Going in circles or Artsitis

Artsitis – Will you work for the cure?

I feel the arts are a bit dis-eased.  Budget cuts, shrinking audiences, and other gloom and doom that hits the news regularly are casting a murky illness over what we could be doing to better the situation.  I have good news and bad news.  Which would you like first?  The bad news?

The bad news is that the majority in our industry have Artsitis with the nasty symptoms of going in circles, feelings of paralysis, and whoa as me pox.  The symptoms worsen with each focus on the negative and each complaint about what is going wrong, which leads to migraines and nervous breakdowns.  This group of arts folks keep bashing out the what is wrong scenario.  They hire expensive research teams to calculate and articulate what is wrong and what should be done, over and over again.  They attempt to paint a different picture to funders while doing the same clunky, tired out programs.  The puss builds and oozes, the germs spread, the infection infects, particularly in bigger gathering places, where frequent Artsitis outbreaks have been documented.  You see, the shoulds and all the talk about the problems add up to more dis-ease.

This dis-ease makes my skin itch and my brain twitch.  I am sick with concern that as an industry, we are heading in the wrong direction and/or moving at such a snail pace that life will run us over and bury us in its dust.

The good news, which is desperately needed to ease the pain, there is a cure for Artsitis and some artists and arts organizations have already been applying the dosage.  It’s called audience development in all its varying forms:

• Research that focuses on solutions that turns into programs for building your audience
• Technology formats that engage, educate and inform your audiences
• Outreach projects with the intention of starting relationships with people that are not attending
• Social media which is social
• Diversity programs that bring people of varying cultures together
• Fundraising projects that get the audiences involved

I could go on and on.  In order to be effective, what do all of these audience development points have in common?  Focused planning and committed action.  Instead of contracting Artsitis, going in circles, and applying bandages of conversation, action (the antidote) is being taken. There are examples out there of people experimenting with their dosage in order to get to what works to cure their dis-ease.

Artsitis is making us turn blue (and green with envy of those already working toward their cure), and making us feel blue about our industry.  We feel panicked and out of control.  We feel fear that we don’t have enough time to turn things around.  Misery loves company, so we talk and talk and talk about what needs to happen, what needs to shift, instead of actually doing something about it.

Maybe we all (myself included) need to take a big dose of reality medicine and realize that if we don’t start taking action to make the changes, Artsitis will eventually kill us.  Strikes and bankruptcies galore.  This is not the arts world I would like to envision.

Aren’t you tired of going in circles or moving at a speed that is easily passed by?  I know I am.  So, I will be taking a huge dose in the coming month of April.  I am taking time to evaluate, research and plan for the next phase, and then action will happen at an experimental speed!  We all can take this dose of medicine any time we want.  There is no shame in taking the time out to mentally and physically prepare for action. In May, I will shift to action.  I admit that I have contracted a little bit of Artsitis, and now it is time to cure what is ailing me.

It’s the action, in the end, that will cure Artsitis after all.   Will you help me work for the cure?

What action are you taking to build relationships with your audiences?  Let’s talk about solutions!

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

Please consider supporting ADS so we can continue our work.  Donate here! 

***Purchasing my book will help support ADS and our mission.***

9 simple arts advocacy actions for daily life

It’s that time of the year again when arts advocacy days start popping up all over the country.  The official National Arts Advocacy Day is April 8-9. If you want to know your state’s official day, get in touch with a state captain.

I have mentioned in the past that everyday should be an arts advocacy day.  Here are 9 simple ways you can be an arts advocate in your daily life:

1. Wear an arts t-shirt or button to show your support of the arts.  This will likely start some conversations too.
2. Point out to the people you are with (or stop a moment to recognize for yourself) when you spot arts in your daily lives.
3. Post arts events on your Facebook feed and tweet on Twitter with the hashtag #arts to help promote the arts events and arts organizations that you love.
4. Use your social media to shout out for the arts whenever you appreciate the arts.  For example, while you are watching Downton Abbey, include the #arts tag in your post to show your appreciation!
5. Write a letter to the editor/producer to say thank you when you see a news story about an arts event.
6. Buy tickets to arts events to give as gifts to your loved ones when special occasions arise.
7. Set aside 10 minutes a week to look at your local events calendars and go to an arts event at least once a month.
8. Bring your kids to an arts event at least once a month.
9. Do arts “projects” daily – sing, dance, doodle, work on a project with your kids and appreciate the arts and what they do for your daily life!

