Audience Development – Page 5

Examining The LA Opera’s Pilot Program To Put Opera Into Popular Media Culture Part 1

Monday, January 6th, 2020 by Drew McManus

In 2014, I served as an adjudicator for an Opera America grant panel. One of the grant recipients was the Los Angeles (LA) Opera, which used the funding to initiate a pilot program to put opera into popular media culture. At the time, it was an ambitious and intriguing program. Here’s how the organization described the program in their grant proposal: LA Opera seeks to pilot a program to more heavily …

Must-Read Friday

Friday, November 1st, 2019 by Drew McManus

When faced with all the challenges that are genuinely out of our control, it never ceases to surprise me when nonprofit performing arts organizations overlook the things they have control over. Earlier this week, Joe Patti published an article that examines one of the most commonly overlooked issues: creating an environment that fosters a sense of inclusion and belonging. Or to perhaps be more specific, it’s an issue that does get …

I’ll Try, But I Don’t Think My Phone Will Fit In There

Thursday, October 31st, 2019 by Drew McManus

At the beginning of the month I wrote about the Anne-Sophie Mutter mobile phone kerfuffle and staked out a decidedly matter-of-fact perspective. Fortunately, there are others out there looking to approach the topic from more of a productive outlook. Case in point, violinist Holly Mulcahy gathered 10 such minds to provide positive thoughts, productive and creative ideas, and some hard truth realizations that go way beyond mere kvetching: Stephen Marc Beaudoin; Executive …

Patron Service, Patron Experience, and Patron Care

Thursday, September 5th, 2019 by Drew McManus

Last year, I cancelled a membership at one of Chicago’s premier art museums due to an issue with promised member benefits. In this case, the museum designed a benefit to help sidestep a well-known pain point in the form of long entrance lines. It was simple: members receive expedited entry. It is an effective benefit that works great…until it doesn’t. Like many museums, this one does not permit patrons to carry …

Stop Spoiling The Newbie Concert Experience

Monday, August 5th, 2019 by Drew McManus

It should come as no secret that we can be our own worst enemies when it comes to turning off new concertgoers and no stakeholder is immune. Moreover, it never hurts to remind ourselves what we can do to avoid these bear traps and to that end, violinist Holly Mulcahy recently published an article that touches on some of the more common ways stakeholders can make new concertgoers feel like their …