{"id":5673,"date":"2019-08-21T02:00:42","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T06:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=5673"},"modified":"2019-07-26T14:40:29","modified_gmt":"2019-07-26T18:40:29","slug":"relationships-checkup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/08\/relationships-checkup\/","title":{"rendered":"Relationships Checkup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"240\" height=\"211\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Clipboard.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4911\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">Some time ago, while discussing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/04\/relationship-maintenance\/\">relationship maintenance<\/a>, a student of mine shared with her training group a practice she employed to keep community relationships current. (One of the big pitfalls in engagement is losing track of relationships after an event is over.) I commented on what a great idea it was and made a note to visit it further here on the blog and in my own thinking. . . . I promptly forgot about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">Fortunately, the note recently resurfaced. As most really good ideas it&#8217;s not terribly complicated. It was simply a &#8220;note to self&#8221; to check in on all past engagement relationships on a regular\u2013at least annual\u2013basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">This simple habit has the ability to accomplish a wide variety of good things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>It encourages (if not requires) documenting relationship work\u2013contacts, past collaborations, results. (Others in your organization should be aware of the relationship work that has been done and the checkup is a good opportunity to loop them in.) <\/li><li>It provides a reasonable opportunity to &#8220;check in&#8221; on the community or organization as a means of acknowledging that they are still important to you. <\/li><li>It can be a catalyst for considering collaborative possibilities in the future.<\/li><li>It can provide a means by which members of the partner community or organization are aware of the past work and of the existence of the relationship for new endeavors. (Just like no one member of an arts organization should be the only person aware of\/responsible for an engagement relationship, so too should multiple members of the partner community\/organization have similar knowledge.)<\/li><li>The mechanisms for checking in could include a brief newsletter to the community which would further serve to raise awareness of the relationship, the arts organization&#8217;s continuing interest, and the potential it could represent.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\">As part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/04\/relationship-maintenance\/\">relationship maintenance process<\/a>, I heartily endorse this idea. I now hope to remember it long enough to add it to my training and other materials. Wish me luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Engage!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Doug<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Image: <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/2.0\/\"><\/a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/2.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">Some rights reserved<\/a> by <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/143213400@N07\/\" target=\"_blank\">sepyle86<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Regular relationship checkups can be a valuable addition to community engagement&#8217;s relationship maintenance process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4911,"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":"Relationships Checkup: A valuable addition to community engagement's relationship maintenance process.","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":[12,13,91,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-5673","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-maintenance","11":"tag-relationships","12":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Clipboard.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1tv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4909,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/05\/evaluating-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":5673,"position":0},"title":"Evaluating Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Evaluating Engagement: Criteria for (and measures of) effective engagement","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\/2017\/04\/Clipboard.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4492,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/04\/relationship-maintenance\/","url_meta":{"origin":5673,"position":1},"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 &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":"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":2824,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/05\/parsing-vocabulary\/","url_meta":{"origin":5673,"position":2},"title":"Parsing Vocabulary","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In Engagement Vocabulary I introduced work-in-progress definitions of audience development, audience engagement, and community engagement. [To repeat: Audience Development is a marketing strategy designed for immediate results (sales, donations, etc.). Audience Engagement is a marketing strategy designed for deepening relationships with current stakeholders and expanding reach over time. Community Engagement\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\/2013\/04\/Dictionary-300x153.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6402,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/07\/equity-and-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":5673,"position":3},"title":"Equity and Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Good practices in community engagement and DEI work are closely related. Let's work together on them simultaneously.","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\/2021\/07\/Equity2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4305,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/12\/transformative-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":5673,"position":4},"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":4025,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/03\/yep-we-do-that-sequel-part-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":5673,"position":5},"title":"Yep, We Do That-Sequel (Part II)","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Questions for assessing engagement readiness-Part II","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ThumbUp","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ThumbUp-e1396538778275.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5673","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=5673"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5681,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5673\/revisions\/5681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}