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

Please consider supporting ADS so we can continue our work.  Donate here! 

***Purchasing my book will help support ADS and our mission.***

 

I Have A Dream for arts audience development

I have a dream today too.  I have a dream that the arts will learn to be more inclusive and welcoming.  I have a dream that we as artists will bring passion and quality to all our art, productions and events.  I have a dream that we will engage with our audiences and partner with our audiences to become our best selves as artists and arts administrators.  I have a dream that we will collaborate more and become a part of our communities again.  I have a dream that we will become part of the solution for our communities to earn our funding instead of feeling entitled to funding.  I have a dream that we will start to experiment, take risks and stretch ourselves to the limits to create a new beginning toward a more relevant end.  I have a dream that the people, all people will see the arts as the backbone of our society.  I have a dream that we shall rise up to spread the word of the common good through our art, that we will continue to process history through art, that we will be brave enough to make ourselves heard once again. I have a dream that art will become a living, breathing form that speaks to us as we are today and not as who we were yesterday.  I have a dream that if an artist or arts organization wants to succeed badly enough that they put in the work to make the difference to make a difference.  Yes, I have a dream.  Let arts ring!

Inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr.  Happy MLK Day!

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

Please consider supporting ADS so we can continue our work.  Donate here! 

***Purchasing my book will help support ADS and our mission.***

Random thoughts from fiscal cliffs and landfills to donation asks for arts audience development

What do fiscal cliffs and landfills have to do with audience development for the arts?  Quite a lot actually.  Allow me to explain.

The priorities in America and possibly the world are all mixed up these days.  When countries are being run by greed for power and money, what is really important in life is not being funded.  The arts, in my opinion, are important to our lives.  We would be living life in the dark without the arts.  There would be no color in our world, no design,creative sciences or inventiveness, no music, no plays, movies and television shows, no historical reference, no spark to our lives.  How am I certain that the arts are one of the vital ingredients for humanity?  Because of the Landfill Harmonic:

Landfill Harmonic film teaser from Landfill Harmonic on Vimeo.

A country that has no means, but has the human spirit to create is making instruments out of remnants from the landfill.  The arts are a basic need, a basic desire that has to be filled.  This video showcases that the arts are a priority in our lives.

If the arts were to be a part of the fall off due to the fiscal cliff, we would still find a way to create and perform.  However, think about what we could do if we finally got our priorities in life straight.  What would the world look like if the greed for power and money were gone?  There wouldn’t be a fiscal cliff and there probably would be the means for funding of the arts more fully.  We as a human race tend to take the arts for granted.  It’s only when the arts are gone from our lives that we find that we need to sift through the rubble, the garbage, to find a way to express ourselves again.

This taking the arts for granted can be flipped on its head too.  We as artists tend to take our audiences for granted.  I hope non-profits of all kinds will take a moment to ponder this point too.

We are taking our audiences for granted.  We assume that if we create, the audiences will be there.  You can call this the Field of Dreams Syndrome.  We take it for granted that the right people will show up and start to support us, and then we fall flat with doing the work to build the relationships to create the support that we need.

For example, I receive donation asks from a variety of organizations.  I might have given in the past, I might not have.  The organizations that are targeting me based on who I have given to in the past have not started a relationship with me.  They are asking without knowing who I really am as a person.  I rarely give to these random asks.  The ones I have given to the past are organizations that caught my attention through a variety of avenues, such as tabling at an outreach event.  I have at least spoken to a representative, gone to a show, or volunteered for their cause.  I gave to these organizations since a relation has been established.

I only choose to continue to give if the relationship continues.  Many organizations at this point will take me for granted and continue to ask without any personal contact with me.  The only organizations I continue to give to at this point are the ones that treat me like an individual person and not just a number on their mailing list.  They make sure to thank me and contact me to keep me in the loop before asking for another donation.  They send me updates on how my money is being used.  They may call me to thank me personally.  I did receive a call from a board member on one of these organizations.  I only gave $25 that year too. Wow!

