"Why don't more people attend?" Is it because we don't have a large enough advertising budget - a more compelling social media presence - a better PR angle - an updated logo - enough telemarketing staff - or a more sophisticated database? Is it that we serve uneducated and unenlightened communities - that a lack of arts education leaves a market of just older, educated & affluent participants - there's so much competition from other … [Read more...]
“Erosion of Arts Participation” is the WRONG Headline
As a child, one of my favorite picture books* told the story of six field mice that visit a barn. At the end of the day, they are completely unable to reconcile what they have observed (a cow) because each has seen it from a different perspective - left side, front, bottom, right side, back & top. The story comes to mind as I've downloaded the just-published National Endowment for the Arts' 2012 Survey of Public Participation in the … [Read more...]
Adrian Peterson, Raffi & the Pursuit of Perfection
I have the greatest respect for Adrian Peterson, the Minnesota Viking's running back who improbably returned from major knee surgery to complete an incredible season in which he fell just 9 yards short of the all-time rushing record for an entire season. Oh so close. It made me recall my closest brush with marketing "perfection." As the marketing director of the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts in the late 1990's, we had the … [Read more...]
A Courageous Conversation about the Future
This post is based on a message shared today with the members & stakeholders of Alliance for Audience - the independent service organization to Arizona's arts & cultural community (of which I am the founder & Executive Director.) The “need” that led to the formation of Alliance for Audience (and to similar associations nationally that focus on the cause of "audience development") was grounded in shared, long-standing frustrations … [Read more...]