EM's List Member Citizen Musicians [This post is by EM's List Editor/Curator, Stephanie Moore] Citizen Musician Initiative: Chicago Symphony Orchestra Who are Citizen Musicians? Musicians from the concert hall to the living room utilizing their talent and passion to improve the quality of life in their community: this idea is the guiding principle behind the Citizen Musician Initiative. Led by Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant … [Read more...]
Lessons from the Ballpark
Blogging comes with an “occupational” hazard. Everything you do ends up having the potential for becoming a blog post, often when you least expect it. (Wait until you see the upcoming essay that began at a Jimmy Buffett concert!) Last month I was minding my own business attending a minor league baseball game with friends, thinking not a whit about the arts and community engagement. Then something remarkable happened. Between innings, a young girl … [Read more...]
Insight from the Concert Hall
Once again, Greg Sandow has given us a valuable framework for thinking about engagement. His recent post, Four keys to the future, has been cited by many already and deserves to be read and studied. I cannot see any need to add to what he said. I'll only observe that the principles he gives for a viable future for classical music are perfectly applicable across the arts. His four points are: Understand and respect the culture outside classical … [Read more...]
Engagement Is On-going
As she has a tendency to do, Nina Simon has made me think again. (There are days, I will confess, when I wish no one would do that to me.) Her August post in Museum 2.0 about arts experiences being pearls on a necklace needing string to tie them together (What's the String that Ties One Experience at Your Institution with the Next?) reminded me about the observation I made in my Clybourne Park post. For the person coming to our events, arts … [Read more...]
Placemaking
In October I am speaking in Washington, DC to the Community Development Interest Group at the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies annual conference, Assembly 2012. (That was a mouthful!) They are going to be focusing on Creative Placemaking. When asked what my topic would be, it seemed like "Beyond Placemaking" might be energizing, for them and for me. I've written previously (Creative Placemaking) about my concern that "placemaking" might … [Read more...]
Engagement Principles from a Marketer
In The Farmer and the Cowman I posited that arts marketers and community engagement advocates (in my case, probably "zealots" would be more appropriate) should be great friends and collaborators. In it I mentioned a series that Trevor O'Donnell (MARKETING THE ARTS TO DEATH) is doing on inexpensive approaches to marketing research. In another "hall of mirrors" moment of blogging, I was grinning ear to ear at his list of principles for marketing … [Read more...]
Passage Theatre Company
EM's List Member Shakespeare in the Streets of St. Louis [This post is by EM's List Editor/Curator, Stephanie Moore] Passage Theatre Company: Showcasing the People of Trenton, NJ Passage Theatre Company has been a part of the Trenton, NJ cultural scene for over 25 years. Throughout this tenure Passage Theatre has focused on developing and producing plays that challenge and engage diverse audiences. They are fully committed to the diverse … [Read more...]
On the Road: The DIY Book Tour
Beginning this month (September) I am undertaking a DIY (do-it-yourself) tour for my book Building Communities, Not Audiences. Having taken the print-on-demand route for publishing it, there is not a deep pockets (or even shallow pockets) publisher funding a tour. So, when I am going to be someplace anyway, I'm finagling ways to hawk it. This feels like a strange undertaking for me. Self-promotion (and I cannot construct a way to think about this … [Read more...]
Engagement Principles: Relationships
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...]