To tie this random post up into a nice gift with a big red bow for the holidays, you can trace back to the initial thought.  We have our priorities mixed up.  Instead of taking the road of hard work and thoughtfulness for others, we are taking the path of laziness and greed for money and power.  People will not see the value of our art and organizations until we start valuing people as individuals.  The world will not see the arts as a priority until they see the arts become more a part of the world in ways that are helpful and supportive to their communities.  Perhaps if we started acting as individuals and support the people in our lives through solid two-way relationships, we can start adding a positive voice to the collective for a better, common sensed, prioritized world.

If you ever wondered why getting the arts funded has been so darn challenging, now you know.

PS  These thoughts are my own humble opinion.  Feel free to challenge, add, and consider your own thoughts and post as a reply!

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

Although we are not a non-profit, if you would like to support ADS to continue our work, you can donate here.

***Purchasing my book will help support ADS and our mission.***

Takeaways from the #NAMPC Conference

I wanted to start out by giving you the link to my Storify – My #NAMPC experience via Twitter.  I ended up winning the Most Tweets Award, and I received this fun t-shirt!  I also won by connecting with more people on Twitter and getting to meet some of these people during the conference.  It has been a fun and educational experience for me.  If you had to miss the conference they promised to archive the live keynote presentations soon.

The NAMPC  (National Arts Marketing Project Conference) had its ups and downs, but mostly ups.  However, through the entire conference, this year, like last year, there were some common themes running through most of the presentations.  Instead of a complete play by play like I did last year, I would like to leave you with the my most impressionable takeaways and some of my own thoughts (in no particular order):

• You gotta have passion – if you don’t, people will not be attracted to your mission, cause, project, program… Without passion, what is the point.
• Be weird and silly – or in other terms, be true to your own particular self.  It’s not about being similar – it’s about standing out.
• Adding your own personality will increase your likeability.
• Have fun!  What makes people want to join?  Fun!  If it is not enjoyable to you, it probably won’t be to your audiences.
• Everyone is diverse in one way or another.  These are my personal thoughts:  We can learn to reach out to others after we discover our own sense of diversity and understand personally what it feels like to be stereotyped and discounted.
• Keep ego out of the organization.
• Visual impact is necessary!  There is so much blah, blah, blah, and not enough “language” of our arts.  If you are a music organization, it would be good to have clips and videos of performances and music.  If you are an artist, make viewing your art an experience.  If you are theatre and dance, videos are a must.  How can people figure out if your art is for them if they can’t “see” it and feel it.
• The arts are powerful.  The creative arts can differentiate a brand from a competitor.  Unleash the power of the arts and start asking people, “what can arts do for you?”
• Start studying the psychology behind a purchase.  We are humans with quirky human behavior, and the findings of this type of research can help steer us in the right direction.
• Give people the opportunity to share and create content that is extra fun to increase shareability.
• Create programs where the community buys into your art/organization.  They may not know you exist because there is nothing in it for them personally.
• You can turn your customers into advocates.  Make your mission and passions meaningful for them, and it is more likely they will automatically share with others.
• There is a paradox: Tension exists – how to relieve the tension?  Find the common enemies, our monsters, and figure out how to solve the problems.
• If you do not have a social mission, there isn’t a point to social media.
• Content on social media can be attended to like a magazine – create information that people are interested in and analyze to see what content is relevant to your followers or not.
• “We are in this together – that’s what arts do – they bring us back to humanity.”  – Eric Ryan, author of The Method Method
• Get rid of “Yes, but” and instead use “Yes, and!”
• There is a difference between business thinking and design thinking.  Personally, we need both.
• What would MacGyver do?
• Sometimes it is better to present the dessert instead of trying to spoon feed the veggies.
• Does your audience make up reflect who you are?
• Have more conversations with different people!
• Sometimes too many choices make people want to give up.
• A tangible voucher does better than an emailed discount.  Direct mail can make this work!
• Giving choices subsequently instead of simultaneously can help people to slow down and make a better choice.  This will turn into higher loyalty.
• On the flip side though, a quick choice can lead to spontaneous happiness such as the simultaneous choice between carrots and chocolate.  Most people choose the chocolate and enjoy the chocolate.
• Big gaps between lower and higher ticket prices = more tickets purchased at lower price.
• Anchor and decoy pricing can lead the consumer to purchase the ticket price you desire.
• We have a primary error of choosing based on comparing the first item we see.  Use this relational comparison wisely!
• If only one choice is offered, that also could lower purchases – use joint evaluation by adding at least one more choice.
• Customers also compare prices with their own experiences and memories of pricing.
• Rewards are better than punishment.  Reward for purchasing early instead of punishing for purchasing later.
• Praise is considered a reward.
• “Benchmark before moving the needle.” – Ron Evans
• It takes 5 things of right to make up for 1 wrong.
• The build up stage before an event is super duper important!!!
• People interact in a variety of ways.  Be sure to provide different avenues of engagement to accommodate.
• Be relevant to your community, the times, and the people you serve. – Cat video festival was a huge success!
  “Our goal is to focus on the relevance part & the marketing part will take care of itself.”- David Tang Firebird AA
• Use a team based approach.
• Outrageous discounts do not increase revenue or loyalty.
• Have fun with marketing and experiment!
• Be sure to have objects of social interaction – “Ever notice how dogs attract people to converse with each other? ” – Nina Simon
• Dogs and cats rule!
• Funny-arts is a risky business. The arts risk every time art is created. Why are we not taking risks too?
• We all would do better if we get in touch with our inner artist and create marketing and audience development programs like an artist!
• Arts presentations need to be more artsy.
• You need to do more than just satisfy.
• Product may not be the most important factor – think of Beta vs VHS.  Beta was the better product, but VHS won the competition.
• Be your quirky self and tell the truth by sharing your outtakes.
• Bottom line, we need to learn to take risks and then share with others.
• Personal last comment – share the passion and joy of the arts again and incorporate into all that you do.  People will be able to relate to this.

