Audience Development

Raisin Brahms

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In case you haven’t seen it already, there’s a terrifically funny commercial from the Americans for the Arts created by the Leo Burnett agency. Although I don’t think the ad will have much impact on the general cultural consciousness but there’s no escaping the fact that this is one clever and creative spot. By pure chance I sat next to a creative agent from Leo Burnett on one of the longer …

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Sometimes, The Best Parallel Is Perpendicular

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A few months ago I had an intriguing email exchange with Erik Hanberg, former Managing Director of the Grand Cinema, a non-profit art-house movie theater in downtown Tacoma, WA. We were discussing the similarities and differences between the field of orchestra management and art-house movie theaters and he shared an instance from his time managing the theater when he tried to find as many parallels as he could from neighboring performing arts groups to help him run the theater. As a result of our exchange, Erik put together some intriguing observations in the form of a stand-alone blog post which I’m pleased to share as a guest post…

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Institutional Blogging

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The more I look back at the National Performing Arts Convention (NPAC) session on blogging, the more gratifying the experience becomes. The mix of panelists was ideal and if there was any one point attendees could take away from the event it is this: blogging is not only good for performing arts organizations, but increasingly necessary. The good news is compared to traditional outreach methods, maintaining a first-class blog costs pennies on the dollar. At the same time, it is entirely unrealistic to expect maximum results by merely signing up for a free blogging account and publishing a few scattered posts. Unfortunately, that’s precisely what too many organizations do and watching one group after another fall victim to this bear trap has served as the inspiration behind creating a new service to help performing arts organizations, chamber ensembles, and soloists effectively join the new media revolution. Success is as straightforward as having a helping hand…

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Looking Ahead To Organizational Blogging

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After posting a blog earlier in the week about the Edmonton Symphony’s new blog, I received a number of emails from marketing professionals pointing out blogs they currently like and asking a bunch of questions about the nuts and bolts behind starting an organizational blog. Coincidentally, one of my favorite geek blogs, problogger.net, posted a pair of articles about emerging trends in blogging as well as a few fundamental items that won’t change anytime soon. As a result, I’ve come up with some insights…

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Getting Empowered in Columbus

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Although the topic usually doesn’t get much attention beyond the discussion stage, discovering meaningful ways to empower patrons is critical for the future success of this business. Fortunately, the internet offers a wide range of tools to those with the energy, concern, and inclination to build interest in their local orchestra. One superb example recently popped up in Columbus, Ohio when three patrons banded together to create symphonystrong.com. My Inside The …

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