“Whether through discussion circles, on-line forums, or post-event coffee hours, the larger idea for arts organizations is that their job is to build community around content, rather than just generating content.”
— from my fellow-blogger Andrew Taylor‘s post, “Enabling and rewarding your critics.”
I love this quote from Andrew. I work with several classical music festivals and since their programming seasons are not all year round, with a limited number of concerts, I believe that a key to building loyal supporters and a broader audience base lies in developing a deeper feeling of community, rather than just a group of people who get e-mails, buy tickets and give money.
Thanks Greg, for the public citation,
To be fair, the statement was inspired by a keynote at an event I was hosting presented by ArtsJournal founder/editor Doug McLennan. Although, it’s an idea and a mission that seems to be popping up in many places these days (thank goodness).