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

Although we are not a non-profit, if you would like to support ADS to continue our work, you can donate here.

***Purchasing my book will help support ADS and our mission.***

Get out the vote and arts advocacy/audience development

I am thankful that the election is only a day away.  Being from a swing state, I have been bombarded by emails, calls, and commercials.  It will be most peaceful on Wednesday, November 7th.  One issue that has been brought up is the get out the vote and how this may relate to arts advocacy and audience development.  Let me explain.

Getting out the vote never used to be so challenging.  Back in the day, most people valued voting and saw how important it was for them to vote.  Voter turnout wasn’t as much of an issue.  Today, there are “Get Out The Vote” movements, or as a friend pointed out on Twitter the “GOTV” movement. I did not know what the acronym stood for.  I thought it was pro-television or something.  All kidding aside, the fact that there needs to be a movement for something so important and a privilege for each of us that are of age, is a little bit of a shame.  We can relate to this in the arts world.  It’s a shame that we have to prove how worthy the Arts are for support and attention.

However, what I am noticing is that the movement of “GOTV” is one that is built on the principles of grassroots, community efforts and pure hard work.  People who are impassioned by helping to get out the vote are dedicating time and effort to make it happen.  How does this relate to the arts world?  Well, it is not a parallel relation.  I am not seeing as much of a grassroots, community effort across the nation.  Instead, I see a smattering of efforts.  We may come together on a national level to discuss, but I am not seeing a national effort to execute.

Why aren’t there “support the arts” buttons for purchase (I’m an arts person, and I’m not “seeing” them).  Why are we not talking with our neighbors, friends and families about the arts?  Why am I not seeing yard signs or banners?  Why are there not more memes on Facebook and Twitter in support of the arts?  Why are we not sharing, RTing the arts every chance we get? There is a disconnect between our intentions and our actions.

