for revelations about how social, cultural, and technological change has impacted arts experiences. I was blown away when (many, many years ago) I heard a presentation at the College Music Society's annual conference highlighting the fact that before the 20th Century, the loudest thing typical people ever heard (by far) was a symphony orchestra. No machines, no cars, certainly no jet airplanes. So the effect of hearing … [Read more...]
Focus Group or Story Circle
In my last post (Reinventing the Wheel), I talked about Roadside Theater's use of story circles in script development and relationship building. It was presented as one example of how arts organizations that have long focused on grassroots relationships have much to teach the rest of the arts community. In response, Roadside's director, Dudley Cocke, contacted me to amplify my point: Very few people have understood that all of Roadside's work is … [Read more...]
Reinventing the Wheel
Community engagement. What is it? How do you do it? What will you get if you try? These are questions (or variations of questions) I get when I bring this topic to the table in most corners of the arts establishment. Some (but by no means all) elements of the big box arts infrastructure are under the impression that community engagement (developing substantive relationships with "unusual suspects" outside of any specific effort to sell tickets) … [Read more...]
Civic Practice
Michael Rohd, the Founding Director of Portland (OR)'s Sojourn Theatre has recently posted an extremely thoughtful reflection on community engagement and theatre: The New Work of Building Civic Practice. As I've said before, I am aware of the danger of echo-chambering in the blog world, especially in this case since the things he says sound so much like my rants. But, as in the past, I simply can't help myself. Mr. Rohd identifies the central … [Read more...]
Bonus Post
I said I was going to only do one post a week through August, but here are two things that might be of interest. First, Julia Levy of CultureCraver (kind of an interesting concept: GoodReads for culture is the way I think of it) contacted me when she heard about Building Communities, Not Audiences and wanted to do an interview. Here is the result: www.culturecraver.com/craveable/entry/443233. And I just heard from Dorothy Gunther Pugh at … [Read more...]
The Farmer and the Cowman
As I grow up (an incredibly slow and painful process, especially at age 60), I find myself, in spite of myself, learning things. One of the most revealing lessons I've more fully grasped in the last year is that arts marketers and community engagement advocates can and should be the best of friends. On first consideration, this is far from obvious. The two have vastly different ultimate goals, vastly divergent frames of reference. Marketers … [Read more...]
Toxic Pond
In April, at the Rustbelt to Artistbelt conference in St. Louis, Bill Cleveland and I had a brief chat between sessions. As inevitably happens when we talk, the subject was the relationship between arts organizations and the communities they are designed to serve. I began my rant about the structure of the arts establishment being the successor to the patronage system and Bill reminded me that the "beholden to elite interests" framework (not his … [Read more...]
Change
Given my background in the "classical" music world, I have been for some time an admirer of Greg Sandow's blog, Sandow, although I will confess that I have not subscribed to it. That has changed. Mr. Sandow is in the middle of a series of posts addressing the need for transformation in the music industry that, in spite of the fact that I have been saying many of the same things here, I could not have said better myself. I try (unsuccessfully) … [Read more...]
Valuing Public Good
In preparing my last post [Structures and Models in Blogs, Oh My] about the recent discussions of structural and business models for arts organizations, I was gradually overcome with an uncomfortable sensation. The argument that the intrinsic benefits of the arts are undermined by the need to serve the public scares me. When (and how) did furthering the public good become a bad thing? Before I go any further, let me acknowledge that I'm … [Read more...]