{"id":3456,"date":"2014-02-26T06:34:13","date_gmt":"2014-02-26T11:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=3456"},"modified":"2014-02-26T06:34:13","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T11:34:13","slug":"the-relevance-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/02\/the-relevance-test\/","title":{"rendered":"The Relevance Test"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-3459\" alt=\"WillWorkForRelevance\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/WillWorkForRelevance-e1392667268139.jpg\" width=\"264\" height=\"480\" \/>I am currently working on &#8220;how to&#8221; processes for a book about establishing community engagement as a core function in arts organizations. Certainly, one of the first and most important steps is developing a cadre of engagement advocates. The arguments for engagement are many. However, I&#8217;m starting to believe that\u00a0 the best place to begin may be with what I&#8217;m calling &#8220;the relevance test.&#8221; Here is how I&#8217;m articulating it right now:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The following questions, with a variety of different categories (as appropriate to the local situation), can be excellent conversation starters.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><i>If you went out of business tomorrow, who would care?<\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i>City council<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>County commissioners<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>School board<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>United way<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>Chamber of commerce<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>Community&#8217;s religious leaders<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>Neighborhood associations<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>The general public<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">(Any<\/span> of them?)<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"left\"><i>If so, why? How do you know? (That is, on what evidence do you base your answer?)<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\" align=\"left\"><i>If not, why not?<\/i><\/p>\n<p>In responding, the critical issue is the demand for honest answers, seen from the point of view of each entity listed rather than from that of the arts organization.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">These questions are valuable because, in fact, few arts organizations can make a compelling case that if they went under or if their existence were threatened, a groundswell of support would arise to carry them forward. (Certainly, some <em>are<\/em> in that enviable position.) The \u201cIf not, why not?\u201d question is particularly telling. The truth is that for a variety of reasons (especially the fact that many of our missions do not take community into account) the answer is fairly obvious: Because little effort has been made to be directly supportive of the community. Substantive, systemic community engagement is the path to relevance because it is based on <i>being<\/i> valuable to people in ways that are meaningful to them. And it is such relevance that forms the basis for individual, institutional, and community support. This is a case that can be a powerful one to those being sought as allies.<\/p>\n<p>Engage!<\/p>\n<p>Doug<\/p>\n<dl>\n<dt>Image:<a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/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=\"No Derivative Works\" alt=\"No Derivative Works\" src=\"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/g\/images\/cc_icon_noderivs_small.gif\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a> <a title=\"Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/2.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">Some rights reserved<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/stevesfaces\/\" target=\"_blank\">steve heath<\/a><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Substantive community engagement is based on being valuable to people in ways that are meaningful to them. Such relevance forms the basis for individual, institutional, and community support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3459,"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":"The Relevance Test-Relevant in the community's eyes? If not, why not?: http:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-TK","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":[5],"tags":[12,26,13,48,22],"class_list":{"0":"post-3456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-principles","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-change","10":"tag-community-engagement","11":"tag-mission","12":"tag-public-good","13":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/WillWorkForRelevance-e1392667268139.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-TK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4305,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/12\/transformative-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":3456,"position":0},"title":"Transformative Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"December 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Transformative Engagement\u2013Community engagement (built on community learning) that influences the organization's programming and\/or ways of doing business. Only transformative engagement builds an organization's relevance.","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\/2015\/09\/Caterpillar-Butterfyl-e1443036832677.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4631,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/08\/fifth-anniversary-highlights-transformative-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":3456,"position":1},"title":"Fifth Anniversary Highlights: Transformative Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If an organization is not doing anything differently as a result of its engagement efforts, it\u2019s not focused on the community. It\u2019s focused on itself.","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\/2016\/07\/FiveCandles.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4272,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/09\/artcentric-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":3456,"position":2},"title":"Artcentric Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In artcentric engagement the community engages with the arts. In transformative engagement, the arts engage with the community.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"EngagementRing","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/EngagementRing-e1429555281389.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4733,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/11\/who-benefits\/","url_meta":{"origin":3456,"position":3},"title":"Who Benefits?","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"November 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Definitions are important to me. That's probably a reflection of my former life as an academic. (Or, I suppose, it could be why I was an academic.) They've also become critical to my work as an advocate for community engagement. I have presented numerous attempts at defining things like audience\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dictionary","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Dictionary.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4654,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/09\/the-art-of-relevance\/","url_meta":{"origin":3456,"position":4},"title":"The Art of Relevance","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Nina Simon's The Art of Relevance: Relevance is an exercise in empathy\u2013understanding what matters to your intended audience, not what matters to you.","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":"ArtOfRelevance","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/ArtOfRelevance-e1472052591667.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5053,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/10\/excellence-and-engagement-iii\/","url_meta":{"origin":3456,"position":5},"title":"Excellence and Engagement: III","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Excellence and Engagement: Considering equity and respect.","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\/02\/ExcellenceSign.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3456","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=3456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}