Winning an election these days is an “in your face” endeavor.  Due to people feeling lethargic about voting, it has to be a visible effort to get them to vote and to get them to vote for you.  Let’s consider this for our future arts advocacy and audience development efforts.  We need to be seen as well as heard.  We need to bring awareness for the “Get out the Arts Support!”  or “GOARTS!”

My small effort.

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

Although we are not a non-profit, if you would like to support ADS to continue our work, you can donate here.

***Purchasing my book will help support ADS and our mission.***

Bonus Blog Post – Halloween YouTube kinda mood!

Happy Halloween!  I always enjoy searching for Halloween Arts YouTubes to share with you.  Have a safe and happy holiday!

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

Although we are not a non-profit, if you would like to support ADS to continue our work, you can donate here.

***Purchasing my book will help support ADS and our mission.***

Quick post – more random thoughts for audience development for the arts

I am off to Austin, TX for a family wedding.  I wanted to post a little something before I leave.  Today I have been thinking a variety of random thoughts due to interactions with people:

• Are we getting caught up on the words?  I had someone ask about whether I thought “Community Engagement” was overused.  This phrase may be overused, but maybe we need to focus less on the words and more on the actual action of building relationships within our community.  After hearing some other typical phrases over and over, eye rolling can happen.  We need to remember that it is the actual action we take, the people we meet, the people we invite and form friendships with, that is what really matters!
• Be careful of founder’s syndrome.  Some of us get caught up in a job being ours that when it comes to getting the help we need, sometimes we do not ask for help.  Instead, our thoughts are along the lines that no one else can do it better, so we better keep the job to ourselves.  There are two reasons why it is best to push through founder’s syndrome.  Number one, you will burn yourself out quickly.  Number two, you are missing out on an opportunity to let others get involved, lend their energy, and share a passion for your mission.  Start asking for help and let yourself work with the amazing people that come across your path.
• Volunteers are special people, so treat them well.  There is an #artsmgtchat happening on Friday that I will have to miss.  The topic is Volunteerism in the Arts.  The best way to find and keep volunteers is to set up a volunteer management program.  Find out how people want to volunteer and contribute and then help them become successful.  Also, it is a good idea to have an incentive thank you program, and to be sure to communicate with them and get their feedback on their preferences for volunteering and benefits.  Happy volunteers are more likely to become loyal volunteers.
• Big Bird and Binders – The debates have been a little comical, however, we can turn this dramady into action.  Now is the time to start heavily promoting the arts and helping to further the cause of equality for women by serving as good examples (the arts have a little ways to go on this matter).
• WOM, a friend, an email…I surveyed one of my client’s events that happened last weekend. Again, the majority of people were there because they heard it from someone they knew or from a personal email we sent out.  Audience development works!
• Time with people is time well spent.  I saw a picture on FB of a group of friends that stack their cell phones on the table so everyone enjoys the time they have with each other, and not with their cell phones.  When is the last time you gave someone your full attention?  Audience development is about connecting with people, and we certainly will not be able to connect fully if we can’t give another person our time.
• Have a great rest of your week and a fantastic weekend.  I will see you on the flip-side!

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

Although we are not a non-profit, if you would like to support ADS to continue our work, you can donate here.

***Purchasing my book will help support ADS and our mission.***

YouTube Kinda Mood – Arts Audience Development and Advocacy (5 Videos)

It’s Friday!  I haven’t posted some YouTubes in a while.  I looked up some more current Arts Advocacy videos.  Here’s what I found:

Have a great weekend!

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza

Audience Development Specialists

http://www.buildmyaudience.com

“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart

Although we are not a non-profit, if you would like to support ADS to continue our work, you can donate here.

***Purchasing my book will help support ADS and our mission.***

A Day in the Life – The Arts Are Everywhere! Arts Advocacy

For Friday, I wanted to share with you my Pecha Kucha presentation from last year.  I discovered that Slideshare now allows you to upload audio to create a full slidecast presentation.  This was my first attempt.  Please forgive the bleeding audio, and I will work on uploading another version after I figure out how to set pauses in between each slide.

The entire presentation is 5 min. 55 seconds.  Happy weekend to you, and I hope you enjoy!
Email subscribers, you will need to click on the title link to go to the actual blog post.

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,

Shoshana