![\"FOMO\"](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/FOMO.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Last summer I read a NY Times article about MoMA’s\u00a0 “Rain Room” installation. (Steamy Wait Before a Walk in a Museum\u2019s Rain<\/a>) The installation itself sounded interesting, a room that “rains” but knows where people are and doesn’t rain on them. In other words, no one gets wet. Fascinating technology and an intriguing experience.<\/p>\n However, what really struck me was the new concept I learned reading the article: FOMO, Fear of Missing Out. One interview subject said, \u201cA lot of people have this syndrome,\u201d . . . while waiting in line on Saturday. \u201cThat\u2019s why we don\u2019t sit in our apartments.\u201d This installation tapped into that fear in spades. The crowds were huge, the lines extremely long.<\/p>\n Which, of course, made me think, “How can the arts tap in to FOMO?” An obvious immediate response for most of us in the industry would be that the arts, by their nature, are compelling and so should be able to do so easily. However, evidence indicates that this is not the case.<\/p>\n In Inspire, Delight, and Surprise<\/a>, I described how all our work should be doing at least two of those three things. A mindset to deliver inspiration, delight, and surprise can connect us with our audiences, our communities in significant ways. Adding to this the new (to me) concept of FOMO, we have an interesting “metric.” When our work is<\/em> connecting, is<\/em> inspiring, delighting, surprising, we will have created FOMO. We will observe crowds clamoring to participate in the experiences we offer. If FOMO has been tapped in significant ways, we will be SRO (standing room only, not single room occupancy!) with regularity. Not being so does not mean we have done something wrong; it may, however, mean we have not done some things as right as possible.<\/p>\n Both my IDS framework and a mindset seeking to create FOMO help us focus on the people in our communities we seek to reach. They can serve as an effective antidote to artcentricity and help us strengthen relationships with our communities as well as our own viability.<\/p>\n ——————<\/p>\n On another note, Art of the Rural<\/a> has announced its 2014 initiative The Year of Rural Arts<\/a>. Communities come in all kinds and sizes. Indeed, many of the best examples and early history related to community engagement come from rural areas. I’m aware of this largely as a result of my role on the board of the Robert E. Gard Foundation<\/a>. The Foundation will be working with Art of the Rural on a project that I’ll be highlighting soon.<\/p>\n ——————<\/p>\n And another . . . . Please join me in welcoming Lynn Conner as an ArtsJournal blogger. Her new blog, “We the Audience<\/a>,” focuses on the relationship between audiences and the art they experience. Long time (very long time) readers of Engaging Matters may recall mention of her book here in Things Change<\/a>. We look forward to her thoughts.<\/p>\n Engage!<\/p>\n Doug<\/p>\n Creating FOMO (fear of mission out) helps focus on those we seek to reach. It can serve as an antidote to artcentricity and help strengthen relationships with our communities and our own viability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3335,"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":"Tapping FOMO Create the \"fear of missing out.\" Be captivating! http:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-RM","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":[10],"tags":[12,13,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-3334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-practice-of-engagement","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-community-engagement","10":"tag-programming","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/FOMO.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-RM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4492,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/04\/relationship-maintenance\/","url_meta":{"origin":3334,"position":0},"title":"Relationship Maintenance","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Community engagement is dependent upon maintaining relationships even after an arts event is over.","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Couple1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Couple1-e1459278541727.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5381,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/09\/reach-and-frequency\/","url_meta":{"origin":3334,"position":1},"title":"Reach and Frequency","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Community engagement is not just a worthy effort to pursue at the margins. It is critical to the future of individual arts organizations and to our industry as a whole.","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","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\/2013\/04\/Dictionary.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5911,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2020\/05\/what-comes-next\/","url_meta":{"origin":3334,"position":2},"title":"What Comes Next?","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I fear that the rampaging growth of income inequality is going to be a raw wound on the other side of this crisis and that the nonprofit arts industry could be caught up in a widespread reaction against it.","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Danger.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5021,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/09\/why-engage\/","url_meta":{"origin":3334,"position":3},"title":"Why Engage?","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Why Engage? One stick, one carrot.","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/CarrotAndStick-300x284.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1511,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/04\/one-way\/","url_meta":{"origin":3334,"position":4},"title":"One Way","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I barely know where (or how) to begin. In a recent article in the Huffington Post, Michael Kaiser writes about engagement. (Engaging Audiences) So far so good, although see below regarding the title of the article. He also ends the article with the following: \"[T]his effort will not be sustained\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/OneWay.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3370,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/01\/73000\/","url_meta":{"origin":3334,"position":5},"title":"73,000 of My Closest Friends","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Random Lessons from the NFL: 1) Develop opportunities for adult participation. 2) The event is not the sole attraction. 3) Commit to service. 4) Let's not get stuck in a wine ghetto.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","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\/12\/PanthersStadium.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3334","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=3334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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