Community Engagement: Exceeding Expectations and Achieving Impact
Moderator: Bruce D. Thibodeau, president, Arts Consulting Group, Inc.
Speakers: Willem Brans; Robert Sweibel; Terri M. Trotter
Whether your organization is about to build or renovate a venue, undertake a capital campaign, develop a strategic planning process, implement an educational initiative, or embrace another high-impact event, you need to ensure that your community is behind you. Learn more about making performing arts organizations more relevant in your community by effectively engaging people in public discussion about your value to them. Hear case studies about the tools and steps that you can take to broaden financial, emotional, and public support for your programs and the ultimate impact that performing arts organizations can have in an integrated community engagement effort.
Of interest to Management, Development, Education, Audience/Community Engagement, Trustees
Topics:
Innovation and Sustainability
Current Opportunities in Digital Marketing
Speaker: Erin West
This session will present the industry trends and best practices of building a strong website and online presence. We will discuss the tremendous opportunity presented by new technologies - from RSS to podcasts, from blogging to texting, from widgets to YouTube – and how best to implement and integrate these tools into successful marketing campaigns.
Of interest to Management, Artistic, Audience/Community Engagement, Marketing and PR, Ticketing
Cutting the Confusion: The Web Marketing Trends & Techniques That Really Matter
Speaker: Eugene Carr, president, Patron Technology
E-mail marketing, “Web 2.0,” blogs, texting, podcasts, online video – how can an overwhelmed arts executive sift through all of today’s new technology to find what is really working ? At this session, we'll help you cut through confusion and direct you to the most important things you should be focusing on to optimize your online marketing -- no matter the size of your budget.
* You'll hear research results from a February '08 study of 80,000 arts patrons which reveals what they are looking for online
* You'll get tips on e-mail design & how to deal with spam and delivery issues
* You'll learn how to super-charge your e-mail list sign-up with text messaging
* You hear how podcasting, blogs, and video can help build your Web site traffic to sell more tickets and increase donations
Of interest to Management, Artistic, Education, Audience/Community Engagement, Marketing and PR, Individual Artists
Topics:
Innovation and Sustainability
Free Marketing: Community + Ovation TV = Free National TV Exposure
Speaker: Chad Gutstein, executive vice president, Ovation TV
Ovation TV, the only network dedicated to art, culture and personal creativity, wants to help your organization increase your marketing exposure. Through Ovation TV.com’s social network, you can receive free national TV visibility for your organization or group. Come find out how.
Of interest to All
Growing Ticket Revenues in an Economic Downturn
Speakers: Rick Lester, chief executive officer, TRG/Target Resource Group; Jill Robinson, president, TRG/Target Resource Group
At a time when recession clouds the fiscal horizon, smart arts organizations must look beyond the need to survive and aim instead to thrive. Learn about winning growth strategies that work even when the economy is losing ground. The top management of Target Resource Group (TRG), whose data-driven marketing consulting helps get revenue results for performing arts organizations across North America, has navigated cyclical declines for three decades. Learn what TRG’s study of patron behavior history teaches about the impact and duration of economic downturns and the best techniques to transcend negative effects. This session is designed to send you home with a list of priority activities for optimizing your marketing investments and maximizing revenues in the 2008-09 season.
Of interest to Management, Development, Artistic, Marketing and PR, Trustees
Topics:
Innovation and Sustainability
How to create quality theatre for youth focusing on specific health issues: obesity prevention, HIV awareness, adolescent issues, and safety
Moderators: John Edmiston, community relations manager, Kaiser Permanente; Russell Granet, arts education consultant, Arts Education Resource
Speaker: Russell Granet, arts education consultant, Arts Education Resource
This hands-on, practical, two-part workshop will focus on the award-winning work of Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre Program. Participants will experience two excerpts from current work in the ETP repertoire: one geared towards the elementary student and one geared towards the middle/high school student. Participants will actively engage in a discussion on quality and the artistic process involved in creating a “message” play, the benefits of partnering with community-based organizations, the development of artists in both arts and education, as well as the challenge of developing evaluation and assessment strategies that will help tell the story of the work while also improving professional practice. Successes, challenges, and solutions will be discussed and shared.
Of interest to Management, Artistic, Education, Audience/Community Engagement, Individual Artists
Making the Economic Case for the More Arts Funding
Speakers: Randy Cohen, vice president of policy and research, Americans for the Arts; Michael Killoren, director, Mayor’s Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, City of Seattle
When community leaders fund the arts, they not only enhance our quality of life, but also invest in our economic well being. The value of the arts to the economy is the most persuasive message in leveraging public and private sector support for the arts—making the case in both lean and fruitful times. They establish the arts as an industry that supports jobs, generates government revenue, and is the cornerstone of tourism. Your ability to articulate this message may be the tipping point between increases and decreases in arts funding. In this lively session, you will learn how to localize these findings and put this potent advocacy and visibility tool to work for you.
Of interest to Management, Development, Audience/Community Engagement, Marketing and PR, Trustees, Small Organizations