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…
Marketing
Institutional Blogging
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…
Too Cool For Words: Moo MiniCards
Just in time for the National Performing Arts Convention this week, my new Moo MiniCards arrived and I can’t wait to start handing them out. If you aren’t already familiar with Moo’s MiniCards all you need to know is that they are "it" when it comes to the latest trend in business card design. London based Moo takes business card customization to insane levels by allowing users to print a full-bleed graphic on one side with up to six lines of text on the other. But wait, I can hear you saying "that’s no big deal, a lot of printers allow you to do that already. Here’s the catch: you can print each one of your minimum 100 order cards with a completely different image if you so desire…
Looking Ahead To Organizational Blogging
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…
The Value Of An Involved Music Director
In mid-February of 2008, conductor Bill Eddins posted an excellent article at Sticks and Drones which examines a common disconnect between artistic planning and strategic marketing efforts inside professional orchestras. Bill used an example from his own orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, to illustrate his point: the title selected by the marketing department for a concert series he designed was inherently counterintuitive to the artistic intention…