{"id":2627,"date":"2013-04-27T07:36:09","date_gmt":"2013-04-27T11:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=2627"},"modified":"2013-04-27T07:36:09","modified_gmt":"2013-04-27T11:36:09","slug":"the-engagement-quiz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/04\/the-engagement-quiz\/","title":{"rendered":"The Engagement Quiz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-2635\" alt=\"FinalExam\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/FinalExam-300x151.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"151\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/FinalExam-300x151.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/FinalExam.jpg 472w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>I am in the midst of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.artsengaged.com\/content\/artsengaged-road\" target=\"_blank\">a series of workshops and speaking engagements<\/a>, centered around the theme of Mainstreaming Engagement. One early sponsor, Anne Katz of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.artswisconsin.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Arts Wisconsin<\/a>, asked me to come up with questions for workshop participants to consider ahead of time, and I realized that a set of them I had put together earlier had rolled off my radar screen. Since I think they are fairly helpful additions to the workshop, I thought it would be good to share them with readers of this blog.<\/p>\n<p>The first is one I&#8217;ve used with boards of directors for years. It&#8217;s been a bit astonishing to me how much difficulty some people have with the question. And that difficulty is directly related to the issues the arts face and the root of the work that needs to be done.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>How are the lives of the people of your community made better by the work that you do? (No variant of \u201cbecause we exist\u201d addresses this question.)<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The second question is designed to force a little reality testing, albeit internal. &#8220;Do I really think this is true?&#8221; And, &#8220;To whom would I point (individuals and groups outside of the arts&#8217; inner circle) as specific beneficiaries of our work?&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>Would community members who are not \u201carts believers\u201d agree? (How do you know? How many\u2013percentage, numbers, etc.\u2013would agree? Would community leaders agree? Would the \u201cperson on the street\u201d agree?)<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And finally, is there any evidence that people outside of the arts think your organization is improving the life of individuals in the community?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>What are the practical ways this belief is made manifest in your community (<\/em>e.g.<em>, greater than normal governmental funding, your inclusion in the \u201ccommunity family,\u201d or widespread support in times of stress)?<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This may not be the ultimate community engagement diagnostic tool, but it certainly gets at the issue of public value. Stay tuned as the questions get refined.<\/p>\n<p>Engage!<\/p>\n<p>Doug<\/p>\n<p>Photo:<a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/2.0\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Attribution\" alt=\"Attribution\" src=\"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/g\/images\/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif\" border=\"0\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Noncommercial\" alt=\"Noncommercial\" src=\"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/g\/images\/cc_icon_noncomm_small.gif\" border=\"0\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Share Alike\" alt=\"Share Alike\" src=\"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/g\/images\/cc_icon_sharealike_small.gif\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a> <a title=\"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/2.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">Some rights reserved<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/sashamd\/\" target=\"_blank\">sashamd<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am in the midst of a series of workshops and speaking engagements, centered around the theme of Mainstreaming Engagement. One early sponsor, Anne Katz of Arts Wisconsin, asked me to come up with questions for workshop participants to consider ahead of time, and I realized that a set of them I had put together [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[12,13,22,16],"class_list":{"0":"post-2627","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-overview","7":"category-principles","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-community-engagement","10":"tag-public-good","11":"tag-public-policy","12":"entry","13":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-Gn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2307,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/01\/mainstreaming-on-my-mind\/","url_meta":{"origin":2627,"position":0},"title":"Mainstreaming on My Mind","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"My basic beliefs about the arts and community engagement are fairly well-known to anyone who reads this blog or who has read my book. 1) Community engagement is vital to a healthy future for the arts; 2) substantive community engagement is relatively rare in the established arts world; and 3)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Practice of Engagement&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/OnMyMind.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5396,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/09\/targets-and-timeframes\/","url_meta":{"origin":2627,"position":1},"title":"Targets and Timeframes","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"To be sustainable, community engagement must benefit the arts organization in tangible ways. To be supported institutionally, the path to ticket sales, funding, and public policy must be articulated and tracked.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Practice of Engagement&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/TargetWithArrows-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2873,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/05\/lessons-from-the-road\/","url_meta":{"origin":2627,"position":2},"title":"Lessons from the Road","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Since mid-January I have been on a whirlwind tour of the U.S. (and Toronto). I have kept thinking I am going to stop and reflect on all I've learned. So far, though, there's not been time. But I thought I'd at least take a few moments to thank all of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Practice of Engagement&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"north america - Google Maps","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/NorthAmerica-300x152.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2451,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/01\/outreach-and-audience-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":2627,"position":3},"title":"Outreach and Audience Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I'll admit it. I have a bad attitude about the word \"outreach\" in the context of the arts. Whether that attitude is rooted in the way the word has been used or in some quality inherent in it is not clear to me. I have difficulty with what often seem\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/StreetTheatre.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":481,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2011\/09\/what-is-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":2627,"position":4},"title":"What Is Engagement?","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I am teaching a course this fall called Arts in the Community. One of the course requirements is for students to assist in a community arts project. For the purpose of the course we use the definition \"arts-based project intentionally designed to address a community issue.\" A difficulty I (and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Practice of Engagement&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/PTICA-LogoGraphic.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6486,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/11\/marketing-and-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":2627,"position":5},"title":"Marketing and Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"November 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Both good marketing and community engagement are rooted in knowing (by asking them rather than by assuming) the people you are trying to reach.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.arabculturefund.org\/data\/programs\/21.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}